My ARCA Adventure

"Oh come on--the tape blends in FINE!"

This past Sunday my awesome dad and I skipped Nascar's dullest race of the year to take in the ARCA Series' Barbera's AutoLand 150 at New Jersey Motorsports Park.  All-in-all it was a pretty cool experience--here's some stray observations:

Me and the lovely Miss Duno
--Months ago I VERY briefly met Danica Patrick, and my first reaction was, "Wow, she's REALLY short".  Sunday I met Milka Duno, and my first reaction was, "Wow, now THOSE are curves!"

--The most-famous person there was Bill Elliott, who was there to coach/mentor his son Chase, a Hendrick development driver.  While I got a picture with Bill, I sadly forgot to tell him that Bill Elliott's FastTracks was the my favorite Game Boy game.

--Speaking of Chase, he looks really really young.  Conversely, 78-year-old James Hylton doesn't look a day over 90.

--I met Frank Kimmel, who seemed very nice and very down-to-earth.  Upon meeting him I thought, "Wow--NINE championships between us!"

"Got this cigar from Carl Haas!"
--My dad got Justin Boston to admit that he's not REALLY from Baltimore--he's from Towson (home of Mel Kiper Jr. and Elaine Benes).  This would be like a guy from Jacksonville claiming that he's actually from Daytona Beach.

--The backmarkers in this series are a pretty-motley group.  There was a medical doctor, a guy who resembled a serial killer, a driver who couldn't afford rain tires, and a driver who asked me if there was a shortcut back to Ohio that didn't involve driving through Philadelphia.

--Special points go to the unidentified driver making his ARCA debut, wearing uniform patches that were literally stapled to his fire suit.

All-in-all, a great day and a great race.  Yeah, I missed a popular win in Nascar, but I'm still boycotting "Smurfs 2"--any movie with Christina Ricci and Katy Perry that isn't Rated-R is abhorrent.