GENTLEMAN: START YOUR IRONS!!!

(standing) Hello, my name is Big Sky Starlet, and I love NASCAR. (shyly sitting down)

Yes it's true. I am member of the NASCAR nation. Sigh.

It all started when I was stranded in a hotel room one summer when B was filling in at another restaurant and I had nothing to do except watch all 5 of the available channels of TV. One of them was TNT, which just happened to be showing a race. The next week it was on again, so I watched while ironing B's shirts. I've been hooked pretty much ever since.

I've always been a bit of a car freak, but that's not the only attraction for me. I just love the whole atmosphere of it. I love the technology of it, the absolute perfection of machinery. I love the fact that they can track everything with GPS and in-car cameras, and that you can hear what's going on between the pit, the car, and the spotter. The fact that I can see inside the cars as they are driving 200mph around the track is SO COOL. And the wrecks, I mean come on. WICKED! I love that the announcers and drivers and pit crews really want you to understand what is going on, they want you to love it as much as they love (live) it and it shows. I love the rivalries and the in-jokes. I LOVE that it has such history and really great traditions, that families pass it down through the generations. I get a little thrill when the call is made to start engines, smile when the green flag is dropped and am usually jumping up and down when there's a close finish. I am quite vocal with my cringes and whoops (much to B's amusement). Family knows not to call me on Sundays during the race. Dates have been canceled, entire vacations planned around viewing times.

I am absolutely addicted.

It's been about 3 years since I started watching, and I've developed a bit of a ritual. Sundays have become sacred to me. (Oooh, blasphemy. Whatever.) I wake up, read the paper and have a tray of tea, watch the train-wreck that is BuyOwner, then catch up on all my design shows on the DVR by which time it's usually about time for the race to start. This also signifies the beginning of the weekly laundry session. They drive, I iron. It works perfectly. If I time it right, get the laundry all sorted during the pre-race, I can do all the washing and ironing and then sit down to watch the last 50 laps. Perfection.

During the 12 week off-season, I'm a bit beside myself. Sundays get really boring with nothing to watch on TV. The ironing piles up. Then February rolls around and it all starts again.

Tonight was unusual in that it was a race on Saturday. The night race at Bristol - home of the 'bump and run' maneuver and the angry driver. Fantastic. It's where people usually get so pissed off at one another that they actually jump in front of moving cars to let the other driver know just how they feel. I actually saw a guy who got wrecked kick another driver's car as he drove by. Punches are usually thrown. One guy was so angry tonight that after he got out of his totaled car, he just walked right out of the track. Cars look like they've been through a demolition derby by the end of it, with no front or back end. Ahhh.

It's awesome. And I love it!