My Life Blog

In my ear today were Adam Duritz (Counting Crows), Johnny Rzeznik (Goo Goo Dolls), and Chris Martin (Coldplay) on my road trip from Dallas to San Antonio to see my parents for Christmas.

But what I really needed in my ear was a spotter — NASCAR style.

“Three-wide, you’re in the middle, hold your line,” he would have said.

It was like Talladega — huge swarms of cars all separated by mere feet, all with a desire to get where they were going as fast as possible. At least on the road, you can see the brake lights. It made me wonder how the real NASCAR drivers do it without the brake lights and at twice the speed.

“Lap traffic ahead, take the high line.”

Not everyone was in a hurry, though. There were a few curiously slow cars that would bunch us all up. And in those cases, the fun part was trying to figure out how to safely get around them and break free of the traffic.

“Fast rookie approaching.”

And of course, there were those that were in a hurry for their annual drive. I say “annual” because the skill level was consistent with someone who drives once a year. Its always a bad thing to be in a hurry in a car you don’t drive too well. Such was the case this time. I saw this car quickly approach me and then draw even with me. I could tell from its body language that it was coming over. I lifted right as the slide job happened in front of me. The rookie safely made the pass, no doubt unaware that the veteran behind him probably saved his car and his Holiday.

It kinda made me wish that my own car was a NASCAR car and that I had a dozen just like it in the shop. Yep, I had a Tony Stewart moment. I wanted to spin the rookie and put him into the wall, but alas, my Mercedes is unsponsored and costly to replace. I visualized it instead.

I’m not complaining, I enjoyed the competition. The trip was only about four hours with one pit stop and my parents were happy to see me. Not quite the victory circle, but close.

“All clear.”