What does one do when the race is rained out in Richmond?

Green Lantern · #1 09-06-2008, 09:19 PM

If you are one of the many fans that have flocked to the city of Richmond, Virginia, and your race has been rained out due to Tropical Storm Hanna, what do you do until race time?

In parking lots of hotels across the greater Richmond area the tailgating activities have begun. Instead of being in the parking lot of Richmond International Raceway the race fans have set up their grills and their games and their chairs and have been tailgating in full force.

The smells of the grills, the sounds of beanbags thumping off of wooden ramps, the sounds of beers being opened have permiated through the hotel parking lot.

The cars are all decked out with their stickers of favorite drivers and proudly flying flags of Junior, Stewart, Gordon and Johnson, just to name a few.

I talked to a group of tailgaters and asked what they thought of the decision by NASCAR to delay the race until tomorrow and one gentleman thought that NASCAR made the wrong call. "Look! The moon is out, the blacktop is dry and it is very cool out. There is no reason not to race."

Another guy yells out, "NASCAR has not made the right calls all year, why start now?"

Right or wrong, good or bad, the race will start tomorrow. But for now the tailgating has begun and will last throughout the night.

GL, your NASCAR reporter!

M.Opaliski · #2 09-06-2008, 09:23 PM

The upside is the boom to the local economy via your friendly neighborhood liquor store ...

Green Lantern · #3 09-06-2008, 09:25 PM

My wife and I were talking about the economic upside too.

If it was nice all day people would be at the track from sunrise to the end of the race.

Today, people were in the resturants, the malls, the shops, etc.... These places were getting a bump when normally there would not be one.

M.Opaliski · #4 09-06-2008, 09:30 PM

Eh, that's just the Capitalist in me thinking of the economic boom for local businesses, a good thing. Others might think of the boom in another way, more taxes for the local coffers, yee haw ...