Race City, U.S.A. will be no different. Family, friends and team headquarters-based crew members will stream inside the gates at Lowe’s Motor Speedway to conduct what amounts to their annual homecoming parade.

Both tracks, though hundreds of miles away from one another, will be filled with loyal fans who will undoubtedly enjoy the pageantry of The Greatest Spectacle in Racing and The Beast of the Southeast.

I love Memorial Day weekend. My family used to have a cookout and listen to the Indianapolis 500, but that tradition faded away and eventually I found myself living alone and with no plans for the weekend. It turned out to be a good thing, though, because I could be as big a race geek as I wanted to without worrying about anyone else.

This weekend race fans can tune into 1,100 miles of exciting racing beginning as early as 5:00 AM (all times Eastern) and as late as midnight Sunday. If you’ve carefully read my short site bio, you know I am excited to veg out and let two races steeped in tradition wash over me.

I will wake up Sunday morning and tune into the local Indianapolis stations for their daybreak coverage of the 91st running of the Indianapolis 500. Around 7:00 or 8:00 AM, I will tune into our local classic rock jocks, Bob and Tom. You may have heard of them. They are syndicated nationwide on more than 100 stations but they originate here in Indy. Their annual Race Day coverage is always interesting as they interview drivers, local icons, celebrities and Joe Six-Pack (and yes, I do mean Six-Pack, even at 8 a.m. in the infield). If you aren’t in the Indianapolis area and you want to hear the lighter side of drivers, I suggest you go to Q 95 and select “listen online.”

After Bob and Tom are over, it’s time to listen to the broadcast of the Indianapolis 500. Once upon a time, when cable and satellite companies were warring, I lived in a home with a satellite dish that let us pick up the East coast local stations and their live feed. Stupid cable and satellite companies having to sign an agreement to give customers their local channels. What I’m getting at is that for as long as I can remember, the 500 has been blacked out here in Indiana, for the apparent reason that the Speedway thinks locals won’t go if they can watch it on TV. I beg to differ, but that’s a different story. Those few magical years were great, but now I am relegated to listening to the radio broadcast. That’s okay. I’m always amazed that the radio guys can keep it interesting for 500 miles. I used to be in radio, and I appreciate their enthusiasm.

But since the advent of Daylight Savings Time in Indiana, the 500 starts later than usual and it is going to cut into my television coverage of the Coca-Cola 600. No matter, I can multi-media-task. I’ll be watching SPEED and Fox, hoping to catch a glimpse of my favorite drivers being interviewed and looking forward to the soft feature stories they do that are always amusing.

When the race finally starts after, at minimum, two and a half hours of pre-race, I’ll grab some dinner and possibly a nap. Don’t chide me; you’ve done it too. Remember a few years ago when the 600 was delayed (it was either rain or a red flag, I can’t remember which) and it dragged on for hours? I know I got in three solid hours of a nap and didn’t miss a thing!

While few people find much exciting about the 600, I find it interesting to see which drivers can literally go the distance and which cars can do the same. Drivers have likely been hydrating themselves for over a week. Some of them take oxygen prior to the race. Unfortunately they can’t pamper their cars in the same way, and I would bet there are a lot of jumpy team members in the pits Sunday night, hoping and praying that their engine doesn’t expire until the car hits Victory Lane.

Then the race will finally end and the winner will drive triumphantly through Humpy Wheeler’s immaculate grass logos and then find his way into Victory Lane. The driver will emerge looking excited but pale, and he’s probably going to want a drink of something cool and refreshing. Also be on the lookout for a winner sponsored by rival soft drink company Pepsi-Co. That’s always fun. Too bad they started fining people for knocking rival drinks out of the way.

And so, at the day’s end, I will find myself thoroughly exhausted from doing nothing, but drained all the same. It is the best kind of exhaustion, though, because I will have spent the day by myself, with no one to kid me about my racing addiction. I will have cheered and whooped and hollered to my heart’s content. That is what the racing part of Memorial Day is all about, my friends.

During your revelry over this Memorial Day weekend, please do not forget the real reason for the holiday. Honor those who have given their lives fighting for our country, and support those who are doing it now. You may not like the people in power, but our fighting men and women need our support.

Should you encounter a veteran or an active member of the Armed Forces, tell them thank you.  And because I am a mother hen without chicks, I will remind you, my readers, to drink responsibly and designate a driver.

Until next time, remember, rubbin’ is racin’ except in open wheel where it may be considered war.

Have a question or comment for Samantha? Send it to samanthamaynard@sportsgrumblings.com.