NASCAR Fans Gather For Races At Texas Motor Speedway
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FORT WORTH (CBS 11 NEWS) - NASCAR fans from across the U.S. have winded their way to Fort Worth this weekend for Friday night's O'Reilly 300 and Saturday night's Sprint Cup race.
For some fans, it's not just a race, in some cases it's a multi-day outing.
Gabriel Solis isn't even 4-years-old yet, and on Friday he he attended his 4th NASCAR even. His favorite, according to dad Heleazar Solis of Edinburgh, is retiring driver Jeff Gordon. "I don't think he knows the meaning of retirement yet, but he assumes Jeff Gordon is going to win the race this weekend."
Gordon's gear and reigning champion Kevin Harvick's are leading the sales parade of hats, jackets, and diecast race cars. According to souvenir salesman Joseph Loya, change is good for sales. "The drivers that are hitting, like Jeff Gordon. Carl Edwards because he switched over, he's got new colors and everybody likes the new stuff."
But the outing at TMS could have been nicer for Janice and Mike Dietz -- if someone hadn't stolen their camper. "And we went to get our trailer ready and it was gone; somebody had stolen it," Janice Reitz told CBS 11 News. "I was in shock, I was literally in shock," echoed husband Mike. "It was completely furnished."
The stolen item was a 43-foot trailer in which the Reitzes live for three to four months a year; they normally spend the week at TMS leading up to a race. "No, and it's sad," said Janice. "We weren't even going to come but we decided we're die-hard NASCAR fans so we've got to go to the race."
So, they came to their usual, favorite haunt in a nearby RV park to be with old friends anyway. "Oh, we just make it up to them," Linda Walker of Quinlan laughed. "We just hug them; that's all we can do!"
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