Welcome, gay NASCAR fans! Congratulations to the DeVine 9 1/2's own Carl Edwards, who scored his first Cup victory before a delighted throng in Atlanta on Sunday. What a thrill it was to see this dashing dude chase Jimmie Johnson all day, then catch him on the last turn of the last lap! If I had any doubts about shaking up the team the way we did this year, they blew away like smoke from a victory burnout -- we had SEVEN guys in the top 10 Sunday on Sunday, including three of my four new racers this year -- Carl and Brian Vickers and Dave Blaney. Not to mention, Carl had won his first Busch race on Saturday! It was a great weekend for him, and I feel like our team is really picking up speed.
This week's coverage will be a bit different, because I was AT the race. This not only means that my notebook looks like a monkey wrote in it and then threw it in the river, but also that the notes in it are even crazier than I usually take. This race, I spent my very first night in the infield, thanks to our wonderful pals Amy and Amanda. Thanks, gals, for a really super weekend of racing fun! I am proud that I was labeled "hardcore" for my adventure by Amy, who initially branded me a "fraud" when we met in 2003 and she learned I'd never actually attended a Cup race in person.
We were pleased Sunday to have the company of our long-time buddy Keita, who was visiting from his native Japan. (I'm hoping he'll write up his impressions so we can post them.) Let's just say that after about 20 minutes in the infield Sunday morning, he was wanting to know when was the next NASCAR race in Atlanta so he could make plans to come back!
Our day had a great start: Dixie, Keita and I were schlepping our stuff across the RV lot outside the track on our way to the infield when this golf cart came tearing around the corner, practically going up on two wheels, and believe me we made sure we were out of the way! Well, who should be driving but Bobby Hamilton from the truck series!
Soon it was time for driver introductions, and we scampered down to the fence at Turn1 to see our boys roll by. This time, I felt like a old pro because I printed out the starting order, and since the drivers always roll around in reverse order and end with the polesitter, I was always able to tell who was coming next. I got the best waves from Jamie and from Carl Edwards, who flashed his trademark million-dollar smile right at me! Woo-hoo, Carl!
There was some great pre-race action as one of those helicopters that looks like a flying locomotive car flew within about two feet of the people in the grandstands, then landed on the frontstretch! Awesome! The flyerover after John Michael Montgomery's National Anthem was by an amazing B-1 bomber, which flew up on us in total silence -- then almost knocked us off the trailer-top! Opening the solemn ceremonies was the chaplain of the Georgia State Patrol Homeland Security Department, who brought the invocation.
The green flag waved 12 minutes late -- hey y'all: in Atlanta, this is how we do it! -- with Ryan Newman on the pole. But before we could even find out who would lead the first lap, a massive crash collected car after car on the backstretch. In the replays, it looked like a series of almost non-events that by some strange confluence resulted in a huge pile-up. So severe was it that the race was red-flagged for a time as crews scrambled to clean up the car parts. About this time, I'm thinking, this race won't be over until dark! Casey Mears and Jeff Gordon were in the wreck from our team. The first "real" lap was six, when the leaders were Ryan, Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Kasey Kahne.
Now, for the longest while, the leader was either Johnson or Biffle. At lap 63, Jr. got caught speeding and went two laps down, though he got one back on lap 66. At lap 73, Jeff Gordon was back on the track -- that's cool, some guys would have given it up. Jr. continued to struggle and was again two laps down at lap 82. This was a real blow to the backstretch bleachers (always a sea of Bud-red) who had already had to endure seeing their guy start 35th!
The caution came out at lap 118 for Mike Wallace's smoking car. At lap 158, Kurt Bush blew a tire, leading to a caution. He came back later, 20 laps down. At lap 202 the caution flew for Bobby Hamilton Jr., who left a big black stripe all along the wall in turns 1 and 2 -- we totally saw this wreck right in front of us! The next caution, at lap 233, was for debris; then the caution flew again at lap 278 for the blown-up engine of Kyle Petty, his first blow-up this year. Robbie Gordon blew up next, bringing out the eighth caution at lap 295. Carl Edwards had the lead at the restart but Jimmie Johnson takes it back.
And that's the way it stayed until the final turn, when Carl pulled up beside Jimmie and then edged him out at the line. What a show! We could hardly believe it when the Carl's car rolled by in front of Jimmie's as the cars cooled down. Could it be? Check the scoring pole -- YES! Carl Edwards takes his first Cup victory and becomes the first driver to sweep both Cup and Busch races in Atlanta! Go Carl! On the frontstretch, Carl delighted the crowd with his trademark back-flip, though he was off-balance and came down on all fours. (Note to Carl's sponsor: Now that your boy's got it going, you might want to tell him to lay off this flashy but dangerous stunt. I mean, if the sponsor tells him to, he has to stop, right?)
SPEEDWAY MEMORIES
OK, I realize that "speedway memories" is an oxymoron, like "military intelligence." Truth is, most of the time "what happens in the infield, stays in the infield," because nobody can remember enough of what happened to repeat it! But here are a few of my crazy-looking notes, cleaned up and translated into English:
If you're a people-watcher, you'll never run out of stuff to look at in the infield. It's particularly fun to see how different people navigate up and down the ladders attached to (or leaning on) the trailers. My favorite Sunday was a girl who repeatedly made her way up her trailer's ladder while holding two beers in her hands -- and wearing a red T-shirt that said, "Atlanta Motorsports Safety Team"!
In the infield, you can only hear the track announcers call the lap-by-lap when the cars are not in your area. This means you hear stuff like "ZOOM ZOOM cat waiting to pounce ZOOM ZOOM take that to the bank ZOOM ZOOM higher and higher ZOOM ZOOM getting down under him ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM!"
Fans of the day: There were vastly too many cute, fun people at the track to single anybody out, but special recognition has to go to the college-age crowd that decorated the trailer-top of a big RV in turn 2. The boys all looked like they were right out of the "Guys Gone Wild" video, jumping around shirtless showcasing their tribal tattoos with their jeans hanging down and their drawers showing, and the girls -- get this -- stripped down to black bininis and laying down at the very front of the RV, nonchalantly sunbathing while the racecars roared by.
At another front-row trailer -- this one a converted schoolbus -- a chubby, sad-faced woman (I guessing a granny of about 46) attended to a year-old boy. The boy had that look that comes from extremely white people mating with extremely white people for many generations: His skin and wispy hair were almost devoid of color. Granny would take the boy in the bus, then bring him out and sit in the doorway while he tottered around, then hold him on her hip and shuffle up to the fence, then back to the bus. I'd like to think these folks were wearing earplugs, but that would be way too much to hope for.
After the checkers waved and as the sun set, we went down to the fence by the tunnel to watch the haulers pull out. There we saw one of our favorite track characters: a nice-looking fellow whose deal is to shout down to the pedestrians passing below, "Hey, can my daughter have your hat?" He repeats this many times, occasionally adding, "She's two years old." Sometimes "daughter" becomes "son," but other than that the dude runs the same line on everyone. Dixie remembered him -- and his hat scam -- from the previous race. Maybe it was the race fumes -- OK, maybe the vodka was involved -- but somehow this struck me at the time as the funniest thing I had ever heard in my life. I was laughing so hard I was practically doubled over the fence. Nurse!
A NIGHT IN THE INFIELD
Amy and Amanda, our fantastic hosts who invite us into their deluxe trailer in Turn 2, had been on me forever to come down and stay the night at their place. I did so on Friday, catching Cup qualifying and also the truck race. What a time! It was terribly cold -- the girls said it was the coldest night they'd spend at the speedway -- but the action was hot and the company was terrific as always. (Speaking of the company, our only disappointment this weekend was that Bob and Glenda and their little doggy Cinnamon, A&A's neighbors, decided not to come. I'm hoping this was because the weather was too cold and that they will return next race. We love y'all and miss y'all!)
After the action shut down for the night, most folks turned in rather early (probably something to do with drinking all day). But being quite merry, I decided to take a stroll around the infield first. I walked all over that thing, greeting my fellow race fans and observing their trailers until I realized my gait had become so unsteady (you know, staggering and what not) that I had best return to the trailer. Getting arrested for public drunkenness at a NASCAR race would be a shame I would never erase! What a great night, and a great weekend! Thanks a million, Amy and Amanda, for letting us be a part of the fun!
HEY, BUBBA!
This week, I'm proud to welcome a new advertiser, GayRedneckOuterwear.com! This cute site features fashions for the gay Bubbas and Bubbettes of the world. Addison, the virtual shopkeeper, found Gaytona.com and thought his products would be a good fit with our gang. Check out the link, order some new fun stuff to wear for the upcoming Pride celebrations, and thank Addison for helping keep Gaytona.com on the Net!
Well, that's all for this week, friends -- thanks for stopping by the trailer. Thanks again to Amy, Amanda, Dixie and Keita for being super-fun race pals. This week, we'll trade our NASCAR cap for a church hat as we celebrate the glory of Easter. Let's all take time this weekend to say a prayer for peace in our world and in our hearts. Then let's' all get back together for the wild excitement of Bristol! Let's all meet up down at the Track Bar!
Love,
Betty Jack DeVine
E ME at Bettyjack@gaytona.com
