Wow, what a week My husband and I decided to take off the first week of September and didnt know what to do with it. It had been about 6 years since our last vacation, with family issues and such, and it was our 8th anniversary so we decided on an unstructured road trip. We just wanted away. Being a Michael Waltrip fan, I suggested a road trip down to Cornelius, NC to visit Race World USA and, on our way back, we could go to the Chevy Rock n Roll 400. I decided on the whole enchilada and got tickets to the Nationwide race and tickets to the Green Zone which included pit passes. We even signed-up for the track-walk on Saturday. This was going to be great!!We started off wandering down route 11 from Northern Virginia and saw a lot of old stuff from when it was the MAIN road. Its Virginias version of Route 66 many of the roadside attractions are still there, but still kind of sad. We sort of steered toward Bristol and stopped at the speedway for a couple of pictures at the front gate we missed the Sharpie 500 by a week. You could still feel the energy from the race just standing in the parking lot. Ill watch a race there someday.The next couple days we wandered toward the Great Smokey Mountains of TN. We found a motel with ESPN so we could watch the Pepsi 500. Drew Carey gave the call to start engines! I had the pleasure of working very briefly with Mr. Carey last October in Washington, DC. I was shooting video on behalf of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors. Great guy and a great charity.Smokies were beautiful and my little Toyota Prius climbed up the tall passes like a champ! Monday evening we got to Cornelius, NC and settled in to a hotel so we could be up bright and early to get to Race World the next morning. Bright and early meaning 10 am apparentlywell, we had been driving for three days!Race World is a great place! Anyone into racecars, this is the place for you! Everyone there was very friendly and talkative and the tour guides were very knowledgeable. I was hoping maybe to get my 2007-NAPA-pit-cap-which-I-wear-almost-every-day signed by the man himself, and our tour guide said Michael is often near his office over the car assembly area and the studio where he records his XM radio show is up there, too. Outside, we watched the 00 pit crew practice mere feet from us. They ran the first practice car up into the practice pit-box at full speed and it broke. One of the crew showed me the little pieces from the brake housing. This was supposed to be a 4 tires and gas practice not a my brakes dont work one, so they got another car. Fascinating to watch up close and those boys were fast! Then our guide took us through the fabrication room where they also happen to keep whats left of McDowells Texas car. The rest of the place is self guided with the tour guides available for any questions you might have about anything. You can see the remains of 2 other cars as well. One of them is a squished one meter cube. You gotta see it! We even got a tip about the BBQ place across the street for lunch! Great food! We hung out in the car assembly area until around 5pm, watching them prep the 99, 00, 44 and 55 for the Richmond races and saw them do some of the tear-down on the 00 and 44 from the Fontana race. We even got to see Josh Wises new car. It was sans sponsor, but beautiful dark purple with lime green trim, hmmm We looked for Michael, but didnt get to see him. Oh well we had fun and well be back. Found out later in his NAPA blog that he was out playing golf that day. Golf? Really, Michael, this is the only true fault I can find with you thus farThen we had a couple of days to kill before needing to be in Richmond Thursday night to get up bright and early for the race day activities on Saturday. We stopped by Lowes in Charlotte for some photos and a long drive around the outside of the track. That place is huge. Once again, Ill watch a race there someday.Jim, my husband, being a skydiver, FAA certified parachute rigger and a member of the Parachute Industry Association, found that, Sun Path, the manufacturer of one of the most popular parachute containers, Javelin, had moved from Florida to Raeford, NC, so we went for a visit to their factory. If you have ever made a tandem skydive at a USPA drop zone, you either jumped a container from Sun Path or Strong. Not only were they kind enough to let us in on a work day, but we got a full tour! Of course, after the tour, and being so close to Skydive Raeford, Jim had to go make a jump. Great landing, Jim. Yes, I believe the wind did switch on you last minuteWhew! Half the week gone and still so much more to go! After Raeford, we started north toward Richmond. We stayed at Doswell, VA about 30 minutes north of RIR right next to Kings Dominion amusement park. Friday morning we headed out pretty early for us; we got there and parked before 8 am! As soon as we got there we could hear the Nationwide cars practicing. We looked at everything we could and watched almost all of the practices. Then the rain came. I remember mentioning to our guide at Race World that we had pit passes for Saturday and he asked me if I had brought my snorkel. Oh my, but it rained. We managed to duck under the grandstand, but had to keep moving because it was springing leaks. When we finally had to admit that everything was a washout for the rest of the day, we slogged our way to the race office to get an official answer. Not only were they very polite and patiently answered all of our questions, they gave us a copy of the press release outlining all of the new times of the activities moved to Sunday. They seemed to be steeling themselves for the barrage from the fans, though. I hope not too many people were angry about NASCARs or RIRs lack of control of the weather. If they had that kind of power the laws of physics, I doubt they would be working in a race office.So, the only thing cancelled outright was the track walk. I was hoping for another chance to meet Michael as it was my understanding that he was going to be with one of the groups walking. Oh well we had fun and well be back. We still had the pit passes and maybe I would have the chance to get my 2007-NAPA-pit-cap-which-I-wear-almost-every-day signed.We got to the track as early as we could on Sunday. It seemed like the local police were somewhat caught off guard with the traffic, but did a great job getting everyone in. The parking opened at 7 am with the race activities starting at 8 and all the fans knew that everything from two full days was being packed into one day. The pits were only going to be open for a couple of hours before the Sprint Race, so we ducked into the Green Zone, signed the waiver and headed for the tunnel. As we passed the entrance to the amphitheater, I stopped dead in my tracks. Out of the corner of my eye I had seen blue and yellow balloons and a NAPA logo. My husband walked down a side path to ask what was going on and I followed cautiously, not wanting to crash someones party. Turns out they were having a corporate gathering for NAPA and Michael would probably be there, but it was invited guests only. Oh well. So close again.We beat most of the crowd and shot through the pedestrian tunnel to the infield. It was so cool being right down on the pit road, but, because all of the activities for two days were scheduled into one day, the corporate tours were running at the same time and we couldnt get to some of the pits including the 55. We did get to see the 55 car being weighed in by the officials. Around 10:30, I remembered seeing something in an email about the drivers meeting at 11, so we went looking for wherever that was going to be. We didnt have to look hard, as there was a crowd gathering around the large tent in the center of the infield with a police presence. This could be a clue. We got there just in time to see Tony Stewart get out of the golf cart and go in. We yelled and he waived I see the rules of this game. After the drivers meeting was over, most of the crowd left, but something made me stay. It turns out they were having the before-race service in the same tent and not all of the drivers had left as the very nice Henrico County police had announced. Once I realized it was basically a church service, I put my Handycam away and just listened. It just didnt feel right to pounce on people coming out of a church service even if it is race day. Anyway, after I prayed along with them to keep everyone safe, I saw people coming out of the tent. I saw several drivers including Mark Martin all being shouted at for autographs, many of whom complied. I found it much more interesting to watch everything unfold than to participate. It still didnt seem right bug anyone of them. Besides, I was waiting for Michael. I wasnt going to bother him at that time for an autograph, but I still wanted to say hey and if he happened to be ok with an autograph Id be happy to accept. We waited, but no Michael. Another 55 fan said she saw him in there but he was with his daughters, so she figured he slipped out by another exit. Oh well. We wandered around a little more and started to get hungry and very thirsty. The little bit we had for breakfast was wearing off and it was very hot so we decided to head for our seats in Henrico Tower.We stopped to grab some water at the first stand we came to and the man there, pointing at my husbands Flying Circus Airshow t-shirt, asked you fly? My husband said yes and the man asked us if we knew Sam. I said, Yes, hes at my house right now feeding my cat! Small world. Usually were asked if we know Charlie Kulp, who has performed at almost every airshow in the world or Chuck, cause if you need anything, Chuck knows a guy. I didnt realize my house-sitter was famous too. Wow.So, off we go around to the other side of the track toward our seats to find some food. We settled on chicken strips for Jim and a corn dog for me. We found an out of the way place under the grandstand and started eating. I finished first and noticed a few people were standing by the chain-link fence looking out and down at something. I walked over and looked down. We were looking at the entrance to the tunnel to the in-field where the drivers were entering for driver introductions only 20 or 30 feet below us. I noticed that none of the people standing with me was wearing any driver-specific gear and they didnt seem to recognize the drivers as quickly as I did. Having been shown the rules of the game earlier, I yelled Hey, Jimmy at Jimmy Johnson and he looked up and waved at us as he went into the tunnel in a golf cart. Then another cart with a driver I certainly recognized. Smoke!, and another wave from Tony Stewart. This was fun! Greg Biffle and Kyle Busch also came by. More waves back to us. Having so much fun playing, I had forgotten that I had my Handycam and about the time I thought of it another cart was coming around the curve heading toward us. As I took off my sun glasses, I looked up and thought that looks like and someone said Michael! He looked up, seemed to realize that there were people above the tunnel, that the people were fans, he started to wave and then must have seen my 2007-NAPA-pit-cap-which-I-wear-almost-every-day, looked straight at me, gave a wide smile, waved to me and disappeared under us into the tunnel.Boy, was I grinning even if I was only weakly waving back! I got to see Michael Waltrip and, even better, he saw and acknowledged ME as a fan!Wow.Wow.Wow.Needless to say, that made my week. Im really surprised at how calm I was as I walked back to where Jim was just finishing his chicken. Wow. I replayed it in my head as I told Jim about it. It was so awesome. Jim was very happy for me.We climbed the flights of stairs up to our seats. It was miserably hot. On the way up I was congratulated by a huge man in a vast orange Harley t-shirt for being a die-hard Waltrip fan for. Of course, I was still wearing my 2007-NAPA-pit-cap-which-I-wear-almost-every-day. I thought it was very sweet of him and thanked him. This was turning out to be a really great day! And then there was the icing on the cake. I am so proud to be a MWR fan! I got pictures of the lap board with 44 in first, 00 in fifth and MY 55 in fourth. Reutimann got extra points for leading the most laps and all of MWRs Sprint cars were now in the top 35 owners points! A long way from last year when they werent even starting races much less finishing them. Its all coming together now. Ive been watching their improvement all along. Its happening in small steps, but theyre solid steps. Everyone at Michael Waltrip Racing should be proud of what they have accomplished and what they will continue to accomplish.Thank you everyone at Michael Waltrip Racing and Race World USA for making our vacation special!