Wrapping up a week at the races

November 16, 2009
Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale, AZ

Once again, we had a great time at the race track, spending the week dry camping and attending the races Thursday through Sunday. Today we packed up, headed home and put the coach back in storage.

Monday was set-up day. Parking started at 8:00 AM, and we were rolling around 10:30 (we were about #300 in queue). After a short consultation with the "parking police", we were at our chosen spot and all set up by early afternoon. Since we'd been here last year, I knew exactly where I wanted to park, and checked with the guys managing the entry before parking started. Although they said "fine, it's all open parking", of course they were nowhere to be found when we got to the front of the line. I got a bit of a hard time but prevailed in getting us into the "overflow" area early so we could get a nice level spot near the tram stop. I'll have to try to contact the track and get clarification of the "key words" to use to avoid the hassle next time.

Tuesday and Wednesday were days for relaxing, catching up with Wayne and Eva (we haven't seen them for a while except one evening when our paths crossed in Paso Robles/Atascadero), and a bit of shopping for supplies for the week. Wayne helped me remove the front TV to tighten up the cabinets, and we went to a nice sushi place in Goodyear for dinner one evening.

Racing began on Thursday. There are three classes of NASCAR races (trucks, "Nationwide Series", and "Sprint Cup Series") over the weekend, and practice and qualifying began during the day. Thursday also showcases two classes of USAC open-wheel cars. The Midgets (4-cylinder 900 pounders) qualified and ran a 25 lap feature first, and then the "Silver Crown Series" cars (8-cylinder 1,400 pounds) did a 100 lap race. Both were good races, with a lot of action and a little drama.

On Friday and Saturday, the weather turned cooler and cloudy. We actually had an "Arizona Downpour" on Saturday - it sprinkled for about 20 minutes, just enough to make a bunch of water spots in the accumulated dust on the cars. We had good seats for the Truck race on Friday night, and better ones for the Nationwide Series on Saturday afternoon.

The weather cleared for Sunday's main event, the Sprint Cup race. It was an interesting race, relatively quick with few cautions until late in the game. That meant several green-flag pit stops, and a lot of jockeying for position. We were happy to see several drivers do well (we're not rabid fans of any particular one), even though the end result was a bit of a runaway.

We watched all the races "old school", equipped with earplugs and a program. It was interesting to look at almost everyone around us in the stands, since they were outfitted with all manner of electronic regalia. Most had scanners and headphones, allowing them to listen to driver-crew conversations. Some had microphones and an intercom system so they could talk to each other over the noise. And then there were the people with specialized handheld TVs rented out by Sprint for $49 per weekend that show the race, in-car cameras, and on-demand replays, along with track announcer and crew audio. Instead of "just like being there", it's "just like being home and watching on TV". Hmmm.

We ate pretty well over the week (surprised?). The slow cookers got a workout, as Eva made ribs braised in a homemade barbeque sauce one day and her famous Chili Verde another. I made Rack of Lamb with Mushroom Risotto, we grilled burgers, and we did steaks with baked potatoes and snow peas to finish up on Sunday night. All the cooking was done outside, since we had the grill/stove setup deployed. The griddle and wok got a good workout and seasoning as well; they'll get more use over time now that they're broken in. We shared wine duties all week, with the focus being on California (various Syrahs, Petit Sirahs, and blends plus a very nice 2006 Badge Pinot Noir) and Washington (Syrah and blends), with a range of "value wines" thrown in for good measure. Given the venue, a few Bud Light Limes were consumed as well.

Click here for a picture album...

All in all, we had a great time and are looking forward to doing it again next year. This morning's projects involved putting everything away, dropping the solar panels, and breaking camp. We left around 10:30, routed Wayne and Eva to I-10 for their trip back to the Palm Springs area, unloaded the coach at home and had it back in storage by 1:00 PM. Now, back to the "real world"...