Let us consider, for a moment, the race fans.
Lovers of methanol and vulcanized rubber, things that make noise and things that go like mad.
Connoisseurs of corn dogs and funnel cakes. Wearers of hats advertising motor oil.
About 75,000 of them crammed the streets around Pepsi Center on Sunday to watch the Centrix Financial Grand Prix of Denver, Presented by PacifiCare (CFGPDPC, for those who prefer the official acronym).
They are a different kind of sports fan. Drawn irresistibly to power and speed, they press their noses against the chain-link fence surrounding the race course only to have their heroes blitz by in half a blink, oblivious to their presence or their admiration.
Wayne Gill is one such fan.
“I go to everything with a motor,” he said.
Gill is a large man with a handlebar mustache, wearing a hat and a T-shirt festooned with various car-racing insignias and auto-parts stores names. In his youth, he says, he was a motorcycle rider prone to craziness. Now 53, he still owns four classic hot rods that he drag races.
With him at the race Sunday was his 21-year-old son, David, who awhile back broke his femur while riding a motorcycle and got 40 stitches and a titanium rod in his leg.
“He beeps through the metal detectors now,” his dad said, chuckling.
Before the race, they were watching – and egging on – a group of trick motorcycle riders performing wheelies and doughnuts for the crowd. It was one of several sideshows before and during the race. There were freestyle motorcross, and ski and snowboard jump exhibitions, along with go-cart racing and dozens of booths for such race-appropriate things as car rims, health insurance and a group called the Limb Preservation Foundation.
“Just the variety of these things,” Wayne Gill said in explaining the race’s appeal. “It’s great to see the crowd go out and get kind of wild.”
But do not be fooled, for the race fan is not an unsubtle being. They understand the delicate intricacies of the race, of when to pit and when to pass and when to get out of the way.
Here’s how one winner of a smaller race before the main event described his win:
“Through the turns I kind of let off the gas, and on the straightaways I stayed on the gas,” said Ryan DeBitetto. “Some turns I tried to take wide, and on others I tried to stay close to the wall.”
Of course DeBitetto is only 11 years old and the race he won was one of remote-control cars. DeBitetto’s father works for Centrix Financial, and the family came from Kansas City, Mo., to see the event.
“I just love seeing the cars,” Ryan said. “They go so fast.”
Speed may be the main attraction, but there is a certain star power to the event. Before and after the race, fans have a chance to scooch close to some of the drivers and maybe snag an autograph.
Sunday morning, there was a constant crowd of about 20 people gathered in front of eventual winner Sebastien Bourdais’ tent.
After a minor-league race earlier Sunday, 10-year-old Kelly Shelton stood in front of British driver Katherine Legge’s tent, hoping for an autograph.
“She’s just excited to see girls in the races,” said Kelly’s mom, Roberta.
Then there is perhaps the biggest draw for some: used tires.
They are given out by the dozens after races to fans seeking a souvenir. Kelly got one, and her mom plans to put it together with two others her daughter has accrued to make a table.
Brothers Kelly and Kyle Gold rolled their pair of stripped, rock-pocked tires out of the paddock, even though the tires were nearly as large as them.
“We’re going to bring them home for seats,” 6-year-old Kyle proclaimed, as mom and dad looked on, incredulous but amused.
His brother objected.
“No,” he said, “I’m going to tell everyone that I got a tire used by a real race car.”
And so, another race fan is born.
Staff writer John Ingold can be reached at 720-929-0898 or jingold@denverpost.com.
