Finally Scratching That Itch

I knocked something off my to-do list yesterday. It was nothing great or spectacular. I didn’t ride a bull or cure a disease. I finally ate at a Jack in the Box.

Yep. I tried a fast food restaurant for the first time ever.

I’ve always heard them mentioned in things pertaining to California. I’m guessing that they’re based in California and making their way across the country. Ever since hearing about them, I’ve wanted to have a Jack in the Box experience. I’ve never been to California so, I had to wait for them to come to me unless I happened upon a “radically” placed JITB.

A few years ago, I had to go to the Charlotte Motor Speedway to pick up my media credentials. I had to do it in person during my workday. And I haven’t been to the speedway in over a decade. There was a time where we had to get off of I-85 and wind our way through woods and neighborhoods to get to the speedway. Now you just take Exit 49 for Bruton Smith Boulevard and CMS is just a mile or so away.

I’m sure that it feels 60 miles away on race day. Race day traffic can be a harsh mistress.

Back to getting my credentials… I’m on the boulevard and I saw a Jack in the Box! I didn’t get a good look because I was driving and the light there in front of the restaurant was green. My heart was racing. The question of what I may have seen kept running through my mind. Did I? Did I see a Jack in the Box??

I got my credentials and started back to work. Again, I had a green light but I saw it. I saw it! Lo’ and behold there was a Jack in the Box! And it was only 2 hours away from where I live!

I didn’t have time to stop that day nor the days since discovering it. But since I’ve been driving to Charlotte for work on a regular basis, I made a promise to myself that I was going to visit that Jack in the Box. I’ve been passing the exit, but none of the signs leading up to that exit have the JITB logo posted with all the other restaurants. I kept having questions… Is it still there? Did it close? Why isn’t such a rarity in these parts advertised on a sign? Was I hallucinating all those times that I thought I saw it??

I did some online research. The Jack in the Box was indeed there. It was easy to get to and out of. It’s open 24 hours a day.

So yesterday, Tuesday the 11th of November, I finally pulled into the Jack in the Box. I was worried. It was 10:40 A.M. Were they still serving breakfast foods? Will I have to sit around waiting until they changed the menu over? What was I going to do with 20 minutes?

It was rainy and cold, my friends. But I got out of that truck, pulled my hoodie over my head, and made a beeline for the door. I stepped inside this new wonderous place, pulled down my hoodie, and looked around like Dorothy in Oz. There was a hive of activity in the kitchen and that gave me time to check out the overwhelming number of combos offered.

A young woman came up to the counter and said, “Welcome to Jack in the Box.”

I nearly giggled like a Japanese schoolgirl. But I kept my excitement under wraps. “Are you guys serving burgers this early?” I asked.

“Yes, sir,” she answered. “What can I get you?”

I settled on a bacon double burger. And when she asked for my choice of side, I had to ask what my choices were. After hearing them, I went with fries. “French or curly?” she asked.

Inside my head… “THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF FRIES?!”

I asked what she preferred and I went with her choice of curly fries. And they had one of those great Coca-Cola drink machines with the seemingly limitless choice of flavors. I went with the Cherry Coke Zero or whatever they’re calling the stuff now. And since they were cooking up my burger fresh, I got a gander at the WHOLE menu. The breakfast items were posted on the wall at the counter. And breakfast items are available 24 hours a day!

I saw the usual fare of sides and items. The tacos surprised me a little but wait… What?! There are egg rolls available??

Damn, I could’ve gone for an egg roll like a drunk after vodka. But I didn’t see it in time. BUT! There will be a next time.

The curly fries were fried up to perfection. Crunchy, hot, and not a limp fry in the bag! And the burger was delicious!

To be totally honest, I’ve heard people rag on Jack in the Box and the quality of their offerings. I felt that it was a great value with great flavor. It certainly exceeded my expectations. I even participated in their feedback online. They deserved some praise because I’m sure that 95% of those giving feedback do nothing but complain.

Like I said before, I will be visiting them again real soon.

I'm Giddy!

If you didn’t realize it, I’m a NASCAR fan. I still keep up with the sport even though I don’t watch every single race like I used to do. I’m not the only one that believes that NASCAR has put themselves into a deep, deep hole. They expanded too fast while alienating their Southern fans searching for fertile markets. I’m not saying that the expansion is the biggest source of the problem. I’m saying that NASCAR could have used a little creativity when building new tracks. Just about all of them are 1.5 mile tracks modeled after Charlotte.

Hell, I’ll never understand why they changed Atlanta. It was fine. But they had to monkey with it.

They also had to monkey with Bristol and they tried to go back. But there was no going back. They ruined it and what used to be a sellout with a waiting list for tickets has now become the “Last Great Coliseum” filled with shiny, empty seats with speckles of people scattered throughout.

Charlotte used to be special, but it’s not anymore since so many tracks have been stamped out using the CMS mold. What was once a race that I looked forward to has become “humdrum” and seen just about every week from a different geographical location. So, if I see that race or not, it no longer matters to me. I’ll try to tune into the last 20 laps or so, but the finishing order will be published almost immediately. So, lots of times I don’t even bother to watch the 600. Here’s a list of the tracks that I don’t really give a damn about watching…

Atlanta – 2
Las Vegas – 2
Phoenix – 2
Fontana, California – 1
Texas – 2
Kansas – 2
Charlotte – 1 (now)
Michigan – 2
Chicagoland – 1
Kentucky – 1
Indianapolis – 1

The only reason that I bother to watch the last race of the season at Miami-Homestead is because it’s the Championship race. If it weren’t for the tension, there would be no real reason to watch. It would be a boring race if some drama weren't involved.

That means out of 19 races, I won’t bother with 18 of them until the last remaining laps to complete the race. And there are 36 races which means that I’m not watching at least half of them.

But Charlotte is doing something this weekend that will most likely shake things up a bit. Not only in the standings, but the possibility for things to change when it comes to the oval-heavy schedule. Charlotte has built a road course racetrack that’s part of the existing track and within it.

Jim and Bait went with me on for one of the open test sessions back in July. Although we never saw any side-by-side testing, the Roval race at Charlotte this weekend is going to be one hell of an experiment. I KNOW this race will be exciting because it’s such a wild card of a race. It’s also a cut-off race for eliminating four of the playoff contenders with only 3 of the 16 locked into the next round. So, we’ve got 13 guys desperately looking for a win, a darn good finish, and back luck for their competition. And oh yeah, there are 24 other drivers that want a win too!

One of the things to look are the double-file restarts. They could most likely end up going into turn one side-by-side. And from what we saw at the open test session, that’s one hell of a sharp turn. Just about every driver had the rear ends of their cars kicking out during the exit of that turn. And when they come back around through the dogleg front stretch, they carry in so much speed that brakes will become an issue.

This race has a lot of potential to ruin someone’s day. And it also has the potential to ruin a Championship run for 16 of the competitors. I couldn’t be more excited!

The Roval race at Charlotte will have excitement. It may have angry drivers. There may be brawls in the pits. Tensions will be at an all-time high with drivers, pit crew members, crew chiefs, and spotters. And sadly, I won’t be there in person. Being out of work has limited my ability to purchase tickets to the event. Jamie has mentioned going more than several times, but I haven’t really taken it to heart. The practical side of me says that I must save us the money by not going even though there’s a burning desire to be there.

I have a friend of mine that will be in attendance and it will be his first race. So yeah, he’s in for a doozy of a first race.

I had several firsts at Charlotte. I was there for the first points race under the lights that gave Jeff Gordon his first win. I was there for Bobby Labonte’s first win. But unfortunately, I won’t be making this one. One must be prudent in my current state of under-employment.

The bottom line is this… This race is going to be a damn hoot! Fan or not, I would suggest seeing this one either in person or on the couch.