Fourth of July at Daytona, This is a shot from http://tireball.com/nascar/2014/07/03/nascar-at-daytona-2014-weekend-schedule-start-time-practice-qualifying-fantasy-picks-tv-and-weather-info/

Those who are not NASCAR fans will have to bear with me for this post or skip it altogether. Fourth of July celebrations abound and for us, the small towns still often best express those deep rooted sentiments that are that distinctly American spirit and character that is not perfect, but that has done a tremendous amount of good in the world.

On a large scale though, if you want to see that spirit and the sheer essence of American patriotism on display, tune into one of the NASCAR races at Daytona this weekend. The nationwide Series will run tonight and the Sprint Cup tomorrow night, but it is a weekend packed with events for the tens of thousands that will be there. It’s loud and more or less controlled chaos that at times spins out of control, but the sense of joy in being American, sharing this uniquely American type of racing is palpable. There is not one sophisticated thing about the celebration unless you count the sophistication of the engineering of the race cars, but it is a whopping dose of red, white, and blue. It is big business meets small town spirit and every kid who has ever raced a go-kart dreams at least fleetingly of someday being out on that historic race track as a driver.

Happy Fourth to Everyone!