We were a little late getting to the track. Since Winston Cup practice wasn't scheduled to start until 9:30 AM, we figured we had plenty of time. The garage was already open and the teams were hard at work when we arrived. It was already sprinkling a bit when we arrived, but I didn't really want to get my rain poncho out. I knew that if I ever pulled it out of the little pouch I had stuffed it into, I'd never get it back inside.
We made our way back to the Texas Rib Rangers Café in the infield where I got a sausage biscuit and some coffee. It wasn't nearly as good as the one Mom bought at the McDonalds on the way to the track. I was wishing we'd parked by Gate 4 so I could get one of those breakfast sandwiches I got the day before.
Cup practice was canceled due to the rain, so we just hung around in the garage all day. The security guards were beginning to recognize us and would frequently let us pass without checking our credentials. Even some of the crews were beginning to recognize us. Since Mom had been hanging around Rusty's stall all weekend, Earl Barbin (Rusty's spotter) wanted to get her attention. He threw a wad of paper at her, and then said, "I didn't mean to hit you. I was just throwing it at you." He started talking to her after that. At one point, he handed her a handful of lug nuts that had come off Rusty's car. Several of the crews for both Rusty and Ryan Newman had asked her to hold brooms, rag can lids, and even tool box doors while they hunted for something. Earl even came over once to tell her he liked her hat and ask if she'd make him one.
After Mom got the lug nuts, I decided to look around and see what I could find. I found various nuts in both the #9 and the #25 stalls which had been kicked over to the trash pile. Somehow, with all the bending and squatting, I must have worked the knob on my headphones loose, because later in the day, I noticed it was gone, and the earpiece was dangling from the headset by the wires.
For lunch, I bought a fajita at a little stand outside the garage, and Mom got a quesadilla. They were really good, but the fajita was too small and Mom said the quesadilla was too big, so she gave me the rest of hers.
In the packet of info we got from Mark's connection, we were instructed to call one of the Home Depot people to get a tour. We had called her on Friday (as instructed), but she instructed us to call back on Saturday. I called all morning using the pay phone in the garage, charging the calls to my credit card. I'm afraid to know how much it cost, as I called every hour on the hour until mid-afternoon. When I finally got her to answer her cell phone, she stated basically that everything was closed due to the rain and that our credentials would allow us to see just about everything that was open anyway. I was a little disappointed. We were hoping for a tour of the hauler or something, but after watching several of the sponsor tours throughout the weekend, we decided that we had already seen more on our own than they would be able to show us.
Tour monologue:
(In the pits prior to the Busch race) "You can see here that
the teams are ready to race. These are their gas cans, which are
filled and ready for the first pit stop. Each gas can holds 22
gallons of gas. Each car gets about 5 miles to the gallon...."
Give me a break!
The autographs we got on Saturday were Jeremy Mayfield, Mike Helton, and Jason Keller (Busch).
When we spotted Mike Helton, we were a little hesitant to ask for his autograph. We found him to be very friendly and not at all the intimidating figure in black that we've always thought him to be.
Me: I hope we're not bugging
you.
Helton: You guys are why we're here.
Me: Well, you guys sure put on a good show.
Helton: We sure try.
You decide: Are we shy, polite, or just stupid? There were tons of autograph opportunities, but we never even asked. I really wanted Dale Jr.'s, but I couldn't make myself just go up and ask. Here's a few that we missed.
Sometime in the afternoon, while scavenging for nuts and bolts, I found a penny. Then I found another. The pennies I'd found on the previous days had brought us really good luck with parking and such (yes, I am superstitious), so when I found the second, I offered it to a guy on Dale Jr.'s crew. He smiled and said thanks, then put it in the team's toolbox. (I guess the luck wasn't good enough to last through the rain delay.)
We left shortly after the Busch race started. On our way out, we walked by a pile of debris that apparently had come off one of the cars that wrecked during qualifying the day before (Robby Gordon or Frank Kimmel). We checked to make sure no one was looking before we found some pieces worth keeping and stuck them in our pockets. Three young boys (maybe 12-13 years old) were sticking their hands through the garage fence, begging us to bring them some pieces of the car. How could we say no? After all, we've been in their shoes -- stuck outside the fence, wishing someone would bring us a little piece of something cool. So we brought them each a piece, and the joy on their faces was indescribable.
Going home was a breeze, again. I never thought I could be so tired. My feet were killing me, and all I could think about was sleep. Of course, I couldn't really sleep--all I could think about was going back again tomorrow!