Texas - Day 3 - Saturday, April 14

Ok I know it’s been a while, but I’ve been working hard on this edition! Thanks for your patience!!

Saturday morning we went for breakfast at a place called Wreck’s. It was pretty yummy, and Susan again had her obligatory Waffle. lol We got to the track and met up with Mr. Phil to pick up our toy box (yes Susan had an abundance of craft supplies and what not - just in case)! He brought it to us in the parking lot on the "war wagon". LOVE that wagon, Mr. Phil!

Merri & Alnee trying to keep warm

We hit the TMS Store for a little shopping mainly because we were all freezing. The wind was pretty darn cold. Everyone was buying anything warm they could get their hands on. Even the Canadian had to buy another coat. Someone said, “Oh yeah that’s a nice winter jacket, it looks good on you!” I looked at them and said, “Winter jacket? Ummm… no. Not where I live!” I needed a new spring jacket and it worked great over the layers I already had on. I wasn’t cold the rest of the day inside the track. I can’t say much for anyone from Las Vegas though! Poor Merri had to bundle up like it was about 5 F (-15 C)!!

I know I know temperature is all relative and let me tell you it was warmer in Edmonton than it was in Fort Worth!

Edmonton, AB - Saturday, April 14:
Max: 15 C (59 F)
Min: 2.5 C (36.5 F)
Mean: 8.8 C (47.8 F)
Winds: 46 km/h (28.58 mph)
Weather data from Environment Canada www.weatheroffice.gc.ca

Fort Worth, TX - Saturday, April 14:
Max 55 F (12.7 C) (-21 F below normal average)
Min 43 F (6.1 C)
Average 49 (9.4 C)
Average Wind Speed 18.6 mph (29.93 Km/h)
Weather data from National Weather Service http://www.weather.gov/

Susan and Robin bundled up and headed to the pits.
That's Robin wearin' her new Doofus Huntin' jacket!

From the store we went down to the pit area, and watched cars going in and out of the garage for practice. Robin, Alnee and I found a great spot where they were headed out to the track. Susan & Merri left us unattended and took up position where the cars were coming back in to the garage while Dave floated in between. We got our “Go 19!” signs out and waved to Elliott each time he went by. He waved back, but I have to say that his EMS team-mate Scott Riggs was the only driver who waved every time he went by. Of course it didn’t hurt there were friends of his close by us waving too… lol We got some great car pictures here including the 29 for Christine’s man Dan!! Hee hee

We saw lots of cool stuff, interesting people, and watched as the teams set up their pits for the race.

Tony Stewart's Nascar Day Car

The #9 & #10 cars get fueled up

Elliott Sadler coming in for changes during practice

Hermie Sadler does his segment for Race Day in the Speed 1 Racer.

Due to race scanner issues (thanks to the helpful people at the Racing Electronics trailer near the Busch Garage for helping us out) we got a late start out of the infield to go to our seats for the Busch Series Race –The O’Reilly 300 - so we took the pedestrian tunnel from the infield to the grandstands. I won’t say anything about the use of any Sharpies or what may or may not have happened in that tunnel. What happens in the TMS Tunnel stays in the TMS Tunnel!

This tunnel is located more towards the north end of the mile-long grandstand, and of course our seats were near the south end. Track security would not allow us to walk down the front of the stands along the catch fence. The only way down to our seats was to climb up the grandstand stairs (NOT a pleasant option for me, me vs. stairs - stairs win) to the concourse to get down there. Thankfully Susan got me a cart ride along the catch fence to our seats.

As I was riding along with this nice gentleman, some cars decided to wreck down in turn 4 on about lap 68. It was a five-car wreck, and one car slid down the front stretch along the outside wall, about 5 feet from me riding on the cart. I watched it come toward me in what seemed like slow motion, and had to assume the plane crash position and shield my face from the dust, smoke and debris that followed. I was smack dab in the middle of a Busch Series wreck! I couldn’t have been any closer, yet I can’t really tell you who was involved in the wreck (I believe it was the #66 car of Steven “Shake’n’Bake” Wallace connecting with the #36 Big Lots car driven by Brent Sherman). My cart driver stopped the cart and we looked back to make sure none of the fans or workers were hurt from flying debris. Everyone seemed ok, so we continued on.

Steven Wallace returns to the race with some
patch up work after lap 68 wreck.

I found my seat and Robin arrived. She got her new scanner set up. She has two headsets, complete with the microphone/intercom feature. We listened to the #90 team’s radio as Stephen Leicht is the Busch driver she cheers for. They were entertaining, but I think we had more fun playing with the headset intercom than watching the race! “Teyun-fowuh!” Thanks, Robin for letting me use your scanner! It was certainly a highlight of the weekend!

Me looking rather official with that headset! Thanks Robin!

Stephen Leicht started 16th in the #90 RYR CitiFinancial Ford and finished 20th. Matt Kenseth would overcome spinning out on about lap 55 and later going a lap down to hold off Denny Hamlin to win in the closest Busch Series finish ever at Texas Motor Speedway. I don’t know how he kept it off the wall and avoided getting hit during that spinout but he did it driving the Arby’s #17 Ford (I thought of Robin W. and the many meals enjoyed at the Lloydminster Arby’s. LOL). Carl Edwards came away still on top of the Busch Series point standings, with Kevin Harvick still a fairly distant 433 points back in second.

Matt Kenseth takes the checkered flag & celebrates the win

Official Race Results here:

http://www.nascar.com/races/bg/2007/8/data/results_official.html

I was looking for some stuff on the race to share with you and, lo, I found this. It’s a video that nicely sums up the April 2007 Busch Race at TMS. Incredibly, it features a fantastic song by Austin, Texas artist Ray Wylie Hubbard that even before I was invited to Texas had become somewhat of a theme song for a sensational group of kooky friends!
(Watch for the #36 Big Lots car to go sliding with about 3:24 remaining in the video. The car slides to the grass then back to the outside wall near the start/finish line - that was the wreck I was in the midst of!)

Before I left Edmonton, I knew we had been invited to dinner Saturday night at Phil & Jenell’s RV. I was looking forward to this for weeks, and they did not disappoint! We were treated to an excellent steak grilled to perfection with salad and spaghetti (and *cough * shameless EMS sponsor plug * cough* yes the salad was accompanied by one of Hellmann’s delicious new Salad Spritzers). Despite the cold cold wind, we were kept warm with blankets by the fire. Being Canadian, I’m not too proud about what I wear when it’s cold (looks are not important at –40 when the wind is blowing). Therefore I was not above wrapping up in a Sooners blanket in the middle of the largest campground in Texas! How should I know how dangerous that could be?! LOL

The location of Phil’s campsite was on the corner of one of the busiest intersection in the campground, where everyone cruised & strolled Mardi-gras style, just havin’ a good time. Susan realized our toy box still contained some Eggos that were now defrosted.

Susan and Alnee decided to go make friends with the passers-by, tossing and handing out waffles, sharing the Sadler Doofus-ness with anyone and everyone - men, women, children riding in the backs of trucks!

Alnee even managed to exchange a waffle for beads! LOL

Not to be outdone, on a dare, Mr. Phil approached a friendly Fort Worth Deputy Sheriff and got him to do the line, “A waffle maker?!” And no, that is not a halo over Mr. Phil's head no matter what he tries to tell you! LOL

Rutledge had no idea the heights to which his All-Star Challenge "Wawfuhl Maykuh" Promo would reach, now did he?!

After a great dinner and a lot of laughs, once again Jenell gave us a ride back to the Belt Sander. We piled in, and headed back to the hotel. After a long cold day, we were ready to crash.

Finally in bed with the lights out, we began recalling the events of the day and inevitably, the giggles hit. My roommates and I laughed about everything you can imagine, from common friends to common enemies! At that hour, and in that state of mind, not a lot made sense. But then again, most of the circumstances that brought the three of us together for that moment hadn’t ever made a lot of sense either!



To close this edition of the TMS Diary, I would like to say in my opinion, Phil & Jenell are two of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet. Our group was treated with superb hospitality, and I would highly recommend not passing up the invitation to drop by their RV at the track if you are lucky enough to receive such an invite! I’m sure it won’t take long for you to have a beverage in your hand, a chair under your butt and a plate of great food in front of you if you should so desire. You will be treated to a ton of laughs (thanks Steve!), a lively discussion (“Wabbit? Doofus? Wabbit? Doofus?”) and maybe even learn something about racing, business, and the business of racing from a fan’s perspective.