Daytona 500

It is to bad they can not have Gordon and Jr and Jerritbin the booth. Unfortunately different networks. I wish NASCAR would pick the commentators and let the do it for the whole season. Let the networks just bid on being able to broadcast it. 

We took our seats and watched the action.

And as soon as they threw the checker, we hauled--got across the street and into the bus corral. There were a ton of people there, but we didn't have to wait for a bus. Just kept walking until we were on a bus. We must have missed the rush because we got home in just a few minutes--zero race traffic for us. Takehome: We had a fun weekend. 

dean1484 said:

It is to bad they can not have Gordon and Jr and Jerritbin the booth. Unfortunately different networks. I wish NASCAR would pick the commentators and let the do it for the whole season. Let the networks just bid on being able to broadcast it. 

The track-side play-by-play came from MRN. I thought they did a great job--no gimmicks, just clean reporting. 

David S. Wallens said:

Oh yeah, some photos since photos are fun. 

We walked the garages Friday evening:

What's with the tiny tires? Is that the inner liner?

Pretty sure those are inner liners. Not sure why they were sitting there like that. 

One more Daytona 500 observation, and maybe this is just because I don't watch sports. The jumbo-trons showed the race--the view was awesome. At one point, the camera was zoomed in on something on the back straight. It was like being there. Then the camera zoomed out: That camera was on the front stretch of the track. Holy optics!

At one point, the camera zoomed in on the nearly full moon. That was pretty wow, too. 

David S. Wallens said:

One more Daytona 500 observation, and maybe this is just because I don't watch sports. The jumbo-trons showed the race--the view was awesome. At one point, the camera was zoomed in on something on the back straight. It was like being there. Then the camera zoomed out: That camera was on the front stretch of the track. Holy optics!

At one point, the camera zoomed in on the nearly full moon. That was pretty wow, too. 

When I used to crew for a sports car team we would have all of the cameras fed into the pits.  Every once in awhile a bored camera operator would search the crowd for local talent.  I was similarly impressed with the resolution at those distances.

When I am working in the garage on a Sunday, I keep the radio tuned to the MRN broadcast instead of a TV tuned to that broadcast. The MRN group does an amazing job keep the race exciting. Sometimes they make it more exciting than the race really is, but that helps keep me interested.

My general reason for not having a TV in the garage is if there is a picture to watch, I am more likely to remove an appendage while working/not paying attention to the work. With the radio, I can still focus on the job at hand and enjoy the race.

David S. Wallens said:

Pretty sure those are inner liners. Not sure why they were sitting there like that. 

Probably giving them an initial stretch.  Not sure with the liners, but cross play stock car slicks don't really settle at their final diameter until they have been inflated for a while.  They still grow, but at least you have a baseline size to start.  I presume a growing liner could do weird things to the main tire if it decided to grow, even with the main tire being a radial.

Maybe.

Streetwiseguy said:

David S. Wallens said:

Pretty sure those are inner liners. Not sure why they were sitting there like that. 

Probably giving them an initial stretch.  Not sure with the liners, but cross play stock car slicks don't really settle at their final diameter until they have been inflated for a while.  They still grow, but at least you have a baseline size to start.  I presume a growing liner could do weird things to the main tire if it decided to grow, even with the main tire being a radial.

Maybe.

Sure, sounds good. To be honest, we took a really quick pass through the garages before the truck race--mainly enough time to grab some photos for everyone here.