The Rednecks are Coming...the Rednecks are Coming....

(Ash) NOPE, there are already here! Live from the heart of Alabama: Welcome to Talladega Superspeedway... lets go racin' ! For me a 20 mile trip down I-20 is no big deal, except for a certain six days out of the year: NASCAR race weekend Spring, NASCAR race weekend Fall! Thurday's trip is unaviodable- getting my media credentials. Actually it is one of the times during the 4-day weekend that I actually enjoy. Imagine, lil ole me just zipping through security, snatching up all my passes, and this time even a HOT (garage) pass!! It has to be fate; there is a full moon, and I am going to march up to the Home Depot Tiger (aka Tony) my secret crush (not anymore) while he is reving up his orange ride to run his qualifying laps, and plant one right on his......... HELMET, SILLY!
Back to the idea of actually enjoying being a witness to the population explosion in this tiny town (new pop. around175,000) for a few days. It is nothing short of amusing to see the small community, if you will, under construction. For five miles on Speedway Boulevard, both sides of the road, there are just people (I use that term loosely) more people, junk being sold, (knock offs), piles of wood stacked 10 feet high and shower houses- that incidently I don't think some people realize are there- if you get my drift or whiff maybe.
Then there are the people all shapes, sizes, and stages of dental distruction, milling about aimlessly and in various stages of intoxication. Like the saying goes: It's five o'clock somewhere! The smell(s) at this point are something like a fair or carnival-- funky, greasy food and as you move further awary from the Speedway entrance, grilling. OK, I admit, early on I partake in some of that food knowing darn well what the Media Centre has instore for my intestines.
This past Spring I was adpoted by a "ban" of about 15 Army Special Forces Men that get together every April in Talladega as a reunion. Actually I was wondering aimlessly as I do anywhere I go without my OnStar or GPS- so I eagerly joined their group. Hey, you would too- 15 fit men, the majority my age, and not a dog ugly one in the group. (And that is a true statement without my "beer goggles") Anyway, for the remainder of the weekend they invited me to eat and hang out when I wasn't working-- if I could find their little spot again. (Thank goodness for cell phones!) Wait, make that big camp, same location every year, a very structured set up with all the amenities of a home away from home, if you can imagine. They had 4 RVs between all of them, cots, chairs, generators and a plethora of food and beverages, ok I promised I would never tell: They had a menu!
Well getting off the subject a bit but this is just the first installment of GirlGONERacin' (girl better return) from the heart of NASCAR- the newly resurfaced (TIGER even drove the paver back in June) 2.66 mile Talladega SuperSpeedway.
Time to pit!