When Brian Giesenschlag and I interviewed some fans about the tire test yesterday for the FOX19 newscast, Greg Biffle revved up his engine as he rolled into turn three.
“If that doesn’t get your blood pumping,” the man said, “then I don’t know what will.”
These are my people.
When people want to know what it is about NASCAR races that hooks me I tell them three things: sights, sounds and smells. Forty-three flashes of different colors fly by at amazing speeds. If I get that smell of rubber and exhaust it truly does get my heart racing.
The folks that Brian and I talked to outside turn three said all the same things.
These people really are my people.
People always give me the same old, same old responses about NASCAR. “What’s so fun about watching cars go in circles?” My selling point is always the same.
“You’ve gotta go to one, just to experience it.”
Marcus Smith, president of Speedway Motorsports Inc., and son of Bruton Smith who now owns Kentucky Speedway, said that these events are so much more than just a race.
“You can’t go to a manual somewhere, you can’t go to a class and figure out how to put on a party for 80,000 people,” Smith said on Wednesday at his dad’s newest palace. “It just doesn’t happen. We haven’t written a book yet but maybe we should.”
Think of it, How to put on a NASCAR weekend by O. Bruton Smith and friends. I’d buy it. Wouldn’t you love to know the inner details of how to throw the world’s biggest party?
“When you put on an event this big, it’s bigger than the Super Bowl, it’s bigger than the Olympics even. And what we do in one place is really unlike anything else that happens in the world,” Smith said.
One of the couples we talked to said the best part about the experience was the fact that when you’re camping at a track you get to meet so many different people.
Ask my dad about it, he’d corroborate every story I’ve told here about our experiences at the Brickyard 400. Two years ago while we set up our grill my dad noticed we forgot matches. Can’t grill hamburgers without lighting a match, right?
The folks next to us not only offered to help us by giving us matches, they told us to keep the entire box. They had three in reserve.
That wasn’t the end of the interaction though. They chatted with my dad and I about where we were from and what we loved the most about NASCAR. When they found out I was working for a TV station they told me all about how they loved watching the station.
Those are my people.
“When you have a race it’s not just an event,” said Smith. “It’s not just ‘When does the green flag drop?’ You really need to know when the whole weekend starts because it’s more than anything else, a festival.
“It’s an entire weekend plus for fans that come in from all over the country to enjoy this inaugural weekend here at Kentucky Speedway. And that’s what makes it a special thing because it’s so much more than a race.”
And if you’ve never been to a race, I hope I’ve sold you on it. Trust me, you’ve got to go to just one and experience what a festival it is. It’s fun. I guarantee it.
“If that doesn’t get your blood pumping,” the man said, “then I don’t know what will.”
These are my people.
When people want to know what it is about NASCAR races that hooks me I tell them three things: sights, sounds and smells. Forty-three flashes of different colors fly by at amazing speeds. If I get that smell of rubber and exhaust it truly does get my heart racing.
The folks that Brian and I talked to outside turn three said all the same things.
These people really are my people.
People always give me the same old, same old responses about NASCAR. “What’s so fun about watching cars go in circles?” My selling point is always the same.
“You’ve gotta go to one, just to experience it.”
Marcus Smith, president of Speedway Motorsports Inc., and son of Bruton Smith who now owns Kentucky Speedway, said that these events are so much more than just a race.
“You can’t go to a manual somewhere, you can’t go to a class and figure out how to put on a party for 80,000 people,” Smith said on Wednesday at his dad’s newest palace. “It just doesn’t happen. We haven’t written a book yet but maybe we should.”
Think of it, How to put on a NASCAR weekend by O. Bruton Smith and friends. I’d buy it. Wouldn’t you love to know the inner details of how to throw the world’s biggest party?
“When you put on an event this big, it’s bigger than the Super Bowl, it’s bigger than the Olympics even. And what we do in one place is really unlike anything else that happens in the world,” Smith said.
One of the couples we talked to said the best part about the experience was the fact that when you’re camping at a track you get to meet so many different people.
Ask my dad about it, he’d corroborate every story I’ve told here about our experiences at the Brickyard 400. Two years ago while we set up our grill my dad noticed we forgot matches. Can’t grill hamburgers without lighting a match, right?
The folks next to us not only offered to help us by giving us matches, they told us to keep the entire box. They had three in reserve.
That wasn’t the end of the interaction though. They chatted with my dad and I about where we were from and what we loved the most about NASCAR. When they found out I was working for a TV station they told me all about how they loved watching the station.
Those are my people.
“When you have a race it’s not just an event,” said Smith. “It’s not just ‘When does the green flag drop?’ You really need to know when the whole weekend starts because it’s more than anything else, a festival.
“It’s an entire weekend plus for fans that come in from all over the country to enjoy this inaugural weekend here at Kentucky Speedway. And that’s what makes it a special thing because it’s so much more than a race.”
And if you’ve never been to a race, I hope I’ve sold you on it. Trust me, you’ve got to go to just one and experience what a festival it is. It’s fun. I guarantee it.
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