Daytona 500 Insanity!!!

There is really no way to explain what happens to the city of Daytona Beach when "race week" and the Daytona 500 comes to town. Insanity!!

I was actually hoping to get tickets for Chris and I this year, because how can we live in Ormond Beach 10 minutes from the most famous race track and never go to the big race?! So the other day I went to try to buy our tickets at the ticket office...big mistake!! I had no clue that various races started on Thursday - they day I went to the ticket office. So instead of zipping in parking right by the door like you normally can and going right to the front of the line, I was greeted by an extra hundred thousand people or so...yes I said HUNDRED thousand people!!! I parked across the street and had to lie and say I was going to run into Marshalls so I could get a temporary parking pass since otherwise the spot I was parking in was $50.

So I was thinking...okay whatever...still this would be a fun thing to do! Ummm...where to start! First off as I was waiting in the line I realize "Crap! My hair is not permed, I have no facial hair, no jeans shorts and my t-shirt does not have a picture of a man's face on it! I look like an absolute outcast!" I know I sound like a snobby brat, right...oh hold on!

Then I go to get our tickets and hear from the nice lady helping me, "That will be $265 dollars!" HOLD THE PHONE! WHAT?!! I quickly said okay, what are the cheapest seats I could get. She points to the reject seats and said I can get 2 together for only $140. Then I said what about the fanzone? She says that is an additional $95 per person plus you have to have a regular ticket! So that would be $340 for Chris and I.

So that quickly I went from a judgmental brat to the poor girl who is too cheap to pay $140 for tickets to an event that I really just was going to for the experience! Who knew people are willing to pay that for tickets to watch cars race around a 2 miles circle 500 times...I think I would rather go for a kick in the pants, Thank you!

So here are a few interesting facts I learned on my trip to Daytona 500 ticket office:

1) Nascar fans know how to party as I witnessed hundreds of people drunk on Thursday morning at 11am.

2) You have to have some dough to go to a nascar race!

3) The best seat for watching a race is actually a nose bleed seat - so you can see the entire track

4) Nascar fans love their jean shorts, perms and facial hair

5) I am totally entertained by this industry

6) To each his own

7) I love baseball, basketball and football and cannot yet add Nascar to my list of favorite spectator sports

8) About 250,000 people are actually inside the Daytona 500 speedway watching the race - the place is massive to say the least