Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!

It was a NASCAR weekend in Phoenix. We got tickets for the Nationwide series race on Saturday and decided to make a weekend of it and spent the night at a fun hotel. We had perfect weather, there was a slight chill when we arrived and we even had a few raindrops but the sun burned the clouds away and it was about 75 degrees for the race. We had to park about a mile away (we wanted to use the park-n-ride shuttle service, but it was only running for the Sprint Cup series race on Sunday) so we decided to pay a little bike cab for a ride to the gate. Nicco and Daddy on the ride to the track.

Here is a view of the track and the infield from our seats in the grandstands.

Nicco and me before the crowds arrived.

Patrice had a pit pass so he got to wander around and see all the cars, mechanics, and garages up close.

The tail end of a crashed-up car in the pit.

Rows and rows of tires ready to go.

Patrice took this picture of us from the pit. We thought we were going to have the section all to ourselves for a while there!

The practice laps from the ground level.

That's the Number 6 for our number 6 Discount Tire driver, David Ragan.

Pre-race checks and adjustments.

One car getting ready to go.

More of the practice laps. It was cool to see the guys lining up and getting in position to get out of pit row onto the track.

Nicco settled himself in under the bleachers before the real race even started. I had a bad feeling about how the day would go when he was already lying down after a half hour.

There's our #6! Getting into position. He started in position 10. He ran 3rd for the first third or so of the race. He was 8th by the time we left. We don't know how he finished. Any real race fans would consider that blasphemy...We didn't stay till the bitter end, and we don't even know how our driver finished! Shame...shame.

The start...getting positions, following the pace car. The start and re-starts were the coolest part of the race, I think. There was one crash while we were there, but we didn't see it happen. I was listening on the track scanner to one of the drivers and he said "we can't get any work done with these MO-rons" The scanner was switching from driver to driver, so I didn't get the context of the comment, but it made me giggle a little.

In spite of Nicco's understated enthusiasm during the practice laps, he did get pretty excited and enjoyed checking out the cars up close through the binoculars.

He also listened to the drivers talking to their pit crews. We were told to be sure to avoid Jeff Gordon's frequency. Apparently, he has a foul mouth.

This is what Nicco did for most of the race...lined up 3 of his Lightning cars, raced them to the end of the row, did a couple of circles, then raced them back to their spot by my leg.

As time went by, his "track" got progressively shorter. Eventually, he only had about 3 feet to play on. He was visibly offended when our neighbors on the bleachers sat down and cut his track in half.

Nicco did great. He loved the start, he loved the big military helicopter fly-by, and he loved the airplanes pulling banners. He did get worn out after 100 laps or so. He started getting really antsy and bouncy and I couldn't deal with him in such close proximity to people, so we read the body language and left.

The area outside of the track was lined with vendors, advertisers, and of course, race cars. Two thumbs up!

Another cool race car.

And the boy's day was made when he saw this bi-plane.

An enormous engine. A car guy would have to tell you what is cool about this. I guess the pipes and stuff.

A tire big enough to sit in.

This "Texas-sized" grill served Texas sized turkey legs and Texas sized sausages. In case you aren't aware, "Texas-sized" is really, really big.

We rode a bike-cab back to the parking lot and headed to the hotel. Nicco loved it. I think it is always a fun adventure to spend a night in a hotel. Nicco was excited that the couch turned into a bed. He told us he's seen that before, at Grandma and Grandpa's Fairview house.

Nicco didn't have his Sponge Night Light to keep the ghosts away, so he came into our room around 5:00 a.m. to show me the ghost. It was gone by the time I got there. Nicco said "But...but...it was here just a minute ago!" I snuggled him back to sleep until it was time to get up, eat breakfast, and go to the pool! We played and played in the heated pool for a couple of hours. Nicco showed off his newly acquired back float skills.

The hotel pool had slides and waterfalls and a kiddie pool and a lazy river wandering around the resort. Of course, only the main pool was open. The rest of it was under repairs and re-opening on the 16th. The day AFTER our stay. We managed to have fun anyway.

It was a successful weekend at the race. Fun and exciting. A great experience. And frankly, all the NASCAR I will ever need.