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Rednecks and Red Rhônes - the Daytona 500 paired with the likes of Hermitage, Cornas and Côte Rôtie, as unlikely a combination as could be imagined by most motor sports fans or wine aficionados, but it all makes perfect sense to a group of Dixie yahoos who have a hankering for the roar of the speedway and the fruit of the vine. The whole concept is just wacky enough to appeal to one such as myself, and why not? I've had an interest in the sport for some years now, though I could hardly be described as hard - core. But these people know all about the drivers, they know all about the cars, they know all about the crews, some of them even admit with pride that, hell yes, they drink Miller Lite ® and they like it!

There's something seriously twisted about geeks like these, and I needed to get a look at the goings - on firsthand. The inaugural event, held four years ago at the home of Greg (aka Vin Pays Doc) and Tami Ellis, had been chronicled in these pages, and since there won't be any Red Wings and Red Rhônes action this year, I made up my mind that it was time to book a ride down to High Point, North Carolina and renew our coverage.

The main event was, of course, the Big Race, NASCAR's Super Bowl and kickoff to a grueling eight months of "stock" car racing in the year 2005. (In truth, there's nothing "stock" about these mighty machines that travel at better than 190 MPH around the 2.5 mile tri - oval.) The private grandstands were in the family room of Chez Ellis, and the menu called predominantly, but not exclusively for Syrah - based northern Rhônes. Early arrivals such as this taster also gathered at Greg and Tami's on the eve of the race for grilled duck a la buckshot, courtesy of that latter day Nimrod, Michael Ross hisself, accompanied by Châteauneuf du Pape and other delights. It was an intense 24 hours of high speeds, liberal consumption and faltering liver functions, but somehow, everyone made it through it all relatively unscathed.

On to the preliminary event ====>>>

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