Yesterday, Robin and I drove out to Daytona Beach for the 52nd annual Daytona 500 (it was our birthday present to each other, as mine was on the 12th and hers is on the 17th). We went last year as well, although they ended up calling the race early due to rain. This year, it was clear and sunny all day, although chilly—by the time we left it was in the low 40s. We also sat there a lot longer than we anticipated due to a couple of red flags, the first one lasting almost two hours. Apparently the frost and rain we've had here over the past few weeks did a number on the track and created a pretty sizeable pothole that they had to fill to make the track safe for racing. As the cars were running over it, bits of asphalt were coming up and expanding the hole. But in the end the racing was great, and we were fortunate to have some really good seats on the frontstretch near the start/finish line to see the action.

Being the gearhead that I am, a get a big rush from the power, speed, and sound of these cars. Some people look at NASCAR and just see a bunch of cars turning left. But for me it's about tuning engines to squeeze out that extra bit of horsepower, setting up the suspension so that it will be able to hit the apex of the turn perfectly each time, making the right calls on pit road, and learning how to work the draft. It takes a lot of skill and talent from every member of the team, not just the driver.

Anyway, here's a short clip (really short!) of the pack of cars flying by at 190mph toward the end of the race. It's pretty wild to see them cover 2.5 miles in 30 seconds.

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