Not a bad time at all

There are some advantages to being in the NASCAR Members' Club. Last week was the 4th annual convention of the club and those attending had access to people and places most fans don't.

The NASCAR Research and Development Center is a magical place that inspects every racecar, declares some illegal and comes up with safety strides to better protect drivers and fans. It's also the place where those questionable parts are stored under serious lock and key and cars placing first and second in each race, plus a randomly chosen one are taken weekly for inspection. The Members' Club was there for a tour. The public can't go there at all.


Without special contact, going to the All-Star stage for driver and team introductions doesn't happen. The Members' Club was there. OK, you get sprayed with Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Miller Lite, and ash and gritty particles of fireworks rain down on you, sticking to your skin and in your hair.

Ever want to give Robin Pemberton, NASCAR Director of Competition, a piece of your mind or ask questions about the whys and why-nots? For 30-minutes, he stood in front of the more than 100 members seated in Joe Gibbs Racing's dining room and answered everything asked. He addressed the white line, drug testing and a plethora of other issues.

Or, ever want a private tour of a driver's shop? Tammy Kahne, mom of Kasey "blue-eyed Budman" Kahne, did just that. The members who ventured to his newly-completed shop got a tour by his mother. Staffers were working hard to get photos hung, shop areas organized and Kasey's favorite things moved in before the big opening this week. As most moms are prone to do at times, she divulged little - if at all - known information about her famous son.

Want to visit the NASCAR infield garage area? Members went there while tech inspection was happening. They dodged crews and racecars for nearly 45-minutes, watched work in progress on the cars. That's a pretty chaotic place during inspection.


And there was a private party for members at Dale Junior's public nightclub, Whiskey River. Everyone can go there any night of the week, but this was just for the members, and mechanical bull riding ensued, as did raising money for Victory Junction Gang Camp.

There's more on all this to come in the next few days. The nitty-gritty, so to speak.

It was a great half-week of activities, making new friends and renewing friendships from previous years.

It will happen again during All-Star Week 2010. The club staff will have a hard time topping 2009, but they will try.

And by the way, members went to a race, too. Oh, yeah, Tony Stewart won - his first as owner-driver.

Not a bad time for a Tony fan. Not bad at all.