A Day At The Track

On Sunday, September 27, Carol and I went to the track.

New England Motor Speedway. For NASCAR. And to spread Sarge's ashes, the brother Carol loved so much.

We haven't been in years and it felt so goddamn good. Leave it to Sarge to make this happen and to give us a spectacular day, weather-wise and otherwise.

Attending a NASCAR race is an event. A mega-event. Like the biggest concert you ever went to, only bigger.

We got the feeling back right away when we stopped at Dunkin' Donuts, ten minutes from our house.

The place was packed with race fans. Wearing driver jackets, T-shirts, hats. Proudly, I sported my Kevin Harvick T-shirt, the reigning champ of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series who is very seriously contending for his second championship in a row.

If you don't like the 4 car you can kiss my ass.

This all came about because Cori, Sarge's wife, is spreading Sarge's ashes in all the places that were meaningful in their life. And believe me, there are quite a few because Sarge was larger than life and made an impact and left memories wherever he went.

He was buried in New York, his ashes have already been spread in Vermont because of the Poncho's Wreck connection, now at the track in NH, and next month in N.Billerica, Ma because that is where Sarge and Carol and Wayne and Lorraine grew up.

No bad for a guy who hasn't been around since December 16, 2014.

Anyway....................there were ten of us at the track that day and we had a blast.

The original plan, shoddy as it was, was that right after the start of the race someone would distract a security guard and Cori would rush up to the fence and somehow spread Sarge's ashes onto the track.

Tricky move because once the race starts the security guards don't let anyone close to the fence, and if you try it you risk getting ejected from the track.

Which is why we bought the cheapest seats we could get.

However, Cori spent the weekend at the track with Bob & Nancy, and Bill & Gail, and Tommy. They attended a charity auction where you could buy a ride on one of the pick-up trucks that chauffeurs the drivers around the track waving to the fans just before the race.

They bid on the cheapest ride they could find, which was Aric Almirola, and they were in.

This is yet one more example of the Cori & Sarge magic that made their life together fun, always.

Cori got to ride around the track in the back of a pick up and spread Sarge's ashes directly onto the track.

The situation could not have been more perfect.

The day was magnificent. Except for the fact that Kevin Harvick lead 216 out of 300 laps and yet managed to run out of gas - with the lead - with only three laps remaining to finish 21st, I would say the day was perfect.

It brought back the joy of being at a NASCAR race, the joy of spending the day with friends and family, laughing, and reminiscing and the joy of making the most out of a beautiful day.

More than that, it brought back, once again, the joy and the magic of Sarge.

The man enriched all our lives and continues to do so.

That is powerful stuff.