WOW! That's one FAST car!

One of Joshua and Loren's favorite summer time events are the races.  And we're talking sprint car racing here.  During the summer most Saturday nights in Knoxville, you can hear the roar of the sprint car races from about 6:30 to however late they last, sometimes 10:30 to as late as 11:30.  It always varies depending how many cars there are racing and how many accidents they have to clean up before they restart.  The fellas don't go very often, but when they plan to go you can see the anticipation for the evening all day long in their faces.

Ever since the summer I was pregnant with Caleb, Joshua has looked forward to taking his boy to the races with him.  And then we had Sarah and he looked forward to taking his whole family with him. Each year he asks if we can go, and each year I've said no.  But this year, I compromised and told him we could go one of these very warm evenings when I wouldn't have to worry about chilly weather after the sun went down.  This past Saturday was that evening, so away we went to Knoxville.



Can you tell he's happy?




There it is...the outside wall of the Knoxville Raceway.  Even when its not racing season and we go through Knoxville, he gets all wound up talking racing.  Men and their sports.  (At least its not football.  Or Soccer.  Or Baseball.  Or Basketball.  Can you tell I'm not a sports fan?)




The sidewalk that leads along the side of the outer track has their name and a sprint car etching in the brick.  Its actually kind of neat.  I would have really like a full shot, but the highway was rather busy and the kids were antsy, so I chose to stay close.




The etching (I think that's the right word?) of the sprint car I referred to in the last picture.




Finally inside!  This past winter, Caleb discovered the movie Cars.  Since then, he has been really into racing and so you can imagine how excited he was to be able to go to the races and watch Lightening  McQueen for real!  Granted, they were a different kind of car, but who cares?  They were loud and they were fast, perfect!



It was hot!  Thankfully the races start later in the day so that the sun sets soon and the worst of the heat goes away. 



The infield view from the stands.  Its the inside of the oval racetrack.  This is where the cars park their trailers, work on their cars and wait until its their turn to race.

 Before I show more pictures, I'll explain a little how the races work.  When its time to start, the time trials begin.  Time trials is when one car at a time goes out, each getting two laps (the first to get their speed up, the second to be timed) to see how fast they can make it around the track.  This is how they qualify for the starting position, getting lined up from fastest to slowest.  After each car has their time trial and the qualifying is finished, the "heats" start.  The heats are when the cars are grouped in groups of about eight and they have a 10 lap (I think) race.  The cars that come in the first five places continue on for the night and the others are done.  After every car has had a chance at the heat races, the "mains" start.  The main races are the big events of the evening.  "B Main" is when the slowest of the remaining qualifying cars race a 15 lap (I think) race.  The first few places in that race continue on to "A Main" , while the others go home.  A Main is THE event of the evening...the fastest cars racing to win the title of winner and the money prize for the race.  Each place from that race is given a set of points and the points are tallied through the whole racing season, eventually resulting in a champion.  Make sense?


This is a sprint car....




...and this is how fast they go...
(Its a half mile dirt track and they go 120 MPH.  Can you imagine?)




...and this is how loud they are.  Of course, we made sure to have earplugs and the kids were very comfortable.




The stands in Knoxville are smoke-free since Iowa's no smoking in public places law.  And they've allotted two whole sections as family areas where there is not only no smoking, but no alcohol allowed either.  Its great!




Caleb, being the wise guy he is, was trying to confuse the drivers by telling them to go the opposite way.




And the joke kept going....




...and going the whole evening.  I think he got a kick out of teasing Daddy more than hoping to confuse the drivers!




That's my girl!  The rule was she could go barefoot as long as she was sitting and her feet didn't touch anything but air. 




Finally, after laps and laps of seeing all the Lightening McQueens race, Caleb was able to see Mater in action.  I think this was probably one of his favorite parts of the evening.




That's one serious fan... he spends the evening counting cars and places and rooting on drivers.  When it comes down to the last laps of the A Main, Josh and his father are always on the edge of the bleachers, tense with anticipation of who's gonna win and hoping its one of among their favorite drivers.  Josh and his dad work so hard during the week that I'm really glad they can have something to look forward to every once in a while.




During intermission (halftime), the pace truck drove around the track with their "T shirt cannon" and shot T shirts way out into the stands.  Everyone stands up, waving their arms wilding to be aimed for and then lurching for the T shirts if they come even remotely close to them.  Its actually kind of dangerous.  Which is why I stayed seated, with Sarah Rose sitting on my lap facing me.  Sarah Rose and I were playing whatever silly game we were playing, glancing up every once in a while to see if the truck was getting close to us.  When it got close to our area in the bleachers, I paid a little attention to where the shirts were going.  On of them started heading our way through the sky and I soon realized it was coming straight at Sarah Rose and I.  No joke, it landed right in my lap between Sarah and my stomachs.  I think it was meant to be, but I'm not quite sure what we're going to do with a youth sized Chevy Youth Baseball shirt.



It was a really fun evening. I was pretty hesitant about taking the kids (especially the noise part), but we all had a wonderful time and the look of pure fun on Josh's face made it a terrific memory. 
But once a year is plenty!