~Hope for Haylee~: Labor Day night race 2012

We continued our NASCAR weekend fun by going to the Labor Day night race on Sunday. Adam and I have never been to a night race and the kids have never been to a race at all so it was quite the experience for them since we had credentials to go down into the pits and the garage area before the race (if the kids were over 14, we could've stayed in the pits the entire time but since they weren't, we had to be out by 6pm). It was so much fun!! The kids were a bit overwhelmed by all that was going on. There were cars going in and out everywhere, crews wheeling things in and out of garages, crews getting pits ready, and appearances by drivers and crew chiefs so people were chasing them down (we're guilty of that when we saw Chad Knaus and Jimmie Johnson!). We saw Chad Knaus wondering around the garage talking to the crew and Jimmie snuck out of his garage for a quick chat with some crew members but then dipped out quicker than I've seen anyone do in a long time. Jack Roush came out and talked with fans for a few minutes but he seemed more lost than anything :)
We made it back to our seats in time for driver introductions. Our seats were awesome - 7 rows back from the track between Turn 4 and Start/Finish line (right as they evened out from Turn 4 to cross Start/Finish). We were directly across from Jeff Gordon's pit stall and diagonally from Jimmie's. We saw all of our favorite drivers go around the track and wave to fans before the race began.
The kids had no idea of how loud it was going to be and the looks on their faces were absolutely CLASSIC! They were laughing almost hysterically because they weren't sure of what else to do. The drivers got into a groove of sorts and they did alot of green flag stops. Jimmie crashed into the wall late in the race taking Sam Hornish Jr. along with him (we were gone after that!), Carl Edwards blew an engine, and Jamie McMurray blew a front tire completely off. The kids loved it and we all had a great time!! Enjoy the pictures!!

Special thanks to Michelle and Paula for making it all happen for us - we are truly grateful :)