Sunday, March 25, 2012

All Revved Up At My First NASCAR Race

Despite feeling under the weather - my fault for saying yes to every work-related and social invitation for literally the past two weeks - this weekend was great. I spoke to inner-city youths on Friday and Saturday, logged some extra office time, and went to dinner with J-Lo and Rocio for J-Lo's birthday at FOX Sports Grill.

Today was the topper, though. At the Latino Film Fest party last month, my NASCAR buddies Manny Poveda and Mario Cobián invited J-Squared and I to this weekend's race in Fontana. J digs cars and I dig J so I said why not. Especially when I'm always telling kids to try new things and expand their horizons and it's still within the realm of my biggest passion, sports.

So we drove two hours northeast to the Auto Club Speedway and it was a blast. I was impressed by the large crowds gathered for tailgating and immediately noticed quite a few Latino families. We were blessed with VIP treatment, including pit passes that put us right on the track for the pre-race ceremonies and official start. I recognize lots of NASCAR names but couldn't tell you who's who but I definitely recognize Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya (my uncle) and San Diegan Jimmy Johnson, the 5-time champ. Seeing them up close and snapping pictures of them was a thrill.

It was loud. It smelled of fuel. There was definitely a redneck, good ol' boy, East County element to it. And by mid-race the long-awaited rain finally came. But I loved the entire experience. It was more diverse than I expected and I see now that as blacks and Hispanics populate rural communities, they are exposed to and attracted by this sport as well. I think that's great.

I couldn't tell you who won and as soon as the skies opened up, Jessica and I high-tailed it back to SD. But it was a great atmosphere and adrenaline rush and I think I'm going to pay more attention to this sport. It was a fun, new experience.

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