Off to the Races…again

I started out for the races on Sunday with my husband, dad and brother.

We had a wonderful time at the Chevy Village of Champions, pit tours and lunch…

but no race.

Mother Nature was not treating Texas Motor Speedway kindly.  The radar LOOKED clear, but the rain fell all day.

By the end of the day they decided to reschedule both Saturday’s and Sunday’s races for Monday.

I headed back after dropping my older two boys at school with my four year old, Rhett and met my dad in the stands.

I played hooky.

I can’t even remember the last day when I ditched all responsibilities and did something just for fun.

We had a great time.  Rhett did really well at the races…I didn’t know what to expect from a 4 year old.  I just figured we would head out if he had had enough, but he hung in there until the very end.

His favorite part?

The wreck.

It happened right in front of us.  And so did the sweeper truck, the dryer truck, the sand truck, the ambulance, the giant tow truck, etc. that followed.

It was a truck-lover’s dream come true.

Here are pictures and story from both days...just click on the photo below to start the slide show.

Thank you Girlfriend Getaway DFW sponsored by the North Texas Chevy Dealers for the NASCAR tickets — we LOVED them.

Burb mom and Chevy take us to NASCAR!!!

Thank you!!! Thank you !! Thank you!!!
Chevy and Burb Mom!!

On Sunday, Chevy and Burbmom took us to NASCAR!!
I can’t tell you how excited my kids were.

*insert screaming*
*insert jumping up and down*

and the kids were very excited too!!
The people at Chevy could not have been nicer!!!
They were great with the boys.

They played a game where you put all these tetris blocks in the back of one of their midsize SUVS. I was shocked at the room it had in the back.

Chevy had their drivers come out and do a little spill before the race. They gave this big speech about how they were not going to sign autographs.

Landry’s second favorite driver is Jimmy Johnson. Well, he came out and talked and Landry wiggled his way to the front and then this happened…

Yep, that’s Landry getting an autograph.
Then, because no one under 18 is allowed in the pits the boys and I tool off to explore while my dad and hubby went to the pits.

They were so EXCITED!

But nothing prepared them for the excitement of….“Gentlemen Start your Engine’s!!”
This is the look I saw when I looked over at Luke…

It was the Pits

I’ve never looked forward to being in the pits before this last weekend. Deep down in the middle of the pits. No, not those kinds of pits. The racing pits. The NASCAR pits. Where the smell of grease and exhaust is entrancing and the smell of sweaty armpits ever rampant. Where I could have farted and should have blamed it on one of the rednecks.

Our Pit Tour got a jump start with our VIP passes–cause that’s how we roll.

Oh, and this guy with the Chevy beanie who took our drivers licenses.

First, he led us towards the Texas Motor Speedway across the parking lot. I was ever so nonchalant snapping photos every few seconds. (In fact, in all I took over 700 photographs from the beginning of the day until after the races. Yes, I went a tad overboard. Like when I had to take a photograph of a Fort Worth fireman, well, just because.)

Remember how I told you that the VIP bathrooms rocked? Well, this is what everybody else had to use:

Notice no lines. Either someone puked in there or it’s the result of very careful placing by event planners.

The Speedway Club:

The inside of Texas Motor Speedway on our tour:

The guy who forgot which sporting event he was attending and was lucky he didn’t get decked by a drunk redneck for that mistake:

Then the guy with the Chevy beanie hat gave us back our drivers licenses and we were then free to wander the pits.

I have no idea what these dudes are doing, but they look like they are working hard.

Unlike this dude who looked like he was hardly working. My friend, Andie, even asked him, “So, are y’all playing Go Fish up there?” That got him to smile.

Post Script: Andie and LaShawn are in love with #33, Clint Bowyer. I think they’re gonna be eating Cheerios and Hamburger Helper the rest of the month. Who ever said that Cheerios and Hamburger Helper were just for broke college students, cause Andie and LaShawn sure didn’t get the memo. (I speak from experience here folks, having been a poor college student once in my lifetime. Crap. I’m still poor. Just not in college anymore.)

Need proof? I bought a lug nut off the Dollar Menu at The Pit:

And I discovered where the best mechanics in the world work. Their specialty–Bare Bond. Bera Bond. Bear Bond. Like duct tape on steroids. I hear they use it to silence the whiny drivers.

The Garage:

Then it was time to find our seats in the Grand Stands before the Dickies 500 began, so down the tunnels we went.

There was writing on the wall which reminded me of this song:

Not a very good racing type song, and I really can’t imagine any NASCAR driver actually listening to it cause I think it’d either slow them down or make them crash. Wait. Maybe Jimmie Johnson…

What he should have been listening to was this:

Yes, much better racing mood music.

Why exactly I’ve become a NASCAR fan I can’t entirely figure out. Certainly it has something to do with my Chevy VIP experience for my first time ever attending a NASCAR race, yet I’d like to think it also has tons to do with my curiosity for everything fast-paced, down home, dirty, and redneck.

That’s right–I LOVE NASCAR.

Probably because it’s the only sport I understand. Turn left, be the fastest, tape your fender, fill up with gas. Perfectly straight forward.

Stayed tuned…there’s still the Dickies 500 race to come. How I’m supposed to make that funny, I haven’t the slightest.

Milk and Cuddles goes to NASCAR!!

You know what I did this past weekend? Thanks to Chevy and BurbMom.net – I got a chance to experience a world I knew nothing about! NASCAR!!

I was lucky enough to be given two tickets to the Dickies 500 NASCAR race, at the Texas Motor Speedway. I brought my dad with me, since he loves anything having to do with cars, engines, driving, or mechanics. He’s watched NASCAR races on TV before, but this was also his first time actually attending one. To say we had fun…doesn’t cover it!!!

Below is an account of our day…in pictures!

I’d heard traffic could be heavy on race days, so dad and I left VERY early Sunday morning to get on the road. Above is a picture of us at the corner gas station, as we fueled up the car and got copious amounts of coffee! It was 6am – and still dark out. I asked the cashier to take the picture above!

We arrived at the track by 7am- which was great. It gave us time to walk around Texas Motor Speedway, and to look at all the NASCAR booths, and all the race cars that were on display. The green car is NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr’s- number88. And the blue car, is number 48- Jimmie Johnson.

Chevy had all their new 2010 cars on display, and I tried out the new Chevy Camaro. If anyone is looking for Christmas gift ideas for me…I’ll take one of these please. In yellow:)

Next, dad and I headed to Chevy’s hospitality village, where we got some great lunch, and some hot cocoa before getting credentials to go behind the scenes at the race. We got to take a pitt tour!! Here we are feeling very important with our VIP passes hanging around our necks!

The video above, is some footage I shot of race cars being pushed onto the track from the pitt garage before the start of the race.

This is my dad standing along the race track Pitt stops, where the race cars pull in during the race to have their tires changed and to gas up – all in seconds!

Finally we made our way to the stands, and the race was started with an amazing tribute to the Military. A fighter jet flew overhead, and an army transport helicopter landed on the field- and the pace car drove out of it! Soldiers from Fort Hood brought the flag onto the field and 170,000 plus people observed a moment of silence.

The race started! It was ASTOUNDING how loud it was! The seats actually vibrated with sound as the race cars zoomed by! I was not at all prepared for how fast those cars drive! On TV it looks fast, but in person you can barely see the cars – they are flying by at such a crazy speed!The video above is of the race cars taking off…

I had a FANTASTIC time at the race. I didn’t know anything about racing before the weekend, and the more I learned the more I appreciated the skill and artistry of the racers, technicians, and Pitt crews.

But perhaps more importantly, it was a peak into a world that my father loves. Thank you Team Chevy & BurbMom for giving us the chance to spend some amazing father/daughter time together. It is now officially one of my favorite experiences with my dad, and a trip I will remember forever!

http://www.milkandcuddles.com/

NASCAR Weekend at Texas Motor Speedway via Chevy

Here are two accounts of the weekend’s festivities at Texas Motor Speedway due to Chevy’s generosity to Burb Mom readers.

The first story comes from Laurie who writes from the West side of the Metroplex at Tip Junkie.  If you haven’t read Tip Junkie, then head over there after you read this.  Laurie has all sorts of fun tips (duh) and give-aways.  Something is ALWAYS happening over there.  Here is her story from Whrrl:

The second story comes from Andie of Andie Smith Photography.  Andie speaks softly and carries a big camera.  Her camera commands respect…and her photos are amazing. You will feel like you went to the races after seeing her story from Whrrl:

I was lucky enough to hang out on Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway with both these girls…so much fun.
Thanks Laurie and Andie!
Thanks Chevy!

Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway

Chevy invited Burb Mom and many of the Burb Mom contributors and readers to be their guest at Texas Motor Speedway for NASCAR weekend.  Never ones to miss a party, this is some of the fun we had on Saturday.

We met at the Chevy Chalet in the Village of Champions for all sorts of Chevy fun.

The first order of business was to take a pit tour.

Yep, we got VIP passes.  I think just seeing VIP on anything makes us a little giddy.  We got in line and walked over to the pit area.

A portion of our walk took us underneath the speedway track where you could hear cars driving overhead.

The first thing that I saw when I entered the pit area was tires, tires and more tires.

I was surprised that we were able to get so close to everything and interact with the working crews.

It was early so many of the race cars were still in the garage.  They would pop out of the garage area, drive very through the pits to reach the race track.  It was amazing to see them so close.

They were a little loud.  Even with ear plugs.

So fun!

I felt like I was in the middle of everything.

You could feel the waves of sound circle around as the cars raced past.

We might have been a tad bit excited about the Pit Tours….

…and may have celebrated a bit in Victory Lane.

Back to the Chevy tent for lunch.  Burgers, potato salad and some very yummy cookies.

We were entertained by Chris Sommer from the Wolf – 99.5 and Tim Herrick who is an Engineer who designed the Equinox.

And then there were lots of door prizes…

…where my tickets went unused.

*sob*

So I helped myself to another cookie.

It was really fun to meet Burb Mom readers and their families who were out at Texas Motor Speedway enjoying the day.

The brand new 2011 Chevy Volt was on display.

The Volt will be able to go 40 miles without a drop of gas.  It is an electric car that after 40 miles will use gas to help recharge the battery or you can just plug it in at home.  I will be lobbying for the minivan version very soon.

After all the morning fun, the Nationwide Series O’Reilly Challenge race started at noon.

And so that was just the beginning of a very fun weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.  Thanks so much Chevy for making this possible.

Keep watching for more stories and links to more stories as they unfold.  If you are following along on Twitter, search the hashtag #ChevyTMS.