Baltimore Grand Prix Race

For those of you reading this that don't know my Uncle Bud works for Penske Racing and is kinda of a big wig in the business. Well he got Chelsea and I tickets to the first annual Grand Prix race in Baltimore. YAY for FREE!!! 

Baltimore Inner Harbor pointing at the Aquarium  

I thought of my sailboat loving family when I saw this beautiful boat

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3 Naval Boats that were docked up to avoid the hurricane

The above photos are from our first trip to Baltimore when I bought my dress but I thought I would save them for the Baltimore race :)

Uncle Bud here out referred to as UB, received Chelsea's and I's information that he requested and then his secretary sent us our credentials via e-mail that we printed off. Looking at it I realized that only Chelsea's was actually there but luckily I saw that the number I needed was on it so it worked out well.

Not mine obviously 

Chelsea had to work treatments Sunday morning so we couldn't leave until 11 o'clock and the last time I talked to UB he said that we should leave at 9am because there was so much traffic and a lot more people than they originally thought there would be. Knowing this I was a little concerned that we would run into some problems but there wasn't anything I could do besides go with the flow. So I threw on my dress and tried to look presentable for UB and his crowd. Chelsea also sported a dress when she finished working.

The Pit area is right outside the Warehouse which is park of the Oriole's Park 

Another concern with the increased traffic was where we were going to park. We first tried the lots where you park for the Raven's football games/Orioles's games. Those were special parking but they directed us to another lot. SCORE! We found a lot quickly and paid our $30 for it. Then we started our walk to the Marriott hotel where we received our passes. It was a fun walk past a lot of bars but it was hot.

On the streets of Baltimore

We got our passes and headed to the area where Penske's hospitality tent was located and let me tell you it was pretty darn nice. Granted it was hot and there was no AC or airflow but other wise it was great. We walked into the tent and I was looking for my aunt and her two boys. They were no where to be found so we were standing in the middle of the room looking silly. We asked to ladies if we could sit with them and I don't know if that is not common because they looked at us a little funny before saying yes. Well I can tell ya that's the best I'll probably ever eat down here. They had chicken, steak with crab meat, salad, fruit, potatoes, veggies, lots of desserts, soup, hot dogs (haha ya I had one) and FREE BEER! along with water and pop. The beer was Miller Lite because that is there sponsor, and me being a Bud Light fan drank it anyways because it was FREE and I'm poor. Don't get excited we drank two and then guzzled water because it was so hot.  

The outside of the tent

The inside

Our sweet TV set up, two TVs on both sides on with no commercials. Notice the HUGE pictures of the drivers

We were eating our food and then UB showed up. He said one of the boys had an ear infection and couldn't fly thats why there weren't there. He sat and chatted with us then we had to go talked to some people. Once he left our table Mr. Roger Penske got up and introduced his drivers. This is them below in front of their pictures. Will Power (haha thats his name!) didn't have his suit on which Mr. Penske heckled him about since the other two had there's one.

Ya we were about 10 ft away from them

Mr. Penske and one of the guys

I though these were interesting because it used  a leaf 

After the introduction of the driver's we didn't know what else to do, UB was off schmoozing some big wigs but he said he could get into the pits so that might be fun. We took a beer for the walk to the pits but we couldn't get in because they were putting fuel in and guess what its not regular gas that you get at the gas station this is a little more flammable. So we decided to walk down to the inner harbor. This proved to be much more difficult than it was last time since the track is the streets of Baltimore. You have to find a bridge to cross over if you need to get to the other side of the track. Well, we made it down there but it was so crowded that it just a huge pain so we walked back. As we were walking back we passed the start/finish line and noticed that there was a lady up on the stand and the people were getting really excited. We watched the drop of the green flag! It was pretty exciting! Lots of noise that's for sure. It took like 30 seconds for them to go around the track.

We didn't have anything else to do so we went back to the comfort of the tent and watched the race there. The really neat thing about the tent is that the track is probably 20 yards away from where we were sitting. COMPLETE SURROUND SOUND haha.

Not mine 

Not mine either

In the end WILL POWER our driver won the race and that was amazing to be a part of. For as much as I don't like NASCAR or racing this was a great experience and I really enjoyed it. Getting to be so close to the drivers at the start really helped us become more interested in the race. Would I go back? SURE! If I don't have to pay :)

Part of the track AKA a road 

Walking back to the car

People were picking up parts of rubber than had  burned off the tires 

I'm not sure what was going on down there but there's a lot of vehicles 

A great experience and I'm very thankful for my Uncle Bud inviting us. I would love to do it again, and it looks like I might be able to. UB is heading up the Detroit Grand Prix race that will take place in the coming year.