After spending the weekend on the East Coast performing at the Charlotte Motor Speedway's Annual Sprint Cup Race, I can tell you that North Carolina continues to charm, impress and surprise me. And I come home with a newly-acquired, rich appreciation of NASCAR racing.

Thanks to the Speedway's marketing department, the whole build up and execution of the weekend's Hoedown Hospitality Party went smoothly under the guidance of Justin Akins. Mary and I were hired to do whip shows and walkaround for the event, sharing the work with lasso-spinning and whip-cracking performers Sue "Lassue" Kies and Ben from Pennsylvania. Very nice folks. Their website is at www.trickroper.net. 


It turns out that we know a few folks in common, like Mark Allen and Chris McDaniel. I was impressed by the quality of their work, especially under such excruciating conditions. The kids especially enjoyed Sue's rope spinning, using different colors of rope. I think if they'd brought beginner kits to sell, they'd have made a fortune that day!

When I talk about "excruciating conditions," I mean the day was so hot our candles melted, but we still did a lot of whip cracking and coaching. We even developed a new trick variation. Since we were working on asphalt, I had to make sure the whips remained in the air more so they wouldn't be "sand-papered" by the ground.

The race itself was a nail-biter, a $1 million winner-take-all 100-lap race. After getting the checkered flag, the winner, Carl Edwards, started to tear through the infield and ran over a manhole cover, demolishing his car. After the car came to rest without flipping, Edwards was so pumped, he did a backflip off No. 99 and planted the landing perfectly.

Attendance was recorded at 130,000 people, with many of them apparently remaining for the whole two-week period in area hotels and RV campgrounds. I did not see an empty parking space at any of the hotels we passed. The infield area where we performed seemed to be hosting a convention of golf carts zooming around on high-priority errands through the rivers of people.

The event saw the Charlotte Motor Speedway unveil its new large-screen TV which utilized 9 million LED lights. An official Guinness World Record attempt ("Light Up The Night") also was scheduled, with everyone attending given an LED light at the gate. After dark, the lights were dimmed enough so the whole track was illuminated by individuals holding their little lights -- the biggest crowd of LED light users in the world.

Charlotte continues to be one of my favorite cities for genuinely delicious food. Whether it was the fajitas and flan at Miguel's Mexican Restaurant or the lima beans and collard greens that accompanied my pot roast at the Golden Corral, it was a celebration of life.


And then, like a cherry on top, we received this gracious note from Mr. Akins:


"Robert & Mary - THANK YOU BOTH SO MUCH FOR JOINING US! You both were a pleasure to work with all throughout this process. I apologize for not being available as the Hoedown wrapped up (I wanted to thank you both personally), but as you both know event days are very hectic! In the future, if there is anything we can do for you, don't hesitate to ask! I hope you enjoyed being a part of the Hoedown as much as we enjoyed having you here! I wish you both good luck in the future! Thanks so much! "

It goes without saying: We'll be back, hopefully sooner than later. Thank you Charlotte, and thank you Charlotte Motor Speedway. Wow!