I took a gamble with "Ole Bessie" and loaded her down to head to Florida for some R&R and the Homestead race hoping she would make the trip.
500 miles into the trip and Ole Bessie pukes ( fuel pump). Got that fixed and back on the road.
Stop over in Pensacola Fla. for the Blue Angels 60th anniversary party and air show. Can you imagine flying an F14 jet at near Mach 1 only 3 feet off the ground and upside down?? How about 4 F14s flying wing tip to wing tip formation at near Mach 1 at the same height?? Quite an exciting show.
On to Homestead hopefully for some more excitement, maybe.
250 miles into the trip Ole Bessie pukes again ( carb gasket leakage). Got that fixed and on to homestead. #@**&#* Bessie.
Got a spot close to the track to enjoy the pre race festivities and found our seats. I was ready for a thriller race like the Blue Angels show I had seen a few days before . I was looking for Stewart to mix it up with the chase drivers and charge to the front and see Johnson battling with Stewart for the lead. Well maybe Kenseth or Harvick would make a stunning comeback to take the champoinship. Possibly Jr. was saving his best car for the final race and would sweep the other drivers to the finish. Instead, Biffle wins the race. The only excitement to this race was the crashes and Neuman and Montoya mixing it up.
Johnson wins the championship by being conservative in Homestead. I was happy that he officially won as he was the only one that showed champion ship driving in the prior races by consistently being up front most of the other races but felt a little cheated. Actually the race was really boring.
I long for the good old days when drivers really mixed it up for the win at any cost but those days are gone I am afraid considering the NASCAR bosses have such tight control on driver emotions now ( political correctness). No personalities are allowed, only political correctness.
Hearing much to do about NASCAR making the sport more exciting has made me wonder exciting for who? What I have heard so far leads me to believe the Ivory Tower bosses have lost touch with reality and do not have a clue what the fans come to the tracks for.
The car of tomorrow is really a car of antiquity (much like "Ole Bessie"). NASCAR leave the body designs to the manufacturers. They are smarter than you. Lets have power plants that have computerized fuel injection with fuel injectors, overhead cams, electronic fuel pumps, and the like. Certainly would reflect what is driven on the roads today and probably much more efficient and safer.
Mixing up the points system. Forget it!! Many of us still do not understand the current system and then to change it certainly not for the better. Well maybe, but I doubt it.
On to the trip back home.
What an exercise in futility. Stopped at many RV service centers along the way home for repairs ( un able to find wiring shorts killing the batteries). Now I understand why there are so many RV repair and sales centers along I-75 and I -65. Happily I put "Ole Bessie" out to pasture and picked up a new RV with a warranty. Guess I will name this one "Gypsy Rose".
Well the NASCAR season is over till Feb. 2007 and certainly will have my share of withdrawal pains but certainly hope we will have a more exciting 2007. If not, guess the NASCAR bosses in their Ivory Towers will ruin the sport but they will happily laugh all the way to the bank.
I thought about that as we were heading down through Florida. After I got past St. Pete, I didn't recognize any thing. There has been quite a bit of new construction and new towns since my last trip that far south.
Hope you had a good Thanksgiving. Am looking forward to the 2007 season. Maybe Jr. will take the 2007 champoinship.
A ROAD TRIP!!! How cool are they!! The breakdowns just make the stories better, sittin' round the water cooler....
I guess we're waitin on Feb.... and Daytona...
You should call me for the next trip... I've got gas $$$$$
Great read. I agree the NASCAR bosses are truly ruining racing. I am just waiting on them to come out with four divisions of NASCAR racing: The North, The South, The East and The West. And then they will have the best of each division play in the playoffs and them have a duel race for the championship. Hmmm...sounds alot like football. Just Kidding.
Sounds like you had a very eventful trip to Florida. I agree that the race was truly boring. Guess that is why I didn't stick around to see all of it.
Last edited by Tsfanpc on November 27th at 4:01 PM.
You are on for the Daytona race. Got plenty of room and comfort in the new RV.Gets decent gas mileage too for a motor coach. That was a surprise.
Tsfanpc:
Yep it was boring. Even Stewart was out of the picture. At least when he is hot, he makes the race interesting.
At this point, I would have to say the highlight of the trip was the show that the Blue Angels put on in Pensacola.
Zap !!! I have a way that NASCAR can bring excitement back to the sport. Buy up a bunch of F14 jets for the drivers, show them how to fly the jets, and let them loose flying around the tracks. Unfortunately, logistics will eliminate the short tracks but hey, NASCAR just got exciting again.They could even lets pilots from the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds fly in the races as rookies of course.
Last edited by nphotogr on November 27th at 4:58 PM.
Avid auto racing fan and former racing participant for over 40 years. Enjoy all forms of auto racing but found NASCAR sanction to be my favorite followed by GTP and INDY cars. Have raced in SCCA, NHRA, Stock Car, and Modified sanctions in the past.
Getting up in years has regulated me to being a spectator but still find it exciting to go to the races and enjoy the hoopala surrounding the pre and post race festivities. Also find Nature Photography to be a relaxing form of enjoyment and get quite a few opportunities traveling around the country to the races to use my cameras at the tracks and nature preserves.
