at the Bank of America 500; 5th race for the Sprint Cup Championship hosted at Charlotte Motor Speedway (North Carolina).
I woke up with memories of a fun evening that I had not planned on. I found my way to the race track and I had intended on going simply to meet with my fellow twitter friends; an event now known as a "TweetUp." NASCAR journalists have hosted a "TweetUp" at every race track this season, this was my second time attending; my first was in New Hampshire last June. One thing led to another and I found myself with a ticket and a new friend; we sat together, facing the front stretch, 29 rows in the grandstands and directly in front of our favorite driver, Dale Earnhardt Junior's pit stalls.
This is how happy I was...
Turn of events at the race will be reported on the news website (NASCAR's Skirts and Scuff's) I write for sometime this week, please be sure to look for it.
I gathered myself up quickly and was out the door at 6 AM; it was dark out and in the 40s, temperatures southerner's are not used to. I was feeling good, fired up and ready to run my first 5K.
The event was a 5 kilometer race hosted by NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne and his Foundation. Contributions went to the Ronald McDonald House that is being built in Charlotte.
We arrived at the NFL Panther stadium early; we got our t-shirts, numbers and found a place to park.
Joining us were some pretty famous men, NASCAR drivers obviously. The youngest guy in the Sprint Cup, driver 20, Joey Logano, sponsored by Home Depot; driver #9, Kasey Kahne currently sponsored by Budweiser; and 4 time Sprint Cup Champion, #48 Lowes driver, Jimmie Johnson.
According to rumor, Johnson spoke and joked around with my sister.
By the time we started the race at 8 AM, I was even more fired up and ready to run. Johnson was behind me.
Until of coarse, he passed me. He was running low on the inside and then he cut ahead of me.
"Damn it!" I thought, "I must pass him; even if I have to put him into the wall!" (Just kidding)
However, there's a reason why this guy has won 4 consecutive Championships these past four years and he has that same mentality and speed running on the road as he does driving on the race track. He continued to run forward, passing everyone else and I didn't see him again until he was on stage.
I finished the race in 33 minutes, that is a lot faster than I expected from myself. So needless to say, I'm all sorts of proud of myself tonight.
Around 9AM, the boys sat down with ESPN journalist Marty Smith and entertained their fans with a less formal interview.
(video failed to upload, I may post another blog filled with pictures and videos')
They ended the morning with handing out awards to the fastest runner. My sister's mother -in-law won the fastest time in her age group and was the lucky one in getting to stand up close and personal with Kasey Kahne and she took her granddaughter with her!
This was by far one of the best weekends I've had. At least now I can say, I officially raced with Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne and Joey Logano.
Monday morning I start a whole new journey in my life, one I hope to brag about in the near future.
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