Nascar Nationwide Weekend

This weekend, Adam and I headed down to Des Moines/Newton to work at the Iowa Speedway. My company sponsors Victory Lane, so we spent Friday and Saturday afternoon letting people with Fan Walk passes play Plinko to win swag. The t-shirts were the most sought-after! Adam spent most of the time taking pictures for people in Victory Lane.

 

Friday night we had a nice dinner out with my co-worker and her husband at P.F. Chang's and then I got to sleep through the night for the first time since early December! Glorious! We snuck in some tax-free shopping in the morning before hitting Smashburger (recommend the Mint Oreo shake) and back to the track! After another afternoon of working in Victory Lane, we went up to the suite to watch the race. I liked how it was a lot quieter and didn't have the fumes behind the glass, although Adam thought it took away from the exciting atmosphere.

 

The race was (supposedly) exciting at the end and #22 Brad Keselowski came out the winner. Here is part of his

victory burnout:


Getting out of the parking lot and back to I-80 was a cluster, as usual, and it was over 75 minutes before we made it back to our hotel. I slept in the next morning until 8:15, soaking in the last few minutes of the glorious pillows and beds that are the Sheraton and we headed home after breakfast.

The boys had a great time spending a night at each set of grandparents. They were worn out after all that playing! Here are a few pics we got from Saturday morning of Ryan feeding the cows and throwing fallen apples into the pasture.

Thank-you to our parents for having the boys. It was the first time I'd been away from Cohen overnight and although I missed them both, I was pretty excited about 2 full nights of sleep! Working these races is something fun and different and we enjoy spending a little time in West Des Moines too. I'm not sure I'll ever really "get into" NASCAR, but it is interesting to see the inside of this sport/culture and it sure has expanded my horizons!