High on Speed...

Sounds like we're into some illegal and illicit stuff, doesn't it?  Not so...

Alberta's guy, Ernie, builds engines.  He's a specialist and his shop has some really high-tech machinery.  There is one room that tests motors using a dyno (meter).  Ernie does a lot of work for the gas and oil companies, but he also builds components for racing cars.

I'm not even going to pretend I know or understand any of this...  speed has never been something I care about and noise to me is downright .... well.... noisy.

But Ernie was given some tickets to go to the Aztec Speedway, which had races Saturday evening.  This is about 10 miles from Farmington.  Ernie invited us for a night at the races and around 7pm, Alberta, Ernie, Bill and I were on our way.

 Bill & I were both equipped with our hearing protection as we knew this was going to be loud.  We found seats in the bleachers and got settled in for the races.

The main events hadn't started yet, and there were several of these cars zipping around the track.

 They sounded like angry bumblebees to me...  kind of like a motorcycle about to blow up.  I believe they do have motorcycle engines....  I expected to smell that distinctive "2 cycle oil" smell, but either they weren't that kind, or we were too far away.

Not too long after we arrived, the races began...

 These are "late model" cars.

You couldn't prove it by me...  they really didn't look like any kind of car that you'd see on the city streets.  They had all been modified to decrease wind resistance...  to provide safety for the driver...  and, of course, to perform as racing cars.

There were usually 8 cars in a race.  The races lasted 10 laps.  The pole position car wasn't always the favorite...  and if a well-liked driver was behind and moved up through the pack, he... or she.... was cheered on by the crowd.  I say he/she because several of the drivers were female.  One woman driver was only 20 years old and if I heard correctly, she'd been driving for 8 years.  Guess they start young!

All these cars have sponsors.  Businesses who help financially and then get advertising plastered on the car.  Many of the cars had multiple sponsors and were well "decorated".

 One of the driver's has a son with Multiple Sclerosis.  There have been several charity events to help his needs as well as to generate funds for the national cause.  "Witten's Warriors" tee-shirts were worn by several of the spectators....   supporters for the local MS group.

I mentioned that the cars roaring around the track are quite noisy.  We all took ear protection for ourselves.  I was glad to see that this young mother had made sure her young daughter was protected.

 No sense in ruining her hearing at this young age...  she can at least wait until she's a teen-ager and listen to loud music.

There were no accidents...  a few bumps and spin-outs...  there were a couple of exciting races where the guy in the rear managed to pass everyone and win...

It did get dusty before the evening ended.  There are cars in the infield that are barely visible here.  

I think we saw 8 or 10 races.  We stayed until the intermission, then decided to head home...

We never pass up the opportunity to do something different, and though this is about as different way to spend a Saturday evening as I can think of, we had a good time.

Yeah, there's a lot I don't understand about it all, but that's okay.  It was fun just to watch.

That's All For Today!