Meet and Greet

Thursday we met our Make a Wish coordinator. I would call Amy a steel magnolia. She is a southern woman of great presence and determination. She has been doing Make a Wish for 11 years. She is one of the national coordinators, traveling all over the country planning down to the finest detail each child's wish. She wants what she wants and wont take no for an answer.

She was going for a college degree and started volunteering for make a wish. When this position as regional coordinator came open she quit school and moved in with her parents for a while since non profit pays squat. She does make some money now as her position is a payed position. But it is definitely a life choice working in a non profit.

She met us after breakfast with our itinerary. She also wanted to check our questions and our appearance. We were being vetted. A driver can't have pictures taken if another sponsor is in the picture. Amy wanted to check our outfits to make sure there was no conflict of interest. She loved the clothes, no conflicts. She also wanted to check the questions that Riley was going to ask and help come up with questions if Riley didn't have any.

When meeting a complete stranger and a celebrity at that. It helps to have some conversation points to discuss. But none of the questions could be controversial, not that we had any. Tom was going to ask when Dale was ever going to win a race again. But we all booed him.

After Amy left saying she would meet us at 2:45 at gate 2 to escort us into the inner circle of the track, we went to reconnoiter the area. Tom wanted to scope everything out. We headed to the track. The track itself was not open yet when we got there, but the vendors were open and looking for business. Riley bought a Dale Jr camouflage jacket. Tom got us all hats for our drivers. He wanted me to pick a driver but I don't feel strongly about any of them. It would be hard for me to root for anyone other than Junior as he was meeting my son.

I do like Tony Stewart who is #14 now , driving the Old Spice car. Joey Lagano is the rookie that took over his ride in 20 for Home Depot. I like the Home Depot. I like the sponsors, and appreciate the money they spend on racing to get their advertising out there. The sport is a terrific blend of American business and sportsmanship.

We met Amy at the designated time. She took us in on a golf cart. We went in a tunnel under the tracks and up the other side. In the middle are crammed into a confined space, RVs and the garages of the racers. It was controled caose. We were taken to an RV where the media sometimes interviews drivers. It was right next to the track where the cars exit to the garages. We could see the drivers practicing twenty feet away. The noise was intense. I had ear plugs in most of the time. Inside the RV the sound was muted slightly, but the air conditioning was blaring and the place cold.

Cream Tiles covered the floors. A leather sectional with built in recliner was on one wall. Trevor immediately found the recliner buttons and thought that was way cool. On the other wall was a small kitchen area with granite counters. Water and pop were available in the refridgerator. You could own this RV for a mere $296,000.

Tom and Riley sat in the captains chairs trying to catch pitures of the cars wizzing by in front of them with Tom's cell phone and Riley's camera and cell phone. By the time you click the car is no longer in the frame. You almost need to click before they are in the picture, going 190 miles an hour.

Dale lives about 45 minutes away from this track if you were to drive. He flew. A helicopter picked him up at home and brought him in 10 minutes. He wore blue jeans and a green 88 t-shirt. A spare shirt was draped over his shoulder. He was very relaxed and casual. He made the whole event seem really relaxed. Riley was shivering from the air conditioning, but handled himself with poise. I could tell he really felt on the spot. Meeting a person you see in commercials and interviewed on TV puts a lot of pressure on to perform. Riley stood up to the task.

Amy choriographed the seating arrangements. I was so out of my element, I opted for the chair furthest away and let Tom sit on the couch with the boys. Tom was thrilled. Trevor had been instructed by his father to sit quietly which he was content to do. Riley told them he would give them the opportunity to ask questions at some point.

The list of questions were in Riley's hands.
Riley wanted to know if Dale Jr ever worked on the cars himself. He wanted to know what he did in his personal time. Turns out Dale is a hunter. He hunts up in Montana upon occasion.

Riley wanted to know why the number change to 88. The sponsors own the numbers so change sponsors change numbers.

What is your favorite football team both college and Pro. I can't even remember the answers as I found it so not interesting.

What inspired you to race. His Dad

Do you watch reruns of the race. He has them on file, but usually not

Do you choose the color schemes on the cars. Yes, Dale designs the whole look, "wouldn't want it to look too girly"

Then Riley started winging it off the the top of his head

Why did you grow your beard. "Because I could" Dale says as he runs his hands over the scruff. We laugh as Riley fondles his own scruffy mustach with a grin.
What do you do when you have to pee during the race? Well its 120 degrees in the car so you sweat a lot and really don't need to go pee. But if you ever do, you just got to go. The race wont stop for you.
A fan blows air from outside onto the driver's neck and the lower back to help cool him off a little.

It was a good twenty minutes or so that Dale spent with us. Amy had explained his days are booked down to the minute. He was very personable and friendly. We did not feel rushed or under pressure. We were his 211th make a wish child.
We shook hands and everyone left. Dale to go to his garage and check on the car and we to go back to the outer world to watch the race qualifying from a distance. It was a lovely day. Riley did really well. He made us proud.

Jeff Gordon won the pole so Tom was happy. He set the boys up with radios and head sets so we could listen to the drivers talking to their pit crews. It was one of the things he did while we where checking out the vendors earlier. I needed the head set to drown out the noise noise noise of monster engines. I even had my ear plugs on underneath the head sets because the head sets were not enough. One channel has commentary going so at least I could follow along on what was happening.

We headed back to the hotel to find dinner after qualifying. Amy told us that the Texas Roadhouse across from our hotel would treat well if we wanted to go there. Ask for the manager Kevin. Well kevin was really friendly. Tom and he hit it off like they had known each other for years. Kevin is in a fantasy football club just like Tom. They literally spent hours discussing the topic. The restaurant was closed by the time we left and walked back to the hotel. The boys had gone back hours earlier to watch TV.

The night before we had gone to the Applebees down the road as it was the only resaurant open after ten Wednesday night. The waiter there had been really friendly also. He had played some football in college. The clerk at Walmart wanted to know about our Make a Wish buttons. When we explained the program she jokingly wanted to know if we could set her up to meet Oprah or Bionce. Riley said everyone was so friendly here in the south. Its true, we were treated like honored guests where ever we went.

One of the vendors on Thursday recognized me from Applebees the day before. He said it was the Make a Wish buttons that identified us. He wished us well.

Friday was the Nationwide race. Attendance was down 63%. We had VIP parking really close to the track with easy access. I loved the convenience. We were traveling with sweatshirts and head sets having the car close by allowed us to leave stuff in the car and come back for it later. The crowds were not nearly as huge as I had been lead to believe, but I think that might have been due to low attendence. I spent a lot of time getting food or browsing the vendors. I don't like the crashes, and watching cars drive fast is fascinating only for so long. My boys loved it though, and that is what counts.

I did get caught up in the crowds arriving close to race time. Open containers of beer were common. People were out to have a good time, as were we.

I still can't quite get over the noise. half the audience did not even have ear plugs. I could barely stand it muffled with earplugs and a good head set on top of that. That radio system was worth every penny. It was the only thing that kept me tuned in. I found the security band signal and listened to the orders for special pick ups of wheelchairs or crutches or go change a blown light or police needed for a fight. That was entertaining.

Dale likes to talk to his pit crew so I would periodicaly tune in to his station 88. Tom had preprogrammed in all the drivers so you just had to punch their numbers in and their band would come up. Some drivers don't talk much though. Tune in when they start to pit and you can hear them discussing how many tires to take or air pressure adjustments. You can also hear them cuss out Nascar when they get flagged for speeding

Nascar will throw cautions for debri on the track as it can get up on the engine intakes and overheat the engines by not allowing air flow. Some times they just say that and throw a caution to make the races more interesting. A restart is very exciting and often has accidents, where when the cars are spread out on the track they are less likely to spin out and bump.

I don't like the crashing though. Seeing an out of control car going 180 mile an hour, is just too scary. I understand the appeal. People that watch rodeo bloopers and extreme sports probably like watching for the crashes. I like the symphony and my hearing. But I think my boys liked it and that is all that counts for this weekend.