My Race Weekend Overload (pic heavy)

[Whee]

After a short walk, seriously, we parked just a short ways from where our seats were, Here are pics from inside prior to the festivities.

The scoring tower and Pagoda.


Looking into turn one. Lots of empty seats at about 45 minutes prior to green flag. Track estimates they were down 20% in attendance. It showed.


Pre race parade. Tony Stewart, hometown favorite. Lives about 30 mins from the track in Columbus.


My buddy is a fan of Michael Waltrip, so this one was for him.


Dr. Evil, the Man in the Black Hat....Kyle Busch

[Whee]

Roger Penske on the right, directly across from us. He usually spends most of the race here.


Stands looked better as the parade laps started.


The fly over was four T-38's. Old school astronaut trainers. I could not see my viewfinder, so I wasn't even sure i got them on the camera. They show up, eventually.

[Whee]

Parade lap pics...



The start. Best part of the race. You hear them coming, then you feel them as they fly past.



Vid of lap two, watching turn one.

[Whee]

Some pit action...

Brian Vickers


The FOG, Mark Martin


Exiting the pits, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards and Juan Pablo Montoya. This was the pit stop that cost him the race

[Whee]

Martin and Montoya battling for the lead


My brother is a huge Junior fan, so to add insult to injury, this appeared on the video board across from us. Hood up, day done.


Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin on the final lap.


Johnson and crew celebrating the win. He didn;t come down far enough on his burnout, so this was the best victory pick I could take.


All in all, boring race. They went from the Flat Tire 400 last year to the Follow the Leader 400 this year. The last 30 laps were exciting, watching martin and Johnson battling it out, but it was a quiet day.

One last pic to end it all. Stars and Stripes, Forever.