Daytona 500

It helps to have connections. Such was the case this year for the Daytona 500. Ken hooked us up with a fun day of NASCAR action. It started with a Brad Paisley concert.

Brad Paisley put on a good show, but I was *REALLY* excited about getting to see Matina McBride sing the national anthem. I love her for her voice and her songs, but mainly because her music takes me back to the years when Steve and I were dating. After Paisley left the stage, the staff was working to clear the area of fans and sending everyone back to their seats. We played dumb, moved slowly and managed to slip through their sweep of the area so we could stay by the stage with other people who were actually supposed to be there.

Here I am in front of the stage while Martina is waiting for her cue. We were sooo close!!

Martina was amazing! Her voice is unreal (and she didn't even mess up the words!) The national anthem ended with a Thunderbird flyover.. CHILLS!

The race was pretty exciting. Steve and I aren't race fans but it's fun to watch the action, especially from the pits! In fact we never even made it to our seats the whole day. Our passes gave us pit access which is where we were for most of the race. It's really amazing how close you can get the cars. This picture below is Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s pit.

We saw a lot of celebrities that day. But my personal favorites were the Thunderbird pilots. Funny how they all look like "Top Gun" Tom Cruise clones.

The event ended with another unexpected perk, passes into Victory Lane. I couldn't tell you who won, but I can tell you that it was a super fun day.