Random Thoughts

As we walked towards the garage area we passed the Speed-TV stage and I heard an announcement that Nascar This Morning would be filmed there live at 11 a.m. with Michael Waltrip as a guest host filling in for Kenny Wallace and Jimmy Spencer who were both unable to be there due to where they had raced the previous day. Immediately I knew that I had to be there! Seeing the production of a live show would be pretty interesting to begin with but that Michael was going to be on made it a must-see. I don't think Jim was as thrilled as I was but I wanted to be there to hear what Michael had to say but also cheer for him and show my support as well.

But before that we headed to the garage area. As I suspected there wasn't a whole lot going on other than the cars going through yet another inspection. I wanted to find out where the #15 pit was going to be so we also walked down to pit road but it was so incredibly crowded that the crew members could barely move their equipment down to their pits. So we decided not to add to the problem and go back to the garage. I know the track sells the pre-race pit passes for fans to walk up and down on pit road but it just seemed like there were so many people all over the place that it might be making things hard for the crews. Luckily we saw one of the #15 crew members headed in what we figured was the direction of their pit so we got some idea where it was and we wouldn't have to wander around too much later in the day. We then decided to get something to eat before heading over to the Speed stage.

After breakfast we went to the Speed stage nice and early to stake out a spot for the show. At first I was going to stand right behind the stage but I realized that I didn't want to stare at Michael and John Robert's backs all show. Not only that I had no desire to be on TV. So I went over to the side of the stage and discovered that would offer me a good view of the entire stage including the faces of those on the show - much better. So we spent the next hour hanging out there, me chatting with a nice woman next to me. I had been worried that it was going to get crowded which was why we went over so early but as it turned out while there were plenty of people who came over, I had no need to worry about staking out a spot since it was never as crowded as I thought it might get and certainly not on the side where I was since the people standing there don't get on camera.

Michael got there about ten minutes before the show was due to start and I knew that he had arrived based on all the people running over to the other side of the stage so I knew he must be signing autographs. So I walked over to see if I could take a few photos but by the time I got there he was walking inside. Based on the look on his face I'm not sure he was so thrilled by the amount of people rushing towards him to get his autograph even though they were behind a barrier but perhaps I'm just reading into things. At any rate I went back to where I was standing to wait for him to come out on stage.

Eventually Michael came out to big cheers from the crowd. Of course he made sure to wave at everyone on all sides of the stage. I'm never good at knowing for sure whether or not someone is acknowledging me for sure because I always think that perhaps they're really looking at someone behind or next to me but it appeared that Michael spotted me and flashed me the peace sign and a nice smile. That was pretty cool that he seemed to recognize me even from the stage. Each time I see him I never expect him to recognize me since he sees so many people all the time but I had just seen him last month at the Tom Baldwin Golf Outing so I guess that helped as well as the fact that some of the times that I've seen him I've spent more than a few minutes around him so that helps when it comes to remembering my face. Michael sat down and began going over notes for the show with John Roberts. At one point while I was looking elsewhere Jim told me that Michael seemed to look over at me again but unfortunately I missed that due to being distracted by a dude with a mohawk in front of the stage.

I wish I could give a complete recap of everything that was said on Nascar This Morning but unfortunately it was a bit hard to hear on our side of the stage. Michael appeared to be in good spirits and based on the bits and pieces I heard he seemed to be upbeat about the race and enjoying himself on the show. He is criticized by some for his behavior on Inside Nextel Cup in that some feel that he interrupts others too much and doesn't pay attention to what the other panelists are saying. Some take that to mean that Michael does that kind of thing all the time. Well, he did none of that on NTM. He paid complete and obvious attention to John Roberts and from what I could tell sat quietly and listened rather than interrupting when someone else was talking. Yes, he looked around at times but he seemed focused to me on the show. Which indicates to me as I've always thought that a lot of the way Michael is on INC is due to the relaxed format of the show and also because he's playing up a certain role that people have come to expect from him. He's very capable of being different for a different kind of show like NTM, which is a more formal type of show.

Eventually the woman next to me who I had been talking with picked up on the fact that Michael recognized me and occasionally seemed to be looking over at me. So she told me that I should get him to come over at some point and sign autographs for everyone. He recognizes me but that's all! He's not my friend and while I think very highly of him, I really don't know him and I have no influence over what he does in any way, shape or form. And even if I did Michael's not a dog that I'm going to call over to perform tricks. I would never dream of asking anything from him. He's an extremely busy man when he's at the track and as much as everyone might like an autograph I know full well that it's not always the time or place for that, particularly if he's on a tight time schedule. Even when I see him at an appearance I would never dream of asking anything from him other than what he does for others - an autograph and a photo and that's if those things are possible.

The show started taping at 11 and the driver's meeting was scheduled for 11:40 so I had figured that Michael was only going to be on the show until then. I was wondering how he was going to slip out and as the time grew closer and closer to the driver's meeting I noticed there was some discussion during breaks with some of the production staff I assumed about his need to leave to be on time for the driver's meeting. I had been told by someone a while back that Michael hates to be late for anything so I watched with some amusement as he started checking his watch more and more frequently. Jim mentioned to me that Michael seemed to be less and less in good spirits as the show went on and I'm guessing that he was getting antsy about making the driver's meeting since the drivers get in trouble if they don't attend the meetings. Finally a break came at exactly the right time and Michael left.

At that point we decided we would leave too since we weren't too interested in hanging around to watch just John Roberts do NTM. So we headed back to the garage area ourselves. And oh, how I wish we didn't. The driver's meeting happens while the garage is still cold which boggles my mind. The reason being is that there is a massive crowd of people who cluster around where the meeting is going to be trying to get autographs and some of them are very aggressive. There must be some reason why the garage is still cold at that time but I strongly feel that the garage should be hot then to cut down on some of the people who rush the drivers. Maybe Nascar wants to give even those with just cold passes the opportunity to see the drivers but many people are incapable of just standing in one spot and being respectful of the fact that these guys are on their way to a work related meeting. I had seen some of this when we went with Michael to the driver's meeting at Dover last fall and didn't like it much then but at least in Dover the fans seemed to be kept a little further away from where the drivers had to walk.

It was particularly bad when Junior made his way to the meeting. Of course it's impossible for Junior to walk much of anywhere without a huge pack of people following. I thought it was a particularly sad commentary that instead of walking through the garage area like most drivers, Junior had to walk from presumably the motorcoach lot in back of all the haulers as close as he could to where the meeting was before walking out in the open. And as soon as he was spotted a massive group of people ran towards him. To Junior's credit he signed as many autographs as he could as he walked but one look at how blank his face was indicated to me that he's really not enjoying himself much when stuff like that happens, as much as he must come to expect it. I'm not a fan of Junior's in the least but I do have a lot of sympathy for him for some of the things he has to deal with off the track in terms of fans and other issues which are even more intense and magnified than it is for other drivers, with the possible exception of Jeff Gordon who also gets it bad.

Jim went to get something to drink and while I was waiting for him I didn't really know what to do with myself so I was just kind of standing around. Unfortunately based on the set-up no matter where I was I was going to be, unless it was all the way at the other end of the garage, I was going to be in the way since drivers were going to scatter in all sorts of directions once the meeting broke up. When we were at Dover it seemed like the Driver's meeting lasted for a while but it seemed to go very quick at Pocono. Once it broke up drivers and crew chiefs were all over the place with fans running after them in all directions. I tried to take a few photos of a few people but eventually gave up because it was just too impossible with how they were getting crowded. I nearly got swept away in the crush of people trying to get at Junior once more and was almost run over by Elliott Sadler who was walking, signing and carrying on a conversation with someone. With me being so short and him being so tall I don't think he saw me at all! The funny thing was that some drivers like Scott Riggs were just able to walk right out without any problems - no one was interested in his autograph in the least. I was tempted to go up to him, thinking it might make him feel good if at least one person asked for his autograph even though I'm not a fan of his, but I just felt too uncomfortable about approaching.

I had figured that Michael would stay for the prayer service which follows each driver's meeting as he normally does but much to my surprise instead he high-tailed it out of the garage area to go back to NTM. So of course we went back as well. I felt a little creeped out since we were following him around but given a choice between standing around in the garage area, being part of a crowd stalking drivers and watching Michael finish guest hosting NTM, I'll take the latter every time. When I got back to where I had been standing I asked if I missed anything, and a woman complained that now that Michael had returned he wasn't facing our side of the stage quite as much as he had been previously which made it hard to take photos. He's filming a freaking show for crying out loud, not on display for the fans! I don't mean to pick on this woman who was very nice but it was just one more example to me about how sometimes the expectations of the fans are that their needs should come before everything else to a ridiculous degree.

Not too long after that my contact that weekend turned up and I started chatting with him. He's really a great guy and I very much enjoyed talking to him. However, the woman I had been talking to noticed a logo on his shirt that indicated that he was involved with a team and started asking race-related questions. I thought that was going to chase him away but instead he shut her down by telling her that he never talks to the guys about racing. And I was tempted to add if he did he would never share what they said to her, me or any other fan. My big thing when I'm talking to someone who is involved with a team I try to be very careful about what I chat with them about. I almost never ask questions about the driver they work for, instead asking questions about the person themselves. That's because I am genuinely interested in these people for their own merits, not just for who they might work with.

Towards the end of the show I looked over at Michael and he flashed a big smile in my direction and a wave. Again, always hard for me to tell if that was really meant for me - for all I know someone just behind me was doing something to get his attention but I made sure to smile and wave back. By the time the show was over it was 12:30 so Michael had to rush off to get changed into his firesuit for driver introductions and the pre-race ceremonies.

Jim and I headed back into the garage which had gone hot once more. It was at this point that I saw something that caught my attention and that was Slugger Labbe, Michael's former crew chief and Tony, Eury, Jr., Michael's current crew chief in deep conversation near the #15 hauler. Now, on Saturday someone had taken some photos of the two casually talking and I had also seen Slugger talking to others from the #15 team outside their hauler. I didn't really think too much of it then since Slugger did work for DEI for several years so he's bound to still have many friends there. But this conversation really had my attention because of how serious it seemed and how long it went on. They could have been talking about anything from strip clubs to nearby restaurants to complaints about Nascar. I have no idea. But in light of some of Slugger's recent critical comments about Michael I sure did wonder what they were chatting about. I thought about taking a photo but given their body language and all I felt like it would be intrusive and perhaps not appropriate. They were out in the open but it just didn't feel right to start snapping photos at that moment.

One funny thing is that there were countless people clustered around the #8 hauler obviously waiting for Junior, thinking he was inside and that they could catch him for an autograph as he walked to driver introductions. But I've heard previously, probably read it in Jade's blog, that Junior doesn't go to his hauler before the race, instead choosing to spend the time in his motorcoach. I'd guess part of the reason for that is to avoid the pack of people who would naturally swarm him and so that he can have a little time pre-race more or less to himself.

So we drifted over to where there were some carts that the drivers were hopping into so they could get driven to driver's introductions. As I mentioned in relation to Scott Riggs, there are some drivers who get zero attention from the fans. And I always feel a little bad for those guys. On one hand they're probably glad that they don't have to deal with what a Junior or a Tony Stewart goes through each race weekend but I would think some of these guys wouldn't mind a few more fans taking interest in them and what they are up to. Mike Wallace, brother of Rusty and Kenny, is driver of the #4 car and he is one driver that no one really takes note of. Two times, including by the carts, I saw him and thought about smiling and waving at him, calling his name, something just to make him feel a little good about himself but both times I saw him he had such a serious look on his face that I was afraid to. For whatever reason particularly as he headed to driver intros. the look on his face really discouraged me but perhaps he was just concentrating on what he was going to have to do later in the race.

What was cool was that as Kyle Petty passed me in his cart he smiled and waved at me. I know it was at me because no one else was around me at the time, that's the only way I was certain! I guess he remembered me from last month's golf outing and perhaps the other times I've met him. A few other drivers passed by including a serious looking Dale Jarrett.

Jim and I eventually decided that we should head out to pit road to try and get a spot where we could see all the happenings at driver's intros. And what a spot we got! We really weren't sure where we should go or where we could stand especially since there was a security guard who kept yelling at everyone to get behind the tires - um, which tires? There were tires all over the place! But we ended up right next to the ramp all the drivers had to head up to so that they could get to the stage which meant that we could see every driver up close as they walked by us.

Drivers are introduced last to first so the first group of drivers were already on the ramp waiting to be introduced, Junior among them, since he hadn't qualified well. He chatted with Kirk Shelmerdine, who I think at one time was his father's crew chief, and some of the other drivers who aren't exactly big stars like Kevin Lepage on what seemed to be a completely equal level, as did Elliott Sadler who joined Junior a few minutes later. One big thing that I noted is that almost every driver talked and laughed with every other driver. That's not to say that every driver is best buddies with each other or even likes each other but no one shied away from talking to anyone else. There are some fans who believe that certain drivers such as Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch are complete outcasts in the garage area and none of their fellow drivers will talk to them because they are so disliked - wrong! Both of those guys talked to any number of their peers and I detected no trace of animosity on anyone's part though of course no one is going to let too much show in public. The only driver I saw who didn't really talk to too many others and seemed a little unhappy was Jeff Green. Matt Kenseth also seemed a bit unhappy and I later found out that he gave a post-race interview in which he discussed that he's not thrilled about not being consulted about the hiring of Jamie McMurray for the #6 and the way he found out - through the internet.

Some of the drivers would casually walk up the ramp and hang out chatting with their fellow drivers. Others would rush up, obviously having just arrived. Robby Gordon's name was announced and he literally had to run up the ramp to the stage with his firesuit only half on. That made everyone, including his fellow drivers, laugh. I wonder if there's a fine or other penalty if a driver misses driver introductions? I've never heard of it happening and I can't imagine any driver not being ready that close to race time but Robby did cut it awfully close. And while all of this was going on there were a couple of people on the ramp perhaps with charities or the track, who were getting the autographs of all the drivers.

At one point Tony Stewart comes walking up the ramp and I take one photo of him. Then I'm standing on tippy-toes trying to peek over the railing when suddenly Tony decides to lean against the railing right near me, sticking his ass right in my face. I guess Tony either didn't know I was standing there or didn't care. It was really hysterical, in fact I found it so funny that I had to take a photo even though I normally don't take butt shots of drivers or players. Yes, I kept my hands to myself even though his ass was well within arm's reach for a few minutes. Actually he might be lucky it was me and not some other fan standing there because another fan might not have kept their hands to themselves.

Kurt Busch gets a lot of flack from fans, many of whom think he's a jerk. I've never actually met him but both times I've been to the track and seen him up-close I've been impressed with how he seems to interact with the people around him at drivers introductions, even fans. He always has a smile on his face and he doesn't shy away from interacting with people and did so with Jim. It may all be for show but I have to give him credit for making an effort. Jim was wishing a lot of drivers good luck and most of them didn't acknowledge him, probably because half of them didn't really hear him or were rushing by at the time. Kasey Kahne was just about the only one other than Kurt who did look right at Jim and thanked him. I think that's funny that perhaps the most timid driver in the field was one of the only ones to talk to Jim.

After driver introductions were over I decided that we should walk down to where Michael's car was so I could take some photos of Michael and Buffy by the car before the pre-race ceremonies start. It ended up being quite a long walk as the #15 was all the way on the opposite end of pit road. As we walked through Kasey Kahne's pit which was right near where Michael's car was, I glanced at Kasey's crew who were leaning against a fence and dude, you aren't as much of all that as you think you are. That's about all I'm going to say about that. So the next pit was pretty much empty of people and equipment because it belonged to one of the extremely underfunded teams so I took the liberty of walking right into the pit and standing by the pit wall so I could have a good view of Michael and the other drivers by their cars.

After the invocation it was of course time for the singing of the National Anthem. Usually Michael sings along which is something that not many other drivers do so I turned around to look and discovered he wasn't singing but he was looking right at me for some reason. (Probably wondering if I'm a stalker!} That freaked me out so I immediately turned away rather than smiling like a normal person, so I probably came off like a complete weirdo. I just didn't expect him to be looking in my direction, since normally everyone on pit road pretty much stares straight ahead. I'm guessing since there were no TV cameras around Michael probably felt free to let his attention wander a little more than he might if he thought he was going to be seen on TV.

Once the pre-race ceremonies were over we stuck around to see Michael get into his car. He had walked off somewhere and when he got back to his car he plopped his hat on Buffy's head like she was a hat rack or something. I'm sure he meant it affectionately but it was a little amusing the way he did it. For some reason I find it really fascinating watching him climb into the car since he's so freaking big. I won't share the comment I had made earlier in the day to Jim that sounded really bad by accident but it certainly applied to Michael jamming himself into the car.

We then made the trek all the way back to the other end of pit road where Michael's pit was located. I attempted to use the scanner only to fuck something up and for a good chunk of the race I either couldn't get the scanner to work, couldn't get the volume high enough and/or couldn't get it to stick on the #15 frequency and not scan through all the drivers I had programmed in. So for the majority of the race I had no clue what was going on since all I could see was whatever happened in the pits around me and the cars as they passed on the track directly in front of the pits.

But that doesn't mean that the race was boring by any means. I absolutely adore watching the pit crews at work and I also love taking photos of the pit crews. So I had a wonderful time watching the crews do their thing. Those men are amazing - they do so much in fourteen or fifteen seconds! I did feel a little awkward standing in back of the #15 pit because I didn't want to get in anyone's way. So I'm glad that Michael's pit was located in a slightly wider area of pit road than where some others were. That mean there was more room for everyone, including myself to move around.

For a while we just hung out watching the happenings on pit road. At one point we walked down to the #8 pit because those guys are mostly all Michael's old crew who we had met in Dover last fall. A lot of them were looking at me and Jim, obviously knowing that we looked familiar, if not remembering fully why they recognized us. Unfortunately it was no time to strike up conversation and refresh their memories there on pit road. I wish that I had seen some of them under different circumstances since they were all so nice last fall and that was one reason why we had such a great time then.

A sad indication that even on pit road there are some fans who don't know how to act appropriately is that the #8 and #24 pits had to have barracades in back of them to prevent people from going into the pits that don't belong there. Every pit is set up within painted white lines and it's a no-no to go inside those white lines unless one is with the team, a member of the media or invited. Most of the time I tried to stay much futher back than that to ensure I didn't get in anyone's way. But apparently a lot of others aren't respectful like that since the #24 team had tires piled in an makeshift wall at the back of their pit and the #8 team had a chain stretched across the back of their's. Back in Dover I actually saw why the #8 team does this. During one pit stop I was absolutely appalled to see a pack of fans run up behind the #8 crew while they were in the middle of a pit stop and start taking photos. And I mean right in back of them - ridiculously close. Jade Gurss had to literally chase them out of the pit.

Once we walked back to the #15 pit I started noticing how hot it was. In reality it probably wasn't that hot in comparison to most of the tracks that they race at but to me it was really steamy. I was starting to wonder how I was going to manage to last though the entire race when our contact approached. I don't know whether he was just trying to be nice or noticed that the heat was starting to get to us but he offered to take us somewhere to cool down where we could still watch the race. And so we went with him. There is no way that I can possibly say where he took us but it's the last place I ever expected in a million years to watch part of a race from. After we left that place our contact arranged for us to be able to use a lounge whenever we wanted for the rest of the afternoon to cool down, or get something to eat or drink. The funny thing is that the lounge was really empty and the staff was obviously anxious for people to talk to. They kept trying to shove food at us and chat with us about various things. Very nice people but that is true of just about everyone we interacted with all weekend. Needless to say without the kindess of our contact I'm not sure I would have made it through the entire race without passing out so I am very appreciative to him for taking pity on us and helping us cool down.

After spending some time in the lounge we went back on pit road where we walked around a bit then mostly hung out near Michael's pit. Like I said I had no idea what was going on the majority of the race. Unless one of the cars in a pit near us had problems, and a few did, it was hard to know what was going on with any individual drivers. At one point Michael slid through his pit right into Travis Kvapil's pit - that was impossible to miss. Though he had to get backed up before his crew could go to work it didn't seem like it hurt them too much at that point in the race. At one point I did know that Michael was running in fourth place and I got very excited thinking he might have a chance to win. One of the few things that I did know during the race based on the bits and pieces I was able to manage to hear on the scanner was that Michael had a good car that ran towards the front most of the day in spite of him having to start from the back. I was certain he was going to get a top ten at least... only that was not to be.

The last pit stop was obviously an important one for the #15 group and they seemed to nail it. So I was feeling pretty good for Michael. Unfortunately for me, Jim was determined that we were going to leave to miss some of the post-race traffic. Of course I wanted to stay to the bitter end but Jim was insistant. If I thought Michael was going to win I would have put my foot down but since I figured he was probably going to end up with a good finish but not a win reluctantly I agreed to leave with about 25 laps to go. We profusely thanked our contact and made the trek back to the car, me wishing that I wasn't leaving, Jim probably saying "finally!"

Leaving ended up being a very good thing. Because it wasn't too much longer before Greg Biffle got into Michael when he was in eighth place and sent him into the wall. I probably would have burst into tears or did something equally embarassing had I been there in person when he wrecked. Michael's crew got him back onto the track... and he promptly wrecked again. I have no idea why he went back on the track - he said on INC that he would have finished 26th regardless but maybe they felt that they could lose positions if they didn't go back out. I really felt horrible for Michael because I know how much he likes racing at Pocono and how high his expectations probably were coming into the weekend. And he should have had a great finish, only bad luck bit him once more. Poor Michael, I really want a stretch of good luck for him, hopefully with at least one win in there.

Traffic wasn't too terrible getting out of the track and though we encountered some slow downs on the way home it actually wasn't as bad as I had thought it might be considering all the horror stories I had heard. Perhaps that was because we left early or maybe we just got lucky. What I do know is that it was an absolutely awesome and outstanding weekend! I don't know when the next race I'll go to will be and I might never get another hot pass ever again so I made the most of every second I was at Pocono. Truly a great experience!