WGN Morning News Blog

NASCAR fans can be a contradictory bunch. Only at a racetrack will you see a person raise a Confederate flag, cradle a 12-pack of Bud under their arm, and head off to chapel! This is also the only sport where fans can buy tickets to view the event from the infield of the venue, yet those who do often watch it on a TV they brought from home.

These observations, however, are only applicable to a small percentage of the NASCAR fan base, and all too often detractors use such examples to tear down the sport, and stereotype its supporters. I will not do that.

However . . . .

I will share with you some other things I saw while in Daytona . . . just to re-create the experience.

For one, I have never seen so many "Show us your ta-tas" signs in my life! One beautifully artistic version featured the slogan scrawled on a piece of cardboard, with two letter "U"s, underlined by 2 dots, drawn to represent said ta-tas.

One group of fans in the infield didn't have an RV to stand atop of, so they camped out in an old school bus, and constructed a plywood deck on its roof. The deck required even weight distribution anytime it was in use, but thankfully the gentlemen brought some plastic wildlife busts along, and those were serviceable fill-ins anytime someone had to use the bathroom.

Speaking of bathrooms, there were lavatories and showers located in the infield . . .

You could have eaten off the floors.

I assume (or at least hope) most people just used the facilities on their RV's. There were some real marvels of modern technology in that infield, some were liked condominiums on wheels! So why would you decorate your condo with flags for "Hellmans Mayonnaise Racing?"

The neat thing about the infield is, you can leave and come back while the race is in progress. After 60 laps of the "500," we got a little hungry and took off for "The Wing House." Why pay $2.00 a wing at the track when you can get 50 for $29.95 a half mile away??? We made it back with 100 laps to go, which I suppose, says about as much for track access, as it does for the length of these races.

Races are long. I mean LOOOONG, like you can watch "Gandhi" once and a half long. But that's just another example of how grueling the sport is. These guys get to the track on Wednesday, practice, qualify and practice up until race day. Then it's 4 hours of racing on Sunday, followed by a trip home for a day and half, and back on the road for 5 more days.

And that's just for the drivers! The guys who drive the haulers (the big trailers than transport the cars and tools to the next track) are on the road nearly 7 days a week. The guys in the pit crew work 18-hour days during race week. None of them make even a sniff of the money a driver does, but as I found out, it's far from a thankless job.

http://www.myspace.com/pattomasulo