Off To The Races

So it looks like we have come full circle.  

Actually full oval, in honor of today's post.  

We have come full "oval" because this is Tyler making this post and I was the original author of this blog until Amanda took over.  Unfortunately Amanda has abandoned us in favor of her food blogs. Boooooo.  So now it is back to me.

Today I took Calvin to our first NASCAR race.  It was the Nationwide Series race at the track here in Fontana.  It is only about 15 minutes from our place and it has been on my radar since we found out we would be living in California.  Amanda and I have previously attended a race way back in the day.  While I was going to Tech school for the Air Force we lived in Texas.  So we went to a race there back in 2001.  I remember being blown away by how fast the cars are actually going.  I had a blast then and I was excited to go again, this time with my buddy Calvin.

The first thing we did was walk around all the vendors and check things out.  

There were plenty of photo ops for Calvin.

He didn't want to get out of this one.

I figured I would get in on the pictures too.

  

Wow, that mustache fits in nicely with the NASCAR theme.

Then we got to watch the motocross stunt guys do some amazing tricks on their bikes.  You really get a sense of how dangerous it is when you are actually there.  These guys are crazy.

When we got hungry we walked right into this gem. 

 It is a diesel that converts to a giant grill.  When you come up on something like that you can't not eat there.  I got a giant cheeseburger and Calvin got a huge Turkey leg.

Finally we went in to watch the race.  I knew coming in that the noise was going to be an issue for Calvin.  He has very sensitive ears.  Problem solved.

The race was exciting.  Those cars are as cool as I remember them.  The best part is during the start of the race and all of the restarts after a caution flag.  When all 40 cars floor it at once and get going 170mph, it is awesome.  We didn't make it the whole race.  Just past halfway actually.  Calvin was tired and I was ok leaving early because we had a really fun day and seeing who won the race wasn't even half as important as hanging with my buddy at the races.  I hope we can do it many more times.  I've actually been thinking that he should be a race car driver some day.  (Pending Amanda's approval).