NASCAR Truck Race

Last weekend I was fortunate enough to attend the NASCAR truck race at Kansas Speedway. For the first time, I sat very close to the start/finish line and was 25 rows back from the track. For those who do not know, at a race the closest seats are not the best (in fact they are the cheapest). They limit your visibility to what is immediately in front of you. That action is somewhere between 150 and 200 MPH, so it is just a blur. Twenty five rows back is just about perfect. One section past the start finish line is also a good place to be. You can watch the race come to you out of turn 4, and continue watching as it moves into turn 1.

Sunday's race was a good one. Because there were 5 cautions in the first 40 laps, the trucks stayed bunched up quite a while. There was always at lease a few trucks racing for position somewhere on the track. It was enjoyable to watch, even though a severe thunderstorm shortened my participation in the event.

Many people wonder why people can get so interested in NASCAR racing. After all, the primary strategy is left turn, followed by another one, and another. But the sport goes much deeper. Each car or truck represent a team. They team is made up of a business segment who attracts sponsors and pays the bills, an engineering department that builds the car including chassis, motor and body (aerodynamics), a pit crew led by the crew chief who service and improve the vehicle during the race, and of course the driver.

Anyone who has watched NASCAR with any curiosity knows the sport is a team sport. As a proof point, look at the 2 most popular drivers in racing. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Danica Patrick. Both are good drivers but neither are winning. Dale hasn't won in over a year. Danica has only one win in her entire open wheel career. The reason is they don't have the best team in their respective racing series.

And there is also the raw animal and visceral elation of experiencing 39-43 800 + horsepower vehicles take the green flag, gun their engines and paste themselves into the banking of the first turn. It is a feeling that I never tire of experiencing.