Disclosure: My family and I were invited to attend the NASCAR Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway on behalf of Stiletto Media. All opinions indicated are my own.
We live less than 30 minutes from the Homestead Miami-Speedway, but can you believe we’ve never attended a racing event there? Until now! Thanks to my friends at Stiletto Media, my boys and I were able to enjoy an afternoon at the races during one of the last motorsport events of the season!
The only exposure the boys had to car races were in movies and playing with their die cast cars, and I haven’t been to a race since the Grand Prix of Miami took place in the streets of downtown Miami (a long, long time ago!). This was a new experience for all of us, and we had a roarin’ good time!
Prior to the NASCAR Ford EcoBoost 300 race, we were able to see some of the cars up close. We had “cold” passes , which means we can walk through certain areas when the cars are not on or running. We got to see many of the trailers from some of our favorite sponsors, with all the gear ready to go for race. It was like walking through a huge mechanic’s garage, with door after door of tires, oil, and other car parts that need to be at the ready.
Here are some things we learned during our afternoon:
- It can take as little as 12.41 seconds for a pit crew to change 4 tires on a race car (possibly less, this was one of the ones we timed).
- If you’re new to the racing scene, bring earplugs, or buy them at the souvenir stand. The noise may not bother you at first, but once those cars are revving around the track a few dozen times, you’ll definitely need them.
- There is overtime in motorsport racing. This particular race took 205 laps due to a Yellow Flag during lap 198.
- Milka Duno, who drove care number 87, became the first Hispanic female driver in history to compete in a NASCAR National Series in the United States in 2014.
- Kyle Larson, who came in third place, is only 22 years old.
Brandon was thrilled that the car he’d been rooting for during the entire race, number 20 sponsored by GameStop, won the race. Congratulations to Matt Kenseth and the rest of the drivers on an amazing season!
We had such a great time, we definitely plan on going back next season. Thanks again to Stiletto Media and TeamEMAR for this wonderful opportunity!
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Thanks again Stiletto Media for such a great opportunity! The boys and I still talk about it. 🙂
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I looks like a lot of fun! We used to go to a lot of NASCAR races when my son was younger. He loved seeing all the fast cars and excitement 🙂