Las Vegas NASCAR Weekend: Friday

Well, the NASCAR racing began today with practice and Sprint qualifying. Kurt Busch won the pole with Jeff Gordon coming in 2nd.
When we drove by the Speedway today around 4:00 and the camping areas became a sea of campers- big and small, with a multitude of flag poles with the American flag on top and their favorite driver's flag on the bottom. Saw just about every driver represented, except maybe Dave Blaney and a few other start and parkers.
All the merchandise haulers were set up and selling. There quite a few spectators for qualifying. There were numerous other displays as well, with cars and trucks. Don't forget the Speedway merchandise shop. which is open year round. They have just about everything you need at the race and the prices are reasonable. When there are no races, you can take a tour of the racerack.
The cops were directing traffic, well, I should say the Nevada Highway Patrol was directing traffic while the Metro officers were pretty much sitting on their butts, in their cars, doing nothing. Hopefully, taxpayers are not on the hook for Metro for the sitting around, but if the Speedway is paying, they are not getting their money's worth.
Saturday's weather is going to be cold and wet. There is a winter storm warning for the mountains by Mount Charleston,where they can get up to 10 inches of snow. In the Valley, they are looking for about 1/2 inch of rain.
So, if you are going to Sam Towns 300 Nationwide Race, monitor the weather, arrive early, plan on staying awhile after the race and drive safely. And have a good time.