NASCAR Fontana 2014
It’s difficult to know how to start to tell this brief tale, if only because I have no knowledge of the meaning of brevity. Me, my son and his grandpa Terry stowed away with my generous neighbors (Darin and Kent) to chill in the infield at Fontana last weekend. We had an epic experience.
I don’t recall the impetus for me trying to glue things together but I’m sure it started with an invite from Darin and from that inch I dragged a mile (sorry bro). I checked with an old friend who knows a thing or two about racing culture for what I should try and do to make decent memories since I’m still in a NASCAR playpen. Turns out he hooked me up with tix to the Jimmie Johnson Q/A and other goodies as well as some advice. We settled on going Thursday night and returning on Sunday. For the uninitiated, that’s a long bloody time. It’s all fun but the tax man will eventually come collecting (he comes quicker as you get older). Here we go:
Arrived Thursday night, just in front of the parade of haulers. Darin and Kent had a motorhome so I parked outside and hiked in across the track with Ben and Grandpa. First things being first, we had a ceremonial shot of whiskey and commenced re-introducing ourselves to the neighbors. Blah blah, drink drink, eat some of Kent’s killer BBQ, sit around the fire.
Friday was pretty mellow and we spent some time meeting extended neighbors and checking out the scene in general. We were on the lower level which is pretty mellow compared to what goes on up above. That was perfect being that we had kids around. Ben and Matty reminded me of being a kid in the 1970’s. They took off on their bikes for an adventure with the rule being that they stuck together. No other rules. It was bitchen. They’d come back like crows for food once in a while but mostly they owned the place. I was secretly nervous but I knew it was right to let Ben spread his wings and Matty has always treated Ben like a little brother so I knew all would be good.
Enough of the “timeline” format. The thing is, the folks who bother camping in the infield are pretty awesome. Ben popped his rear inner tube and the little market didn’t have any replacements. I asked bunches of neighbors and all were willing to help but none had the right size tube. Then neighbor Tyse dialed us in with a patch kit and actually did the fixing himself. It’s like a giant family on the inside as long as you’re not a douche.
The really nice thing for me was seeing Ben push himself. At NASCAR, people are cool as long as you put in some effort too. If you whine or punk out, you’re not going to have a very good time. But if you help and you try, you’ve got a family all around you and tons of encouragement.
Check this: They put on a “Pinewood Derby” for the kids on Saturday. We basically walked the kids in, signed them up and let them go to work. Again, I was a bit nervous but I knew helicoptering wasn’t going to be good for either of us so I let him go. It turns out, when it was all finished, Ben took 1st place, out of 200+ kids. That’s badass on its own for a first-time attendee who’s just 10 years old. But he also got a cool trophy, a NASCAR wall clock, cool grandstand tickets, a signed pinewood car and *4 tickets to Victory Lane on Sunday!!!!!!*. Spirits were running high for sure.
The whole camp was happy for Ben and his crew chief (Matty) had a ticket with his name on it. We told neighbors and others about it and asked what we should expect (since we’d never done Victory Lane before). We asked, “What should we bring to get signed? Several people told me, “Everything!”. “The winner will give you a minute or two since you won your race and he won his”. Blah blah. Everyone was stoked and encouraging.
We watched a good part of the race from the grandstands and moved close to the entrance of Victory Lane as the race ended. BTW, if you’ve never been close to the track when they’re doing 200MPH, you don’t know what you’re missing. Those drivers are out of their minds! I can’t imagine the endurance required to complete the race.
Kyle Busch won this time. We’re a Jr. household but we appreciate all talent and Kyle is consistently a great driver.
Here’s where it gets a bit crummy though it’s probably my own fault. I suppose since Ben got the Victory Lane tix for winning the pinewood derby and listening to all the vets in the infield, my expectations were set high. I had prepped the boy for getting a min or two with the winner (Kyle Busch in this instance), getting some stuff signed and a picture or two. That didn’t happen. What did happen was, when Busch went to sign autographs he went person to person, trying to sign as many as he could and when he got to Ben, he was nothing special… just another fan. My boy says, “I won the pinewood derby!” and Busch turned over his trophy, signed the bottom and moved on. That was it. Crushing. Ben turned and looked at me as if he had done something wrong. He turned back and looked longingly at the champion as he moved on to the next person and the next.
If I’m sour, I’m sour at myself for building up my son’s hopes. I’m an infant when it comes to these things and alluded to more than I should have to the boy. I understand that the winner (and NASCAR) has all sorts of obligations; There are sponsors and other VIPs that make all of this magic happen and they need attention. And heck, the winner has got to be exhausted. Still I think, wouldn’t it be cool for the winner of the pinewood derby and the winner of the Auto Club 400 to have a picture together? Perhaps that picture shows a future winner of the big race. That would be gold, Jerry! Gold!
On the whole, we had an epic experience. I have to thank Darin and Kent for letting us invade. I had a wonderful time meeting Uncle Joe Benson after so many years of listening to him. Every NASCAR employee I encountered was exceedingly nice. The Vons temporary store folks did their best and we appreciated it. And believe it or not, the San Bernadino County Sheriff Deputies were amazing… they brought me back to the 1970’s when things were different. Oh, and very important: The Blue Angels pilots and crew in Victory Lane were absolutely incredible with the kids. Can’t tell y’all how much I appreciated it as a dad of a 10 year old boy who looks up to our military personnel.