APRIL 2008 TRUCKER TALK
A NICE SUNDAY DRIVE
BY WRITER & OWNER OPERATOR KIM GRIMM
After working extra hard all winter, running solo, when I got the opportunity to go to Florida to attend the 50th running of the Daytona 500 on February 17th, I couldn’t pass it up. My friend Debra Beard made her loads work out to join me and we had an awesome time! We enjoyed a perfect day with clear skies, temperatures in the low 80’s and no wind – and the race was awesome! Who could ask for anything more?
Many truck drivers are NASCAR fans who have their favorite driver’s number somewhere on their truck or trailer (some diehard fans have it on both). It is not uncommon to see truck drivers wearing hats, jackets and shirts promoting their favorite racers. And on Sunday, they make it real clear as to who they will be cheering for to take the checkered flag.
I can honestly say, once you’ve gone to a race, you’re hooked! Its okay to watch a race on TV (you might even have a better view of the action), but there isn’t anything like sitting in the stands and being part of that crowd of 180,000 screaming fans. Listening to the National Anthem, watching the jets fly over – it’s pretty exciting. Most of the people who are regulars at the races have headsets that allow them to listen to different stations broadcasting the race; some can even listen to the drivers talking back and forth to each other and their pit crews. If you don’t have these headsets, you can rent them.
Souvenirs are big business at the races. Many of the drivers have souvenir tents at the events, and because this was the 50th running of the Daytona 500, there were special tents set up all over the place selling the extra special 50th anniversary souvenirs. Deb and I were really bummed when we found out that everyone on the grounds had run out of the souvenir programs before we had a chance to get ours, but we did end up getting matching shirts that marked the 50th anniversary on them.
Instead of one person saying those four famous words that start every race, for this historic event, everyone in the stands became that one person and together we all shouted, “Gentlemen, start your engines!” It was very cool! Being at Daytona International Speedway for that race was watching history in the making. I was really hoping that Dale Earnhardt Jr. would come out the winner. There is a lot of history at that track for the Earnhardt family. Dale senior raced there twenty times before he finally won the elusive 500-mile event, and then his last lap on this Earth was recorded in Daytona, before an accident at the 2001 race claimed his life in turn four.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. had already won the Budweiser Shootout on February 9th and the Nationwide Series Camping World 300 on Saturday, February 16th, and many (myself included) thought it would’ve been pretty sweet to see him take the checkered flag at the 500 as well. But that was not meant to be. Instead, teammate Kurt Busch pushed Ryan Newman on the outside to the win in front of Tony Stewart, making it the first time that Penske Racing had ever won the Daytona 500. It was a great finish to a great race. But it didn’t matter how it ended up – historic, it will always be. After the race ended, it looked and sounded a lot like the Fourth of July, with tons of fireworks being shot off to culminate the end of the week-long festivities.
Sometimes it’s hard for us truckers to “plan” to be somewhere on a certain date at a certain time, but if you find yourself near a track that is having a race, you should try to go. Most tracks have truck parking available and, if you can get a ticket, its way better than watching it on television or listening to it on the radio. If you arrive at the location at the last minute, you might have to buy your ticket from a scalper outside the race track, which could be expensive, but if you can swing it, it is worth the effort and the expense.
I had so much fun with Deb in Daytona, two weeks later I decided to attend my second race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with some friends from Wisconsin. This location is really handy for truckers because the Petro is within easy walking distance of the track – the hard part is finding a place to park at the Petro! Again, the day was clear, but not quite as warm as it was in Florida. The wind made it feel much cooler than it actually was, and when the sun went down in the desert, it got really chilly.
The noise at the track in Las Vegas was much louder than I thought it had been in Daytona. Apparently, the way the track and the grandstands are set up at each venue can really make a difference as to how each race looks and sounds. And some tracks are just a lot louder than others. Personally, I like the sound of a noisy Jake brake, so I thought the louder volume in Las Vegas was great.
The race (the UAW-Dodge 400) went along pretty well with few cautions until four laps from the end when Jeff Gordon bumped Matt Kenseth, which caused a crash. Matt ended up finishing the race, but Jeff hit the wall hard and the race was red lighted (stopped) until everything could be cleaned up. Carl Edwards went on to take the checkered flag and then did his ceremonial back-flip off the side of his car to celebrate the win.
This sport counts a lot on drivers – and not just the ones in the cars going around the track. All of the truckers that drive the race car haulers to the track don’t haul “just in time” freight, they haul “got to be there” freight. Without the cars, there wouldn’t be a race. And with the price of tickets and all of the other things that are sold during the week at these races, a team can’t just “reschedule their appointment” for next Monday. They cannot afford to be late. Obviously, all of the trailers that sell the souvenirs, the technical equipment needed to broadcast the event, and all the food for the thousands of fans – it all gets there behind a truck. So, without trucks, there would be no cars, no souvenirs, no media coverage and no food. That doesn’t sound like fun.
I’m looking forward to attending more races and maybe some day getting into the pits and seeing up close what all the fuss is about. If you are a NASCAR fan and you get the chance to see a race in person, I hope you can take advantage of the opportunity. After all, there is nothing more relaxing than a nice Sunday drive.