Infield the place to be

infield_fans

Darcy Anson thought he had died and gone to heaven early Sunday morning.

Well, the Calgary, Alberta, resident was way off on the first part — he was far from dead as he pranced and hollered among thousands of revelers and swigged “hooch” from a water bottle.

As for the second part — heaven — Anson was at the next best place for race fans: the infield at Las Vegas Motor Speedway the night/morning before the Shelby 427.

The party started on Wednesday for some, and for many more on Thursday. By the time Saturday’s Nationwide race had come and gone, it was obvious that a number of people were going to wake up Sunday morning with a hangover.

Like the Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan who was having a difficult time standing against a Ford F-350 pickup. The dude’s buddy couldn’t even prop him up; he finally collapsed in a heap — and that was early, around 11:20 p.m. on Saturday.

Or the guy who was arrested for dancing naked on top of his trailer — didn’t see him, didn’t want to see him, but the incident supposedly occurred around 9 p.m.

And there was Kandi, who at a little before 1 a.m. kept promising, and slurring, a story. She was unable to coherently put together a two-word sentence. Her real story would have been how she was incinerated because she nearly fell into a fire pit.

But before Kandi could do any (more) damage to herself, a friend whisked her away.

Kandi’s story would have made for some good reading, but it certainly wouldn’t have been the most important story of the night — or the weekend — leading up to Sunday’s Sprint Cup race.

That honor belonged to racing fans who began arriving in Las Vegas as early as Monday, fans who opened their arms and RVs to strangers, fans who for the most part ignored the national economic crisis for at least a couple of days. The honor also belonged to one fan who used the race to bond with his mother.

Trace Giove’s father died about a year ago and the Ventura, Calif., resident decided to bring his mom, Kay, to Las Vegas. Bringing Kay to the infield also meant Sassy, Sissy and Sunny, Kay’s miniature pinschers, got to tag along.

"This is spectacular — as good as it gets,” Trace said early Sunday morning. “First time I’ve been here and it’s been great to hang out with Mom. And there’s nothing like being in the infield."

Most of the partying was relatively calm. Kids rode bicycles, played card games and yard games, and walked dogs throughout the evening. There were a handful of private parties.

Many fans wandered from one campsite to another looking for a party. But by around 1 a.m. most fans had called it a night. Campsites were quiet as many huddled around fires swapping stories.

Jim Scorzone of Las Vegas said there appeared to be more families this race weekend than in previous years. "Coming here is no longer just a guys’ thing," Scorzone said.

J.J. Lynch, a retired New York City policeman and Kevin Harper of Pahrump agreed, saying the race offered a chance to renew acquaintances with people you might only see at the race and offered the opportunity to make new friends. Having a case of "moonshine" didn’t hurt the "make new friends" part.

“Classified and confidential” was all Harper would say about how the moonshine was acquired.

NASCAR Weekend gave Randy Schams, a home-builder from Boulder City and a La Crosse, Wisc., native, an opportunity to host a sizable get-together at the fence along the track’s backstretch.

"This is definitely the place to watch the race," Schams said.

Along with friend Steve Sindelar of Fullerton, Calif., Schams hosted about 75 friends and family from Wisconsin, Wyoming, Minnesota, Texas, Colorado and other points across the country. And Schams and Sindelar were well-prepared, with more than 70 cases of beer, hundreds of dollars of hard liquor, a big-screen TV to watch the race, 45 pounds of tri-tip steak, more than 10 pounds of bacon and sausage, as well as eggs, shrimp, chips and a host of other munchies.

Sindelar estimated the weekend cost his group about $25,000, and they’re already looking forward to next year despite the country’s economic woes.

"You have to enjoy life and sometimes do what you want to do when you can do it," said Seattle resident Brian Watson, who arrived in Las Vegas on Thursday and met up with friends Greg Eyrich and his Los Angeles family and David Loseth and his Eastern Washington clan.

Meanwhile, Anson, the Calgary resident who called himself "Viking," certainly was enjoying life early Sunday morning with his own "hooch" concoction — a mix of Everclear, apple cider and cinnamon.

He wasn’t in heaven, though. He was in the racetrack infield.