Texas Motor Speedway

November 1, 2013 ~ Brandon and I were excited to head to Texas for the weekend. This is a state we haven't been to at the same time and another state we can cross off our list! (My goal is to see all states by the time we are 40) We would be heading down to the Texas Motor Speedway for NASCAR and we flew from Columbia Regional Airport which I love! 

We made it! The plane ride was a little over an hour and the Texas Motor Speedway was only about 20 minutes from the airport! We landed in Dallas, picked up our rental car and headed to the track! 

Our first stop was the credential office to get our passes for the weekend.

(While we were waiting this fancy little corvette whips in and the driver jumps out and heads into the building... mind you that his only handicap must have been that he thought he was somebody. Dude can you clearly not see that you are parked in a handicap spot??? Takes his sweet time and then be-bops back out and takes off. I sure hope we don't have to deal with many people like this!)

We got the car parked and waited for our golf cart to come get us!
Yep we were taken care of VIP style!

 We hung out in the owners/drivers lot for a little while and then we were ready to get this party started! We walked through the hole in the fence where everyone comes through but is protected by the big rigs... totally different in Kansas and Chicagoland which meant getting signatures would be pretty tricky! Have no fear... Where there's a challenge Michele will over come it!

Looks like Dale Jr. has been out on the track already!

Oh and there's Matt Kennseth too!

We ate at Fuzzy's Taco that was at the track... it was pretty darn good!

As soon as we were done eating guess who walked by... Matt Kennseth!

It was pretty hard to get signatures today so we headed to get checked into our room...

 I didn't know we would have a little apartment for a hotel room! It was pretty nice to spread out for a few days rather than be cramped up in a small hotel room.

Brandon and I love steak so anytime we go somewhere new we always try to find a really good steakhouse to eat at. This one just happened to be right across the parking lot from our hotel.

Witnessed something pretty cool that I want to share with you guys....

As Brandon and I were eating dinner a family sat down next to us. A man dressed in military fatigues (can't think of right word), a wife/mom and three children. Just in conversation I could tell he recently got home and was reuniting with his family. A man in his mid-40's and his 6-7 year old son came over to the table and the little boy thanked him for his service. The military guy took a patch off his right arm and gave it to the little boy. A few moments went by and the little boy came back with a gift card to pay for their meal. Not only was this emotional for the military guy but to witness this made us emotional. As we left I also thanked him for his service. With tears in his eyes you could tell he was very humbled. I encourage you all to take time and thank our military men and women both current and veterans... It means so much and a simple thank you is appreciated. So glad we witnessed this tonight and kuddos to that kiddos dad... What an example to learn from!

Day 2:

Today was already off to a good start! I really liked this race track and the weather was perfect! I liked the fact that you could walk around inside the garage area which allowed you to feel like you could see everything. (It also let you have a break from the sun)

As you can see today was a pretty darn good day to get some signatures but let me tell you... I certainly had to work for them! It was fun and other than some of the fans just being completely crazy the drivers were pretty nice.

Just when I thought this day couldn't get better... it did! I have a lot of respect for Carl Edwards. Not only because he's proud of our town (Columbia, MO) but because of his attitude. I have met him at 4 different races and in and around Columbia, MO and not once has he ever been rude or cross with me. He has always done what he's promised and is great to his fans. Every time that I have had a picture taken with him it's always been without Brandon... so to me this picture is perfect!

As soon as we got to the track we knew that some of the Duck Dynasty guys would be here because of a conversation we were a part of in the drivers / owners lot. I'm going to be real honest with you... I've never seen a Duck Dynasty show (yet) and didn't have a clue what any of these guys looked like. Seems like everywhere I go I tend to make friends that would gladly tell me when there was someone I needed to get a signature from or my picture taken with... So when I got a chance to get my picture taken with Godwin and his brother... I took it!

After all the practice runs were over we decided to stick around and watch the Nationwide Series.

 

Pretty cool to be watching everything from pit row! 

Debra sugar... I hope you were watching the sky because it appears that your sweetie pie has something he wants to ask you!

Brad Keselowski won the Nationwide race.

It appears the driver of this team had a hot date or somewhere important to be...

because he stripped down to his under britches and socks and changed clothes and was outta here!

 Once the race was over we decided to see what Texas had to offer and act like some tourists! If I could have fit this baby in the car I would have came home with it! My next item I want is a water tower... crazy? You bet! I love the ones that look like this!

I liked the cow on this one! 

As we are driving along it appears this ol' boy was trying some Dukes of Hazard style moves... There was no way he drove his little Corvette to this location and I have no idea how the heck they will get it out of there but he seems pretty calm just sittin' real pretty on that wall. Sugar don't you know those things aren't made for jumpin' things?? {shakin' my head}

We headed down to the Stockyards and Cattlemen's Steakhouse is a must! Wait time was almost 2 hours but the steak was excellent! (Awesome biscuits and horseradish mashed taters!)

Interesting.... 

Did they know the Spry's were in town? 

(1997 is the year we got married) 

I wish we had a little more time to spend down here... place looked awesome! 

Yes we found Billy Bob's but didn't get to stop... Next trip! 

Chip Foose

(American Hot Rod shop owner and star of reality TV series Overhaulin')

Ryan Newman talking to a group of people at his hauler

I even caught Joe Gibbs! 

We decided to go check out pit row before they do the driver intros...

Love all the different markers for the drivers....

While we were waiting for the race to start we got to see an old friend... Brooke and her son, Colin! So good to see these two... Haven't seen them in years! 

(Brooke how can you have a 16 year old son???)

We really enjoyed our time in Texas! We wouldn't be able to stay for the whole race as we had to catch our plane but we would get to see driver intros and part of the race.

Driver Introductions.....

We found our spot to watch the race from....

Fly over during the National Anthem

Let's get this race started boys! 

Man these guys are quick! Fun to watch them work together to get it done!

While I was taking pictures of these guys Brandon was watching me on ESPN
(on the TV's in the pit stop area)

Well y'all... see you next time! We've got a plane to catch!

This was our ride for the weekend... a new Ford Fusion! We had a great trip and the hospitality that was shown to us while we were here was pretty awesome! We want to come back on a non-NASCAR weekend as there are plenty of things I would like to see!