Daytona 500 Anyone else going?

[DotheDew88]

Hi everyone...Sorry I haven't said much. I just got home this morning. Had to take in all the sunshine I could after the race. It was beautiful yesterday and I was literally exhausted. My uncle put my pictures on a disk so I will have to have my daughter put them on here. I have no idea how to myself. The whole weekend was amazing! We went to the Busch race , the 500 and spent alot of time Monday at Daytona USA. The IMAX movie there was really cool. I didn't get as many pix as I would have liked to at the 500 because it was so freakin cold we were tryin to stay warm. Busch Babe is the picture queen! You'll all laugh at mine compared to hers! We only went over to the fronstretch side on Sunday, so it was a bummer not to be close, but the crashes on the backstretch were crazy! Jimmy Spencer did really show up to our section and I was standing right there with him. He looked alot thinner than he does on t.v. I have everythin in my DVR but haven't watched any of it yet. My uncle has the direct tv thing, so I did catch some of that. I'm gonna put the kiddies to bed here soon and I'll hopefully get back on here tonight. All in all we had a GREAT time!

[KurtBuschFan]

I definitely believe you were exhausted....glad you had fun!  Can't wait for pictures.

[Blu]

I envy you CFTB. Ive never been to a NASCAR race although...I have driven by many of them in my previous life as a paid tourist and,....I HAVE actually driven a lap on the Brickyard once.

[HUDSON HORNET]

I envy you CFTB. Ive never been to a NASCAR race although...I have driven by many of them in my previous life as a paid tourist

You mean you've driven many miles as a commercial tourist, right Blu?
How many mile markers do you have in your back pocket? 

[Blu]

Hmm..at times.... too many...at times..not nearly enough yet

[Blu]

and HH..Ive not really ever kept really accurate acoount of them over the years , but I know its got a lot of zeroes after it.

[DotheDew88]

I envy you CFTB. Ive never been to a NASCAR race although...I have driven by many of them in my previous life as a paid tourist and,....I HAVE actually driven a lap on the Brickyard once.

I'm just getting started....My goal is to move somewhere South where the tracks are...My husband says no for now, but I'm hoping someday. I really hate Ohio anymore. It's too damn cold and not enough sun!

[Chris]

To be honest,.. If you are looking for a good place to live to go to a lot of CUP races,...
Take a note from the CUP teams book.  Charlotte is a good place to be based out of.
Two races a year at Lowes,... only 4 hours to Atlanta (2 races)... just over 5 hours to Dega (2 more races)... Martinsville is close by, (two races a year)... so is Richmond, (couple more races)... Darlington is just down the road a few hours (and still is hangong on to a race)... a few hours over to Bristol (couple great little short track races there),... and it's really not that far up to Dover either,.. (two more races)...
SO by living in Charlotte you could go to 15 races a year and not be more than 5 hours one way to ANY of them...

[falcon325]

Martinsville is close by, (two races a year).

Charlotte is a great place to be to catch a lot of races. 

But you'd better step lively if you want to see two races a year at Martinsville.  I just got my tickets for my first race there.  As much as I bad-mouth the NA$CAR suits, I have to say, they haven't jacked the Martinsville ticket prices through the roof since ISC bought the track.  I got seats in row 18 on the backstretch for $47.  Two of my daughters have been before and said that Martinsville is a great place to watch a race and those are decent seats.  BUT, I'm afraid that getting decent seats for $47 in south-central Virginia is not going to last long.  NA$CAR needs more race dates and with only 63,000 seats, Martinsville is the smallest non-road course track.  http://www.jayski.com/pages/tracks-seating.htm

Seeing these historic Southeastern tracks shut down by greedy billionaires would be less painful if they replaced them with tracks that offered equal-quality racing.  Instead, we get Fontana.  You’ll have to pardon me, but I just woke up from my Busch-series nap.   

[Chris]

Yeah,.. I haven't been to Martinsville and watched a race from the grandstands... I bet the view is great.
Everytime I have been there I've been in the pits on top of a race hauler.

[DotheDew88]

To be honest,.. If you are looking for a good place to live to go to a lot of CUP races,...
Take a note from the CUP teams book.  Charlotte is a good place to be based out of.
Two races a year at Lowes,... only 4 hours to Atlanta (2 races)... just over 5 hours to Dega (2 more races)... Martinsville is close by, (two races a year)... so is Richmond, (couple more races)... Darlington is just down the road a few hours (and still is hangong on to a race)... a few hours over to Bristol (couple great little short track races there),... and it's really not that far up to Dover either,.. (two more races)...
SO by living in Charlotte you could go to 15 races a year and not be more than 5 hours one way to ANY of them...

That"s my goal Chris...My family is in SW Fla, but I don't think I could live in Fla. Too much traffic, just to go to the grocery store. Plus, you gotta have a little season change. I hear Charlotte is also busy but like you said, you're close to everything, and the beaches. I've never been to any beaches on the East except for Fla. My kids on the other hand have. We're really big campers, and I'd love to camp where there's mountains!AHHHH you gotta dream right?

[falcon325]

Cheer, I lived in Houston back at the peak of the early-80s oil boom, so I've seen BAD traffic. 

Charlotte hasn't gotten to that level yet, but rush hour is pretty bad.  It's a big city.

[Chris]

don't have to live in Charlotte 'proper'... lots of nice places on the outskirts 30 or 40 miles outside.
Maybe you could avoid the rush hour 'rush'