I missed out on the rookies so I ventured out to the garage area instead.
Oh wait, before I get to the garage area I have to talk about digital cameras. After I missed out on the rookies and took a quick look at the garage area, I wandered up to the Save Mart Family Area near turn 1. I waited until the Nextel Cup practice session started and then attempted to take photos of cars as they whizzed by. What I ended up with was a lot of blurry, whizzy (yes, that’s not a word) photos. Once I couldn’t stand the heat (and the bugs) any longer, I came back to the Media Center. On my way back I couldn’t help but notice all of the fans with digital cameras, literally everybody and their mothers have one. Who cares about professional photographs when you can take your own?
So back to the garage, it’s a total mob scene. If I were apart of a race team I would be kind of irked about all these random people milling about. It is one of the things that makes NASCAR unique, the ability for fans to get up close and personal with their favorite drivers pretty much whenever, but then that means that people are always around. I seriously could of picked up a tire, ok, ok, I could of tried to pick up a tire if I wanted to.
Earlier this morning Larry McReynolds was in the Media Center talking to someone about a press conference scheduled for later in the day. I was so stoked to see him in person. I think he’s great. For those of you who don’t know who Larry Mac is he’s one of the commentators on FOX’s NASCAR broadcasts. He’s a former crew chief. The opportunity didn’t present itself for me to say hello, he was on his cell phone when I passed by, but I’m sure I’ll run into him again this weekend.
Crews work on their cars before Nextel Cup practice begins at Infineon Raceway.