A Guide to the 2009 Roush-Fenway Fan Appreciation Day in Concord, North Carolina

During the week of the Coca-Cola 600 in Concord, North Carolina many of the race shops and teams decide to host open house events, also known as fan appreciation days. One of the more popular teams and events is the open house and fan appreciation day at Roush-Fenway Racing. This event takes place every year on the Thursday before the Coke 600. Last year we attempted to make it, only to discover that we were too late to meet any of the drivers on hand so this year we went in with a plan.

The Roush-Fenway fan appreciation day begins at ten am, but for those hoping to meet a driver, the day starts even earlier. Beginning at nine am they hand out 150 tickets for driver appearances and only those with a valid ticket have the option of going to one of the appearances. This year they held three different signings. The ten am signing featured Carl Edwards, David Ragan and Greg Biffle. The second at eleven am featured Ricky Steinhouse Junior, Matt Kenseth and Jamie McMurray. The last signing took place at noon with Jack Roush and his Nationwide drivers.

We arrived around 9:30 and realized that parking was insane. They routed everyone onto the street because their parking lot was already full. We made it across the parking lot and got into the first line that we saw. There weren't any signs up advertising where the lines were or how the system worked so when we got tickets, we didn't know what they meant. It took nearly an hour to discover that they had three different lines scattered around the race shop and each one had tickets to a different signing. Ours happened to be the Kenseth/McMurray line.

It became very clear that most people didn't know what was going on. They had only one line for the autograph signings, which meant that hundreds of people got in line right away even though their event wasn't for another hour or two. People brought along chairs and then just left them in line so they could wander through the museum or buy things from the gift shop. \

While waiting in line, representatives from Vitamin Water came around giving out free bottles of their two new flavors. We saw multiple unopened bottles lying on the ground, which was annoying. If you aren't interested in trying it, don't take it. Another annoyance involved the people who met their drivers and then returned back to their chairs, simply sitting and taking up space in line.

On the plus side, we saw Edwards and Ragan pulling into the signing. The crowd had to smile when Edwards pulled in driving a brand new Ford truck and Ragan came along in a truck from 1998. There were also opportunities to take pictures of drivers in other signings. We made it through our signing, even making McMurray and Kenseth laugh.

Afterwards there were different things to see and do. We met Miss Sprint Cup and got free samples from different companies. Valvoline had a display up and gave free samples of their new car cleaner as well as a free keychain. Yates Racing, which is located in the Roush-Fenway complex, also opened their doors and allowed fans inside.

The fan appreciation day at Roush-Fenway Racing is great, but only for those who get there early. We heard stories of people lining up at seven am for tickets in the Edwards line, while our line was fairly short. The event takes place every year prior to the Coca-Cola 600, but those who attend, including us, say that it's well worth it.