Start your engines and head to NASCAR, Feb. 24, 2012

Truck races

Even the firetrucks get in the act during Speed Week at Daytona.

Here's a twist on racing, truck races. Pick-up trucks that can go faster than the race cars that have a type of restrictor on them for speed. The trucks have them as well, but theirs are set at a higher rate of speed. And I've been told these races are fun.

We'd watched them do some practice and qualifying runs on Thursday, and who'd think they could get a pick up to go that fast?

Earlier in the day Verlie, Sue and I went to the swap meet/flea market for a while. There's pretty much something for everyone there, including a lot of junk and I was wondering who buys it. I got a lanyard to put my race tickets in so they are easily accessible, a Joey Lagano shirt and a Danica Patrick hat. I'm building my NASCAR wardrobe so I fit in a little better. Although it appears that Harley shirts are also the order of the day so I was mostly okay in that department.

We also visited a booth with lots of cookware and other kitchen things and I picked up a few things there.

Then home to prepare for the races. Joe, Verlie and I were going tonight and our seats this fine evening were in row 40, high up in the Waverly Section. Each section is named after a driver and so far we've also sat in the Keetch and Roberts sections. These seats were near turn 4, just before the trucks would come around to the pits or the start/finish line and we weren't sure if we would like these as well since our other seats were on the other side of the pits and line the other times.

The best drivers get to park their trucks that transport their cars and all up near the front next to the track.  Danica's truck is the lime green one, a few over from the far right.

Here we are, at our seats for the truck race.

We got settled into our seats, and the introductions started. They introduce each driver and then carry them around the track in a truck so they can wave at their fans, or not, as the case sometimes is. I got to boo one or two of them, although there was more of that during the car races when Kyle Busch was driving. There were 36 trucks in this field and they would run 250 miles, or 100 laps as each lap is 2.5 miles.

And then, everything was ready, two pace cars took off, each leading half of the racers. A few laps later, the green light flashed, the pace cars pulled into the pit, the trucks crossed the start/finish line and the race was on.

Setting the pace.

The trucks seemed louder to me and according to one of my NASCAR experts it could be because they punch a bigger hole through the air, in other words, they're not as aerodynamic.

Lap after lap, the trucks raced two by two around the track, with a line of trucks on the inside, and the other on the outside lane. No one was really moving much and the trucks just went round and round with the same guy leading for much of the race.

Changing four tires, wiping down the grill, and adding two cans of fuel to the vehicles is an art, with the best of them taking only an average of 13 seconds.  In addition, they may do a windshield tear-off, which means a layer of plastic film is removed from the windshield, and a chassis adjustment.   

The crew chief or the spotter asked one of the drivers for more, but he responded that he had nothing to give. Just imagine, going 190 mph with your foot on the gas pressed deeply into the floor, going round the turns and through the straighaways. Pure … adrenaline.

Two by two, lap after lap.  This is just the first group of trucks.

Then things started to happen, with trucks getting bumped and running into the wall. Other trucks were running into each other, running into the grass, and going every which way. It seemed like all the excitement had been saved for the last 10-20 laps of the race. Trucks were now jockeying for position, and it was a free-for-all. This race had a lot of rookie drivers in amongst the experienced drivers so the smallest mistake could send a truck flying off the track or into someone else.

This truck went into the wall, and repairs had to be made to it before the race could continue.

Some drivers were able to avoid the mess; others were not so lucky. In two of the accidents, trucks went airborne, one into the wall, another info the fence to our right,  fenders, hoods and tires flying everywhere.  The good thing was no one was hurt, and they'd all get out of their trucks and wave so we could clap our joy of them not being injured. Tonight's race I got photos without depending on the replay.

The truck ended up going backwards down the track for quite a ways.

There was a lot of time spent cleaning the track – removing debris, using oil dry, which seemed to be kind of like a kitty litter, to sop up liquids, then a jet dryer truck blows the oil dry off the racing surface and dries it. Of course there were also multiple wreckers towing the trucks off the track as most of them could not drive them off to the garage. There's a lot that goes into this whole process of racing. And that's not even including all the strategy for driving and winning races.

Towing time.



Clean up.

 

One of the jet dryers.  They're really noisy, just like a jet engine.

The two black round things are tires flying off.  This pile up was major with multiple cars involved. 

The race continued past the 100 laps to 109 laps because there were so many cautions (some to remove debris from the track after a truck dropped or lost something) that took up some of the laps, a red flag that stopped the race, and so many wrecks they couldn't finish. Three times they did the green/white/checkered flags, but the drivers couldn't finish as there were wrecks all three times., big wrecks.

After three attempts of the green/white/checker the truck that was in the lead was considered the winner as long as it could make it back across the start/finish line. Rookie Number 7, Red Horse, John King, was declared the winner. By the time the race was finished out of the field of 36 trucks, there were only 17 who completed the 109 laps. While I'd wanted to sleep for the first laps, there was no way I'd have missed any of those last ones. No food fetching, no potty breaks.

The winner.

It seems to me that race fans include a number of people types … old people (like me), rednecks (like the guys behind and in front of us who were drinking heavily and might as well have stayed home to watch the race on television since they weren't seeing it at the track) and people who think they're race drivers (due to the way they drive after the race and we're all leaving). There are other types I'd probably better not mention here, but believe me, they are there. But even mixing the bunch, we had a great time, and I'm ready for the next race tomorrow night. The Nationwide, and Danica got the pole, which is the Number One and best starting position for the race. She also gets the pick of inside or outside lane. Yee haw!