February 12, 2012
By Kim Roberson
Kim Roberson
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It always amazes me how short the NASCAR off-season is.
It seems like just a few weeks ago when we were watching Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart battle for the Championship, and yet here we are, the final off weekend before we get back on track for 2012.
As I have been making my list (but haven’t started checking it twice -- yet) for my annual drive down to the Sunshine State, I wonder if anyone else feels as excited as I do to get this season started?
Even the most seasoned members of the NASCAR media have been posting and tweeting about their last minute preparations -- running errands to make sure they are prepared to spend the next two weeks -- and next nine months -- chasing teams across the country for the 2012 season.
As I check my camping gear for the four days I’ll be spending with old and new friends in Turn 3, I think about how much I am looking forward to crawling out of my tent to the sound of early morning at the track: people who didn’t stay up all night stirring, getting their camp fires going to start breakfast or just warm up, hearing engines firing in the garages in the distance as teams get their day started as well.
One of my favorite sights is to sit with a morning beverage and watch the sun rise over the Turn 3 wall. It is hard to explain how awesome it is to watch dawn break over not just a new day, but a new season. Many fans have trekked, not just from around the state of Florida, but from across the country.
Some have been coming for years, others will be experiencing the thrill for the first time. I know a few I have read or heard talking about the fact that this year they will be making the Daytona 500 their first ever “in-person” race.
It is ironic to me, a native Floridian (I was born in raised in a small town called Tequesta -- two square miles of South Florida sunshine -- and hurricanes) that I never once went to a Daytona race while I lived there. I drove past Daytona heading north, but at the time, I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to go to a race of any kind.
Even for the three years I lived in North Carolina, I couldn’t quite grasp the whole NASCAR thing -- much to the chagrin of my co-workers. It wasn’t until eight years ago that the racing bug bit me, and in 2005, I made it a goal to go to Daytona for a race.
My sister and I packed up her Jeep and drove down, staying at a hotel about half an hour north of the track. I remember the morning of the 500, we were up and out the door before dawn, portable grill and food in the back ready to tailgate once we were parked. (I was suffering from a bout of food poisoning from the night before, but I wasn’t going to let that interfere with my first Daytona experience!) One of the nice things about Daytona is they not only have a ton of free parking, they have a good shuttle service to and from the parking lots, so once we finished our breakfast, we hopped the shuttle to the track.
As we walked from where we were dropped off, surrounded by our fellow fans, I can still see my first impression of the midway and all of the fans, decked out in their hats and shirts and jackets, many looking much like I assume we did -- slightly awe-struck at being AT Daytona International Speedway for the very first time. We had been to Richmond International Raceway the year before for our very first in-person race, but there is something about Daytona, and knowing it as the “birthplace of NASCAR” that makes just being there, extra special.
Now that I have had the chance to experience Daytona in person half a dozen times, I realize that the excitement of going to this first race of the year never really diminishes. You might think that going to the same track and seeing many of the same people might become a bit redundant, but it doesn’t. Maybe it is because when you go to that first race of the season, it is like starting all over with a clean slate.
Yes, many of the driver’s faces are the same, and you always know that the Hendrick Motorsports (HMS), Roush-Fenway Racing (RFR), Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), and Richard Childress Racing (RCR) teams will be there and ready to run strong. But you also know that you really *don’t* know what the season will provide you with.
We proved last year that no single driver is a dominant force any longer, nor is any one single team. The little guy can become the big guy just as quickly as the big guy can fall by the wayside. With so many new combinations of drivers and teams, you really don’t know what to expect, except you know the racing will be good, although maybe not always exciting for every minute they are on the track.
It is time to dig out your favorite drivers’ gear and throw it in the laundry for a good wash before you put it on to cheer the race, either from home, your favorite watering hole, or in person at the track.
Here’s hoping that little spark that brought you to NASCAR that very first time is tingling somewhere deep within your soul, ready to ignite with the first sound of the engines as they fire up this week at the “World Center of Racing”. Here is wishing the best to you and your driver as they begin a nine-month run towards the 2012 Championship.
Here’s to NASCAR. I’m so very glad I am a fan.
Follow Kim on Twitter: @ksrgatorfn
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