Of course Kurt didn’t have any tickets left, so we headed over to his rig several minutes early, only to find him already there. I was a little disappointed because he’s usually late, and I missed his hat toss. The mob of people in front of his rig (always the biggest crowd for a signing session) was difficult to get through, and our pictures support that. It seemed like every time Danni would try to get in a clear spot it would be filled! Like always, Kurt was very smiley and friendly, and would look up and pose for anyone who called his name. I also really liked his shirt.
A little before 10 we made our way back to Casey’s trailer. Since David’s was parked right next to his I planned on watching Casey for a few minutes and then getting on David’s line, which at the time wasn’t very long. Casey looked very tired but was friendly to everyone he met. I kind of feel bad for him because he’s now pretty popular and I think he gets nervous because he knows he’s going to have to sign for a large amount of people.
I got on David’s line and sat down under his rig. Looking above me I saw some vents and realized they were likely the rig’s air conditioning, so for a while I had a nice cool breeze blowing on me. However, at times it would get really hot, and then freezing cold, so I started to feel a little miserable after about a half hour. Danni and Mom were staking out a spot right where David would be sitting, but Danni came to visit me for a few minutes. I had been keeping myself busy by watching the fans on Casey’s line, which was in between David’s rig and the one on the other side. All of a sudden I noticed one guy was walking through and thought, “Cool, a TRB fan.” Then he came fully into view, and to my surprise there was Brian Vickers! Danni, who was wearing a TRB tank top, turned and gaped at me! Unfortunately she had nothing for him to sign except her tank top, which would have been a little awkward since he would have had to sign her chest (on second thought, she should have asked ha ha!). He signed a few things for a couple fans and then went into his rig (parked right behind Casey’s). After a few more minutes of mixed excitement and disappointment, Danni left me and went back to wait with Mom.
David finally arrived and I was glad to get out from under the air conditioning exhaust. By this time David had quite a line behind his rig so it paid off that I’d gotten there early. I couldn’t see him until I was a few people away, but Danni said at first he looked very tired. When he and I were face-to-face I admired how handsome he is, especially when he smiled and said hello. I immediately felt really comfortable with him, and lifted up my 00 backpack for him to sign. He looked at it and then grinned, leaning over it and giving it a little shake. “You got any money in there?” he joked. I giggled and said that I did, and he laughed.
He asked where I wanted him to sign it and I told him, and then seemed to know that I wanted to take a picture with him before I asked. He leaned way over for me (I said it was because I’m short, Danni insisted it was because he really liked me!), got the picture taken and then lowered my backpack down. On a whim I blurted, “I love you!” I instantly felt really silly but he giggled and looked flattered!! As I took my backpack he said, “I love your nails,” which were painted blue with yellow stripes for Michael. All I could answer was an “Oh!” and a schoolgirl titter (uhg!!). I wanted to ask if I could hold his hand for a minute but I was starting to lose my cool a bit and didn’t want to take up more of his time. We said thank you and walked away, and I looked at his autograph on my backpack and felt like floating. He was just so absolutely sweet! I think the rain could have started pouring down and the race cancelled and I still would have been able to smile.
Mom, Danni and I walked around and checked out our seats (not very good…N22, which is basically over by Turn 3 and you can’t really see pit road or the start/finish line) before we went back to the truck to have lunch. While we were eating a state trooper helicopter was flying around announcing they were looking for some “Christopher Speeno” over the megaphone, and the guy was in trouble, by the sounds of it, since the troopers kept saying, “We know who you are!” That was pretty amusing! I wonder if they ever found him?
Unfortunately we missed all the MWR drivers being announced during intros because we had a problem getting our FanScan (Mom forgot her credit card in the truck and we didn’t have $500 for a deposit!), but as we ran to our seats they announced David and I heard a lot of cheers! And of course once we got to our seats we discovered what we’d feared: that they don’t go all the way down to the end of the grandstand with the drive-by trucks. We used our binoculars and guessed which drivers we were looking at. But I was very pleased to hear lots of cheers for Kurt.
It was then I realized that PJ Jones was replacing Robby Gordon in the 7, and I wondered what he did. I was able to watch some of the Busch race before leaving Saturday but not all of it. Now I know what happened, but haven’t seen a good replay so I can’t really say too much about it yet.
Pocono races are extremely long. In a way I like that because we get a lot of racing for not much money, but you also get pretty achy and irritable sitting in those grandstands with people getting plastered and blowing their cigarette ashes into your face! There were also tons of Japanese beetles all over the place, flying into peoples’ faces. I already hate these beetles but them annoying me at a race was twice as bad!
As everyone knows, Kurt pretty much took the lead away from Junior (to the dismay of the grandstands) very quickly and didn’t look back. At first the MWR cars looked okay, with DJ by far the best of the three, but then both Michael and David began to have issues. Michael was yelling at Bobby Kennedy so much that I switched to David, who was having yet more radio problems.
Both Jamie McMurray and Dale Jr. spun out right in front of us! The crowd literally screamed in agony when Junior spun – I laughed after I was sure he didn’t hit anything. It was wild! I wish I had gotten a picture of it but it scared the crap out of me. He made a ton of smoke!
I was distressed when DJ went to the garage, and even more when David followed with the same fuel pump failure (Frankie was having a fit!). I suspected Michael had some flat tires but they seemed to happen so close to green flag pit stops for the others that I wasn’t sure what was happening.
When Jamie McMurray finally crashed I felt really bad for him because his car was torn apart. He couldn’t make it back to the pits and for a moment I was excited because I thought we’d be able to see him get out, until an ambulance blocked the view. Poor Jamie! Three wrecks was the charm. Brian also got into this one so that hurt as well.
The last few laps were very stressful for me because even though Kurt was so dominant I was terrified that something would happen. When he came around Turn 3 I started screaming in victory, but after seeing poor Jeremy Clements’ heartbreak during the ARCA race I made sure to see him cross the line first with my own eyes before I relaxed. In Turn 3 on the cooldown lap I saw Kyle run beside him for a while, and I started to get a little choked up! Kurt’s birthday was the 4th, and his beloved dog Jim died a few days before Chicago, so I think this was an emotional win for him. His burnout was amazing, but I wish I had my June seats because it would have been right on top of us! Some fans left disappointed but I was pleased to hear quite a bit of cheering and lots of clapping.
Suddenly someone above me yelled, “Come on Mikey!” and I looked over to see the 55 car silently coming to pit road with a tow truck behind it.
Danni and I did a little shopping afterward while Mom and Jim went back to the truck to get the food going. Again I looked for Michael’s souvenir rig, but unless I’m blind it wasn’t to be found. I stopped at Kurt’s rig and bought a hat I’d been wanting for a long time, and it was the only one left! Danni bought a TRB hat, which is really nicely made, and a 1/64 Brian diecast.
Back in the fields we had a nice few hours and met a couple and their son from Iowa (Kurt Busch fans, yes!!), had some burgers and coffee and then went home. Unfortunately both Danni and I felt pretty sick by the time we got home; I don’t know if it was the heat or those French fries we ate, but luckily we’re okay now!
