Father's Day Treat!

On April 25th I was given a card with 6 voucher tickets to the Sprint Cup Nascar race in Michigan International Speedway.  This particular race took place Fathers day June 15th.  Leah's Brother and Sister in-law were the people so thoughtful to give me the gift and helped to make this a fun family event.  A friend from church also helped make it all possible.  So to each of them I say a heartfelt thank you.

The day began with early rising and a couple hour ride south to Brooklyn MI.  Once we arrived at the speedway and managed to get to parking lot x we were greeted by Marla (MIS's president's wife)  She heads up MIS Cares which is is the foundation MIS runs.  They work with Make-a-Wish and other organizations to bring dreams come true for people.  We were brought to sign for and get our credentials and then brought to the Suite we would be in for the remainder of the day.  This Building also had roof access where we had a really good view of the track between turns 1 and 2.  I snapped a picture of Leah and Lydia from that location with not much of the track to be seen.  

After getting some of the delicious food made available to us we were brought on our way to see the driver introductions.  While that happens effectively on the field in front of the track we were driven right in the middle of the drivers Motor Homes.  We were told we were making a detour.  I metioned when arriving that I was a Tony Stewart Fan but never expected anything special to happen because of it.  Wouldn't you know it, the brother of the president had worked on Tony's team in the past. So there we were parked in front of Tony's Home away from Home.  We waited for him to step out and then got to talk with him and get his signature and of course get a couple of of pictures with him. This lasted only a few very short minutes before he got whisked away to driver introductions.  We then were driven over to introductions and got out of the car when Tony was being introduced to the rest of the crowd.  So glad I got my personal introduction a few minutes earlier.  This will be a moment I will never forget.  after introductions were complete  we went back to the suite for most of the race.  Tony Raced his way from 26th up to 9th and bounced around in the top 15 or so for most of the day. 

With about 25 laps to go We were brought down to pit road and then Winners Circle for the Conclusion of the race and to see the Winner.  When we got out of th car Tony was in First place.  the next  time the Pylon cycled through the spots he was no longer in the front but finished 11th.  Over all not a bad finish for Tony but on our way over  Pit road and the wall we weren't sure who won.  It wasn't until the smoke cleared from the Burnout that we realized ti was Jimmie Johnson.  He and his team took about a dozen photos for the press all with different sponsor's hats on.  Some of them tossed their hats out into the crowd when the photo was done so everyone from our family had at least 1 hat if not a couple.  We went back to the suite to collect the remainder of our items and took one more family photo before we left.  

Unforgettable day for all of us.  Thanks again to those who made this possible.

-- Kent