the love of NASCAR...

Living in Charlotte and working near Mooresville (aka Race City), I've heard about NASCAR much more than I ever did in Tennessee. I had never sat down to watch a race, and only knew a few of the names of the drivers from Sportscenter and the news. Well, this weekend was the big Coca-Cola 600. This is the longest race of the year and is held each May at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord on the outskirts of Charlotte. If you are unfamiliar with NASCAR, this is a major economy boost for the area and a very popular sports event nationally (LMS holds almost 200,000 people with seats for over 160,000). Our city is transformed into a hub for racing fans who come to the area for Memorial Day weekend to enjoy the race.

Yesterday, my friend Nick had an extra ticket and asked me to go to the race. So I did. Why not? It will be a great one-time experience. I was a little skeptical...5 hours watching cars go around a track? Breathing in second-hand smoke and burnt rubber? Hanging out with drunk rednecks? Doesn't sound very exciting, and I know little to nothing about this sport. But I picked a few drivers to cheer for...Greg Biffle because he was number 16 (my all-time favorite sports number), Kasey Kahne because he's cute and I had seen him alot in the news, and Ryan Newman because Newman is my mom's maiden name. And guess what...Kasey won and Biffle was 2nd place!!! It was a very exciting race in the last 20 laps, and I really got into it as Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne fought it out. The weather was beautiful, fair food was good, and I had fun people around me. As Nick would say, "I thoroughly enjoyed it."

So here's to NASCAR...good times!