Monday, September 7, 2009

Pep Boys Auto 500 Race Pictures

Hey everyone,

I arrived home in the wee hours this morning from an action-packed and awesome trip to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Sprint Cup race. I have taken quite a few pictures from the event to share with all of you. Enjoy!

This first shot is of A.J. Allmendinger at his pre-race autograph session. Since tickets were only sold in advance, I could only see him at a distance...


This next one is of the boys on the set of NASCAR RaceDay setting the stage for the night's 500-mile showdown...


In the next hour or so, my dad and I walked around and took advantage of all the free stuff. We were handed everything from Goody's headache powder to mini-sticks of Degree V12 deodorant. My dad even managed to win a Dale Earnhardt, Jr. mouse pad. Our favorite part though was getting free pork barbeque at the Prilosec booth. The tasty sauce just left us wanting more....


This next one is of the Sprint Cup trophy on display. They happened to be throwing out a bunch of ballcaps when we went in the Sprint zone. I didn't catch one, but it is amazing what some race fans will do for a free hat...


We wrapped up our pre-race musings by watching a motorbike show and saw the guys do some amazing flips. By then, it was time to make the walk to our seats on the third turn. They were nine rows from the top of the grandstands and gave us a bird's eye view of all of the action...

After watching the driver intros, it was finally time to get the race under way. This next picture is of the planes zooming right over our heads during the flyover...


These next pics are of the actual race. I tried to only post the ones that didn't turn out too blurry.

An interesting part of the event as a spectator was when this guy in our section threw a beer can down onto the track. I don't know if you saw it on t.v. or not since it was below the yellow line. I was surprised that the safety crews didn't notice it and come pick it up...







This is of Reed Sorenson when he blew a tire to bring out one of the yellow flags. It happened right by where we were sitting, so the blow sounded like a sonic boom!


Overall, I found the whole race to be pretty exciting. There were side-by-side battles for the lead all evening long, and each double-file restart got all of us fans on our feet. The last bogus debris caution added a bunch of drama to the finish. Too bad for Harvick; he was totally sabotaged. I was really rooting for him to get that victory...

On our way back to our car we got to watch a post-race fireworks show to top off our night. My dad and I had a great time and will want to go back again next year.

The Speeding Bullets are soon to come...



9 comments:

RA6AN said...

Great stuff, Gonger! Sounds like you had a ton o fun! I like the 99 paint scheme and the whole story behind it, so thanks for posting that shot.

photogr said...

Gonger:

Pretty awesome isn't it?

Anonymous said...

Wow, Gonger! Wasn't it a perfect weather weekend? And great race until Kevin lost. Jon was pretty distraught but we've talked him through it today! LOL

klvalus said...

Awesome pictures Gonger! Looks like you had an amazing time and got to see a pretty good race.

Makes me want to go again!

Thanks for sharing these...

Gene Haddock said...

Good stuff, man. Amazing how there is so much to do at the track before the race starts.

That flyover is my favorite pic. It was awesome.

I've seen idiots throw stuff on the track before. Disgusting. Some sports venues now have a text number that you can use to text security to report morons like that.

storkjrc said...

nice pics Gonger, glad you had a good time. Seemed like great weather for a race. Not to hot or cold.

jmayer1843 said...

Really cool stuff there! Can't get any better than spending a holiday weekend with your dad at the track!

jon_464 said...

Gonger, great stuff! The way you presented your time there makes the reader feel like he or she's there. *Sour grapes alert* Kasey Kahne cherrypicked that win thanks to NASCAR. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good, I guess.

Brent said...

RA6AN- Thanks. I like how colorful that paint scheme is...

photogr- It was pretty awesome. I had a great experience.

Beverly- The weather couldn't have been any better. I feel sorry for Harvick because losing the race wasn't his fault...

Kristen- Thanks. The side-by-side action is what kept us fans on the edge of our seats for most of the race...

Gene- Thanks. Talladega is the capital of beer can throwing. Especially if Kyle wins the race... lol.

storkjrc- Thanks. The breeze made it extra nice...

jmayer- To top it off, it was also my dad's birthday weekend.

Jon- Thanks. A successful driver always has some luck on his side...