Pocono 500 Live Report by Mike Steele

Just so people understand, I am going to tell everyone up front that this was the first NASCAR race I ever attended in person. I was on the edge from the minute we arrived on Friday to about 1 hour prior to qualifying. Walking up you could hear engines roaring from inside the fence. We got pit passes ($30.00 and good for Fri-Sat-Sun) and went on down. After about 30 minutes they started to bring out the cars. It took awhile to see Derrike's shiny red SKITTLES® car come out. He ran fourth from last. Derrike had a good first round lap going until he had to slow up a little in turn 2. He ended up the first round at 26th and having to requalify.

The second day they decided to sit on their time since they had a decent run on Friday. But Saturday the track conditions were better and most of the cars re-ran. Almost everybody posted better times. Derrike was the last car in the field to get in on his time and not have to use a provisional. He started 38th out of 42 cars.

On Sunday several things were obvious, 1) Derrike's car was running really well, 2) He would work with Ted Musgrave to climb through the field, 3) His pit crew came to work and not sit around and 4) I was so excited I could not sit down. I was told by friends we met at our campgrounds (Mike and Mike) that when that green flag drops, you will get the chills. This is whether it was your first race or not. And Mike (the first one) was right. When that flag dropped I was soaring. To see what before was just a small picture in my living room was just wild. They took turn 3 and all spread out looking to gain the edge on the longest straight stretch in NASCAR. Tuesday, June 10, on Derrike's Fan Club chat while talking to all, I got those chills again just remembering those moments.

Derrike shot up from 38th to 32nd within 5-10 laps. He got behind the #16 and off those two went climbing through the field. It was fantastic to watch DC passing all he came accross. He was hooked up.

Next came the pit stops. At a moment where your pit crew can send you towards the front or drop you to the rear, the SKITTLES® crew stood out. All day they moved him up. Twice they took him from the mid to high teens to 8th place coming out. They deserve a round of applause. I think somebody's been practicing.

Those that watched the race may recall many front runners that were running great and had their cars die on them. So at one point when Derrike started to fade it was a point of concern. He went from 7th down to around 18-19-20. But again the pit crew helped out.

Derrike would be running like fire and then fade a little. And then he would come on again. He had, in my opinion a top ten car. He just ran out of laps. To see DC flying down the front stretch and turn into turn one was amazing. Here come those chills again - that could be a song. He was competitive all day. It would not have been fun to go to my first race and have him kiss the wall early and struggle. He has had great finishes his last 5 races. He is coming on.

NASCAR is amazing. I have been to professional baseball, football, basketball, and hockey. And they have nothing on racing. The feeling around the track was one of relaxation and all were having fun. Even though you could run across (OK maybe not a good term to use in racing) 40 different people and all would pledge allegiance to a different person, all were friends. NASCAR is like going to a family picnic and a race breaks out.

One last thing, I got Joe Gibbs' autograph - nanny nanny nanny!

I hope everyone gets a chance to go to a race in person. Look in the next seat. If the guy has a SKITTLES® shirt and a SKITTLES® hat on, looks good, and oh yes, is standing the whole time, it may be me.