ALL-STAR FAN EXPERIENCE DAY 3: The NASCAR Skinny, Songs We Know By Heart and Mo' Hushpuppies!

By Ron Lemasters Jr..

CONCORD, N.C. – With two days down in the annual ONMC All-Star Fan Experience, the third day had stellar written all over it.

Opening the day at the NASCAR R&D Center and Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, we gave our attendees the race-shop action they’d been craving and visited the place where everything technical in NASCAR is developed, tested, re-tested and implemented.

The R&D Center is a staple of our annual event; we’ve been there each year on the tour and the development of the place has been phenomenal. We’ve also watched it grow for the last nine years into the place that makes NASCAR racing what it is today.

Led by Jim Prescott (check name) with a pre-tour pep talk from former NASCAR driver Brett Bodine, our group took two hour-long tours of the facility, including the certification bay, the fab shop and the template rooms. We joked beforehand that if anyone took photos in the restricted areas, they’d be in NASCAR jail, and oddly enough, we were shown the equivalent: the cells holding confiscated parts from all three major series!

Meanwhile, half the group started the day at Ganassi under the capable leadership of Jeff Dowling, and touring the massive shop was an outstanding way to start the day. The comprehensive tour was well-received by our band—the group that started at the R&D Center took the Ganassi tour an hour later while the Ganassi group went to R&D—on both sides.

A brief rest period followed the tours, as we were gearing up for the annual ONMC Tailgate Party at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The annual event was also the second straight at which Nashville recording artist Chelsea Bain played an acoustic set for our Members—and the stream of traffic on U.S 29 entering the speedway.

Chelsea loves our Members—and they love her back. She sang her chart-climbing new single, “Cowboys & Cadillacs” as the opener and that set the tone for a kicking series of both new songs and older work. At the end, our Members lined up to get their photos with her and the band, and she hung around and talked before heading to her normal gig in the Fan Zone at 5:30.

What does it say about a performer when she goes the extra mile for a group of people, to the tune of performing a set on a stage in the Preferred Parking lot outside the track simply because we asked her to? It means quite a lot, from this end, and we sincerely appreciate her warmth, her talent and her willingness to go to great lengths for us.

Special thanks to Chelsea, her band, family and management for making it awesome two years running!

Before Chelsea performed, the Members were treated to a spread from Sticky Fingers, which catered the event for the first time. An excellent—and filling—time was had by all!

Saturday’s final day begins with a tour of the Richard Petty Driving Experience in the morning and garage tours/driver intros in the afternoon, and that will bring an end to the annual All-Star Fan Experience. Special thanks to all the folks who hosted us this year, and to Nick David and Lauren Habig for planning this year’s event. Also, thanks to Tracey Brady, Jim Brady, Whitney Bryant, Max Fulginiti, Ryan Mosher, David Scism, Mary Kay Chandler, Robin Corner and Liz Errick for stepping up and making the event special for our Members!

Tune in tomorrow for a look at Day 4 and a wrap-up of the week’s events!