My Boy's Taking me to Daytona 500!!!!

[Tail_Gunner]

Well, I made it to Nashville. There isn't anything quite like being 6'2" and having to cram yourself into airplane seats that are a squeeze for somebody that's 5'10". Both my bags made it too so the trip is off to a good start.

 

[powerboatr]

at the rate they ar DQing crew chiefs, sundays race could see some unknown team in the forefront
have a great adventure, we wil be looking for you on the tele

 

[02SilverStroke]

TG, you're gonna have the time of your life!!! I've never been to Daytona, but have been at Texas Motor Speedway a few times. We were sitting in Row 3 Section 401 at the 1998 Busch race when Dale, Jr won his first NASCAR race. Seeing those cars passing a few feet in front of you going at least 140-150 mph (Busch cars of course are slower than Cup cars) will give you quite a "buzz". The last NASCAR race that I saw was in November '05 when I went with my youngest son and daughter in law to the truck races on Friday night, then to the Busch race the next day. We only live about an hour away. It's definitely an AWESOME experience to say the least.

 

[02SilverStroke]

at the rate they ar DQing crew chiefs, sundays race could see some unknown team in the forefront
have a great adventure, we wil be looking for you on the tele

Robert it appears that Kenseth, Kahne, Riggs, and Sadler were all docked several points so they'll start with negative points. The article I read said that NASCAR would have docked points from Jimmie Johnson last year, but didn't want him to start off "in the hole". This year they decided to do it. The ultimate penalty would be to keep them off the track and not let them race in the Daytona 500. I don't know much about their inspection process, but sometimes it seems they are too "nitpicky" with everything. I think there's a lot of politics involved too. I'm sure that some drivers could get by with almost anything and others get busted for minor infractions. Oh well, I'm getting excited about the new season and hope to see a race at Texas Motor Speedway sometime this year whether it's a Cup, Busch, Truck, or even IRL race.

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Went to Bean's today

My son had to work today so I had some time to kill. So I borrowed his Dodge gasser and drove on over to Woodbury and paid a visit to Bean's Diesel. It's always nice to meet folks face to face that you do business with, I got my Single Shot Stage 1 injectors from him back in August. I also borrowed a chip from him to help trouble shoot my rough idle problem I was having after putting the injectors in.

We chatted for a bit and he told me how he was trying to fix the fork lift. It had thrown a rod, so they were going to turn a 4 cyl motor into a 3 cyl. I should have asked him if he was going to install a nitrous system on it.

He had another customer call who was in a bind and having probelms with his truck. So I bid him farewell and headed back for the house. Tomorrow we head for FL.

 

[whatabudro]

Take some Micheal Waltrip Cheating Gel with you. Available at your local NAPA and Toyota dealers.

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Jack Sprague's on the POLE!!!!

We got to Orlando and met up with Jack Sprague's dad. As we were heading out for dinner, we found out that Jack Sprague is on the pole for the start of the Craftsman truck race on Friday evening. And we'll be in his pit for the race!! If he wins too, we should get into the winners circle with our pit passes!!!

We haven't even been to the track yet and already the excitment is unreal.

 

[BamaSixGun]

We got to Orlando and met up with Jack Sprague's dad. As we were heading out for dinner, we found out that Jack Sprague is on the pole for the start of the Craftsman truck race on Friday evening. And we'll be in his pit for the race!! If he wins too, we should get into the winners circle with our pit passes!!!

We haven't even been to the track yet and already the excitment is unreal.

WOW, thats awesome TG

have a great and safe time.

 

[BamaSixGun]

MAN, what a finish. tail gunner's guy(kack sprague) won the race in the last 300 feet.

did any body see TG in the pits or the winner's circle?

 

[Tail_Gunner]

MAN, what a finish. tail gunner's guy(kack sprague) won the race in the last 300 feet.

did any body see TG in the pits or the winner's circle?

We were standing right behind the pit wall about 15 feet ahead Jack's truck during the pit stops. They gave us head phones where we could hear all the radio chatter between Jack Sprague and his crew chief and spotter. I had the hat in my avtar on and some red radio headphones and a teal green jacket.

We were there in the winners circle too, but off to the side next to the press and camera folks. They only let owners, crew members, sponsors and immediate family up on the stage. We got pics of some of the pit stops, got a few lug nuts that came off the winning truck during tire changes, autograph of the winning driver on our pit passes, some blades of grass from the in-field right next to the "DAYTONA 500" sign. Later we got a pic of Jack Sprague, my son & I after the race by his transport truck. We also got a pic of us and Todd Bodine who helped "push" Jack across the finish line. Right afterwards we went to see the "60" truck getting torn apart by NASCAR inspectors.

I'll post some pics later. We just had lunch and are totally exhausted and fried right now and have to get rested up for the 500 tomorrow. We didn't get to bed until almost 3 am Saturday after all day Friday in the area in the middle of the track.

It was the father & son experience of a lifetime and we aren't even done yet.

I think I'm going to go take a nap. Stay tuned!!!