Daytona 500
So this weekend is the Daytona 500. It is kind of weird because I am not as excited as I normally get. I have written in past Blogs about how I quit getting way into sports &, surprisingly, it has stayed true to form. No blow ups whatsoever during the Packer season surprised everyone I watched games with. With that being said, racing is my game. I love racing.
When the green flag drops on Sunday I will probably have tears running down my face. I get goose bumps up & down my arms. It is just awesome. Nobody really gets racing until you go to a race. You can get interested, but you have to be there just once to get the addiction. I have brought a few different people to either a NASCAR race or Indy car race & I think everyone I have brought got hooked. Hell, Chris enjoyed the race last year, Chris. We get to test Miah this year.
Well anyway, the Daytona 500 holds a ton of sporting memories. In racing, the Daytona 500 & Indy 500 are the 2 biggest races of the year. Every February I look forward to the race. Most of those memories are bad ones, mainly Dale Earnhardt somehow getting screwed out of the win in the last couple laps. One year he blew a tire leading going through the last turn, another he got flipped on his roof leading with 10 to go. (He got back in the car & finished, the man.) Finally he won the damn thing in ’98 & I was working. Yea, I missed the greatest moment of his racing career. That was before I had the internet or anything so when I got home I put on ESPN 2 & waited for the bottom ticker to come across the screen. It was awesome when ‘Dale Earnhardt wins the Daytona 500’ scrolled across. Thank got 45 minutes of
3 years later he would die in the race. NASCAR has gotten pretty mainstream in the years since & probably because of this event. New NASCAR fans can’t fathom what the moment was like being a racing fan. You loved or you hated Dale Earnhardt, nothing in between. Either way you respected him as the best. His death was such a surreal experience. I will never in my life forget the second I found out he had passed away. It is burned in my head. After that happened, I really wondered whether I would ever watch another race. I have, but it is definitely different. Guys, no wall jokes in the comment board, none.
Last year’s 500 was maybe the 1st year I have enjoyed the race since his death. Jr., his son, won the race. That was sweet. He won where is dad died, I can’t imagine what went through him.
Well this year it looks like Jr. is slow & Jimmie Johnson is the man to beat. My picks for the race are :hmmmmm…..: Dale Earnhardt Jr. & Kevin Harvick. This year’s champion :going deeper into thought: will either be Dale Earnhardt Jr. or Kevin Harvick. You ever want to get into NASCAR, I can make you join the converts. Let’s go to a bar & catch a race.
