Y'all:
Wife and I got back home late yesterday afternoon from Fontana after a meandering drive home.
First, it was great meeting bdcardinal and his Mom. She is a hardcore race fan. The first race she attended was the 1968 Firecracker 400 at Daytona; pretty much in line with my first race, the 1967 Can Am race at Laguna Seca. And meeting bdcardinal in person.....he is the same nice guy we see here on BITOG.
Although I've seen IndyCar at Fontana, I've never seen the Cup cars on a super speedway. Of course there were periods of side-by-side, nose-to-tail racing, but IMO the overall style and pace was "endurance". Keep in mind this was 400 mile race, 4 1/2 hours behind the wheel.
The cars are absolutely beasts, snorting and bellowing like dangerous, unhappy cartoon character monsters. If you saw the closeup pictures I posted from the LA Coliseum race you would have noticed these are serious racing machines. Massive brakes, coil over springs/shocks, beautifully fabricated aluminum A-arm suspensions, rear mounted transaxles, carbon fiber bodies, etc. I have zero doubt these NextGen cars will make very capable road race machines. Even the most hardcore Porsche loving, road racer type would love to drive one of these things. I know I would!
Seeing a 40 car pack speed by at 196mph literally vibrates your body (there is a billboard sized sign that shows speeds going into turn 1). As I said, 400 miles is a long race and it seemed to me to be in endurance mode at times. But this is not a bad thing and is understandable IMO. You have to "first finish to finish first". Honestly, the endurance pace added to the spectacle. It was like a 40 car chess game, driver's watching each other's every move. The noise and vibration wore us out and we were sitting 100 yards away. Piloting one of those things must be exhausting, if not violent.
There were a record number of cautions this year. Cautions annoy me when watching on television but, strange as it sounds, the cautions were a welcome relief when watching from the grandstands. And not just from the noise. Cautions were useful for taking a quick pee and getting more food and/or beverages. I've never seen so much beer drinking in my life, 24 ounce cans, men and women alike! But as I said, everyone was well behaved and was there to have a good time.
I was super impressed with the turnout. It was literally a sea of people. And NASCAR fans are like no other. 90% of the fans were wearing team kit. In no other sport have I ever seen so much brand/driver/team loyalty.
There was NONSTOP entertainment, entertainment to suit every interest. Want to see pretty young girls doing a dance/ballet show? Check. What to see motocross bikes doing crazy mid air tricks? Check. What to get your ears blasted out with a live concert? Check. The race started at 12:30 Pacific time. My wife and I got there a little after 9AM. The party was well underway and had been going on for hours. The parking lots opened at 5AM! Although everyone was having a good time everyone was well behaved. Nice.
I cannot overstate the great time and good vibe I got from this event. After having such a great time at Fontana, my wife and I will be attending the Daytona 500 next year. That race has to be absolutely mega.
Scott
PS We took a little side trip on the drive home. Little Tujunga Canyon Road to Santa Clarita. A few pics of that too.