Daytona Sand

Have I told you that for more than two years I was totally into NASCAR? That I have a Danica Patrick cap? That Jimmie Johnson was my favorite driver right after Danica Patrick? No? Well, yes, Virginia. I liked Nascar and I had a calendar (it was a Hello Kitty calendar, natch) with all the races set up and I even had a spreadsheet in my Mac with all the choices I made every week. And I religiously sat down and watched the races and when I could not watch them, I recorded them. I was a bona fide NASCAR fan. How butch, right?

And I was serious about it! I learned what a 'caution' was and why the became the rule (apparently they make the races duller but slightly safer?). I learned about the ex-NASCAR drivers who became sports commentators (HELLO, Jeff Gordon!) and a myriad other things. My other favorites in the race were Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Martin Truex, Brad Keselowsky, Aric Almirola and Kyle Bush (or was it his brother? In any case, NOT the alleged wife beater, that's for sure). We used to bet on our favorite drivers every time there was a race and we chose our winner the day before the race. We also chose a runner up. It would work like this: if your driver won, you'd get $10 from each other of the people betting (we were five, so it was juicy). You'd also got money if your racer was the one closer to the top at the end. One year I made $200. Beginner's luck, of course, because I knew nothing about the races and I just chose the drivers because they were handsome. So sue me.

I liked the idea of NASCAR races having been born out of a middle finger raised up to the law (bootlegging!) and as part of a subculture. Lilly White, of course, but a subculture nonetheless. It's a multimillion dollar business today (tickets can be outrageously expensive!) and it's always been very religious/slightly racist but it's taken some steps to include some women and some men of color in the last years. In those years, I only made it to one race at the Chicago Speedway. I think it was in 2017? That's where I 'met' Danica Patrick and got to buy one of her GoDaddy caps (heh) and a Danica t-shirt. I was all for girl racers. I think there's now another girl racing but I stopped paying attention to Nascar right before the pandemic.

And I never did go to Daytona Beach for the Daytona 500. I kept hearing it was THE event in the races. Even though Florida in February sounds fantastic, I am not very much into florida (or Flori-duh as Bob calls it). But now I have this @OrvillePeck song. And I do feel like finding myself some long-haired, big blond rough trade to live my own Daytona fantasy.

XOXO