My Day at Dover

Sunrise 

Almost everyone would agree with the following statement: “Going to a race is so much better than seeing it on TV.”  Why?  Autograph sessions, Q&A sessions, meeting other NASCAR fans, and coming home, not being able to hear because you refuse to wear earplugs.  This was my day Friday in a nutshell.

My day started off as a 4:30am wakeup call and ended at midnight.  After arriving at the track at 8:15am, we got out and walked around for a while, checking out all of the souvenir haulers and things going on in the Fan Zone.  Ten o’clock came and we headed to the stands for Truck qualifying.  An hour later, at eleven o’clock, we headed over to the Camping World tent in the Fan Zone to get on line to meet the fifteen drivers that were signing, including Joey Coulter, Johanna Long, Austin Dillon, Justin Marks, Brad Sweet, Max Papis, Justin Lofton, Nelson Piquet, Jr., Jason White, Timothy Peters, Miguel Paludo, Ricky Carmichael, Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton.  We left my dad on the line and my mom and I headed over to the Chevy Stage to see the Joey Coulter and Austin Dillon Q&A session.  Before that started, I had the privilege to meet John Cox and his daughter, Cassidy.  I was able to interview Cassidy about being a NASCAR fan.  Check out her answers…

Me and Cassidy

Ashley: “Where do you live?”

Cassidy: “Delaware.”

Ashley: “How long have you been a NASCAR fan?” “How did you get into NASCAR?”
Cassidy: “I've been a fan for a while.” “My dad got me into it – he put a hat on me and it’s been like that ever since.”

Ashley: “What do you like best about NASCAR?”
Cassidy: “Definitely how they go fast!”

Ashley: “What your favorite series?”
Cassidy: “I like all of them – Truck, Nationwide and Cup.”

Ashley: “I see you’re wearing a Joey Logano shirt.  I’m assuming you’re a Joey fan?”
Cassidy: “Yes, I am!”

Ashley: “Why Joey?”
Cassidy: “He’s hot!
Ashley: “That’s the same answer I would’ve given!”

Ashley: “Do you have any favorite tracks”
Cassidy: “Dover and Charlotte.”

Ashley: “How many races do you attend each year? Which one(s)?”
Cassidy: “One, and it’s Dover.”

Thank you Cassidy and John for your time!

Before Qualifying

When the Q&A was over, I headed back over to the Fan Zone for the autograph session.  All of the drivers were extremely personable, so if you ever get the chance, I highly recommend taking the time to meet them.  While talking to one of the many Public Relations people that were there, I heard my name called and was surprised to see my friend, Kate.  It was awesome to finally meet her since I’ve talked to her for a year on Twitter and Facebook.   After that, we had Grotto Pizza – quite possibly the best food you can get at the track! 

We headed back to the stands to watch the end of Sprint Cup Practice and the Truck Series driver introductions before the race started.  Once the race started, I put my headsets from my new race scanner on, and was lost in my own little world.  It was cool to hear what was going to happen during a pit stop before it happened or what was wrong with the truck. 

Me and Austin Dillon

At the end of the day, Kyle Busch won (which I was semi-happy about), I saw Austin Dillon (again), I had my favorite pizza and I got to do my first face-to-face interview! In my opinion, it was a great day!