FONTANA, Calif. -- Southern California native Caryn Yokota is crazy.
Well, not clinically, but she was insane enough to endure cold rains and wind for 13 hours on Sunday in hopes of watching NASCAR's Sprint Cup race at Auto Club Speedway.
The 27-year-old finally gave up on seeing her favorite driver, Jimmie Johnson, take the green flag. She had to make her 12 a.m. shift at UPS. The race was postponed about an hour later and rescheduled for Monday morning.
And guess who was bright-eyed and all smiles, snagging autographs left and right at 9 a.m.? Crazy Caryn!
"I called my other job and told them I wasn't coming, because I had a race to see," said Yokota, also a welding instructor at El Camino College. "I had great tickets and there's a good chance I'll never have these again."
"NASCAR. How bad have you got it?" It's much more than a marketing slogan.
Evidently, some have it pretty bad. When I wandered into the infield checking on fans Monday morning I expected them to be irate with NASCAR's decision to reschedule the Auto Club 500, to finally postpone the race after several hours of weather-related delays.
I expected to hear phrases like, "Don't they know how to read a weather map," or "Does NASCAR like to waste jet fuel drying the track," etc. Those were some of the statements r
unning through my mind last night as I reached my 14th hour sitting in the media center wreaking of mildew from my rain-soaked pants.
Finally walking out to my car at 2 a.m. ET, I was floored to still see dozens of fans in the grandstands, but I was not surprised to hear disapproving boos and a couple of other discouraging words coming from those same grandstands intended for NASCAR decision-makers.
"Well ,what else are they supposed to do," asked Willie Cronn, a 45-year-old from Bullhead, Ariz., who after 54 hours finally watched the Cup race with his son Matt. "It's frustrating but I'd rather pay for a full race rather than a half a race."
Matt Cronn watches the race from the perch of his bike.
Good point.
Matt Cronn was happy to miss class Monday. The 13-year-old seventh-grader made no excuse as to why he would miss school. He merely stated, "Hey, I'm at a NASCAR race and won't be there [Monday]."
Cronn and his son have been attending NASCAR races since the Auto Club Speedway's inaugural event in 1997.
They plan a regular vacation around the February date, so when the rain came and the track began to crumble like the Coliseum, the Cronn fellas were not worried.
They threw some burgers on the grill and cracked open some beverages. Cronn rode his bike around and chatted up crew members playing football on pit road Sunday afternoon waiting for track officials to repair the asphalt damaged by weepers.
"You make due because we spend more than $1,500 to make a NASCAR weekend happen," Cronn explained.
Mark West of Scottsdale, Ariz., said delays are just part of racing.
"We don't mind the delay so much, we visit out here with friends and we saw the forecast and knew it was a possibility," he said. But his friend Floyd Bedsaul of Orange County disagreed and expected NASCAR to "come to grips with reality" about 6 p.m. and should've called the race hours before 11 p.m. on Sunday, he said.
Jeff Gordon, who finished third despite blowing an engine on the final lap, was impressed with NASCAR's efforts to keep the show going.
"They were bound and determined to run that race [Sunday] night," Gordon said. "I think they actually did fans a favor. [NASCAR] gave them every best effort but the track needs to do a little bit of work on the drainage issue."
Johnson, who finished second to Carl Edwards, said NASCAR must exhaust every option possible to run a Cup race on its intended weekend to keep the flow of the schedule going.
"NASCAR was in a tough situation," he said. "Getting cars turned around and equipment turned around, every hour counts. In their minds, we have to do this to keep the show on the road. Sometimes it's not the best for the TV audience or the fans ... this is the first time that I've ever seen that since I've been a Sprint Cup driver."
It was the first time I'd seen a delay of that nature, too. But as a Sprint Cup reporter it's my job and, like the drivers, I'm happy to do it.
The fans, on the other hand, sacrificed valuable vacation days, time and money. They suffered through Sunday and some showed up again on Monday. A crowd that started at 70,000 had dwindled to 25,000.
"I've never seen people wait that long," Gordon added. "I understand why fans are upset."
Well, not clinically, but she was insane enough to endure cold rains and wind for 13 hours on Sunday in hopes of watching NASCAR's Sprint Cup race at Auto Club Speedway.
The 27-year-old finally gave up on seeing her favorite driver, Jimmie Johnson, take the green flag. She had to make her 12 a.m. shift at UPS. The race was postponed about an hour later and rescheduled for Monday morning.
And guess who was bright-eyed and all smiles, snagging autographs left and right at 9 a.m.? Crazy Caryn!
"I called my other job and told them I wasn't coming, because I had a race to see," said Yokota, also a welding instructor at El Camino College. "I had great tickets and there's a good chance I'll never have these again."
"NASCAR. How bad have you got it?" It's much more than a marketing slogan.
Evidently, some have it pretty bad. When I wandered into the infield checking on fans Monday morning I expected them to be irate with NASCAR's decision to reschedule the Auto Club 500, to finally postpone the race after several hours of weather-related delays.
I expected to hear phrases like, "Don't they know how to read a weather map," or "Does NASCAR like to waste jet fuel drying the track," etc. Those were some of the statements r
unning through my mind last night as I reached my 14th hour sitting in the media center wreaking of mildew from my rain-soaked pants.Finally walking out to my car at 2 a.m. ET, I was floored to still see dozens of fans in the grandstands, but I was not surprised to hear disapproving boos and a couple of other discouraging words coming from those same grandstands intended for NASCAR decision-makers.
"Well ,what else are they supposed to do," asked Willie Cronn, a 45-year-old from Bullhead, Ariz., who after 54 hours finally watched the Cup race with his son Matt. "It's frustrating but I'd rather pay for a full race rather than a half a race."
Matt Cronn watches the race from the perch of his bike.
Good point.
Matt Cronn was happy to miss class Monday. The 13-year-old seventh-grader made no excuse as to why he would miss school. He merely stated, "Hey, I'm at a NASCAR race and won't be there [Monday]."
Cronn and his son have been attending NASCAR races since the Auto Club Speedway's inaugural event in 1997.
They plan a regular vacation around the February date, so when the rain came and the track began to crumble like the Coliseum, the Cronn fellas were not worried.
They threw some burgers on the grill and cracked open some beverages. Cronn rode his bike around and chatted up crew members playing football on pit road Sunday afternoon waiting for track officials to repair the asphalt damaged by weepers.
"You make due because we spend more than $1,500 to make a NASCAR weekend happen," Cronn explained.
Mark West of Scottsdale, Ariz., said delays are just part of racing.
"We don't mind the delay so much, we visit out here with friends and we saw the forecast and knew it was a possibility," he said. But his friend Floyd Bedsaul of Orange County disagreed and expected NASCAR to "come to grips with reality" about 6 p.m. and should've called the race hours before 11 p.m. on Sunday, he said.
Jeff Gordon, who finished third despite blowing an engine on the final lap, was impressed with NASCAR's efforts to keep the show going.
"They were bound and determined to run that race [Sunday] night," Gordon said. "I think they actually did fans a favor. [NASCAR] gave them every best effort but the track needs to do a little bit of work on the drainage issue."
Johnson, who finished second to Carl Edwards, said NASCAR must exhaust every option possible to run a Cup race on its intended weekend to keep the flow of the schedule going.
"NASCAR was in a tough situation," he said. "Getting cars turned around and equipment turned around, every hour counts. In their minds, we have to do this to keep the show on the road. Sometimes it's not the best for the TV audience or the fans ... this is the first time that I've ever seen that since I've been a Sprint Cup driver."
It was the first time I'd seen a delay of that nature, too. But as a Sprint Cup reporter it's my job and, like the drivers, I'm happy to do it.
The fans, on the other hand, sacrificed valuable vacation days, time and money. They suffered through Sunday and some showed up again on Monday. A crowd that started at 70,000 had dwindled to 25,000.
"I've never seen people wait that long," Gordon added. "I understand why fans are upset."
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