Tag: NASCAR fans

MommyQ Rutledge Wood Speed

My (Bad) Romance with NASCAR: Plus Samsung Mobile 500 Video from Texas

Posted on by MommyQ

MommyQ SpeedTV Nascar

Well, another NASCAR race under my belt as of Sunday. I think that makes the grand total six, not counting two trips to Vegas for Champion’s Week. The hubby & I headed to Dallas last weekend, where we got sit about 17 rows away from the racetrack. At Texas Motor Speedway, that experience will leave you breathless and covered in a thin film of rubber, debris and smoke. As you can see from the image below, the SPEED folks know how to throw a party at the track. , you crack me up. 😉

My first NASCAR race happened in 2007, where I traveled to Watkins Glen for the race when I was about seven months pregnant. Not kidding! I wasn’t the only very pregnant girl there, but I was the only one who wasn’t smoking and drinking. Not kidding again. I wasn’t a fan of the sport at all at that time, but soon began to follow it after experiencing a race in person. It is absolutely something you MUST do once, even if you don’t like NASCAR at all. It’s the perfect combination of order and chaos. Since then, I’ve sat in VIP seats with hot passes, cold passes, pit passes, you name it. I’ve been behind the scenes, in the scenes, nowhere near the scenes, with credentials, without credentials and that being said, I’ve met 80% of the drivers.  I’m hooked.

I’ve done you a favor here, condensing a four hour race into a four minute experience. It’s the Samsung Mobile 500. Enjoy!

Let me tell you, as I was taking all of various video clips during my trip to the race, I knew it should have Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” playing in the final cut. However; due to the potential for scary and costly copyright issues, I couldn’t do that. But it’s a fitting theme for my relationship with NASCAR. Why? Because of all of the crap and jokes my non-NASCAR fan friends like to dish out, which is about 99% of them. That’s why it’s a bad romance. I wish I didn’t like it, but I do. And I don’t see us splitting up any time soon. You know why? In addition to my feelings for NASCAR, I have two little boys who also love NASCAR. Hello COOLEST MOM EVER. At least until they’re teenagers.

Image: SpeedTV

Vegas Delivers Treat for NASCAR Fans

Posted on by MommyQ

The trophy, Jimmie & Jamie

I’ve been a NASCAR fan for a couple of years now and I’ve gotta hand it to Sin City for providing fans with a great experience during 2009 Champion’s Week. I’ve been to lots of races, pre-race festivities and VIP banquets, so I’m no stranger to these types of events. I was in Vegas for the latter part of Champion’s Week and got to participate on an amazingly up-close-and-personal level.

The pre-lap festivities started at the MGM Grand and went all the way down the Vegas Strip. It was cold outside, but the roar of the engines when the 12 drivers revved up added some warmth to the day. You could tell the drivers were enjoying making lots of noise spinning tires on the Strip. Carl Edwards and Juan Pablo certainly made the most of this unique Victory Lap. It was awesome to see them driving the cars without their helmets because you could see their smiling faces for a change! We didn’t get to see Jimmie’s first DNF of the season, but we heard all about it.

12 Sprint Cup Drivers on stage

After the engines roared down the Vegas Strip, the 12 Chase drivers came back to the MGM for a fun reception called “After the Lap.” Hosted by the beautiful and witty Jamie Little and presented by Tissot, this event was such a treat! All 12 drivers showed up in suits and dress shoes – well, Mark Martin had on Sketchers – and they were totally laid-back in this casual setting. Each driver was presented with a Tissot watch and they unveiled the Sprint Cup trophy. Jamie asked each driver a question from fans all over the U.S. The answers were quite amusing.

I enjoyed the bantering between all of the drivers, especially Tony Stewart and Juan Pablo as well as Denny and Jeff Gordon. Jimmie making fun of his own eyebrows was hilarious. (I still think it was mean of Tony to deny Juan Pablo his hug, but that’s just MommyQ’s opinion.) From a fan’s perspective, it was easy to be part of the celebration and you got to see a glimpse of the drivers that we normally don’t see in person. Overall, I think Vegas did it up right and I look forward to doing it all again next year.

Images courtesy of myself!