CAROLINA NASCAR BOY HEADING TO INDIANAPOLIS

I call Mooresville, North Carolina home. It is a nice community about twenty miles north of Charlotte. Lake Norman stretches is hundreds of water fingers into the region’s shoreline, which encompasses several towns and counties.

Multiple professional NASCAR teams have anchored their base of operations within a fifty-mile radius. Mooresville’s nickname, “Race City U.S.A.”, is derived from the hundreds of auto racing related businesses and the thousands of residents that call this town home.

“Race City U.S.A.” has marketed itself well, drawing thousands of race fan tourists every year. The height of that migration is during the NASCAR events held in Concord at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The autumn weekend in October brings plenty of racing faithful. The two weekends in May bring more.

The three-week stretch of the Darlington race events and then two consecutive weekends of action in Concord, greatly improve the Carolina economy. Race fans flock to watch racecars compete, and then vacation by viewing the shops where those same racecars are built.

It is a time period where the local residents better plan in advance if they have to run to the store or pick up a student after school. Traffic is, how you say, challenging.

Tourism for our local NASCAR teams is in effect year round. The week in which the All Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600 bookend is unequivocally this busiest of the year. Hotels are filled and restaurants are busy. There is always a gathering, a fundraiser, and activities being held.

There is a lot of excitement and anticipation for everyone in the area. And I am… leaving town.

I live year round in the heart of NASCAR. Racing shops and related companies are commonplace. It is nothing to run into Kasey Kahne at a Starbucks or Todd Bodine in Lowe’s. But this weekend is also home of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing”, The Indianapolis 500.

For most of my life the Indy 500 was something I always wanted to see. I grew up a race fan with stock cars earning most of my attention. However I always marveled at the forms of racing I never got to see. Indy style cars fall into that category.

This will be my second trip to see the 500. My first viewing was the 2007 edition, which saw Dario Franchitti score a popular win in the rain-shortened chase. I had always spoken of going someday and my wife took notice how I sat on the edge of our couch in 2006 when Sam Hornish nosed ahead of Marco Andretti at the finish line. Later in the year, my Christmas stocking had a pair of ‘500’ tickets in it.

Much like Daytona’s February Speedweeks, part of the fun for me is viewing the short track satellite events in the Indianapolis area. One particular race on my “hit list” is the fifty-fifth annual Hoosier Hundred being held at the Indiana State Fairgrounds this Friday evening.

The United States Auto Club Silver Crown Series race is a 100 lap race on the one mile dirt surface. I tried to go during my 2007 visit but was greeted by a severe thunderstorm in the Fairgrounds parking lot.

The race’s winners list reads like an auto racing hall of fame. A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Al Unser, Parnelli Jones, Jimmy Bryan, Rodger Ward, and Jack Hewitt are just a taste of the legendary names that have crossed under the checkered flag first in previous years.

Current NASCAR competitors Jason Leffler and J.J. Yeley can also claim a winner’s trophy in the century grind event.

As an aside, since the Josh Wise win in 2006 the event has not been held. Mother Nature has forced postponement the previous two years and was not rescheduled. I am not sure who is more excited to see the green flag wave in this one, USAC, The Fairgrounds management, or me.

Saturday evening I am anticipating my first ever visit to O’Reilly Raceway Park for the annual “Night Before the 500” featuring the USAC Midgets. In all my years of traveling working on race teams this is one track I have never been to.

Working in NASCAR I have been to nearly every venue on the Cup, Nationwide, and Truck Series tours. This one however has slipped by. When employed as a mechanic for Germain Racing’s Nationwide program, I was a “guy back at the shop” that the drivers always thank during interviews. So when the team was racing there, I was back in North Carolina helping prepare cars for the following race.

I have been to the Little 500, which makes a nice Saturday option. The Anderson, Indiana paved quarter-mile oval features thirty-three sprint cars starting three across, in eleven rows, racing for 500 laps, complete with infield pitting. It is another Midwest event steeped in tradition that is a great race to experience. This year, however, I am aiming for my ORP goal.

Sunday’s 500 is a race I recommend every type of race fan sees in person in their life. The pre race pageantry is second to none. The reason for Memorial Day is truly felt with the honoring of our nation’s military, past and present, The playing of “Taps”, a stunning military flyover, Jim Nabors singing “Back Home Again in Indiana”, and the firing of the engines.

Race morning ceremonies are usually grand and well done in NASCAR, my usual beat. But there is something about The Brickyard that makes everyone appreciate motorsports history in general.

The race itself is then on its own, like the Coca-Cola 600 held on the same day. We could all see a classic, thrilling contest, or a snoozer. Which is really no different than any sporting event. We are excited for it to start, and then once it is underway, anything can happen. I can only hope for an Indy barnburner to maybe match 1982, 1992, or 2006.

Whether you root for Danica Patrick, Mark Martin, or Mike Skinner I could almost guarantee you would be enamored of Indianapolis by the time the checkered flag falls Sunday afternoon.

I will return to the Charlotte area; to the place I call home. NASCAR will surround me for the other 51 weekends this year. And I am glad. It is a great place to live.
But for the moment I am eagerly anticipating how the “other half” and that “other race” goes on this weekend, their brightest stage.