2013 NASCAR Contenders Live

What a HUGE difference a year makes! Of course if you read my previous blogs you know I attended the 2012 NASCAR Contenders Live at the House of Blues. Besides the nice intimacy of seeing the 12-Chase contenders live, it was a horrible experience. I remember after last years event we received a survey to fill out about the experience. I'm guessing based on how wonderful the event was this year they listened to the fans when they responded!

This year, they held it in Chicago in the Grand Ballroom on the Navy Pier. What a fantastic venue!!

Before the actual event, my race buddy, Kecia and I went on a 30-minute boat ride to see the Chicago Skyline from the water. I'm a lover of the Great Lakes and this was a special treat. I absolutely loved the ride and the view was amazing.

I think every time we travel together now we MUST get one of those cheesy tourist photos like this one. We had one taken in Wilmington at the battle ship too. yes, this will become our goal now wherever we end up!

Some of the pictures I took from the boat ride.

This one above I actually took from the pier, but I wanted to fit it in here now. Isn't it beautiful with the sun shining on the water. I just loved it. I could have just sat here all day and been happy.


Now, onto the actual NASCAR event.

As we enter the ballroom, I'm impressed by the layout. They have the stage, four rows of tables with 6 people per table, a small section of just chairs on the floor behind the tables and bleachers behind that for the rest of the general admission. The tables have a large metal bucket with popcorn in it, miniature candies surround the bucket along with six beverages. We have our own little seat numbers, table number card and little plastic cups for drinks or popcorn.

We sat there for a little bit chatting with our table mates before Kim Coon, one of the Miss Sprint Cup ladies came out on stage. She did some interacting with the fans, gave away some prizes and did some surveys using Twitter. They had a NASCAR race truck (Toyota) sitting directly behind us under a sheet. Finally she was done and Nicole from ESPN came out on stage for a bit. After her it was Mike Helton (President of NASCAR) and Dale Jarrett (former NASCAR driver turned ESPN Analyst).

They brought out a bunch of up and coming drivers that are just starting in the NASCAR series. I thought this was really neat. After talking with them each on stage briefly they had them sit with the fans in the audience.

Finally they brought out Kasey Kahn, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson and talked with them for a few minutes. Really, the drivers were very quiet. It was disappointing simply because they were so candid and relaxed last year and they were NOT this year.

Next they brought out Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle, Joey Lagano and Dale Earnhardt Jr. I was pleasantly surprised that Ryan Newman received a very loud positive acknowledgement from the audience after Nicole congratulated him for making the Chase. I think she summed it up well when she said that Newman will become the sentimental favorite for winning the Championship.

Lastly, they sat Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Clint Bowyer in the center of the stage since they were the three Toyota drivers that made the Chase and Toyota was a sponsor for the event.

I was a little uncomfortable that Kyle was looking so chummy with the Sprint Cup trophy. I refuse to see that as any form of predicting who will win the championship. My vote this year is for Ryan Newman, simply since he does drive for my driver and I want to see him leave SHR with a championship in his pocket. I may root for Tony Stewart but I didn't agree with him letting Ryan go, so I think a championship would be a fitting send off! Plus, Ryan is going to fill the position that Jeff Burton (my other favorite) is vacating at RCR at the end of this season, so it just seems appropriate.

Anyway, the day was just fabulous. Met some interesting fans, witnessed a great event and had a lot of fun with my race buddy. Once of these years we will have to try and spend a whole race weekend in Chicago. I can only imagine the kind of mischief I could get into!