Racing the radar

Saturday 5th July

On Saturday we headed back up to Daytona for the Coke Zero 400. It was the big day for the nascar sprint cup series.

We would be keeping a close eye on the weather all day with the rain forecast to arrive late afternoon.  On the way to the track we were told that in the event of a rainout there would be no transportation available and we would have to make our own way to the track, though surely it wouldn't be an issue.... would it?

The atmosphere in the coach on the way up was good with everyone looking forward to watching their favourite drivers in action. Lots of Dale Jr and Jeff Gordon fans on the bus, as well as some fans who have come all the way from Tasmania..... Sure enough they were Marcos Ambrose fans.

Race traffic  wasn't too bad, good job I didn't decide to hire a car and park near the track as that would have set me back $60 in some places!

When we arrived I decided to explore the section behind turn 4 that I hadn't covered yesterday, mainly driver merchandise haulers and stages, picnic areas,  eateries where you could buy pretty much any food as long as you didn't mind it coming with fries.

Whilst in the merchandise areas I spent way too much money..... Could swear the lady at the Jeff Gordon hauler had a glint in her eye when she saw me coming, but hey its not every day you get to go to a nascar race.

Was also lucky enough to see a lot more drivers in this area.... Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Marcos Ambrose, Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne, Danica Patrick, Brian Vickers.

Just as I began to head back towards the tri oval entrance to the grandstand..... Yep you guessed it..... It began to rain.... Hard!!!
From then on it was a long wait, everyone was taking cover in any dry spot they could find.... Under the stands all you could see was people studying their phones for the latest weather information. One woman told me that it was due to stop... At 10:30pm.....3hrs after the scheduled race start.
Bought a funnel cake (cross between a pretzel and a doughnut with icing sugar if you can imagine such a thing) before realising it had a radius almost bigger than a Goodyear Nascar tyre and figuring out I wasn't that hungry anyway.

By 8:45 the rain was still coming down and I overheard a Daytona official say they wouldn't start the race any later than 11pm. Now I'm no Einstein but it didn't take much to realise that this race wasn't going to happen tonight.  Driver intros and all the pre race stuff was done anyway but shortly after that the footpaths under the stands were flooding and I was getting soaked!  I took the decision to head back to the coach until it was either postponed or by some miracle it stopped.

My next concern was how would I get back up to the track tomorrow. I asked Lily,  our primesport rep. She said that if 40people on the trip were willing to come back they would put a coach on for us but we would have to pay a small additional fee.  Whatever..... I was getting there come hell or (yet more)  high water!

The Aussies on our trip were delighted that we did indeed reach 40.
Sure enough soon after I boarded the coach the race was postponed for 11am Sunday.

Had a nice chat with a Dale Jr fan on the way home about Nascar and all the races that we had both been to,  like many Americans, she couldn't believe we followed nascar in the UK.  She has been to at least 1 race since 1996 now that's dedication for you!  She so said that most of the races she has been to have been affected by rain!  Maybe it was an omen.

Back to the hotel for 10:30 and I was pretty much straight to bed as the coach would be leaving 8:30 tomorrow.

Sunday 6th July

So then....... Sunday.....

A nice Starbucks to start the day and off we went..... A Bonus day at Daytona. I could navigate my way around that place blindfolded now. The weather was glorious and when we got there I headed straight for my seat as the green flag was not far away.

The stands were not as busy as they would have been for the race but the atmosphere was great, especially as the cars took the green flag to start the race. Well.. We only got 11 Laps in before rain hit the speedway which lead to another rain delay. Luckily it let up and we were back underway within the hour.

The race itself was action packed with wrecks and plenty of battles especially as we didn't know how far the race would go.

There was weather all around the speedway but most appeared to be avoiding us.... Until lap 112, over halfway thankfully. The back straight was covered by a mist and shortly got a soaking...... Just as we were basking on sunshine in the tri oval.

The weather was so bizzare. The officials almost got the track dry with the air titans but then a torrential downpour soaked the track.... I was listening get in to the officials on my scanner, soon enough I heard what I expected... 'the race has been declared'

Everyone then faced a rush to get out before getting  soaked, puddles and gushing water everywhere.

Aric Almirola was declared the race winner. His first sprint cup win.


Despite the rain and interruptions I've got to say I had a blast.  Yes it was a shame the race didn't reach a proper conclusion but to be there was special enough and to be around fellow race fans made for a great atmosphere. Still..... Daytona and I have unfinished business!!!!

Thank you to primesport for getting us up there again today for a relatively small fee.