CJ's Pick Ten (Cup Cars) 2001
Pictures and Comments from the UAW - Daimler/Chrysler 400 in Las Vegas
Back from at great weekend at Las Vegas for the UAW Daimler-Chrysler 400. Here's my blog with a few notes and pictures on how my weekend went.
On Saturday, March 3, I woke up early waited for my friend Tim to arrive so we could leave for our weekend to Las Vegas. We had planned for months to go, since we had a great time last year. Las Vegas is one of the race tracks on the west coast where we can go for some great NASCAR racing. We were both worried about getting a room for the night, since it is Nevada's largest one day event of the year, and there was also a Heavyweight title fight the same weekend. The morning weather forecast looked dim too as rain was predicted for Sunday.
We arrived in downtown Las Vegas, too early for some guests to check out, but would probably get a room if we would come back in an hour. We went and had a prime rib lunch. We went back to the hotel, and YES, we would get our room. Worry #1 was gone.
So now what? We went to the Sahara hotel, and made our way from the parking structure to the NASCAR Cafe. We tried the simulator's, which are full size fiberglass bodied cars, on a hydraulic system with a wide screen to view the track. The track is Las Vegas Motor Speedway. $8 buys a 5 minute ride, and you compete against 7 other drivers. After a short drivers meeting, you get in the cars, then hear the words, "Gentlemen, Start your engines!" The cars motion and the big screen give the impression of actual movement and was definitely worth the $. It didn't hurt my ego at all when I won the race too! Another cool aspect was a printout given to each of the drivers, telling about your best laps, and speeds as compared to the experts. My top speed going into turn one was 172 mph. Wow!
Tim and I made our way back to the Cafe and watched the end of the Busch race. It is an amazing way to watch the race, and have everybody knowledgeable about the drivers as you are. Cheers to Todd Bodine on his win. Anywhere you looked, there were fans. Many wore there favorite drivers number, including hats, shirts and jackets. One guy named Ray, even showed me his (this is weird, but...) lucky Bobby Labonte underpants. Yes there were many, many fans.
We then drove over to the Rio hotel, and did some gambling. The have a free show that travels on a track above the gambling hall every two hours. The performers sing, dance and fly around. Amy, our drink server, was nice and courteous, and interested in NASCAR. She wasn't going to the race because of work, but was fun to talk to.
Mid evening, we went back to our room, and went to our favorite dining place in Las Vegas, Race Rock. It is on the East end of Fremont Street (Downtown), and has full size actual racing vehicles from NASCAR, Busch, NHRA, CART, Motorcycles, boats and Monster Trucks. Out front, the Oakwood Homes Team was signing autographs, but Joe was not there. The wait for dining was about 2 hours, but well worth the wait. We sat at the upstairs bar and watched the F1 race live form Australia, (Cheers to Michael Schumacher), then were finally escorted to our seats. We had requested our server be a young lady named Rachel, who we had met in 2000, and really enjoyed her company. While I was eating my 'Michael Andretti Pasta', who is walking down the aisle, but Buddy Baker. He graciously agreed to have his picture taken with us. He was here with Rookie driver Ryan Newman. Thanks Buddy for taking spending a few minutes with a fan. If you get to visit Las Vegas, don't miss Race Rock, and be sure to ask for Rachel.
We ended our night with a walk down to Glitter Gulch to enjoy the view.
After a restless night (anxious for the race?, worried about rain?, listening to Tim's snoring), I woke up at 6:00am and prepared for race day. Looking outside, it was overcast, but NO rain! We made our way toward the track by 7:00 and traffic was lite. A full seven lanes were open on Las Vegas Blvd. Tim and I made our way to the souvenir trailers, and sponsor trailers. The back of the Dale Earnhardt trailer had messages from many fans. I did take a still picture, which I will get developed and post soon. It brought a lump to my throat and a tear to my eye knowing he wouldn't be going around the track today.
Around 10:30a, we made our way toward our seats in the middle of turn 3-4. Still no rain in sight, even though it was still overcast. When the Air Force F-16's flew the missing man formation (first ever for non military personnel), I got another lump in my throat. The race itself was exciting. Nothing like the smell of high-octane engines going around with the deep roar of their engines. You can get highlights of the race elsewhere, but it was a great race. Congratulations to Jeff Gordon for his win.
CJ
