Saturday turned out to be an awesome day. I got some unplanned work, some pay, and an experience I will remember forever.
I received a phone call Friday night. Schrec and Fiona’s friend has a contact at the racetrack and was able to arrange some temporary work for me. I didn’t know what the work would entail nor did I know what it paid but I was all in. A job at the track? What could be better? I checked the interweb and saw that the Bombardier Learjet 550k Indycar Series was Saturday. Saturday morning I got a voice mail from the hiring manager. Apparently it was left late Friday night but I missed it. It was 9ish AM. The message said that they had a job for me and that they started at 10:30AM and would likely work until 2AM. I called back to confirm with the manager but I got voice mail. I told him that I would be there and would like to work for them. I dressed and got on my bike and sped to the Texas Motor Speedway.
|
Turns out I got there a while before they did. I talked to the hiring manager and was set up. I would be selling collectibles, t-shirts, and general Indy Car fan gear. My job entailed helping customers and restocking items. Didn’t sound too difficult. I started working and generally had a good time interacting with the race fans. They provided water for us and I drank a ton of it. Before long I needed to use the restroom. Here is where the challenge began. It was about 6pm and I wanted to go to the bathroom inside the track. This required a ticket. The managers for the store gave me a worker pass, which I had to take to the Credentials Office to get changed for an actual ticket. The credentials office was quite literally over a mile away. I’d heard other people allude to this but I thought surely they were exaggerating. They weren’t. My feet were already killing me. This was my first day of work in over a month, standing all day on a hard floor and I was wearing motorcycle boots. My feet were screaming. I was fortunate enough to get a shuttle for the
|
last half of the walk to the credentials office. I waited in line, got my ticket and then went to the Souvenir store where I thought I was going to get a free ticket holder to go around my neck. Wrong.
| I waited in line there for a while and realized they had a bathroom. After I finished there the 30 minutes I was allotted was already over-spent and I was also supposed to eat during this break also. I left and tried to get a shuttle back. No such luck. I walked back to our store between gates 6 and 7. I told the manager about my fiasco and he told me that was about what he expected to happen due to the distance involved and I got back to work. The remaining time went by more quickly. I kept busy restocking and helping customers until about 9pm or so when things slowed down. I was allowed to grab some grub. They told me it’d be slow for about 30 minutes so, my ticket in hand I tried to make the most of it. I bolted to the gate spent WAAAAAAAY too much for a soda and some nacho’s and made my way to the stands. I wolfed down the grub and whipped out my Polaroid i633 Digital Camera. I had about 15 minutes and got some pics. It was awesome. I had such a great time watching that little bit of the race it was amazing.
|
I saw this bike near the Credentials Office. I dunno what it is but it’s awesome. I’d ride one. |
Closing in on the 30 minutes I went back to the tent and started working again. We were really slow. Shortly after my return I was told that they were going to scale down since things were wrapping up. I felt like I did a really good job there but I guess since I was the newest new guy I got axed first. I filled out a form saying that I worked as an independent contractor and that these were 1099 wages (ouch, but expected) and got paid in cash. I went back and watched the rest
 |
of the race. I saw Danica Patrick in her #7 car; the only racer I really knew anything about before this event. I’ve been somewhat following her since she hosted Spike’s Power Block with some of my favorite TV shows, Extreme 4x4 and Trucks!. The announcer said after the race they would be opening the pits and the garage to the spectators. Toward the end of the race people started piling out. There were lots of laps toward the end run under the caution flag much to the dismay of serious fans. There were periods of intense gritty open wheel action but in the end I saw Scott Dixon cruise to a win behind the pace car. After a short wait succeeding the conclusion of the race we were allowed into the Pits and Garage area. It was amazing. I saw pit crews scrambling to get the cars repaired and cleaned up. There was the hustle of the crews moving their gear from the pit area to the garage. Every few minutes you’d here an Indy Car start up and the crowd would erupt into applause. It was standing room only as
|
people filed in continuously. I got a bunch of great pics in and outside the garage. I saw Milka Duno, driver of the #23 car taking pictures and signing autographs. I stood in the crowd taking a bunch of pictures and slowly worked my way to the front. The batteries in my camera were threatening to die but finally at the front I handed my camera to a stranger and asked if he could take a picture of her and me. He obliged. She also autographed my ticket. A funny thing that happened while I was waiting was when one guy stood beside her for a picture and put his arm around her. The meathead standing behind her; bodyguard I reckon grabbed the guy’s arm and removed it. Denied! I thought that was humorous. After taking as many pics as I could squeeze out of my last pair of batteries I relented to the officials walking around the pits encouraging people to leave and telling us that the garage and pits were closed. I walked out to my bike thinking about the great time I had. I saw one of my dream bikes; a BMW R1150GS there in the bike parking area and tried to get one more picture. My awesome day complete I headed back to Farmers Branch, Texas.
|
 |
I saw this trike early in the morning before working. This thing is awesome! Check out the Disc brake system!
 |
|
| 4 A-10 WartHogs did a fly-by after the National Anthem.
|
The cars come around turn four and into turn one. |
|
|
|
Tony Kanaan's 7-Eleven car number 11 in the garage. |
Ryan Briscoe's Number 6 car in the garage. |
|
|
| Danica Patricks pit crew.
|
Tony Kanaan's 7-Eleven car number 11 in the garage.
|
|
|
| Indy Car driver Milka Duno. Number 23.
|
Me and Milka Duno.
|
|
|
| Mario Dominguez #96 car.
|
Me in the infield.
|
