Neon Garage gives fans unique look at NASCAR teams at Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS — Holly White became a fan of NASCAR driver Joey Logano a few years ago, when she witnessed how he caters to his fans. Especially the little ones. She pointed to a narrow horizontal flap — eye-high to his wee aficionados — at the bottom of a picture window separating his supporters from Garage Stall No. 2 on Friday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
"He’s just very friendly," said White, a 33-year-old resident of Salt Lake City here with her husband and teenage son. "He usually makes a point to sign autographs. Others around here, they don’t even look up. But I’ve stuck with him because of how he is; he’ll open that little slot and even talk to kids."
This is the Neon Garage, the most fan-friendly aspect of the speedway that plays host to Sunday’s Kobalt 400. In Friday’s rounds of practice and qualifying, thousands of fans mingled around the huge diamond-shaped expanse that features concession stands peddling souvenirs, food and beer. In the middle, on a black stage under hazy 80-degree conditions, a cover band played a passable version of U2’s "Where the Streets Have No Name."
Joe Wolf, a 51-year-old member of the military stationed in Anchorage, called the Neon Garage special. Daytona has ground-level glass views into the garages, but no other track features a second-tier catwalk that allows fans to peer down at the cars and crew.
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Above Stall No. 19, where a beehive of activity was taking place on the No. 88 car of Dale Earnhardt Jr., Wolf grinned at one of Junior’s mechanics who tapped a laptop computer on the passenger side of the roof.
"To be this close, and potentially to see him get into the car, is pretty cool," Wolf said. "You’re gettin’ dirty. If I could see what his laptop guy was typing, that would be even more fun. I have been on the infield at Talladega twice; that is a crazy experience."
So, a few minutes later, Wolf might not have been so shocked had he strolled past stall No. 25, housing Danica Patrick’s light-blue No. 10 rig, and caught one of her crew — back to the glass — unbuttoning his pants, undoing a belt, slipping them low, tucking in his blue team shirt, and then reversing the process.
Someone peered into Jimmie Johnson’s garage, No. 1, and said, "I don’t want this car to go so fast. No, no, no!" A short man wearing a black cowboy hat gawked into Logano’s operations and barked, "Boo!" On the other side of the glass, the crew never wavered from going about its business.
