Talledega

Good morning ladies :)

Doing the Dega. Wow! - we had a blast a Talladega 09. I guess if you are born here you know where the race track is. Having been to Silverstone and Brands Hatch, Donnington, et al - one is fairly used to being guided in to the track with signs starting about 100 miles before final turn in.
Not here... Alabama intends to keep its race, as so many other things, a private state affair... all others have to continue on to the Talledega Forest. (For anyone going to the track - take the first right after you miss the track - where it says race day beer $3 and a mile long row of t-shirt stalls)

Following our noses (and dusty, hot, shouting, red faced fans and ticket touts) down an empty four lane road, we arrived. Hearing stories about people having to trek 3 miles from their cars made us feel lucky to park right next to the front gate. Most of the fans had apparently had a 3 day nonstop party prior to our arrival and most looked like it. Walking up to the track you are surrounded by various shouting and 'hollering' - the strangest of which was hearing someone shout 'Married yesterday and going to the race'. How romantic. Talledega or Dega or the Big D is the largest RV parking lot you have ever seen. Million dollar monsters of vehicles stretch for as far as the eye can see - the whole thing is literally quite a sight.

It's called the 'Superspeedway' which, I deduced, must mean it is like a normal speedway - but more 'Super'. This isnt untrue.

We jumped on our hosts cart (thanks Adam and Miller Coors!) and were whisked through the crowd to our destination - the party deck. The noise is spectacular. The race is not so much like the ear piercing scream of a highly strung 3 litre Indy or F1 car, but rather the rumble of thirty 7 Litre muscle cars trundling around the track in the form of one long metal snake held together by tape and bolts. It amazing. Its probably how racing was intended to be before space aged technology, systems and regulations on things like tire valve length or maximum number of wheels strangled any competitiveness in most other motor sports. You can't help but grin as the parade of cars passes by. I tried not smiling but its impossible.

The race was great. The 'big one' happened only a few laps in - which kind of knackered the race up a bit in my view. It was tough to get any alcoholic buzz with the heat bearing down on us but the buzz from being just 20 meters from the cars in the infield track with only a metal fence between us and them made up for this. Passion runs high among the Alabamian fans. Every car window, hat, aerial, flag pole, beer cooler and koozie and where applicable shirt has the number 24 on it (Jeff Gordon) and 44 (Dale Earnhardt, Jr). No one else really gets a look in. An out-of-towner isn't likely to get much love for cheering on Montoya. So I kept my mouth closed.

The only way to describe the experience is in the words of my father-in-law - 'All I'll say is be prepared.'

To an outsider - the whole experience is beyond preparation. Its mental.