Infield at Vegas Behind the Scenes – Might Surprise You!

Image by tequilamike via Flickr

Infield at Vegas
Behind the Scenes – Might Surprise You!

Hey! You know I was compelled to write you about something that happened last night as I got off air and left the media center. I never feel alone because listeners cross country and coast to coast are always with me on air. But it was dark, it was late (11 p.m. EST) and no one was here in the media center. I packed up my equipment and walked down the dark hallway and down the elevator to the main floor of the media center building.

I asked a security guard if the gate was unlocked and wove my way around the gates to my car and headed towards the exit. Well – by the time I got to the exit gate that would allow me to turn right and go into the tunnel to leave the track I saw the bright, gleaming NASCAR Sprint Cup haulers blocking my path and coming into the track.

I realized it may be over an hour before I could leave the track and I shut the car off.

Here’s the kind of thing that makes my day. As I sat there and watched the haulers come in by myself in the dark with the car turned off and tired from having flown in from the east coast that morning..a sense of pride began to replace any sense of tired. I noticed all the fans, a large crowd of them that had come into the track and gathered at the fence in the dark of night to welcome the haulers to town and to the track. The fans were laughing, and jumping around, and taking pictures and holding up their cameras and having such a great time that I enjoyed it immensely.

Soon a white van pulled up. Two PR reps had just left the spa which is attached to the media center and they were laughing and thrilled with the spa treatment. When their hauler passed by they jumped out of the van and ran over to the step of the hauler and jumped up – their hauler driver was laughing and joking with them and the atmosphere, again was one of laughter and full joy. How could that not catch on?

Security soon came up to shoo the PR reps from the step of the hauler – thinking they were fans and the reps began to laugh with abandon. Sitting in my car – I cherished the moment and laughed as hard as they did.

Finally – the security let our two vehicles slide through an open spot between two haulers and leave the track. As I moved my car between two of the haulers, which by then were beeping and laying on their horns in response to all the fans, I noticed one woman in a NAPA jacket jump from the crowd and stand in front of the NAPA hauler. Her friends shot photos of her and as I passed her I saw such a complete picture of eureka and joy and laughter and happiness that I thought – this is something really incredible. I am so lucky that I saw this tonight.

I could hear the haulers horns beeping in jubilation and tribute to the fans as I left the track. The faces of the fans who had come out late at night to just get a photo and see the haulers – no drivers, no racing, no teams, just the haulers gave me such a great feeling inside about the fans here at Vegas.

Here I was stalled in traffic and it turned out – it was the best moment of the day.

I feel pretty lucky to have been stopped in traffic to see it. Isn’t that how life is?

We are handed hardships or frustrations and then find out later that there was a reason -because the frustration ended up being a blessing.

Thanks to the fans who added joy to my day Thursday night on the road at the track late at night at Vegas Motor Speedway.

More from the garage a little later today. I just had to let you know about this seemingly small but really large moment last night.

Claire B