Up-close look provides thrill of a lifetime
Students are encouraged to work as active media members at the race track and ultimately tell the story of their unique experience at a NASCAR event. Following each immersion, students will have the chance to see their work published on NASCAR.com. Last weekend, Reese Miller, a student from the University of Texas at Austin, attended the Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway and filed this story. Follow Reese on Twitter here.
The chipper hour of 6 a.m. brings about the sound of my iPhone’s alarm that resembles an evacuation siren in a natural disaster. After nailing the snooze button three times in nine-minute intervals, I lugged myself out of bed at my apartment in Austin, Texas, ate a light breakfast, fastened my tie and I was on the treacherous road of I-35 by 7:15 a.m. I downed the last gulp of chocolate milk, strained to keep my eyes open and moved over to the left lane, not knowing the day would present one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
10:36 a.m. – Like the race winner makes the hard left turn into victory circle, I wheeled my truck into the Texas Motor Speedway parking lot outside of Turn 2, where I could pick up my credential for the day. I’d attended one Sprint Cup, Camping World Truck and XFINITY Series race prior to Saturday. As soon as I discovered the credential office didn’t open until 12, it was time for a souvenir row stroll.
11:52 a.m. – After watching 45-year-old dads try their crack at a pit stop, which would’ve put a driver at the tail end of the field, and snatching my mom a Dale Earnhardt Jr. pin, I scooped up my credential and was headed through the tunnel into the infield. As I stepped out, and looked around at Eddie Gossage’s cathedral, I took a deep breath, plastered my professional, media face on and headed to the media center. Of course, that face looked more like Kevin Harvick‘s in Victory Lane the minute I saw Alan Gustafson and the entire 24 team huddled up in an SUV parked near my vehicle.
1:26 p.m. – I had picked up a shadowing gig from Big Hoss TV for the night, sprinted back around through the infield gates, and met with the wonderful host from NASCAR, Laura Finley, who had granted me and a fellow classmate an all-access media opportunity to cover the Duck Commander 500. Finley had also made the effort to schedule interviews for me throughout the day for various stories, including one with Robin Pemberton, the VP of Competition. Pemberton, a former crew chief, and compelling interview talked for 15 minutes about his time as a crew chief and how that effects his decisions at his current position, Jeff Gordon, Texas Motor Speedway and even the infamous tire scandal. During the race, when an on track altercation occurs, one will hear of a driver being "called to the trailer." I thought to myself, I’ve got to be one of the few people who have been excited to be called to the trailer.
2:31 – "Our group of guys here is really good at making race day adjustments," said Eddie D’Hondt, Jeff Gordon‘s spotter for the past four seasons. "I’m sure we’ll be fine." Gordon would go on to finish 7th in the race after a late race pit call. But, it was listening to D’Hondt talk about his relationship with the other Hendrick Motorsports spotters that stuck out. He, Kevin Hamlin, T.J. Majors and Earl Barban all run together, spot for multiple race crews and are likely to spend 36 hours on the spotter’s stand over the course of a race weekend.
There are many benefits to acquiring a media credential for race day. Aside from the free food inside, and the banter between reporters, the best part is simply walking through the garage. Listening as the cars warm up, crews make game plans and drivers attend their mandatory meetings. Meanwhile, pit road is silent aside from the occasional crewmembers getting his tools in by the pit box, in case of an on track incident in later on in the 500-mile event.
4:45 p.m. – The plush, vivid green grass on the front stretch is overshadowed by the mass of race fans gazing upon the Casey Donahew Band perform the pre-race concert. Just moments earlier, I was shadowing a reporter who asked the question: "Dale Jr. won his first Cup race at Texas between 1999 and 2001. What year was it?" The innocent woman rang the bell and responded with 1998, much to the joy of anyone who was watching Big Hoss TV, as they had an instant reason to jest.
6:00 p.m. – Somehow, I’ve ended up next to the driver introductions stage. As I take a few steps to my right, Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart and Kyle Larson are cutting up about something. Attempting to remain conspicuous, I slid out my phone and snapped a couple of pics to remember one of the more humanized moments I’ve seen live at a sporting event.
6:38 p.m. – Si Robertson bellows, "Drivers, start your engines!" into the microphone in one of the more enjoyable, and comical commands of the 2015 season.
6:46 p.m. – Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick lead the field of 43 into turn one as the American Ethanol green flag is waved. By the grace of everyone involved with NASCAR, and perhaps because I was the only person in the Fort Worth zip code to be wearing a suit, I found my way in the Big Hoss TV suits, shadowing the play-by-play commentator. My role for the next 334 laps was keep track of cautions, strategies, and listen and look for notes of what drivers’ situations inside their racecars were. A natural job for me, considering I do that most races in my apartment anyway.
10:49 p.m. – Jimmie Johnson just became the all-time winningest driver at Texas, earning his fifth victory, but first in the spring race. The aroma of burnt Goodyear rubber and crackled fireworks clouds the Texas night as I walk back across the turn one gate, into the media center.
11:25 p.m. – The whistling of the Old Spice tune rings off of someone’s phone as Chad Knaus jokes "I thought that might have been Tony walking in." Later, he is joined by an under the weather, but satisfied Johnson. Knaus concludes the presser with "We’re not anywhere close to where I wanted us to be." This coming after his driver led 126 of the 334 laps.
12:17 a.m. – Time for the actual journalism "work" to begin. Along with my classmate from the University of Texas at Austin, I shoot stand ups and reports from the race for our student television station’s broadcast Monday night.
1:33 a.m. – Silence. The only one on the track a maintenance worker picking up some Texas shaped confetti. I barely escape pit road, back into the infield before the guard closes the gate, and it’s time to drive out of the tunnel, to my home in Azle 40 minutes down the road.
2:30 a.m. – Before the head drilled the pillow like Justin Allgaier pancaked the turn three fence, I reflect on one of the greatest experiences of my life. Attending races is fun, working them would be a dream, but one thing is certain. There are no greater people, than those who work around the sound of 43 roaring engines, racing a high-banked oval.
