My Induction into NASCAR

To this northern urbanite, NASCAR has always seemed like a redneck sport. I'm used to Wrigley where most people are bandwagon fans and aren't even there to watch the game. So imagine my shock when I, along with about 20 co-workers and our friends, rolled up to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday to take in the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard NASCAR race. I was in sensory overload, so I tried to snapped a ton of pictures throughout the day.

I mean, these race fans are Hard Core, with a capital 'H' and 'C.' They don't just root for their favorite drivers, they bleed for them. Some literally. One of the women with us, who happened to be an admin at my office, has a tattoo of the number 3 car on her ankle in homage to Dale Earnhardt Sr., who died in a wreck during a race five years ago. Besides her ink, these guys caught my eye, or lense, I suppose.

Two of Nascar's finest.

The race itself was fun, despite the heat, which made it feel like I was melting in the stands. Luckily, though, since we were there because of our involvement in the ad campaign, we had passes to the Allstate hospitality tent. It featured food, drinks and free A/C. It was a frequent destination for all of us posers.

Jimmie Johnson ended up winning the race, which made me $125 richer. On the way down to Indy, a bunch of us decided it'd be fun to put the top 25 drivers' names in a hat and randomly pick one for $5 a pop. If your driver wins the race, you win the pot. In case you haven't figured it out yet, I pulled Johnson's name. While this doesn't make up for Memphis choking during the NCAA Final Four Championship Game, it was still nice to win. And in true Indianapolis Motor Speedway form, the race winner always kisses the row of bricks. Since it's tradition, I followed suit.

I may or may not have slipped in some tongue.

At the end of it all, I left with more of an appreciation for NASCAR. It's the fastest growing sport in the U.S., and the fans definitely know how to have a good time. They party from about three days before the race starts until well after the race is over. This was my inaugural race, and since I know how exhausted I was after coming into town the morning of and then leaving that evening, I feel these people's pain.

This guy was out like a light - immediately after the race was over.

And so was he. His friends, not so much.

An overserved fan being consoled by her boyfriend, who can't use two hands because then he'd drop his beer.

I just hope they all got home eventually. Or maybe even to next week's race track. And if you expect me to know where that is, I apologize. I'm not that big of a fan. Yet.

-JT