Missy's Blog: The Race For The Chase (and a visit from Hanna)

So, a little late in getting this posted, but too many pictures to sort through. Here goes:

Teresa and I decided to head to Richmond to be there to see who made the Chase for 2008. Junior was already locked in but Richmond always provides good racing under the lights. We decided to add the FanZone package for Friday, so we got to experience final practice from pit road (which was awesome!!!). So here are a few pics from pit road:

Dale Jr. coming out from the garage area

The #88 on the track (I really like the new colors)

Just trying a different angle to see what I could get.

If you only knew how many shots I took to get one lined up like this :)

My obligatory pic of the CAT car.

Morgan Shepard on his roller skates.

The FanZone also featured some driver Q&A sessions:

Landon Cassill (#5 JR Motorsports driver)

Kenny Wallace

Brad Kezelowski (#88 JR Motorsports driver)

After the Q&A's we were back off to pit road to catch Nationwide and Cup qualifying. Instead we got Tropical Storm Hanna, but not before having a little fun with a couple of the crews.

Kelley Bires crew were busy wrapping up their war wagon in prep for the rain and I couldn't help but make fun of their use of "PINK" duct tape to secure it. So Rob, the taper, decided that Grover needed a rain hat.

Grover and his rain hat

Me and Rob (he had a really good bear hug)

Teresa and the #47 guys (Nick, ?, and Rob)

Me and the #47 guys

Our other buddies were the #28 US Border Patrol team. We ended up sitting on pit wall right by Kenny Wallace's car and the whole conversation started with an oatmeal raisin cookie. Bugs and George talked to us during the sprinkles of rain that were falling, and when the rains came asked if we wanted to go back to the garages to get out of the rain. We took the opportunity and ended up hanging out in the Border Patrol hauler. Kenny was the only autograph we missed earlier in the day so we ended up getting it after all.

Bugs, Teresa and George

One of the JR Motorsports haulers across the way

After about 2 and a half hours of rain, they called the race for Friday night and announced that the track would remain closed Saturday. Tropical Storm Hanna had a possibility of dropping lots of rain and spurring tornadoes, so they decided to run both races on Sunday.

That left Teresa and I to find something to do on Saturday besides sit around at the timeshare. So I found a couple scrapbook stores and we hit Merchant's Square in Williamsburg.

Me scrapbook shopping :)

The end of T.S. Hanna (just liked the way the sky looked as the storm pushed through)

So, a day late, but much better racing weather on Sunday. Here's some shots from race day:

My To-Do List Flag (only 8 to go)

Pit Road during the National Anthem

Junior and Smoke racing for position

Hittin' pit road

This shot made the whole weekend worth it (would've been better had it been on purpose)

Jimmie Johnson wins!

Smokin' the tires in celebration!

So after the Cup race they cleared the stands. We decided to stick around and stay for the first hour of the Nationwide race hoping that would mean less traffic to deal with. And we wanted to see our new buddies from the day before in action. Here's some shots from the second race: