In my head or something...

A night at the races in the mind of #001 at Madison International Speedway.

Last week I planned to go to the free night at Beaver Dam Raceway to see Kenny Schrader take on the local A-mod drivers in what was to be a fun filled evening with packed stands and long lines.  I threw out my back morning of and with a rummage sale to tend to in the morning and a few trips to Goodwill in the afternoon I had to say the words you will never hear me say, "I can't do it tonight".
I got a text from my wife in the afternoon today. "Do you want the boys to spend the night at Uncle...house"  Less than a second after reading that text I made my plans to go to Madison for the Triple Crown finally, here is how my night went:
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4:30 - Receive text from wife about boys not being home, must take opportunity to see cars go fast.
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4:32 - House picked up, dishes loaded, boys bags packed, girls are fed and changed in record time.

5:27 - Boys get home from Dodge County Fair, inform them of their fate.

5:37 - Wife gets home from work, spend next 45 minutes listening about her day.

6:22 - Leave for MIS.

6:34 - Practice drafting skills at speed limit in left lane for 2 miles, tell driver she is #1 once safely passed.

6:46 - Text #002 to let him know I am going to go see Johnny Sauter tonight.  He asks,  "at the Dodge County Fair?"

6:57 - Search radio for something to listen to, same 3 songs playing on top 40 stations, stumble on Busch race.

7:03 - Lose Busch race signal, turn off radio
7:12 - Arrive at MIS.

7:25 - Stop by and say hi to #019 at beer stand, opening ceremonies begin, stand awkwardly at beer stand with back turned to #019.  Nobody sits during national anthem.

7:29 - #080 meets me at the beer stand, we both under dressed, he is holding a grocery bag with something in it, I don't know why.

7:30 - #080 & I take our seats, cars are rolling for the heats, take inventory of my surroundings.  Fredrickson group to our left and a couple older gentlemen and gals to our right chatting away.

Supercup cars are here, the first time in a long time that I am glad my boys are not with me as to not explain why they are not allowed to have one.

Ask #080 how many Super Late Models are here.  Informs me he arrived at the same time as I did.  He has Race Monitor but chooses not to look for some reason, I wonder why.

Next up is the Vintage Series.  The 2 older gents to our right get very excited when they come out, one of the cars is a Torino due to the front end.  I learned something today.

​Message #114 to find out where he is sitting.

A group of 4 people 3 guys, 1 gal, walk past our right and sit 2 rows in front of us.  You can tell who is going on a date later tonight.

Midwest Trucks up next, at Madison if the driver starting 4th wins their heat Busch Light is $1 a can until the end of the next heat.  The 36 truck spins out and hits the wall in practice.  The 97 of James Swan moves up to outside front row and wins his heat.  #080 offers to buy me a Busch Light, #080 is a cheap you know what.  Still no word on what is in the grocery bag.

​A 5th member joins the late arriving group of 4.  He is a HUGE Matt Kenseth fan.

8:03 - Super Lates get ready to finish up the heats, prior to the first heat starting, one of the 2 older gents to our right has a long discussion about one of the ladies getting him Mt Dew vs Diet Dew.  I am starting to get concerned he will never get his Diet Dew but hear she is out of beer now as well.

Notice a Jr flagman with his dad, how cool is that!

#080 informs me the flagman tonight used to be that Jr flagman in the stands himself.

Still no word from #114, feeling insecure.

Lady in group of 4 now 5 is cheering, I don't know why.
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8:20 - 7 of the drivers in the second Super Late heat are part of 

our driver rankings.  Start to get concerned that only 13 showed.
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Decide to write a blog while #atthetrack.  These ideas come that quick.  You may want to disregard exact times listed.

8:32 - 3rd Super Late heats comes out, all is right in the world.

Feature time!
8:42 - Still no word on what is in #080's bag.
8:47 - Very good Supercup race, a few spins, a few passes for the lead.
8:52 - Notice a guy with a mullet wearing a Ryan Blaney hat.  Blaney's mullet is nicer.  Maybe he is a new Ryan Blaney fan?
8:53 - One of the 2 older gents to our right makes a bad joke, everyone with him laughs hysterically.
8:54 - Vintage feature get dicey but stays clean for the most part, talk about horsepower.
8:59 - Trucks Series feature lines up, just realized they picked a few kids club members to present the feature trophy's tonight, this is the 2nd time I am happy to be kid free tonight.
9:01 - Realize #114 is ignoring me.
9:02 - Realize I forgot to go back and talk to #019, he must think I am ignoring him.
9:03 - Nick Egan spins on the front stretch while I am typing this, I wonder why I am still not watching the race, ahhhh that tire smell.
9:07 - Chester Ace takes it 3 wide!
9:08 - Chester Ace takes it 3 wide!
9:09 - Group of 4 now 5 gets up and leaves the stands in the middle of the truck race except for 1.  I don't know why.

9:12 - Truck race over, driver intros for the Super Lates on the front stretch, decide to go live on Facebook.
9:14 - Max viewers of 4 on Facebook live post, bummed.
9:15 - Group of 4 now 5 is back at full strength (That's debatable!) I laugh out loud.
9:16 - Fredrickson group is getting rev'd up
9:18 - Lady in group to our right has 7 empty beer cans in front of her, must be the jokes.
9:20 - Warmup laps, ahhhh that burning race gas smell needs to be bottled!
9:23 - Fredrickson fan closest to #080 says something to him, #080 does not fill me in.
9:24 - Green Flag!
9:29 - Fredrickson fan that talked to #080 before race looks at #080 with every pass and smiles.
9:34 - Field is very spread out.
9:37 - J.Sauter passes Shafer.
9:38 - Fredrickson passes T.Sauter.
9:39 - Fredrickson mom tries to take picture of youngest Fredrickson fan, gets caught, everyone laughs.
9:40 - J.Sauter loses power, Shafer back to the lead.
9:41 - Fredrickson gets by Nason, Johnson follows, J. Sauter still chasing Shafer.
9:42 - J.Sauter gets to back bumper of Shafer but car loses power again with 1 to go.
9:42 - Shafer wins, #080 shows me the clock and tells me that's his kind of show, I nod in agreement.
9:48 - Head to pits.
9:49 - 50/50 not claimed, Lion's club member in short softball style BIKE brand shorts yells at everyone to check their tickets as they leave.
9:50 - Walking down the hill to the pits have a nice chat with a guy in Lefthander jacket about the ease of going down a hill instead of up, he had his brakes on on the way down.
9:55 - #080 takes a picture of Alex Prunty loading his car because he has a huge man crush, still nothing about the grocery bag.
10:00 - In the car on my way home.

We'll see you #atthetrack!