Fonzie
Registered
My middle boy has finally "officially" entered teenage-dom, so his brother & I took him to the track yesterday for something special to celebrate this milestone birthday. Hopefully he remembers this day fondly the rest of his life. Did the same thing last year with my oldest, as his fell on Carb Day right before the race. Seemed like the appropriate place for a boy to enter young-manhood......with the smell of race fuel & burnt rubber wafting through the air!! :icon_evilgrin:
Weather was lookin' a little iffy, but we decided to chance it, and fortunately the rain held off until just as qualifying was over & we were leaving anyways. VERY windy, and mid 50's.......but at least dry! In fact.....the track announcers put a weather map on the vid screens near the end, and were laughing at how, literally, the whole track was surrounded by rain. It looked like those hurricane maps you see, and we were dry in the eye!
Shot over a 100 pix. Had gotten the boys some IMS hoodies for the trip, and they proceeded to have the drivers that would oblige, autograph them. Got some cool pix of the boys with said drivers, including Marco Andretti, who was gracious enough to do it even though his "handler" or whoever kept yellin' from the back of the cart that they had to hurry & go. :icon_thumbsup:
Danica Patrick & Tony Kanaan, on the other hand, were a different story. We were 2 arm lengths away from both, by the pit wall fence & as they turn to walk down Gasoline Alley, while my oldest was asking each of them for their autograph. They completely ignored him. He proceeded to jog alongside the concrete barrier with them, as there wasn't really anyone else there, & he had the room, and they continued to ignore him, even while I'm shouting "it's his brother's birthday". This was right before 6:00, when most fans had already left, so it's not like they were being mobbed. I guess they're just too famous for the little people now :icon_rolleyes:
Fast lap yesterday was 223.7 mph!! Kinda funny.....the announcers were talkin' about one of the drivers who was goin' 218 mph, and said his best time was...................3rd worst out of all 35 drivers!
Only the infield & those stands were open yesterday. Pic of right after we got there & parked........
Garage area with the tower in the background..............
This IS a bike board, right?!? Lost count of how many Ducks were in there......I think it was 6, along with a Beamer, several Yami's, scooter, etc.........
The most famous tower in racing...........
Some shots overlooking the front straightaway from the grandstands. Hard to time the shots right to get the cars in at 220+. Finally remembered to use my "High Speed" option....Duuuhhhh :icon_duh: ..........
"Her Highness" blowin' by in the background............
Was tryin' to get a shot of the vid board showin' the lap speeds in the background of this one, but not clear enough.............
More to come.....Sayin' "Too many pix"
Weather was lookin' a little iffy, but we decided to chance it, and fortunately the rain held off until just as qualifying was over & we were leaving anyways. VERY windy, and mid 50's.......but at least dry! In fact.....the track announcers put a weather map on the vid screens near the end, and were laughing at how, literally, the whole track was surrounded by rain. It looked like those hurricane maps you see, and we were dry in the eye!
Shot over a 100 pix. Had gotten the boys some IMS hoodies for the trip, and they proceeded to have the drivers that would oblige, autograph them. Got some cool pix of the boys with said drivers, including Marco Andretti, who was gracious enough to do it even though his "handler" or whoever kept yellin' from the back of the cart that they had to hurry & go. :icon_thumbsup:
Danica Patrick & Tony Kanaan, on the other hand, were a different story. We were 2 arm lengths away from both, by the pit wall fence & as they turn to walk down Gasoline Alley, while my oldest was asking each of them for their autograph. They completely ignored him. He proceeded to jog alongside the concrete barrier with them, as there wasn't really anyone else there, & he had the room, and they continued to ignore him, even while I'm shouting "it's his brother's birthday". This was right before 6:00, when most fans had already left, so it's not like they were being mobbed. I guess they're just too famous for the little people now :icon_rolleyes:
Fast lap yesterday was 223.7 mph!! Kinda funny.....the announcers were talkin' about one of the drivers who was goin' 218 mph, and said his best time was...................3rd worst out of all 35 drivers!
Only the infield & those stands were open yesterday. Pic of right after we got there & parked........
Garage area with the tower in the background..............
This IS a bike board, right?!? Lost count of how many Ducks were in there......I think it was 6, along with a Beamer, several Yami's, scooter, etc.........
The most famous tower in racing...........
Some shots overlooking the front straightaway from the grandstands. Hard to time the shots right to get the cars in at 220+. Finally remembered to use my "High Speed" option....Duuuhhhh :icon_duh: ..........
"Her Highness" blowin' by in the background............
Was tryin' to get a shot of the vid board showin' the lap speeds in the background of this one, but not clear enough.............
More to come.....Sayin' "Too many pix"
