Daytona 500

We headed off to catch the bus to Daytona Beach yesterday morning to take in our first experience at the Daytona 500.  The traffic was really backed up as we neared the track and we didn't arrive until almost time to get to our seats.  We had booked this trip through the resort and the information about the seat locations was incorrect.  We were not at turn one where we could see Pit Row and the start-finish line.  We were away on the backside of the track.  But what the hell - we are here and we are going to have fun!!

The flyover was awesome!!  Six jet fighters came roaring over our heads and across the track.

 The race got underway and we got to watch about 33 laps of action.

 Here is my #18 - Kyle Busch - as he flew past our seats at almost 200 miles per hour.

 Then the sky opened up and the rain started to come down.  They brought out the big guns to try to keep the track dry.  The semi has huge air compressors on the back blowing jet force air into the small white blowers being pulled by the pick up.  Quite fascinating to watch actually.

But to no avail.  It got worse and we headed downstairs to try to get out of the rain.  Again to no avail.  The bleachers are all made of steel.  They are not solid structures so the rain just poured down through the bleachers to the thousands of people standing below.  Then we get an announcement that everyone is to clear the bleachers, seek shelter, there is a tornado heading our way.  

Oh man, seek shelter - there is no shelter.  Judy suggests we try the washrooms.  Surprisingly there are not many people seeking shelter in there.  They are made of cement block and are the ONLY solid structures in the entire park.  If a tornado is going to hit this is the only safe place to be.  So we stood in the washroom for an hour or more.  At least we were out of the rain.  

The tornado moved north of us and the rain continued so by about 4:30 we headed over to the bus to see what was going to happen next.  Most of the people had already returned.  I guess they thought a bus was a safe place to be in a tornado???  We waited for the balance of our group to return and then left for home.  We arrived back at our resort at 8:30 pm, got into some dry clothes and had dinner.  By then the rain had stopped and they had gotten the race back underway.  We headed over to John & Judy's to watch the balance of the race on tv.

Sadly the Daytona 500 was one of the things on our bucket list and we got rained out.  Maybe we will have to give it a try another year.   So until next time - travel safe.