NASCAR!

Me in the middle

VROOM!

VROOM! VROOM!

Pit stops

I have no idea who these drivers are...they stopped &

posed for pictures from fans in the stands

Look at all the people!

We've lived here in Rocky Mount since 1999 and knew we were close to Martinsville Speedway (30 miles) but hadn't gone to a NASCAR event before yesterday. A grocery receipt from Kroger's said if we called within 72 hours, we would receive two free tickets to a NASCAR race. Yeah, sure, I said to myself. But I did call, and so help me Hannah, received two tickets worth $60 each for yesterday's race, Sunday, October 19th.

We stood in line for the South Annex Grandstand in front of a couple who had gone on Ebay and purchased their tickets for $138 + s&h. They were amazed we'd gotten free tickets, and said from now on, they would be reading their grocery receipts very carefully.

It was a perfect day...breezy enough to warrant wearing a light turtleneck but sunny enough to keep us comfortable. I took my camera, but taking pictures through two sets of wiremesh screens makes it look as if we were in a cage! Security guards would not let us near the screens, although some folks did ignore that prohibition.

Noisy? You betcha! A friend advised me to take earplugs, and I am so glad I did. The crowd was very friendly, very accommodating. When one young boy needed his Dad to take him to the restroom, fellows helped hand him down, chuckling all the way.

But how was the race, Marion? Well, we watched Dale Earnhardt Jr. go from 3rd to 5th to 6th to 14th, then back up until he finished second 500 laps later. I must admit we did leave a bit early...looking around at the thousands of cars and trucks parked on the grounds, we decided to leave at Lap 300. We headed to Applebee's in Rocky Mount, and watched the end of the race on their large-screen TV. Lo and behold, we were waited on by the best new waitress on the block, my friend Amy Hanek. (Applause, applause).

When we got home, little Sadie Mae was bursting to see us arrive...we'd left her inside with Winchester to 'babysit' and she did fine. Although she was a bit clingy last night, and won't leave my side today!