We wandered around for a little while, grabbing food, checking out sunglasses and getting my free gift from Sprint for being their customer (it consisted of a hat, that my boyfriend stole from me and cheap cooler bag). There was a booth testing testosterone levels in men and I made my boyfriend go in but they said he was too young (29) to have it done. So he’s still good in the testosterone department, good to know.

We linked back up with the group and headed into the infield where I caught sight of Tony Lucca, the runner-up from The Voice and former member of The New Mickey Mouse Club from my childhood, who was set to sing the National Anthem later that night.

In the garage we went into the hauler for the No. 16 3M team and were greeted by Ryder who drives the hauler. He gave us the tour and showed us where & how everything they needed for a race weekend was stored & organized. We watched their shocks specialist work on shocks for the night’s race. Ryder drives the hauler to each race and straight home to Charlotte after every race, except when they’re out in Phoenix and then heading to Las Vegas the next week. In that case they have another truck that brings out everything for all of their Roush Fenway teams in Phoenix and that’s how they replenish & change cars when it doesn’t make logistical sense to go back to Charlotte.

No candy/chips for the 16 team (that I could see). Just fresh fruit and a Kuerig coffee machine.

The headsets for the team, all nicely labeled & organized.

The best nickname. Each crew guy has a cubby.

Next up was the 16′s crew chief, Matt Puccia. He was a super nice guy and it wasn’t until speaking to him that I realized that teams never get to test their cars at night on tracks that they’ll race at night. Isn’t that strange? Considering how much money teams put into having a leg up on everyone else, you’d think they’d figure out a way to test at night. Especially since the track changes so much from day to night.

Crew chief of the No. 16 3M Ford, Matt Puccia

Anywho, we had a break then to go and watch Blake Shelton’s infield concert. We didn’t watch the show because there were a million people in front of the stage and it just didn’t seem worth it. Especially since they were showing it on the world’s largest HDTV screen between turns two and three, there was really no need. Instead we wandered around on pit road and then into the Budweiser area where their famous Clydesdale horses were on display. They are SO beautiful, seeing them on TV doesn’t do them justice. Gorgeous creatures, except for when they decide to turn around and crap in front of your face. Ew.

Curtis, one of the 3M crew guys we talked to before the race. He's a tire changer and really nice guy.

The No. 39 team were having hot dogs for lunch and I really wanted to steal one. Looked so good!

Touching up the paint on the logos on the frontstretch.

This is Charlie. Isn't he cute?!

When the group met up again we were met by 3M driver Greg Biffle. Everyone asked him a couple questions and I asked if he felt any extra special pride in coming from the West Coast and he definitely does. He feels a special pride in being from Washington state (along with Kasey Kahne) in proving that guys from outside of the south or midwest can be very successful in NASCAR. If Greg wins the Sprint Cup Championship this year he will be the first driver to ever win in each of NASCAR’s national touring series.

I love this photo of me because I'm making a horrible face right next to Greg Biffle. I find this funny, totally unintentional. (photo credit: Action Sports Photography)

And this is me meeting Jack Roush. Very cool. (photo credit: Action Sports Photography)

After Greg we all met Jack Roush (the one person my boyfriend was starstruck about). He was asked about competition and I asked him what he thought could be done to make it better. He feels that anyone can drive a car at this point and that it’s all about engineering at this point.

We moved into the driver’s meeting room at that point. The driver’s meeting was the longest one I’ve ever been to because they had to spend a lot of time explaining the rules of the All-Star Race. A couple guys asked some clarifying questions but that was it.

From the driver’s meeting we went back to the grandstands to our suite. That was the first time I’d seen a race from a suite or the grandstands at an oval track. We watched the Sprint Showdown from there and it was a great treat to see Dale Earnhardt Jr. win something!

The view from the suite, which is really sweet because you see the ENTIRE track.

We went back to the track after that for the driver introductions for the All-Star Race. We cut through the garage were all of the pit crews were gathered so that they could be introduced with their drivers. It was there that I got the Obligatory Ron Malec photo, which I have to admit was odd to do considering my boyfriend was by my side. So he got a photo of me taking a photo of Ron Malec. So funny. But I don’t take that photo for just me, I do it for you!

That's me taking the photo of Ron Malec (left) and that's him all blurry.

This is the end result. Perfect. The Obligatory Ron Malec Photo!

After the driver intros we went over to the No. 16 3M pit box where we hung out for the start of the race. The best thing was getting to see all of the children on hand for the crew guys. I saw a ton of kids helping their dads out in the pits, from sweeping the pit box to pulling lug nuts off of tires they hadn’t used, to helping their dad wheel tires back to the hauler. My heart melted every time. That’s really the best part of the races in Charlotte, that the crew guys get to spend more time with their families. Those guys spend 7 days a week working sometimes so it’s extra special that they get any quality time with their kids.

Backstage at driver introductions.

The 3M Pitbulls!

A father & his son during pre-race festivities with the No. 21 Good Sam Club / Camping World team. Before this photo he was busy sweeping up the pits. Cute!

We stayed in the pits for the entire race, listening to the team on the radio and then alternating between watching the track action on the frontstretch and then on the HDTV screen on the backstretch. It was super disappointing when Biffle’s car lost it’s engine and caught on fire. We were all glad he was OK.

And then Jimmie Johnson won. And then we went back to the hotel. The end!

Jimmie Johnson does his burnout for winning the 2012 Sprint All-Star Race

Tony Stewart confers with Steve Addington and Greg Zipadelli on his car post-race. He finished in 17th and stood around for a while with the team checking out different things on the car.

It was a wonderful trip and I am SO thankful to 3M for bringing me out to Charlotte for the race and everyone at Roush Fenway Racing for their wonderful hospitality!

—
Check out 3M Racing on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

(All photos credit The Fast and the Fabulous, unless otherwise noted)

We flew into Charlotte last Thursday night. I reserved a rental car (at my own expense) through Hertz because we were staying for one more day on Sunday and then coming home on Monday. So we got to the Hertz office and used one of the kiosks to complete the rental. Turns out the guy, Mike, that helped me “virtually” (he was physically in Oklahoma but we saw each other by cameras) was a big NASCAR fan and even organized a 30+ person fantasy league with his dad. I told him about my blog and he even left a comment on one of my posts by the time we got to the hotel. I just love meeting fellow NASCAR fans in totally random ways. It’s the closest thing I’ll ever have to being in a sorority, if you meet another NASCAR fan it breaks down barriers and you’ve got an instant conversation.

Our 3M Racing Experience began early on Friday morning as we met the other three bloggers (and their guests), the two (awesome!) Taylor PR people who were our “handlers/guides” for the weekend, and a communications person from 3M in the lobby of our hotel.

I must admit before I go any further that it was weird going to a race with a group of people and then staying with that group for the entire time. I always go to races by myself, so it was even strange being there with a significant other. It wasn’t a bad thing it was just VERY different. I learned to just go with it.

We went to breakfast at the Cracker Barrel (I’d never been to a Cracker Barrel and very much wanted to stay and look at everything in the shop, the candy selection alone was very tempting) and then headed over to Roush Fenway Racing for our tour of the shop.

This was, again, my first time visiting the inside of a shop. When I was in Charlotte two years ago for the All-Star Race and the 600 I visited a couple race shops but, of course, I was relegated to the museums and stores just like any fan. This visit was different because we were guided by Roush Fenway’s social media & web guy, Chip, and we had to wear protective glasses. And we couldn’t take any pictures. They didn’t want any of their hard work and secrets getting out.

They make everything for their cars in-house at Roush and the coolest thing was seeing the seven post machine in up close & in action. The seven post mimics 30 race tracks so they can test their setups for those tracks and see how it effects the cars. There’s a LOT of math involved which totally makes it not at all interesting to me in terms of how I would want to spend my time everyday, but the overall theory of it all is REALLY cool. It’s amazing all of the things they’ve thought of in order to find that edge on the competition.

In each of the rooms we were in there were vending machines from Fastenal (they sponsor RFR driver Carl Edwards) the dispensed parts & pieces. I thought that was interesting because I was expecting to see a soda machine. Apparently Fastenal can track the inventory of the the machine and which employee used what and then replenish them as necessary. It’s cool.

We got to see “white lightening” the room where they use dots to create 3D models of the car’s body. Talk about a crazy amount of science & math right there, it’s insane. We stopped by the pit crew training area where they have enough room to practice pitting two cars. The guys in our group attempted to pick up the tires, natch. Then we headed over to another shop where they paint the cars and put the decals on. I got to take a picture there, where the room smelled like Sharpies.

This is where Roush Fenway Racing pit crews practice their stops

That's a lot of tires!

A No. 16 3M Ford in the middle of it's paint job process

I wanted to figure out a way to convey all that 3M does and makes but it’s impossible. They make a TON of stuff. From the things you know and might use everyday, think Post-It’s and SCOTCH® tape, to NexCare bandages, to things teams use like industrial strength adhesives, car decals to ear plugs.

After our tour we spent a little time in the Roush Fenway Racing museum and then headed upstairs into their corporate offices for lunch. The BBQ pork sandwiches, macaroni & cheese, beans and banana pudding were from a place called Spoons. It was super yummy. We ate in one of the conference rooms and I have to say that it was truly crazy to be eating & sitting in RFR’s headquarters. The space itself is your typical office space but definitely nicer than the cube farms I’ve been used to (like 100 times classier than any newspaper newsroom). It was really quiet because I think most people might have been at the track that day.

Lunch!

However, Steve Newmark, the president of Roush Fenway Racing, was there and he saw us in the conference room and stopped in to say hello. He wasn’t scheduled to talk to us so it was a great treat to ask him questions about sponsorship and his job in general. He was very, very nice and honest about where he saw sponsorship headed. It’s basically what you’re seeing now, people signing on for a few races and figuring out if this is where they want to be and then gradually doing more in the sport.

After lunch we went to the track where everyone, except me, picked up their hot passes (I have a hard card) for the next day. Then we went straight over to the NASCAR Hall of Fame where we were met by out tour guide, Buz. He told us some great stories about some of the items in the Hall and then we took off on our own.

This was stuck on the side of the NASCAR credentials hauler. I'm guessing this wasn't approved by NASCAR.

I’d been to the Hall before but this time I tried out the iRacing simulator with the rest of our group and promptly got kicked out of the race because I sped on pit road on accident (because I had an accident). I didn’t mean to! When they explained all of the rules of that thing before we got into the car my head was spinning. I was sure I wasn’t going to remember. Don’t speed here but you can speed here but not when this is happening. Ugh.

That's my hand touching the track at Pocono Raceway.

All of those nails & screws were inside Darrell Waltrip at one point. Grody.

After the Hall of Fame we went back to our hotel for a break and then went back to the Uptown (aka downtown) area of Charlotte for dinner at Mez, a foo-foo-shi-shi restaurant in EpiCentre. The food was SO GOOD. The biggest debate at the table was whether or not the attendant in the men’s room was an employee of the restaurant or if he was just some dude trying to make a couple bucks.

Anyway, post-dinner we headed down one level to Whisky River, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s nightclub. The biggest focal point of entertainment was, of course, the mechanical bull where many an inebriated person attempted to conquer the bull. The women looking on to take pictures of their drunk friends and the men looking on hoping some woman’s top would fall down.

My boyfriend and I tried the photobooth that had the ability (supposedly) to take both of your photos and them mesh them together to show you an image of what your future children would look like. Well, my boyfriend is white and I’m black (duh) and the image we were given was of a boy that looked like Alfred E. Newman, the face of MAD magazine. Not cute! Thanks a lot Dale Jr.

And then we went back to the hotel where I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Coming up next: The 2012 Sprint All-Star Race where we met Jack Roush & Greg Biffle!

—
Check out 3M Racing on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

That was totally straightforward and was included in a nice note. But then they added that there was a jump drive with a special message from Jeff Gordon filmed just for me. I figured it was just some generic message that they filmed for whatever publications they were sending it to but I was SO wrong.

He says hello to me by name, although he calls me “Val,” which I hate, I understand why they did that so that they didn’t get my name wrong. It’s pronounced Val-Lay or like Valet parking (write that down for the future, Jeff!). So I’m cool with him using an abbreviated version because he’s Jeff friggin Gordon. But they made it EVEN cooler by mentioning my Hottest NASCAR Driver Tournament!!! This is truly the coolest thing ever, made even better by the fact that I didn’t know I was getting anything.

So because they didn’t put anything in the note about not sharing this with you, I am. If you ever meet me I might just show you this video on my phone. I’ve watched it like 50 times already because it’s wonderful.

The “we” in question was my boyfriend and I. This was his first race period and his first experience as my photographer. He’s not a professional photog or anything but really enjoys it and I loved the idea of not having to take all of the photos myself. In the end, as you’ll see, he took a lot of awesome shots.

So arriving at the track on Friday for qualifying I quickly realized that this was a totally different than what I was used to with NASCAR. It’s similar to IndyCar but still different.

ESM field two teams of two drivers, Guy Cosmo & Ed Brown (CEO of Patrón Tequila) and Scott Sharp (Owner of ESM) & Johannes van Overbeek, who drive Ferraris. My new goal in life is to get a Ferrari. I’m not even kidding, those cars are truly beautiful. I haven’t even driven one yet but I’m pretty sure I would enjoy it.

The differences: The car doors not he race cars actually open. They’ve got a little TV screen on their dashboards that serves as their rearview mirror. There are multiple “classes” of cars all racing within the race. So there’s an overall race winner and then winners within the different classes. It costs more to field an ALMS team than a NASCAR team. When the pits are hot EVERYONE has to wear a fire suit including family, friends, PR & VIPs. I opted out of donning one and hanging in the pits during the race because it was really hot and I didn’t want to be hot plus I don’t think I’d look that awesome in one.

We checked out the pits while they were cold and each team’s area was double the size of an IndyCar or NASCAR pit because they have more than one team and there’s just more equipment.

We hung out in the team’s garage stall and watched the crew make adjustments to the cars, which have the ability to jack themselves up. Yep, they have these posts that pop out and lift them up automatically, it’s ridiculously cool. I wish my street car had that just because it’s cool.

We had lunch in the series’ traveling cafeteria where all of the teams take their meals. It was a very cool setup with a ton of food options. It outdoes any food I’ve ever had at any media center. They had chocolate dipped strawberries, you guys! That’s my #1 weakness.

In the infield there’s this huge hill that has a steep grade, but at the very top there’s a great view of The Corkscrew turn. We trekked up there but I had to stop numerous times because I’m totally out of shape and walking up the side of mountains isn’t something I do everyday (or ever). It was worth it though. On Saturday we found the way around that has a much more gradual ascent.

The crowd isn’t very NASCAR. The people attending the race don’t spend a ton of time hounding drivers for autographs, it’s much more laid back. The fans of ALMS are more interested in the cars and the racing. It’s not as personality driven as it is in NASCAR and IndyCar.

Speaking of personalities the ESM drivers were great. We met Guy, Ed and Johannes, I interviewed them (that’ll be posted later), and they were the nicest guys. They provided a lot of insight into the sport and how they handle race days.

On Saturday and Sunday we spent a lot of time checking out the paddock areas. There were the usual displays from car manufacturers (Land Rover, Chevrolet, VW) and food vendors, including something called a Frog Dog which is a hot dog stuffed inside a French baguette with mustard and ketchup. One curious thing was this high-end men’s clothing store from Carmel (think business suits, dress shirts, & khaki shorts) that had a booth featuring a woman making ties by hand, at least that’s what I think she was doing. It was weird, they had zero customers.

On Saturday we ran into Colin Braun’s wife, Melissa, and his mother. I’m hoping to interview Melissa soon about her & Colin’s love story, so be on the lookout for that. You might remember Colin from his time in NASCAR in trucks and the Nationwide Series. His team, the No. 05 Composite Resources ORECA FLM09 from CORE Autosport with Jon Bennett, ended up winning the six-hour race later that day.

Yep, you read that right, 6 HOURS! We managed to stay for three hours of it but I couldn’t make it for the rest of the way. Overall the American Le Mans Series is something you should experience. It’s a wonderful change of pace and if you can make it out the Monterey, California area you should go to Laguna Seca. It’s a gorgeous area and when you’re doing with racing you can always check out Cannery Row and the famous Monterey Bay Aquarium.

(all photos credit: The Fast and the Fabulous)

I don’t know what it is but I haven’t been that excited about this season so far. It’s a really weird feeling. I thought Talladega would definitely suck me in and it didn’t. Don’t get me wrong it was far more intriguing than some of the previous races but I found it hard to care. I’m sure I’ll feel differently when I get to Charlotte for the All-Star Race and in June for the race at Infineon. It’s always a million times better to be there in person. Turns out I’m not staying in Charlotte for the Coca Cola 600, instead I might try to make it out to Indianapolis in July.

In other news…

– After watching the race I stumbled upon the movie “Taxi” staring Jimmy Fallon and Queen Latifah. It came out in 2004 and I’d never seen it before but I knew it featured models as bank robbers, including Gisele Bundchen and NASCAR WAG Ingrid Vandebosch as “Third Robber.” Ingrid went on to marry Jeff Gordon, who makes a cameo at the end of the movie, two years later. I just thought that was funny/interesting, even though Ingrid & Jeff never had a scene together, they ended up together in real life.

Johanna Long walks through the garage prior to practice for the Aaron's 312 at her home track, Talladega Superspeedway. (Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR)

A freshly-shaved Dale Earnhardt Jr. signs autographs in the Talladega Superspeedway garage. (Credit: Tom Pennington/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Crew members work on the No. 51 Phoenix Construction Services Chevrolet of Kurt Busch that is sporting a special "Talladega Nights" paint scheme. (Credit: Tom Pennington/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 15 Aaron's/Alabama National Champions Toyota, stands on the grid with crew members houndstooth caps made famous by former Alabama head coach Bear Bryant during Coors Light Pole Qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday in Talladega, Ala. (Credit: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Joey Logano, driver of the No. 18 GameStop Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series Aaron's 312 at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday in Talladega, Ala. (Credit: Tyler Barrick/Getty Images)

Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, talks to Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet, in the garage area during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday in Talladega, Ala. (Credit: Tyler Barrick/Getty Images)

Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, looks on from the pit box of Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet, after his was taken out of the race by an incident during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday in Talladega, Ala. (Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Brad Keselowski and the No. 2 Miller Lite Penske Dodge team celebrate in Victory Lane after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Aaron's 499 on Sunday in Talladega, Ala. (Credit: Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Plus I’m really excited to get to do this with 3M because I LOVE their products and they’re not paying me to say that. I’m genuinely in love with office products like Post-it® Notes and pretty much any of the Scotch® Brand products and I was before this opportunity came up. I could seriously talk your ear off about their decorative shipping packaging tape that I recently discovered at Target the other day. I got the red zig zag pattern and my package looked so cool. I’m a nerd.

While I’m there I’ll have access to Greg Biffle and the rest of the #16 3M Roush Fenway team. I’m especially looking forward to touring their race shop and attending the Pit Crew Challenge for the first time. It’s going to be wonderful and I’ll be tweeting and writing all about it as usual. I’ll also be at the Coca Cola 600 the following weekend in Charlotte. So it’s going to be an awesome week of fun! Can’t wait to share it all with you. Let me know if you’re going to be there too!

In other news…

– I’m attending my first ever American Le Mans Series race at Laguna Seca next month, the week before I go off to Charlotte. I’ll be the guest of Extreme Speed Motorsports. I can’t wait to see what ALMS is all about!

– Are you on Pinterest yet? Where have you been? I love pinning stuff to my boards because it’s fun to see what patterns emerge in terms of my style choices (I really enjoy striped wallpaper). Anywhoo, since Pinterest has gained a buttload of attention over the last few months everybody is joining up and I noticed that a lot NASCAR ladies, including some NASCAR WAGs, have joined up, too. So far I’m following Amy Reimann, girlfriend to Dale Earnhardt Jr., Samantha Busch, wife to Kyle Busch, Shana Mayfield, Jeremy Mayfield’s wife, Jordan Fish, on & off girlfriend to Denny Hamlin (are they still together??), Beccy Gordon, wife of IndyCar driver Ryan Hunter-Reay and Montgomery Lee, Kyle Petty’s daughter.

Who do you follow on Pinterest? Let me know if I’ve missed anyone in the comments and include the link to their page! Pinning is fun!

And now you’re saying “What heck does this have to do with NASCAR and why should I care?” Well, thanks to Shell I get to give away a 1:24 Action Racing Collectibles A.J. Allmendinger 2012 Shell Pennzoil #22 Charger diecast (ARV: $85). Yay! Use the form below to enter for your chance to win! The contest ends on Monday, April 30, 2012.

The deets about National Safe Digging Month:

April is National Safe Digging Month, and Shell, Penske and the Common Ground Alliance have teamed up to encourage people to take the proper precautions before beginning their warm-weather projects. Driver AJ Allmendinger will display the 811 national “Call Before You Dig” hotline logo on the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Dodge throughout the month.

All digging requires a call to 811, even small projects like planting trees or shrubs. When somebody starts a digging project without calling 811, they run the risk of damaging pipelines, which may cause serious personal injury or harm to those in close proximity. Additionally, an individual can be held financially responsible for repairs if they don’t call 811 and damage a pipeline while digging. For more information, visit www.Call811.com.

The contest is over. Thank you for participating!

There was some good racing in terms of Greg Biffle snatching the win away from Jimmie Johnson, but other than that it was snoozeville.

I have to say that it’s really cool to see all of the drivers kids & babies on pit road. There are so many now it’s hard to keep track. That’s one of the things I really like about NASCAR, how the driver’s family can be there before, during and after the event. For some reason it feels like that makes winning mean more because you can share with the people that support you the most.

Can we talk about Clint Bowyer and his commercials? Holy crap, we’re only 7 races in and I am SO tired of his ads 5 Hour Energy, Sprint and NASCAR RaceView (or TrackPass?? I don’t know!). While I am glad people have realized what a great character Clint is, I’m so over seeing the same ads over and over and over. Don’t get me wrong, I like Clint, he’s funny and has a great personality but can we please reduce the amount of time these ads are shown so I don’t start to hate him? Sheesh!

Carl Edwards signs an autograph during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 12, 2012 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Credit: Tyler Barrick/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Clint Bowyer sits in his car during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 12, 2012 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Credit: Tom Pennington/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Martin Truex Jr. during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 12, 2012 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Credit: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the #6 Pure Michigan Ford, celebrates his win in victory lane with owner Jack Roush during the NASCAR Nationwide Series O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 13, 2012 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Greg Biffle, driver of the #16 Filtrete Ford, celebrates with the trophy in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 14, 2012 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR)

So because it was clear and lovely I proceeded to Starbucks with the understanding that the race day would proceed in a normal fashion. I got on line and noticed that Matt Kenseth was standing in front of me. I debated taking a picture and decided against it, thought I should play it cool. After I ordered he was the only other person standing in the pick up area and for some reason I felt compelled to talk to him. So I asked him if he thought we were going to get the race in that day. He noted that it looked great outside and we’ll just have to see. I wasn’t expecting some amazing answer, I just wanted to make conversation, ’cause I’m a nerd and I think part of me wanted to see if he’d remember me, the girl with the weird name (that he made fun of) that asked him those questions that one time in Vegas. And he didn’t.

Ha!

So that was fun. I wasn’t disappointed, just thought I’d try that out.

Anyway, I got to the track and remembered that pace car rides should be happening soon so I went down to pit road. I was one of the first to go along with Claire B. Lang, which is apparently becoming some sort of tradition. The German writer was in the backseat with me and he used the wrong seat belt buckle, he used mine, and I couldn’t tell him to fix it because Claire was recording, and my belt buckle wouldn’t lock with the wrong seat, SO I had to hold the seat belt across my body like it was locked. We only did two laps and only the second one was at full speed, so I wasn’t really in any danger.

I finally noticed a difference in between tracks. At Las Vegas the transition from the track to pit road is abrupt and jarring, but at Auto Club Speedway it’s super smooth. So take that info and do with it what you will, ya know, the next time you’re in a Cup race.

I wandered the garage, waiting for Heather to arrive, and walked in to the new “Frontrunners Garage.” It’s a new feature added for fans, where you can walk into the middle of one of the Sprint Cup Series garages, stand on a platform and look down at the crews working on their cars. I’m kind of sad I didn’t get in there until Sunday because there’s nothing really blocking you from talking to or seeing the drivers & their crew. There’s no glass like at Las Vegas. Here you’re close and within easy chatting distance. Not that I think any of the crew guys would really want you to bug them like that, but it’s still cool to know that you could.

The No. 99 Subway team put up a homemade sign on top of their equipment that said “Don’t Feed The Animals!” and then someone added a smaller hand written sign that said “Throw Money.” Of course, people did throw money but it was just change.

"Don't Feed The Animals!! Throw Money."

Crews work on their cars in the new ACS Frontrunners Garage

Once Heather arrived, I had to show her the signs and then we went to the Nationwide Series garage where they were holding the drivers meeting.

We got a spot to stand behind all of the drivers in the back. Fans were invited to the meeting as well and they were treated to a short Q&A with Dale Earnhardt Jr. The best thing that happened at the driver’s meeting was that actor Vince Vaughn showed up, the worst thing was that I didn’t get to run into him because I totally would have gushed to him about how much I LOVE & ADORE the movie “Swingers.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (credit: Heather Baker)

Mark Martin, Darian Grubb and Steve LeTarte

Clint Bowyer

Jeff Burton (credit: Heather Baker)

That's the back of BFFs Regan Smith (left) and Paul Menard (right) (credit: Heather Baker)

For this race's Obligatory Ron Malec Photo. I actually spoke to the man and asked if I could take his photo. It was my only hope for getting a good shot and he very nicely obliged. Hehe

Post drivers meeting we ran into David Gilliland and wished him the best for the day’s race. Then we went over to Auto Club Speedway’s Tweet Suite. They invited 20 of their most loyal Twitter followers out to the race with grandstand tickets and access to a suite in the infield. They were visited throughout the day by various people including track president Gillian Zucker, Miss Sprint Cup and, dun, dun, duuhhh… Me! I talked about being a NASCAR blogger and what I “do” when I’m at the track. It was fun and I really loved that ACS decided to reward their followers in that way. ACS is ALWAYS coming up with new, fun and inventive ways to reward their local fans.

That's me chatting with the folks gathered in the Auto Club Speedway Tweet Suite. (credit: Heather Baker)

Right after leaving the suite we went down to the backstage area at driver introductions. The sun was still out in full force, it was even warm enough for me to take off my hoodie while we took pictures of drivers.

Kasey Kahne does a favor (credit: Heather Baker)

Jamie McMurray (credit: Heather Baker)

David Gilliland

Please note Carl Edwards stance on the stairs. I just thought that was funny. Very Captain Morgan. (credit: Heather Baker)

Kyle & Samantha Busch (credit: Heather Baker)

The skies darkened up while we were on pit road for the National Anthem and invocation. We went up to the press box for a while, but went down to the pits once the race reached almost halfway. We met up with Katie and her husband, Jamie, in doing so we officially reunited the Converse Crew. I don’t know why I get a kick out of that so much but I think it’s because I love my Chuck Taylor’s so much, it’s even better when you’re in a group.

So we had a front row seat as the race was brought to halt with the rain, and we watched as driver after driver left their cars and headed to the garage. I’ve never seen so many obviously pissed off drivers in my life, at least not in person. We stood around questioning whether or not they would call the race or try to get it in the next day. I wanted it to be called because I knew I wouldn’t be able to be there the next day so I’d rather have a rainy winner than miss a dry one.

Once the word came down that the race had been called I went back to the garage to the meeting room for the press conference with the 2nd & 3rd place finishers, which happened to be Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch. Once they were done I walked as fast as I could back to the makeshift Victory Lane under the suites, where the garage entrance/exit was located, to take a picture. Then I went right back to the meeting room and waited for 5 years for Tony Stewart to show up. It seriously felt that long. That guy is never in a hurry to get ANYWHERE.

Jeff Gordon

Brad Keselowksi

Dale Earnhardt Jr. post-race

Tony Stewart celebrates in Victory Lane

Every time I see Tony in press conferences and interviews it just makes me more and more curious about his love life. This may sound crazy but I am OBSESSED with his love life and I have no idea why. I just feel like there’s a really good opportunity there to talk to him in depth about what he’s looking for in a woman. I find him fascinating in that way, because he eludes to it in almost every interview he has, always saying something like “Well it’s not like I have anyone to rush home to.” The only thing better would be if I could be his matchmaker and set him up on dates. That would be SO FUN. Let’s hope that this year I get the chance and the cojones to ask Tony about this stuff.

So that was my weekend, it was exactly what the doctor ordered. I can’t wait to get to my next race. It’s not going to be Texas as I had hoped, my next planned race will be Charlotte in May.