| Kansas Memories of Another Kind | | Date Created: Oct 28, 2006, 04:06 PM |
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Kansas Speedway is the newest track on the Nextel Cup calendar; with the inaugural race taking place September 30, 2001. Prior to that event, six or seven Cup teams – including Dale Jr. and the Bud bunch - traveled to the suburban Kansas City venue for two days of testing. The first day, Sept. 10, was uneventful and unmemorable. But the second day was anything but…
As everyone arrived at the facility that morning, all was quiet as entire teams crammed into transporter lounges to watch the news coverage of the terrorist attacks. Like the rest of the nation, there was mostly stunned silence, anger and disbelief in the first hours. No cars were allowed on-track, as the medical helicopter and all on-site medical personnel rushed off to parts unknown, on full alert for any possibilities. The teams slowly and quietly began loading racecars and equipment back onto the transporters.
With all air travel stopped completely, the DEI team plane was grounded at the nearby airport. Dale Jr. had been scheduled on a commercial flight that evening to Vancouver, B.C., to appear in a music video, but that plan (and the entire video) was immediately scrapped. The Bud team piled themselves and their belongings into two rental vans for the drive back to North Carolina. In one van, Dale Jr. and Tony Eury Jr. opted to stop as soon as they found an open store to buy a huge stack of CDs to play on the trip, while the second van was full of those who preferred to listen to the radio, scanning and searching the dial for any news or details. Were we at war? Would there be more attacks?
The drive back took approximately 14 hours (roughly 990 miles) and was marked by the surreal distinction of gorgeous sun-drenched skies – the perfect azure completely devoid of any aircraft – contrasting the stormy uncertainty and emotions of the day. Each stop for fuel or food along the nearly deserted Interstate highways found us among others that seemed zombie-like with shock. We arrived at the DEI hangar at Statesville, NC at approximately 2 am. Or was it 4 am? Details seemed to melt like a murky dream as we all climbed out of the cramped vans and into our own vehicles to head toward our homes and families.
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| Francis Ford Coppola would be sooooo proud. It's MR. FISH as usual. |
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