Dad, Nathan, and I met Dad’s brother Drennen and his son Renn for the inaugural Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park today.
We sat on the straight between turn 11 and turn 12, which wound up affording great views of those and of turns 5 through 7. We also had some view of the start/finish line and the pits.
We were much closer to the track than we were at Nashville. This was taken from my seat. Love the sights, smells, and sounds!
Wasn’t much of a day for Danica. She finished 19th. Tony Kanaan, our other favorite, finished 8th. Helio Castroneves had one of three cars with a shot today, and he won it. I thought he might climb our fence, but he did it just west of us.
This was my first trip to Barber, and there are lots of cool things happening at this world-class facility. (I’m so proud of Alabama in general, and this really was the state’s best foot forward for an international crowd.) I’ll go back many more times. Uncle Drennen catches sports car racing there once in a while, and I’d love to spend the day at the largest motorcycle museum in the world.
A trip back for next year’s Indy Grand Prix of Alabama is highly likely, but we’ll skip the public parking next time (park at the horse track ten miles away and ride school buses; then reverse it to leave). It worked fairly well, but it still meant about 90 minutes on our feet holding all of our stuff at the end of the day. Parking inside the facility is $50, and we’ll spend it next year. We might also rent an RV and just make it a weekend. We’ll see.
It was a minor blot on an otherwise marvelous day, though. Everyone had a blast.
Possibly related posts (automatically generated):
- Alabama 34, Clemson 10 Wow. Alabama had paralyzing run defense, effective and controlling offense, no turnovers, few penalties, and mostly solid special teams play. Can you ask for anything...
- Alabama 41, Georgia 30, and beyond Good news, rest of the country: we’ve likely deep-sixed those stupid black jerseys for you forever. You’re welcome. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to believe. ...
- Severe storms pound Alabama My part of the world was severely pounded by thunderstorms and tornadoes today. In my 40 years of living in Tornado Alley, I cannot recall...
- Alabama finishes 9-3; both Auburn and Tennessee fall I try hard to pick with my head and not my heart when I have occasion to pick an Alabama football game. I’ve never tried...
- Alabama 42, Auburn 14 I am well pleased with the final score of the 2011 Iron Bowl. Alabama’s domination of the line of scrimmage was severe and relentless. Auburn...
Sounds like fun and perfect weather to boot.
Love the stereotypical shirtless dude in the picture. Assuming he has a 3 tattoo somewhere. Looked like a good time. Track looks awesome on TV. Glad you had a good time.
Will Nathan be saying “HUH?!?!?! CAN’T HEAR YOU!!!” a lot in school today?
‘seester, it was awesome. We even sat in the shade. Didn’t pop the top on the sunscreen.
BamaDan, it’s funny. There’s an elevation to the whole thing. For example, the guys in front of us were drinking a lot of beer–stereotypically redneck–except it was Samuel Adams Imperial White. How funny is that?
I wish I’d have DVRed it. It didn’t occur to me that I’d like to see how it played on TV until after I didn’t have the opportunity any more.
[...] Something that still amazes me about my father is his easy rapport. Dad is better at making someone like him in 30 seconds than anyone I’ve ever seen. It’s like you’re out with him and your attention is elsewhere for just a moment, and when you look up again he’s laughing and gabbing with a guy in line like he’s known him 20 years. I saw it most recently on our way out of Barber last month. [...]