East Alabama Motor Speedway

Yes there are people in the world who actually eat pork rinds. Many of them can be found in Alabama. Many of them can be found at the East Alabama Motor Speedway on a dusty and windy sunday afternoon. After work I got the chance to watch some local stock car racing action on a quarter mile oval mud track. The twenty-five dollar US entrance fee seemed a bit steep and the t-shirts they were selling look like they were left over from the Peter Frampton tour in the early seventies but it was great fun to hang with the locals in the latest Walmart fashions.

Ricky Bobby was the NASCAR driving hero of the comedy in Taledega Nights. Oddly enough there were numerous drivers named, "Ricky" or "Bobby" here. One of the main event races was won by Bobby Thomas. The announcer asked him who he wanted to thank. Bobby replied, "I'd like to thank my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ."

It's only the third day on my trip and it's already been quite eventful. On thursday I flew into the edge of the tornado that hit Alabama on my way to Atlanta and was lucky that the flight was not diverted. I had to drive at night in a firehose rainstorm to find my hotel in complete darkness. The storm had killed most of the local power. At first I thought the hotel was closed. All I wanted was some sleep after my fifteen hour travel day. I went up to the front door to take a look and was greeted by a figure wielding a powerful flashlight into my jet-lagged eyes. I felt like I was being arrested. "Oh. You must be the photographer?" She helped me out by giving me a lit candle so I could check into my hotel room. The power was back on a few hours later.

The people in Alabama and Georgia are great; Friendly and easy to work with. But eating appears to be a full-time sport here. But that's another blog entry.