Daytona 500

[a_d_a_m]

I'm about to head out...anyone else going?

Look for a fat guy in a filthy Grand Marquis on steelies with Ohio plates on the roads, or slugging beers in section 412 (I think? Dunno, tickets are buried in the car somewhere) near pit road, about halfway up.

Go 21/22/2...and Ford in general.

[tobiasg1995]

I'm about to head out...anyone else going?

Look for a fat guy in a filthy Grand Marquis on steelies with Ohio plates on the roads, or slugging beers in section 412 (I think? Dunno, tickets are buried in the car somewhere) near pit road, about halfway up.

Go 21/22/2...and Ford in general.

Nope but honk as you go by Vandalia at the I-70 I-75 interchange

There is no off position on my genius switch.

[MMBLUE]

Good luck and have fun. I've been to about 17 500's and 12 400's

Still not sure I'm going to make this year. Interest level is below the basement. It'll be a last minute call for me.

[lji372]

I'm about to head out...anyone else going?

Look for a fat guy in a filthy Grand Marquis on steelies with Ohio plates on the roads, or slugging beers in section 412 (I think? Dunno, tickets are buried in the car somewhere) near pit road, about halfway up.

Go 21/22/2...and Ford in general.

daytona envy over here.

on my bucket list........

[MMBLUE]

After researching Tix online last night NO WAY I'm I going. NA$CAR is nuts if they think I'm paying 95 bucks each for a ticket.

And, they wonder why attendance has fallen significantly of the past few years.

[a_d_a_m]

What an experience. I'd been to Michigan, Charlotte, Martinsville, Bristol, Darlington, Texas, Richmond, and Talladega before. Daytona was by far the best at track experience out of any of them. Comfiest seats, best vantage points...and you have to love how good those Fords looked out there. Not so much a fan of the long walk + bus ride from Lot 7 to the track and back, and would consider paying the $55 for preferred parking next to the track next time.

On the way down, we hit the NASCAR HOF. It was pretty neat, but sort of a one time visit...at least for the next few years anyway.

On the way back from the track, we stopped at Wood Brothers' new shop in Mooresville, NC (they were closed though). Then we went to Penske Racing (who share a tech alliance with WBR). I MET RYAN BLANEY, the guy who finished 2nd in the Daytona 500 the day before. He autographed my hat and we talked for about 5 minutes as nobody else was at the shop, fan-wise.

We drove straight through on the way back, and including the stop at Penske, it was a 15hr drive from Florida to Cleveland.

Anyway, I took a few pics. Here they are...

Petty's Plymouth:


Wendell Scott's Galaxie:


David Pearson's Cotton Owens-prepped Charger:


Bobby Allison's Bud Moore-prepped T-bird:


The best ever. Davey Allison and Robert Yates had some magic in this car.


Neil Bonnett's Wood Brothers-prepped T-bird:


Mr. September aka Harry Gant's Olds:


Back in '80s, they were way closer to stock.

[a_d_a_m]

We stayed in Palatka along the St. John River. This was my view on Sunday morning:


As a long-time Dale Jarrett fan, this was equal parts cool and sad:


Now let's look at some Fords that were really fast at Daytona (well, until one of them got wrecked)...






Penske's shop is incredible. They have a 'fan walk' where you can look over the cars as they are being prepped.


As I said before, Penske and Wood Bros. have a technical alliance and most of the #21 is Penske-prepped.


We were up on the fan walk and I saw Brad Keselowski walking out. A few minutes later, I noticed #21 driver (and D500 near-winner) Ryan Blaney sitting on a workbench talking to a few people. Of course I was rude and called down to him "Hey, Ryan! Will you sign this?" as I held up my WBR #21 hat. He said he'd meet me downstairs, so I came down and snagged a silver Sharpie from the clerk at the front desk...


As you can see, the silver didn't come out that well, but whatever. Blaney was completely down to earth and we talked for about five minutes before I figured I'd worn my welcome out and thanked him for his time.

On the way back, I tried to stop at a Love's for gas and saw a rollover:


Florida to Cleveland took 15hrs, including a roadside stop after the aforementioned fillup to investigate why the car wasn't shifting into OD. Never did figure it out and it was fixed by turning the car off and back on.

[Mr. Man]

Great pics. Always amazed at how clean the NASCAR shops are.

[Bluerauder]

During MV8 (September 2010), the Marauder group visited the NASCAR Hall of Fame and a couple of the shops around Charlotte. Several members visited the Wood Brother's shop. One of the highlights was making laps on the high banks of Charlotte Motor Speedway (CMS) in groups of 10 Marauders.

Very nice pics !! Thanks.

[a_d_a_m]

Great pics. Always amazed at how clean the NASCAR shops are.

Many years ago, I had the opportunity to meet Robert Yates for the first of what would be several times. He was, to my observation, on the cutting edge of cleanliness in the NASCAR shops. This was in the days where you still had some single-car outfits, or owner/drivers going on. Roush and Penske were in smaller buildings and they were definitely cleaner than your average car dealership, but you knew and smelled that they did mechanical work in there. In contrast, RYR was the first NASCAR shop that I remember thinking was cleaner than my mom's house (and my mom is OCD about cleanliness).

[Catfish]

Daytona is a blast. Glad you enjoyed the 500. We went to the truck race on Friday. I highly recommend it if you come back down. Cheap tickets, half the people, and short lines, if any, at the vendor exhibits. Plus you'll see the "real" NASCAR fans at the truck race. Grow a mullet and wear a tank top and you'll fit right in.

[Mr. Man]

Daytona is a blast. Glad you enjoyed the 500. We went to the truck race on Friday. I highly recommend it if you come back down. Cheap tickets, half the people, and short lines, if any, at the vendor exhibits. Plus you'll see the "real" NASCAR fans at the truck race. Grow a mullet and wear a tank top and you'll fit right in.

Truck races are a blast to watch. These guys are all about checkers or wreckers.