I enjoyed peeking into the subculture that is auto racing and its enthusiasts. Some camped out for several days, others parked plush RVs on hillsides designed to invite viewing in comfort.The course was the size of a small town and reminded me of childhood play outdoors when we would create tracks with our fingers in the dirt and move the matchbox cars around them until the street lights illuminated.
Many of the patrons were to be expected. Others seemed vastly out of place. The vendors were spread across the terrain selling things from food to Race Girl T-shirts to custom toy cars.
The usuals were prepared with hats and sunglasses and earplugs. Their children equal in equipment + shooting ear muffs. The older, long-term enthusiasts were easily identified as their forearms bore rough skin, similar to that of a brown leather couch. I imagine they had stories of every race that ever was- the crashes, the records, the deaths. They held the history of this hallowed ground.
Walking around I began to wonder if it was a Styx concert. Then the teens arrived throughout the afternoon and then it felt more like a mellow punk scene squished into a Monster Truck Rally. There were also non-classifiable people wandering around. Maybe we fit into this mix, just completely out of place.
I enjoyed the old race cars on display, they provided many photo ops.
The cars actually racing were breathtaking. You see and hear it on t.v., but seeing it in real life was like seeing a movie star cross the street next to you on a busy New York morning.
They were lower to the ground than you could imagine and fast doesn’t properly explain how they flashed past me. I could smell the tires gripping the asphalt at turn 7. This is truly an amazing sport. One I never appreciated before the weekend. This doesn’t mean I am an avid fan or that I will make much effort to attend again. Just feeling grateful to have caught a glimpse of a world that gives a lot of other people incredible excitement. I can appreciate people being totally into something I will never love or fully comprehend.
Because that thrill is how I feel about music.
