The circuit doesn't matter: Winston Cup, Busch Series, Craftsman Trucks, the local dirt track. I love stock car racing.

Every Fourth of July weekend, I make a trip to West Allis, Wisconsin (a suburb of Milwaukee), for the Die Hard 250 at The Milwaukee Mile. My first was in 1996, and I've actually held tickets for this Busch Series, Grand National Division race for about three years. I started with two tickets (Beth and I watched Dale Earnhardt Jr. tear up the field in '98), added two more for the '99 race (which doubled as part of my bachelor party weekend festivities), and in 2000, we brought a crew of six. I guess it's officially a tradition. Here is a view, from my seats, of The Mile's frontstretch.

My first and only Winston Cup race was a biggie. Complimentary tickets to the 1995 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Wow! The place is a palace; the Wrigley Field of auto racing. My friend, Tim, and I sat in the "short chute" between turns three and four, and the stands were an ocean of people ... more than 300,000. We departed the Quad Cities at midnight on the night before the race, arrived in Speedway, Indiana, around 5 a.m., and sat out a full morning's downpour and a three hour rain delay. We then received a valuable lesson for all race fans: NEVER leave the track until NASCAR officially postpones the race!

By about 3 p.m., a decision had to be made. A postponed race seemed an inevitability. With no hotel/motel room, we needed to find one if we wanted to stick around for the next day. We rolled the dice, and headed west on the Interstate until we reached Crawfordsville, some 50 miles or so from the track. As we headed out of town, we noticed the clouds breaking...hmmmmm. As we were preparing to check in, we were told that NASCAR would soon to make an announcement regarding the race. To our dismay, the sky had cleared over Indy and they were starting engines. After a race of our own, we arrived at the Speedway with about a quarter of the laps in the books. The whole experience was worth every second. The ticket shown here is autographed by Harry Gant, who had recently retired from Winston Cup racing.

Related Links:

• My Milwaukee Mile Race Gallery
• My Gateway International Raceway Gallery
• NASCAR (official site)
• The Milwaukee Mile (official site)
• Jeff's NASCAR Scanning Frequencies