An Inside and Behind the Scenes View

I've been home for nearly two weeks, so it was time to hit the road again this past weekend.  This time, Dotty had the opportunity to go along on what was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

We traveled to Richmond, Virginia to attend the Federated Auto Stores 400 NASCAR race at Richmond International Raceway.  Let me start out by clearing up one thing:  not a penny of IAFC or North County Fire money was spent on this event.  Each of us who were there paid our own expenses.
 

The IAFC Team in the Winners Circle at Richmond International Raceway

We arrived at the track at a bout 11 AM on Saturday morning.  First on the agenda was to connect with Henrico County Fire Department Assistant Chief Mike Cox who had arranged for us to get an inside look at the planning and logistics necessary to provide public safety for the 70,000-90,000 fans and racing professionals who would be at the race.  We toured the command posts, check-in area, the infield medical care center, and the on-track fire facility.  We met the fire and rescue personnel who would be working the race on the crash trucks and were given the opportunity to see the pickups with fire and rescue equipment that would be used during the race.  Chevrolet and Amkus have provided some VERY nice equipment for the fire personnel to use.

These pickups are the primary fire/rescue vehicles that respond to on-track incidents. They carry a crew of 4: crew chief, paramedic, and two firefighters

After the behind-the-scenes public safety part of the day, we spent just a little time visiting the 'midway' area where all of the souvenir trailers were set up - it was already busy and race time was still 5 hours away at 7:30 PM.  At about 3 PM we met up with our hosts from Shell.  The IAFC is developing a business relationship with Shell around the area of safety and emergency response.  Shell surprised us a few weeks ago with an offer to place the IAFC logo on the trunk lid of the #22 Penzoil Ford Fusion car owned by Roger Penske and driven by Joey Logano.

The #22 car trunk lid with IAFC logo

Shell had arranged for us to also get an up close and personal tour of the behind the scenes places that not many get to see.  We started with a meet-and-greet with Joey Logano, the driver.

Joey Logano - #22 Driver

A very nice young man (23 years old) who is a hot ticket in NASCAR right now.  After visiting with him for a while, we toured the pit area.  Then we proceeded to the garage area where we saw the #22 car and all of the other cars as they went through final prep for the race.  We then got to visit the inspection area where all of the cars are inspected by NASCAR officials to measure compliance with all of the different rules to make sure the playing field is level.  It was fascinating to see the inspection process.  We then hung around in the pits until almost race time.

As race time approached we were able to stand on pit road with all of the cars, crews, and drivers, right up and through the invocation and the national anthem.

Pit Road before Opening Ceremonies

 As the crews got the drivers in the cars, we went to our initial seat for the first part of the race - on top of the pit box, right behind the crew chief!

Back side of pit box where we watched a portion of the race

 We stayed there through the first 1/3 of the race of so.  While you get a great view of the pit and it was interesting to listen in on the radio traffic with Logano, you really can't see much of the race itself.  So eventually we left our seat and went up to the executive suites where we could view the race from a more conventional angle.

 It was fascinating to watch....and it was LOUD.  My ears are still ringing like I attended a rock concert!  The race finished and we got out of the track and back to our hotel about midnight - 11 hours or so after we arrived.  A VERY long day!

A big thank you to our hosts at Henrico County Fire - they do an outstanding job of providing for the public safety during this huge event.  They were terrific hosts and went the extra mile to show us around and answer all of our questions.  Also a huge thanks to our friends at Shell.  The hospitality was wonderful and they gave us the opportunity to see and experience things that we would never have otherwise seen.  We look forward to continuing a great working relationship with them to improve safety both for the public and first responders.  As a special surprise, they have arranged for the trunk lid with our logo that was in the race to be delivered to IAFC headquarters in a few weeks where we can proudly display it.