The Batteries Have Been Recharged.

By Mark Young

As many of you read last week I went to the Michigan International Speedway for the race and as an added bonus I was able to obtain Media Credentials for myself and my wife (who took over 300 pictures) to spend Friday walking the garage area looking like tourists in Vegas.  Now I haven't shared this with anyone until now but over the past month or two I was getting burned out on NASCAR.  No real stories or rivalries caught my attention and watching the races on TV was starting to down right piss me off with poor coverage of anything but the big money teams and trying to create controversy.  But after spending two days at the track without any influence of the TV people I can honestly say my batteries are recharged and have found the passion I had lost some of for NASCAR racing.

Friday was an entirely new situation for me because other than this blog and writing weekly articles for my hometown paper I have never actually been to a race as a journalist and to say I was a little nervous was an understatement.  Where do we go and where do we not go?  Can we just walk up to a driver and start talking to him?  Thankfully my blog brother Mike Harper and the boss man Bob Henry gave me pointers and suggestions that really helped.

During the first Nextel Cup practice session Mike Harper took us up on the roof of the media center and man was that a great place to see action.  The wife got great photos of cars and after several dozen shots actually got the entire car in the photo! (Try taking a photo of a moving car going 190+, it isn't easy)  We also walked up and down pit road and observed the fans as they sat along pit wall waiting to catch a glimpse up close of their favorite car, and seeing grown men and women get excited at the sight of their car roll past them was great.

In my newspaper articles I do a segment that highlights Newman, Stremme, and Raines as they all hail from towns very close to me.  Once I learned that I was going to get the opportunity to be at the track with garage access I contacted David Stremme's PR people and asked to interview him.  To say that I was excited to hear my request had been granted was an understatement.  David cut his teeth on the short tracks around me and once I started asking questions about home I had his attention.  I enjoyed talking about his rookie season and the troubles he has had as well as the momentum they feel is increasing.  Who would have figured after that interview he would go out and lap the field in an ARCA car owned by Rusty.  I want to thank him for allowing me the opportunity to talk racing with one of my local heroes, good times are just around the bend.

I too saw the young man with the autographed shirt that Mike Harper wrote about and words can't explain the excitement in his eyes and on his face that day.  I felt the same excitement he did after talking with Stremme and can only imagine how pumped the guy was to finally meet his hero and get his autograph.

Sunday was a day to be a fan and at 4 AM we loaded the van and hit the road with three NASCAR newbies on board.  One of them was my friend Vinki who is in the country for a year on a work Visa from India.  Let's just say drinking beer at 7:30 AM and not stopping until well into the afternoon took its toll on my little foreign friend.  Keith called me first thing and we toasted a day of tailgating and racing, wish you could have made the trip buddy.  The anticipation in the air surrounding this race felt different than previous years and I think it was because of the imminent weather.  My adrenaline was at its peak with the fly-by of F-16's and their "buzzing the tower" after the initial pass and it didn't go down until the rain started falling.  I had a great time talking to my neighbors sitting next to me from Kalamazoo as well as exchanging favorite driver barbs with the Canadian Connection seated behind us.  Got asked lots of questions about the site (it helps when everyone in my group had TR.com T-Shirts) and I hope some of them stop by to visit.

I know many of you have been to races and seen the things I just explained but I couldn't help but write about my experiences.  You see the sport has grown leaps and bounds with the advent of satellite TV and the Internet we now can get as much NASCAR as we want but one thing the media can't replace is the energy you get from actually being at the track.  The sights, sounds and smells of being in the stands are what really makes it all come to life and I feel born again and cannot wait for the next opportunity to go to the races and maybe even have another chance to walk the garage.