NASCAR

We live in Charlotte. Charlotte is the home of NASCAR. We live in the home of NASCAR.

In order to embrace our new city and experience something new, we went to the All-Star Race on Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Well, to be honest, this was not really my first NASCAR experience. I did visit Texas Motor Speedway once during college, courtesy of the Henry Family. But, regardless, this was JJ's first experience and being the avid sports fan that he is, he was pumped.

As usual, our wardrobe was a major concern in the preparation for this event. Having some knowledge of the typical attire for an event like this, I threw on jean shorts (jorts) and a t-shirt. Granted the shorts were j. crew and the shirt was Banana Republic, but whatever. JJ had gone golfing earlier in the day and decided to keep his frat boy/golf attire on. Sooo not NASCAR. Once we arrived, JJ quickly realized he was overdressed. Something that has never happened before.

Let me set the scene for those of your not fortunate enough to have experienced NASCAR for yourself. Tens of thousands of fans started tailgating at 9 am. The beer is still flowing when we got to the parking lot at 6 pm. People are starting to stumble towards the track. It seems no one has ever heard of sunscreen, the rednecks are even redder now. It was a warm day, and apparently no one had ever heard of deodorant either. I tried to keep track of the mullets, but lost count after 5 minutes. There is a smoky haze covering the entire area, as everyone is chain smoking cheap cigarettes. Very few sleeves on shirts and very few teeth in the mouths. The aggregate weight of the die hard fans in attendance is equal to the GDP of Canada (google it).

All in all it is a tapestry of unflattering stereotypes.

My favorite fan of the night was a man sitting two rows in front of us chain smoking his Doral cigarettes. After about 2 hours he started alternating drags on his cigarettes, with puffs from his inhaler. Hey buddy, I bet I can guess what caused your respiratory problems. (America, THIS is what is wrong with our health care system)

The race itself was actually really fun to watch. The All-Star race is only 100 laps as opposed to next week's Coke 600. I don't think there is any way I could stay interested for 600 laps (update- I was just informed that it is actually 600 miles, not laps, still probably not going to stay focused though). I told JJ mid-race that whoever won the race would become my favorite driver and I would follow him faithfully for the rest of his career (or until I forget to care). Lucky for me it was the Miller Lite car that won, my domestic beer of choice. So it's kind of like I am already part of the team, as I have invested in the sponsor for years.

All in all, our NASCAR date night was a success. I would totally go back next year. I will just have to remember to bring my own clean air to breathe.