Today was the first day it hadn't rained in days and it finally got out of the 30's, so in honor of Speedweek down in Daytona we spent a couple of hours at the NASCAR Speedpark in Concord. I took Matthew there for the first time about this time last year - and I was so impressed with his efforts on the track that I went home and wrote about it. Today's visit reminded me of that and I thought I'd post it again here on my little blog...Written in January, 2009, here's MATTHEW THE INTIMIDATOR! We decided to take advantage of a beautiful Sunday by laying down a little rubber at NASCAR Speedpark in Concord. Little Matthew - the INTIMIDATOR in training - did well for the first time in his miniature machine despite not being able to see over the steering wheel. He started out slowly, zipping around a miniature D-Oval at a break neck speed of one to two miles per hour. The rush of adrenaline he gained from the thrill of his first win led him over to the Rookie Experience - a challenging course, cars with big engines rumbling lively and the smell of racing fuel in the air. He handed his tickets to the crew member, slipped a booster seat into the cockpit of his ride and strapped in for a white knuckles contest of speed and fury. His icy stare peered out the side of the car (because he couldn't see over the steering wheel), he juiced the gas and he and the rest of the field rolled off pit road and onto the track. "Boogety, Boogety, Boogety!" screamed Darrell Waltrip (in my own head), the green flag flew and they were off to the races!
Now Matt's a pretty competitive kid - anyone who knows him knows that - but I was surprised how my little 5 year old son went door to door with a Jack Ass Grown Up who thought it was funny to trade paint with the kiddies! The pit crew member whistled at the guy to stop bumping but he didn't. Lap after lap I watched this jerk bang into my baby and another kid in the pack. It was hard to watch, and in my mind I was planning that man's demise. But Matt seemed cool as hardened steel when he laid some bumper on the guy, got him loose in the turn and finally over took him in the backstretch. The competitor tried in vain to regain his lead but the crew man signaled one to go and the man was running out of time. The checkers dropped and the race was over. Somebody else won the race but the battle to get onto pit road was still brewing - because where you park determines, albeit unofficially, your finish. They navigated the final turn, Matt in his #29 Goodwrench machine, the jerk right behind him in the Waste Management Ford. Matt drifted slightly up the track and the man sped up, tried to dive in low and get into the pits. In a last second effort Matt turned hard left, shut the man down and sent the crew member leeping into the air for safety. The man hit the wall of old tires as Matt claimed his fifth place finish! The crew member was a little shaken but ok as Matthew lept from his car screaming "I'm a Winner!" The bumping jerk exited the track head down, trying to avoid my evil gaze. I'm ok letting him out of the ass-whoopin' I had planned for him because he now has to live with the fact that he was taken to school by a 5 year old boy who needed a booster seat to reach the pedals!
