The “Legends” of TMS – Part III

Ahhhh. Raceday! The cosmos FINALLY gave us the weather we had been hoping for all week, and we happily discarded the earmuffs in exchange for the sunscreen and tank tops! While my out-of-towners did NOT get a full weekend of nice weather – they certainly got a good example of Texas weather in general: unpredictable!
As with any endeavor that involves 5 women and an early morning appointment – we started the day running late. Race day traffic entering the TMS complex was a booger, and by the time we located parking and schlepped our gear to the infield, we were running late for our planned gathering, but ready to rock-n-roll nonetheless.

We didn’t leave disappointed, though – and once again serendipity smiled on us and we managed to hook up with our “objective” for a little celebration. (Endless thanks to Mr. G. for once again making time where none seemed to exist!) As I turned to depart, I caught sight of a group of gentlemen chatting near the exit. Something looked familiar – and then it hit me: RICHARD PETTY! I was standing mere feet from The King himself (and I had one HELLUVA crush on him as a teenager)! It was at this point that my brain shut off.

I guess Mr. P is accustomed to the sounds of jaws hitting the pavement – and if so he certainly got a symphony from us! What an absolutely delightful, courteous and considerate man! He took the time to sign autographs for everyone, (and me all blubbery and whompityjawed), AND he thanked US for being there! HE thanked US! Now that, dear friends, is why he’s THE KING!

There’s only one thing that could even come close to holding a candle to the mornings’ adventures – and that’s HAULER SHOPPING. It was at this point that Dave’s brain shut off. He had managed to keep us safely away from the haulers for most of the weekend, but in true Kamikaze form, we broke free and headed for lootville to fill shopping lists for friends, family and of course – US!

Imagine the logistics of keeping 5 women with different shopping agendas and different rates of travel all together in a crowd of 250,000. We managed to keep everyone together with one exception – we briefly lost Mel when we were distracted at the Raceday stage, (I guess it was Hermie’s fault!) , but we managed to track her down before getting seated for the pre-race. Is it just my generation of Kubrick kids – or does the sight and sound of a B-52 flying low overhead give anyone else those “Dr. Strangelove” goosebumps?

As much as I hate to admit it, the race was somewhat of a snoozer. Long green-flag runs, mediocre performance from the EMS guys, and little passing in general kept us off the edges of our seats. I had more fun watching the Jr. fans and the Gordon fans as they baited one another until Jr.’s car got “keelt” by a wayward Shrub. Sadly, many of Jr.’s fans left the grandstands unaware that he was piloting the #5 in the final laps.

At about midpoint during the race – I wondered why there was so much “stuff” floating and swirling around us. I finally dug the glasses out of the backpack and realized that we were being swarmed by honeybees! Hundreds of obviously allergic folks bailed out of their seats. I’ve seen lots of strange stuff in my time, but a honeybee swarm during a Cup race is way up near the top of my “WTF” list!

Alas, the race was over (and rather early, too, owing to the long green-flag runs) and it was time to head back to the hotel for our last night together before half our group departed on Monday. We managed to coax Mel into coming back to Austin with us rather than spending a day in Dallas alone, and I’m glad we did! Got to do a little late-night sightseeing in the Capitol City before sending everyone packing for home.

What a wonderful experience! As many of you know, we managed to prove to ourselves and to others that former bitter rivals can put their racing opinions and differences aside and become good friends, and regardless of which driver’s “colors” we flew – we all came away from TMS with some “victories” under our belts. Is it November yet?