You can bet that where two or more Louisville fans gather for an outdoor sporting event it is going to rain. As was the case Saturday at the Cardinal Takeover event at the Kentucky Speedway. As we huddled in the hospitality tent watching the rain come down some of us talked about how the day reminded us of our tailgating experiences of the 2012 Football season. Even though the rains came and eventually postponed the actual race the day wasn’t a complete wash out for Cardinal fans.
Our Cardinal takeover started when one of the all-time greats “Dr. Dunkenstein” himself Darrell Griffith stopped by the hospitality tent. He greeted Cardinal fans and took pictures with them and there were even some stories told of some of those great championship moments from the 80’s. It was also a great moment when a champion of the past went to have his picture taken with the #55 Championship race car. Again Darrell was interviewed by the Aaron’s representatives about his thoughts of the car and the 2012-13 Cardinal basketball team. He would say that he thought it was great to have the National Championship represented on the race car and talked about the great accomplishments of the team. Fans lined up for their chance to meet the Cardinal legend and he was very gracious taking several photos.
The next visitor to the Cardinal hospitality tent could be heard making his weird call of the wild yell all over the Speedway grounds. Kentucky woodsman Ernie Brown, Jr., nicknamed “The Turtleman” and his friend, Neal James visited Cardinal fans, took photos and told a few stories of their wild adventures. I have never seen the show myself but fans seemed very excited at the opportunity to meet the interesting figure. And it was an interesting moment when “Dr. Dunkenstein” met the “Turtleman”. Turtleman to Griffith: “Man you could really dunk that ball.”
Our third visitors of the day were a couple of Forbes 400 members David Smith son of billionaire Speedway Motorsports owner Bruton Smith, and non other than Mr Papa John himself John Schnatter. These guys took time to visit Cardinal fans and seemed very excited to take a picture with the National Championship trophy. These guys were very friendly with the crowd and several folks took the chance to meet and take photos with them.
The Final visit of the day came from Ryan Newman driver of the No. 39 Stewart Haas Racing team. Ryan took a moment to talk with Paul Rodgers about his thoughts on the weather, the race track and his racing career. Newman made the quickest exit I’ve ever seen. Race Car drivers are not only good at getting away from their competitors in a race car but they can avoid fans with the same elusiveness. He was nice enough to bring several pre-signed cards to give to the fans.
The Voice of the Cardinals and local radio Icon Paul Rodgers did a great job at interviewing these folks at the Cardinal Takeover event. And he also made himself available to Cardinal fans. It was great talking some Cardinal sports with him and spending some time with someone I grew up listening to on the radio.
I would also like to thank Jennifer Heisey Executive Director of the University of Louisville Alumni Association and her staff for putting this event together and doing such an excellent job yesterday. They were all very friendly and welcoming to Cardinal Fans and made a rainy day a lot of fun.
