When in North Carolinia...do as the North Carolinians do...NASCAR.

Spencer putting on his race day face. He's a natural. He got in Dale bro's car (that's what Daddy and Spencer call Dale Earnhardt Jr.), #8, but as you can see, he still has his #48 hat on just so no one makes a mistake who his favorite driver is.


Speaking of Spencer's favorite car and driver - #48 Jimmie Johnson. Spencer checking it out during his VIP tour of Hendrick Motorsports and Jeff Gordon Motorsports courtesy of Hendrick Marrow. NASCAR trivia: The only paint color on the #48 and #24 cars is blue. Everything else is a sticker, pinstripes, flames, logos, everything...sticker, even the headlights.


Speaking of stickers, Spencer and Courtney (the Hendrick Marrow program coordinator and our tour guide - thanks Courtney) are talking to George the paint/sticker guy. It takes him 4 hours to put the stickers on the #24 car. NASCAR trivia: All the stickers on the side panels in the front part of the car are NASCAR stickers that all the cars must have on, which can change from race to race. Behind this area and on the roof, hood, and trunk, are the individual race car sponsor's stickers. If any of the NASCAR sponsors are in conflict with race car's sponsor's and you choose to leave a NASCAR sponsor sticker off, then you may forfeit some benefits or money you could win during the race.


And here is Jeff Gordon's #24 car. Spencer is pointing to the www.marrow.org sticker that is on all Hendrick Motorsports race cars. After Rick Hendrick successfully battled leukemia himself he realized the need to greatly expand the bone marrow donor registry. So he started this program, which has been a great success due to Hendrick's efforts and visibility. They also visit area transplant centers to lend emotional support to the patients, which is why we are here.


Spencer in the lobby. NASCAR trivia: Hendrick uses Chevrolet Monte Carlos, but the only piece of the car that comes from GM is the front grill area, which they modify once they get it. But the rest of the body still has to match strict tolerances using templates that they get from NASCAR/GM. Tire trivia: Per NASCAR, all tires for all race cars for each race are supplied by Goodyear, so everyone is on the same tires. The rubber is often formulated for a particular race track.


We were lucky enough to see them checking some engine diagnostics. As you might imagine, it was loud, very loud, very very loud, extremely loud, I mean...loud....and the thing was only idling. NASCAR trivia: One of these things will set you back about $250,000, without an engine. Shell out another $50,000 if you want one of those. But I doubt if you'll find much use for one if you could afford it. Those fake headlights mean they're not street legal, sorry.


Spencer and Dad in the Terry Labonte #5 car garage. NASCAR trivia: Terry Labonte (#5) was super good friends with Dale Earnhardt Sr. (#3), even being like a second father to Dale Earnhardt Jr (#8). What's Junior's number? 5 + 3 = 8. True story? You'll have to ask Dale bro about that.


Spencer and Mommy.
See the photo in the background? Spencer impressed everyone in the shop when he pointed at it and said, "Look!, Casey Mear's car!". It's a photo of the #48 during a pit stop with just the roof of the #41 car driving by in the bottom corner. Who drives the #41?...Casey Mears of course. But you knew that.
NASCAR trivia: A team will typically have between 12 and 18 of these babies in the shop. Some for specific racetracks, some for backups, some for testing, and surely a couple extra just to be cool.


Oh, and don't forget you've got to get the cars to the racetrack somehow. That means you'll have to get a couple of these too. This is the Terry Labonte #5 car hauler. There's some amenities upstairs in the front, two race cars upstairs in the back, and the whole lower section is a complete shop with enough tools and parts to build a space shuttle. They normally take two cars to a race, sometimes three And wherever the race is, they have to drive all the way back to North Carolina to exchange parts and cars for the next race before heading off to wherever in the country the next race is. And races are on Sunday, but they have to be at the track for qualifying on Friday.


Family portrait at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Our windsurfing friend, and longtime faithful video customer, Alan White, met us for the Hendrick tour on Thursday, then treated us to the Richard Petty drive-around on Friday morning, where you blast around the track at 160-180 mph...in the passenger seat that is. Let me tell you, that is not an experience you will ever forget. The most radical roller coaster pales in comparison. And it boggles the mind how they go even faster during a race...with 40 other cars on the track.


And speaking of Alan White...here he is with Spencer. Seems there may be a couple cars blasting around the track. Just a hunch.


And here's race car driver Sam posing with Spencer and his little race cars. Everyone was so great to us and Spencer the whole weekend. The races at Charlotte are in May and October. And our yearly checkups are in May so I think we're going to have to attend a race at some point. But for now being around 100,000+ crazed NASCAR fans is probably not on Dr. K's list of acceptable places to be.

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