I’ve
been sitting on the tickets for almost a week now: Grandstand, Infield, Fan
Zone and Garage access for the Daytona
200. Easily, the best tickets I’ve
had for any event so far. However, I
almost didn’t get to go and actually made up my mind to give mine away. That is until this morning, when my sister
woke me and said, “You have to go. This
is too good and you know you’ll have a good time.” So I rolled out of the bed and got ready. It’s not that my ‘dance card was full’ but
when I make up my mind, there’s very little chance of me changing it. About two hours later, we were parked on the
infield at the Daytona
International Speedway. I do love
that place so. “It gives my life” as Luvvie Ajayi would say. Can I say again, that these were really good
tickets? We went everywhere and then
some.
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| Pit Lane |
After
checking out the garages and fan-deck, we came to rest on the roof of the Daytona
500 club. Mercy me, this is the way
to watch the races! It was shaded and we
were directly across from the finish line with victory lane directly below
us. We could see everything going on in
pit area and there were screens with live video of the race with stats. Heck, there were even cup-holders for our
drinks. I loved every second of it and
didn’t get roasted by the sun. Now, I’m
not going to lie. I didn’t have a clue
as to who was riding what but still had a grand time. We saw the race end then went downstairs just
as the top three riders pulled in to celebrate.
There was press, owners, teams, riders, wags, wannabe wags, parents, more
press and fans. It was nuts but my
little camera had a fully charged battery and I made it work hard. All the while, I couldn’t believe how close
we were to everything. After a while, I
relinquished my spot to the crane for the overhead camera. A few steps up into the stands and I still
got a good view of the trophy ceremony.
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| The winners! |
I had
an incredibly good time. The crowds
weren’t nearly as big as a NASCAR event and we never made it to the displays at
Midway. However, I saw even more of the
Speedway than ever before and the race was very exciting. No competitions are scheduled until the Subway
Jalapeno 250 in July but that doesn’t mean I won’t find my way over there;
because I fully intend to take as much of it in, while I’m here. You can view all photographs and videos at my
Facebook page. Click on over and check out some of the action!
