NASCAR: Part 3

So on to the good stuff. The race! The coolest thing about NASCAR is that they let you bring in your own cooler to the race. Not only does this save you a ton of money, but it also allows you to bring in all your organic dried prunes that aren't always available at the stadium. After entering the stadium we went up to our $43 seats. Third row up around the first corner.  

Lowe's Motor Speedway - Nikon D300 w/ Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8

Soon Jessica Simpson began singing the national anthem and the cars started up their overly loud engines.  Vroom! Soon we were washed by a wave of rubber and exhaust. Suddenly it was all worth it. You miss out on the small details like this by watching it on TV. This is why you need to experience things like this in person.

View from our seats

Opening fireworks

Beginning Lap

The rush was incredible, cars zipping by just 10 feet away at over 200mph. I was glad I brought my earplugs. I walked to the top of the stadium to get some better pictures and save my camera from the rubber thunderstorm. 

The lucky people at the top

View from the top

Wooohoooooo

Let me tell you about how hard it is to watch a NASCAR race. I had no clue what was going on the entire time. First of all the cars are going so fast that you can barely read the numbers off them. All you see is blurs of multicolored light fly past you. I'm glad my camera has a faster shutter speed than my eye because this is what it looks like live.

Just a blur: What it looks like in real life

Vroom

Second you can't really hear anything, or see much either (thanks to the waves of rubber). I'm glad I had my camera with me so I could get a few glimpses of what went on that night. I didn't even know the race was over until everyone got up and started to leave!

Cars going 200mph at night are hard to photograph

Here is one of the great things about owning a big camera. It gets you places you wouldn't be able to normally get. After wandering around for the better part of an hour, we somehow found ourselves on the very top. Evidently, the security gaurds though I was from the press and let me and my friend into one of the box suites. 

This is the way to watch a race

Much better up here, air conditioning, free cheesecake, no earplugs needed, free drinks, spinach dip, complimentary race magazines and other goodies. Needless to say I spent a good portion of the rest of the race up here, enjoying my comfortable chair and perfect view.  

Rob enjoying some cheesecake

Overall I think a live NASCAR race is something that needs to be done at least once in your life. It's a very unique experience that will last in your memory for a long time (and you will have rubber in your ears for days). My tip though: Rent a big camera, walk like you have a purpose, and you will thank me when your in the box seats!

Finish