I woke up at 6 a.m., knowing the race was only hours away.
Outta the bed, in and out of the shower, grab the cooler, and away we went... on our way to the most popular race track in the U.S.
It was 9:00 am when we arrived in Bristol.
Finding a parking spot wasn't all that hard, but the only problem we had to encounter, how to make our way of 200,000 people.
Around 10:30, we cleared the gates...past all security checking the coolers, and we was at Bristol Motor Speedway, the race was only a few more hours away. After buying all the Dale Jr Merchandise I could get my hands on, we went to take our seats. Comfy as they was, 11th row from the wall was great!! You could see everything, close enough to read all the associate sponsers on the cars.It was almost 11:30, and the race was only an hour away. Watching all the cars in their pit stalls, drivers and crews prepping for the race, and even seeing Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock was all worth the $$$ right from the get-go.
Then it was 12:30, the fans was filling up the grandstand, all 200,000 seats and the Pre-Race show was on!! Watching the buggy race, Awards from the Darlington race ceremony, and the 3 men leap from the sky, it was enough to drive you insane waiting for the race to begin.
I have already went through about 5 bottles of water at the time, and then the race was 15 minutes away from the green flag! Driver Introductions was great!! Too see all the drivers go by was awesome, especially when Dale Jr went by, the crowd went crazy. Enough to make you lose your hearing.
12:50, the most famous words in motor sports was said... "Gentlemen, START YOUR ENGINES!!" and the roar of 43 cars came about.
Off the track they rolled, and the crowd was all on their feet...waiting impatiently for that Green flag to fly. Down to the line on the final pace lap, all 43 drivers crossed the line and the race was on. The Fans was all on their feet, going crazy!!
Robby Gordon gets a jump on Jeff Gordon off the line.The fans roared with cheers, but when Robby was blacked flagged...Jeff Gordon took the led and the fans booed the Rainbow Warrior.
After a few laps, all the fans surrounding the Bristol Motor Speedway sat in their seats, only to be brought back up to their feet when Dale Earnhardt Jr took the lead!! WOOOOO HOOOO!!!!
The crowd was going crazy, loud enough to not even hear the cars circle around the track.
All the fans wearing the Red Budweiser gear (including me!!) finally had their main reason to jump and cheer.
Still on their feet while Junior was pulling away from the rest of the field, the fans had another huge reason to cheer...
Jeff Gordon back-spun into the wall, damaging the DuPont Chevrolet.
All the cars on the lead lap head into the pits to get their service.
I tried to glance over at Dale Jr's pit stall, but couldn't see cause I was sitting in the 11th row between the Start/Finish line and Turn 1, but I did see his Budweiser #8 come out in first!!.
It was only about 250 laps to go until Dale Jr captured his first win of the 2002 season, he had the most dominate car, who didn't think he was gonna burn out everybody's ass to the finish line?.
The restart, and Dale takes off with the lead, pulling away car length after car length.The Budweisers was all in the air, cheering on Dale Jr while he was clicking off lap after lap at 135 mph, trying to reach and grab that first win of the 2002 season.
After another caution involving a crash, Dale Earnhardt Jr Opted to pit with only about 90 laps to go to get some fresh tires. He complained of a Bad set of tires.
As the cars rolled down to the line, Dale Jr sat in 10th while Kurt Busch was in the lead.
Dale Jr was on a roll...
He had already made is way from 10th up to 4th, trying to reach 3rd place man Ricky Rudd, but something was in the way..
Robby Gordon, who said Jr got into him earlier in the race, would NOT move out of Earnhardt Jr's way, therefore haulting his march to the front and also, pissed Junior off really bad.
As Kurt Busch took the win at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Food City 500, Junior and Robby Gordon was just getting started. On the cool off lap, Earnhardt Jr let Robby Gordon know the he wasn't happy with the crap he tried to pull, so he slightly tapped Robby's car on the side, but when they reached pit road, Robby Gordon slammed him in the rear of the car and spun him out...on PIT ROAD! What a dumbass move for a racecar driver to do...
In all, the race kicked ass!! My first since 1995, and the first time seeing my favorite (Dale Jr) on the track in person. Congradulations Junior on your 4th place finish, and Congrats to Kurt Busch for winning his first ever race!!
