Monday, June 2, 2008

Our Day At The Races

Nick had a wonderful time at his first NASCAR race, the Best Buy Autism Speaks 400 in Dover, Delaware. The racecar drivers that we had schmoozed with at the golf tourney were all racing, and unfortunately, at the beginning of the race Hermie Sadler, driver of the Best Buy Autism Speaks car, went out early in a 10-car crash. No drivers were seriously injured, thank heavens, and as a mom I can say I'm glad that neither Sara nor Nick is a racecar driver!

There were over 100,000 people in attendance that day, and NASCAR fans are CRAZY about their races. People were camped out all over in tents, RVs, campers and vans, grilling out, blasting stereos, sunbathing, playing cards and horseshoes, and buying LOTS of souvenirs. It was quite a spectacle! Dad's favorite part was after the cars had taken their first few "slow" laps, and the checkered flag waved and sent the cars screaming around the track at full throttle. He looked like he was a kid again, grinning and saying, "cool!" The noise was deafening, but we all had earplugs and even with them on, it was so loud that you could not even speak to the person sitting next to you.

Nick enjoyed a full day of walking amidst the throngs of fans, walking through the casino, visiting the souvenir tents, and basking in the sun in the grandstands as the cars whizzed by. We thank Autism Speaks for this very special opportunity to experience NASCAR racing!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

that sounds like soo much fun! 9 days, we're finally in the single digits!

Artism By Nick said...

Yes, we had a blast, Maggie!

We can't wait till you are here! We're definitely having a beach day, going to see Sex and the City, going to Prince-On-Delaware restaurant in Old New Castle with MI, making Nick's song list for his birthday party, going to the pool, watching videos, your trip to NYC with Sara...and then, ROAD TRIP to the S-T-L!!