Saturday November 18th the Embry-Riddle Jet Racing Team headed south. We were invited to be a part of the NASCAR experience and display the jet dragster in the Fan Zone before the final race in Homestead, Florida.
We arrived in Miami on Saturday afternoon then met up with the rest of our crew. I was given six credentials. It was real easy to find someone that wanted to go with us. Of course Chris, Andrew and myself, then George and Jeff from Embry-Riddle, that left us with one extra. My first thought was my friend Holly. She is a 3rd grade teacher at Andrew's school, and the BIGGEST NASCAR fan I know.
At dinner we tried to quiz each one to see which of them knew the most about NASCAR....I am going with Holly for the gossip, Jeff for technical NASCAR stuff, but the surprise hands down winner came from the "dark horse" George, when he pulled out all of the stops to take the checkered flag.
We had big plans to stay up and have fun, but the practical side of me said we had to leave for the race track at 4:45 a.m. so we were off to bed early.
Sunday morning was chilly, but otherwise a picture perfect day. Our display location was right on pit road in front of Dale Jr. Not a bad spot. We unloaded the dragster and set-up the display by 6:45. I was wondering how many fans would arrive so early since the race wasn't starting until 3:00, but by 8:30 a.m. the place was hopping.
I signed autographs from about 8:00 until 1:00. It was amazing. Race car fans are the best in the world. Talk about dedicated to their passion. I was overwhelmed by their welcome and genuine interest. Sadly the time came to pack the car up, but the main event was just getting started.
We didn't have a place sit to watch the race. Luck was on our side and we were invited by Jim from Jeldwen Corporation to share a suite right behind Jimmie Johnson's pit! To return the favor we invited the Jeldwen staff, at the race, to be our guests at our next race at Moroso Motorsports Park on November 25 & 26th. Andrew was even set up with headsets so he could listen to the drivers and crew during the race, pretty cool. By the end of the race, we were all NASCAR fans. It was great to watch Greg Biffle win the race and Jimmie Johnson take home the championship right in front of us.
Our team headed home on Monday morning stopping at Moroso to position the trailer for the upcoming race this weekend.
We are honored to have a special guest this weekend for the race. Peggie Horton is flying in from Texas to join us for the weekend. For those of you that may not know who she is, she is the late Ancel Horton's wife. Ancel was instrumental in helping Chris and myself when we were first getting started in jet racing. He passed away a year ago and we are happy that Peggie is coming down for a visit.
The next few weeks are going to be very hectic, with Moroso this weekend (Citrus Nationals) and Bradenton Motorsports Park (Snowbird Nationals)the following weekend. Then to cap off up the year, we will be attending the Performance Racing Industry show that is in Orlando, Florida. Keep checking back, I will try and update as much as possible.
See you all at the races!!!
Elaine
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