Martinsville: pre race
2 p.m.: I'm back. Let me digest these hot dogs ...
2:15 p.m.: Lunch came with a show. While I was eating, the crews moved the cars into position and set up their pits. Pole-sitter Clint Bowyer took the last pit, which is all the way up in Turn 2. (Hamlin, one of the Sauters, Danny O'Quinn, Biffle and Matt McCall are right in front of me.) It's starting to look like a race - fans are starting to show up, but I wouldn't say the crowd count is at 10K yet.
2:20 p.m.: I had a nice long chat with Tim Tuttle about racin'. He writes for si.com - here is his latest about Ford and Roush.
2:23 p.m.: Pace truck is making laps. I think it beat the old track record, too.
2:25 p.m.: I think I've recovered enough from the shock of a Martinsville hot dog to write about it. It's as red as everyone has said, a red not found in nature. (Imagine mixing Bud No. 8 red with pink, and you're close.) The thing they don't tell you - this sucker is heavy. I loaded mine with chili and cole slaw (my stomach couldn't handle mustard and onions, too.) One's a meal. I had two. Not bad at all.
More after the jump ...
2:30 p.m.: Dustin Long is here in the press box with a story -- apparently Bowyer's driver, trying to get him to the Pocono airport to meet Childress teammate Kevin Harvick, also set a new qualifying record. Everyone's fast today.
2:32 p.m.: A guy is driving a lawnmower around the track. He, too, is fast. I think he'll start the race 25th or so.
2:37 p.m.: Ed points to a strip of grass that rings Turns 1-2. That's where the azaleas used to be, for anyone who remembers those days. Speaking of back in the day, Ed reminds me that you can smoke up here in the press box. Good thing I'm an ex-smoker - that ash tray would be full by now.
2:41 p.m.: For the record, I'm the only blogger in the room. As Dustin points out, I'm also the only person reading this.
2:44 p.m.: My people are overtop the suites along the front stretch. My people being spotters, that is. The wind's blowing hard from the south - the US flag atop the spotters' stand is standing more or less straight out. Aero's not an issue today, but it probably makes a hot day a little more bearable.
2:48 p.m.: The Busch race is 250 laps, or 131 miles. That's a one-stop race. Of course, there will be about 14 cautions. We'll also have a good view of some crew members getting run over - the crew members for the guys who pit on the Turn 1 curve will be working outside their boxes, and there are too many drivers in this race who don't have many laps under them.
2:53 p.m.: Driver sight-'ems: I saw Kenny Wallace coming into the track through the Turn 4 gate on a golf course. I saw Paul Menard (side burns), Boris Said (hair) and Ricky Craven (pale) at the driver's meeting. Afterward, Jon Wood posed for pictures, and Steve Wallace walked by. There were other drivers at the meeting, but I was standing in the back, and I wouldn't recognize a lot of the Busch guys.
3:10 p.m.: Lot of activity on pit road. Front-stretch stands are filling up. Turn 3-4 grandstand and back stretch seats aren't open. The stands in front of us are closed off, too. If anyone tells you that they've got a good crowd here today, they're lying to you.
3:15 p.m.: Down on the track, Kevin Harvick is being interviewed as he walks to his car. A bunch of Coast Guard guys get their pictures taken in front of his car. Meanwhile, the tractor hauling away the temporary grandstand comes through Turn 1. You guessed it - another track record.
3:16 p.m.: A lot of people want their picture taken next to a race car. Everytime I look down on the track, a flashbulb is going off.
3:17 p.m.: Off to the roof to watch the start of this thing. Back in a bit.