Ventura Raceway

Peter has been a fan of car races for I don't know how long. He and Uncle Ed used to go all the time, until his work schedule changed, and Uncle Ed moved away, and Oh yeah, there's me. We met in February of last year, so I don't think he was able to go to a single event last year. OK maybe one with Ed while he was in town, but that's about it, so on opening day at Ventura Raceway...here we are.

It looks like a hot sunny day, but we are going to be here for a while, and Ventura, as you know, is right on the beach, and it's going to get cold. Peter used to own a little dwarf car, and raced it a few times, but it can be an expensive hobby, and time consuming as well. In the background, is the car that he used to own. Steve and Cindy own it now and we get to see it in action tonight.

A nice view of the track.

The view from the stands of the surrounding area was spectacular!

If you look closely in Tracy's right lens, you can see Peter taking this picture of us. Isn't that hilarious?!!!

OK, it's getting cold so we need our jackets now. Also perhaps you noticed Tracy's new cap.

Here is a close up of Peter's old car. When he had it, it was #71. Cindy drives it now.

Here are a few shots of Cindy racing. It was fun actually knowing someone that was on the track, and being able to root for them.

Steve is also #33. They have been racing for a while, and sure seems like they have a lot of fun out there together.
The track is so small and tight, that there are many reasons people aren't able to finish a race. There were several crashes throughout the evening, but I'm pretty sure no one got hurt.

Another one of Cindy.
Before all the adults came out, they had some even smaller dwarf cars called minis. These were driven by kids ages 5 - 11, I think. They may have been a little older than that. I just couldn't imagine Ellie, my niece, or Adam or Gregory, Peter's nephews, out there driving around. It looked like they were having fun, but...

Guess whose driving that one...
Another thing they do is put a flag in the back window of all the rookies. It's pretty cool to see how far they get. Some are really good.

Unfortunately, we didn't get any pics of the Sprint cars, but they were there too. The funny thing about them is they have larger tires, and they go faster. Well this is my first time at the races, and though Peter warned me about the mud that would fly, I wasn't prepared for what happened. I was expecting slimy, wet mud that would get all over you, but it came at us in rather large chunks. It was moist but not at all like I was thinking. In fact, when they first started coming, I just couldn't stop laughing. I think I embarrassed Peter. I just know he was thinking, "I just can't take this girl anywhere".