May 25th Concord, North Carolina

We were invited last sunday to watch a NASCAR race (not just any race, but the coca-cola 600, the longest and possibly most intense race of the season). I don’t know much about the sport, but i knew there would be a quarter of a million people in, on, and around the stadium to watch for the outcome. I also knew we had pretty killer seats in an air-conditioned, double decker lounge. Spa water (2 kinds), sea bass, open bar. Coffee on tap, cookies on deck. And we could stand three feet from the track.

Woke up quick, at about noon.

We gave this guy a CD when we picked up the rental car. When we left he was blasting our jams out of a car he was vacuuming out.

This is not the North Carolina flag.

This is a Dale Earnhardt beanbag toss goal.

Nothing more american than a cowboy.

We didn’t know what this meant exactly.

We didn’t know what all this meant really either.

These planes are competing for space in the sky. That space in the sky represents psychological real estate in the minds of more than a quarter of a million people.

The Infield

was filled with people. People standing on RVs drinking beer. Who are extremely psyched.

The track is banked at a steeper angle here in concord, meaning the cars don’t have to slow down much in the turns.

War pageantry.

Live metal sculpture.

There are war planes outside.

Are you inside, pretending there arent? Drinking spa water (2 kinds)?

Pace lap. It is about to go down.