Gainsco Auto Insurance Indy 300 @ Homestead-Miami Speedway

Miami Trip 2008 (Gainsco Auto Insurance Indy 300)

3/28/2008

My trip to Miami had finally arrived and I was so excited for it!! Be fair warned: this blog is going to be a long one! Don’t say I didn’t warn you!! I got up this morning as if I was going to work (5:30am alarm was set). We left the house (my mother, my sister, & me) around 7am and my dad left around 6:30. We took separate flights (Dad flew Southwest for Fort Lauderdale ; we flew US Airways to Miami ). We all eventually met up at the hotel (Comfort Inn Suites) and went to the track together.

When we arrived at the track, we stopped at the Target merchandise trailer and said hi to our friend Don first and then headed over to Racing Electronics to exchange our scanners for new ones. While my parents were making the exchange deals, my sisters & I went down to the garage area. We ran into my friend Heidi Cross and her mother and chatted with them for a little bit. Unbeknownst to us, Patrick Dempsey (McDreamy from "Grey’s Anatomy" for those of us who don’t watch the show, me included) was standing behind us talking with his crew members. We politely went up to him and asked if we could have our picture taken with him and he gladly obliged. We are such trend setters because after we had our picture taken with him several other people came up to him to do the same thing and then he made a beeline getaway and I don’t blame him. I’m not sure if I will ever have that chance again to talk with him so I jumped on it while I had the opportunity. Luckily, it wasn't too crowded in the garage area. There are rarely any fans in the garage area the day before a race and the drivers are usually hanging out and talking so you usually have the chance to take pictures with them and get some autographs if you want them. We were able to talk to a few other drivers in the process.

After talking to Patrick, we wandered around the garage area and came upon Dan Wheldon who was standing outside his transporter signing a few autographs for some fans. When he saw us, he reached out and gave us (individually) hugs. We also had our picture taken with him and had the chance to chat with him for a little bit. Then he had to go. We left and came across Jay Howard, how remembered chatting with me at Mid-Ohio. I remember chatting with him for at least a half-hour last year at one of the tracks but had forgotten which one. I was thrilled that he remembered me. I had my picture taken with him and talked to him for a little bit. He told my sisters and me about some hot night clubs in Miami that we should check out. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the chance to do that. Then it was time for qualifications so we left.

We ran into my parents and then told them about our experiences and then went to watch qualifying. Both Dan and Jay crashed while qualifying but thank god they are both ok. Dan & Jay will start at the back of the pack. After watching qualifying, we went souvenir shopping at the IRL tent and I bought a lot of cool things. I didn’t do all that OT for nothing. Good thing my credit card was paid off before I left.

We went to dinner at Red Lobster and I actually had shrimp even though I was allowed to eat meat again. What’s wrong with me?! LOL!! Anyway, after dinner we crashed at the hotel and called it a night. Tomorrow is my youngest sister’s birthday and it will be a big day at the track. The 2008 season opener begins and I have been waiting for this ALL winter. It’s been a long off-season for us IRL fans. We had our fix when Helio was on "Dancing with the Stars" but that only lasted for so long. The season has officially begun!!!

3/29/2008



Happy Birthday to Lynn !! We got up, had breakfast and got ready to head to the track for the day. Race day and the season opener have FINALLY arrived. We got to the track and walked around for a little bit. We got our Down Force (Indy Car fan club) points and then bought my yuongest sister a shirt to make for the autograph session. My other sister made the shirt to read: "Kiss me, it’s my birthday 3/29/08." It was really cute.

The parents went to watch the Firestone Indy Lights Series (aka Indy Pro Series) while us sisters went to wait in the autograph line for 90 minutes. My friend and her family met us in line. I hope she gives me a line jump at the next race we attend or at least the next time I see her, whether it be Indy or afterwards. The time passed chatting with her. The autograph session started at 2pm. All the drivers showed up. Dan showed up with his new spouse, his personal assistant Susie Wheldon (she obviously changed her last name). I got to see the ring and the rock was huge but it was really pretty. I am so happy for the both of them.

Since it was my sister’s birthday, she got kisses from all the drivers (i.e.: Dan Wheldon, Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves) for wearing her shirt that my other sister made. When we reached Dan & Scott, we told them our invitations were lost in the mail for their weddings and all we had left was this small bag of rice that we placed in front of both of them. They got a kick out of that.

Next we moved onto Will Power (no joke, that IS the guy’s name), one of the champ car guys. We sang "Lady Willpower" (60’s song but Gary Puckett & the Union Gap, how said it is that I know these oldies songs) to him and he looked scared to death by our singing (of course, we left out the "lady" part of the song). Ryan Briscoe was sitting next to Will and said, "I remember you girls. You sang to Dixon all the time." Nice of him to remember, considering he had been away from the IRL scene for two years but then again he was at the Indy 500 when we sang to Dixon. I told Will if he had any questions that he should talk to the Ganassi guys about us. They would explain everything. Meanwhile, I got a personalized autograph for myself and Cassie. You owe me one, Cassie!! LOL!!!

Finally, we moved onto Helio!! YAY Helio!!! He said hello to each of us and we showed him our shirts and the one we made for him that read: "I’m so handsome that Sam went elsewhere and couldn’t sit next to me at the autograph table." He said he thought we loved the Ganassi guys but we told him we had to give him some loving, too. Then I got Helio to sign my "Vote for Helio" shirt and my dad told him about the $3000 phone bill he received for voting for him so much on DWTS. Helio was in disbelief for a minute and couldn’t believe it. At least he knows he has a lot of fans.

We left the line and waited to say goodbye to my friend and her family since I wouldn’t be seeing them again until Indy. Then we decided to try and go through the other line and obviously we didn’t make it. Meanwhile, some people from the speedway come up to my youngest sister and asked her if she wanted to be introduced with a driver, though she wouldn’t be able to choose which driver she was going to get introduced with. Naturally, she said yes, who wouldn’t want to do that?! She was allowed to bring a guest and she was going to bring me but it didn’t quite work out that way. I’ll explain that later. The drivers were leaving so we made our way over to their bikes and waited to say goodbye to them there. I got the chance to say goodbye to Dan & Susie, and Helio.

After the autograph session, we decided to go shopping before the big meet and greet. Good thing we did, too. We stopped at the Target merchandise trailer and I bought a T-shirt. Only one this time. They didn’t have anything new that I didn’t already have. Maybe they will have some new stuff at Indy. Then we stopped over at Racing Electronics to talk to our friends there. The parents went to the garage area to attend chapel services while us sisters took everything we bought back to the car and dozed off in the air conditioning for a little bit before heading back out. We gathered everything (i.e.: scanners, headsets, sweaters) out of the trunk and headed back to the track.

We went to the garage area to meet up with the parents to return the car keys. While we were waiting outside the media center, we bumped into my friend Robin Fontanez and talked to her for a little bit and then she had to go. Mom & Dad finally showed up but not from the media center. Apparently, the service was only twenty minutes, very short. The media center was booked for another event at 5pm.

We left the garage area and went to get something to eat since it was almost time to meet up for the driver/fan escort. After dinner, we met the speedway people, who led us to their office. We got a big surprise there. They lady from the speedway met us and said she arranged it so all three of us could be introduced with a driver, though we still couldn’t pick which one we wanted. Mom & Dad were going to be guests, which meant they were going to stand with the media and take all the pictures they wanted. I was so excited when I found out that I would be able to be on stage during the driver introductions. That was a real surprise for me.

They called three people at a time into the office. My youngest sister was one of the first ones. There are twenty-five drivers and twenty-five fans. We signed waivers and everything. She was 24. After a few more people were given numbers, we realized we were paired in qualifying order starting with the back of the grid to the front. Because Dan crashed, he would start at the back of the grid and my sister was being paired with him. What an awesome birthday present that would have been for her!! Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work out that way. My other sister was 8 and I was 6. She was supposed to get Tony Kanaan and I was supposed to get Marco Andretti.

We lined up starting 25, which was nowhere to be found. As we lined up, a few people who had signed waivers left so we were short some people. They speedway people proceeded to ask some of the guests if they would like to participate and naturally they did. Mom was one of the lucky guests who got to join us on stage. She was supposed to be paired with Ed Carpenter and one lady was beyond thrilled to be paired with Danica Patrick. We finally made our way down to the track for the driver introductions.

As it turned out, those Vision Racing guys failed their tech inspection. They qualified 2 & 3rd on the starting grid but had an illegal wing or something on their car because they don't usually qualify that high. Since they failed the tech inspection (and we didn’t know that until we were on the track), they were moved to the back of the grid and had to be introduced first, which meant we were not going to be paired with the driver we thought we were getting. The only person who was paired with the person he was told he would be paired with was the last person in line since Scott was on the pole and he would be introduced last. The Vision Racing guys were introduced first and that pushed the rest of the drivers back so the birthday girl wouldn’t be paired with Dan even though they said her name with his. She ended up with Ed Carpenter, who didn’t even shake her hand. My younger sister ended up with Marty Roth and I was lucky enough to get Tony Kanaan. When I walked up onto the stage, I didn’t know who I was getting since the drivers were all out of order (though after thinking about it, they did end up in their correct qualifying order being introduced, it’s the Vision guys who were cut and had to be introduced first, everyone else was in their correct order). When I heard the driver’s name, I turned around to face my mother with a very happy facial expression. Tony came down the stairs and greeted me with a genuinely huge smile. Instead of just a handshake, he also reached out and gave me a hug asking me how I was doing. He looked really happy to see me. I walked across the stage with him and shook hands with all the VIPs, including 3 Doors Down. Then Tony went one way and I went the other. Mom eventually made her way up onto the stage and met Danica Patrick. Mom tried to give her a hug that she mistook for a kiss and wiped her hand across her face in front of the thousands of fans in the stands. A photographer took each of our pictures with the drivers when we were on stage and they will be emailed to us. I think that was the highlight of the night for me, aside from the race. I also think I was the only driver to get a hug.

The race was for the most part clean with very few crashes. Dan started at the back and worked his way through traffic to finish third. Scott was on the pole and won the race. TK was doing so well and he had the car to beat but unfortunately for him he collided with a rookie and had right front tire suspension damage and couldn’t make it to the end. Dan might have had a chance but he couldn’t catch Marco, who did have a good night. I was so thrilled to be there for the 2008 season opener. What a great weekend!!

After the race, we were going to go back to the garage area but security was standing there and they wouldn’t let us back there for some reason. I was disappointed because we ALWAYS go back to the garage area after the race. They wouldn’t say why they weren’t letting anyone in but it looked like they were kicking everyone out so we just left. Oh, well. I’m really looking forward to Indy. The next few races will be watched on TV and then I’ll get to see all of my friends at Indy. WAHOO!!!