Thursday, February 27, 2014

TheDaleGuys DAYTONA 500 Recap - Chapter 2: Sunday AM-Meeting Dale Jr.

Sunday was THE day, the 2014 Daytona 500. Since we got a hotel in downtown Daytona Beach this time, I had the privlidge of setting my alarm at 5:30 AM rather than 4:30 AM this year. Still, the first bud was cracked on the beach and the longest day of drinking of my entire life began at 6:45 AM. The 'E' and myself watched as the sun came up, and imagined what that day could possibly bring... There's a place in Florida where they say dreams come true, could that place be Tona?




Off to the track with 2 pop-tarts each as our meals to the day. What could go wrong there, right? Who needs food when you can get full off the smell of gasoline and burnt rubber. First stop at Daytona had to be to see all of our friends Team Chevy. Couldn't think of a better spot to paint up at 8 AM on a beautiful 75 degree morning.
The thing that always gets me when we do this is just how many people are intrigued with different words we can spell, and a drunk redneck's favorite is always "LADE". WTF is that? Are they spelling "LAID" wrong? I hope that's the budweisers talking.

We were a little late to get a front row spot to meet Dale this time, so we were kind of in trouble. As all 10 people funneled in to see Ryan "No longer bloomin" Newman, we figured we had some time to go harass little Joey Logano. He was actually real cool and signed a beillion autographs, and took this beauty.


So back to the Team Chevy area I went and they were actually looking for us to ask a question to Ryan Newman. Team Chevy guys (mainly you, Johnny) are famous for promising us questions and then getting too nervous we are going to ask something ridiculous (which is perfectly fair of them to assume.) BUT, we actually got to ask something we'd always wanted.


We waited around a little longer and heckled Kurt Busch a little, but the whole while we were trying to find a way to get to our buddy Dale. Once he finally got up on stage, we just needed an opportunity. We got it and seized it thanks to everyone's favorite road manager, Hoag. In our 3 seasons of heading to races, we quickly learned with NASCAR, don't ask, just do. With an OK from Team Chevy (thanks Dawn, Jason, etc.) we we're over the ropes and waiting backstage for Junior. I readied my souvenirs, took a swig of beer and Dale Jr ran faster than the Biff with Boris said chasing him... right to us.


I mean  who in the world has an autographed picture of Dale holding up their twitter handle, in full race suit nonetheless. 



BOOM
So operation meet Junior was complete, again. But more importantly, operation get a picture of Junior in the middle of us was complete. Didn't get that one last time... Or a handshake... Or a bro hug. Yea, this was pretty awesome, thanks a lot Junebug. What did I say in the day one blog?? Everything's coming up Dale Guys.

ICYMI,  Part 1 went up yesterday, and 3 is coming up shortly.
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