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Enjoy the show, @A_kamara6!
The @Saints star is en route to @HomesteadMiami for today’s race. pic.twitter.com/FeQEftAYmf
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 14, 2020
Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway always draws a lot of attention, and for good reason: it’s the season finale in normal years. But in 2020, with NASCAR’s schedule modified due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the high-profile Miami venue was moved up to midseason with a mid-afternoon time slot.
And New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara will be in attendance, for his very first live NASCAR race. The three-time Pro Bowler has become a fan of Bubba Wallace, a prominent driver for Richard Petty Motorsports who has used his platform to rally against social inequality. Kamara live-tweeted Wallace’s performance in last week’s 500-lap race at Martsinville Speedway in Virginia. The result of that was Kamara being gifted a swag bag of Wallace merch from Checkered Flag Sports, which he wore proudly in Miami on Sunday:
See y’all tomorrow @NASCAR ❤️ @BubbaWallace wassup?!!! pic.twitter.com/YsOYnnUQkX
— Alvin Kamara (@A_kamara6) June 13, 2020
Kamara trains in Miami during the offseason, so it was easy for him to accept NASCAR’s invitation and drive across town to attend Sunday’s double-header. He took time to congratulate the winner of the Contender Boats 250, Chase Briscoe of Stewart Haas Racing, while gearing up for the headline event: the Dixie Vodka 400, which starts at 2:30 p.m. CT on Fox. This is also one of the few NASCAR events with fans in attendance, with select members of the military invited to (carefully) crowd the stands in light of the pandemic.
Congrats to @ChaseBriscoe5 on the @NASCAR_Xfinity win!! Crazy finish pic.twitter.com/XP6Ob7DrME
— Alvin Kamara (@A_kamara6) June 14, 2020
Kamara knew going in that the speedway covered one-and-a-half miles, and that’s a distance he’s run before (plus some). But seeing the full distance of asphalt laid out in front of him made him reconsider every trying to cover it by foot.
However, what really captured Kamara’s attention was the methodical science that goes into a NASCAR pit stop. At one point, one of the crews experienced their version of a fumble — a loose tier flying around during a change. Kamara was quick to offer some advice:
saw that!! High and tight. gotta hold on to that! https://t.co/5fHN65zhFx
— Alvin Kamara (@A_kamara6) June 14, 2020
But the efficiency at work when crews conducted their rapid-fire pit stops impressed the Saints superstar, with a helpful fan explaining how it all works:
The tires are not designed to last the entire race. Also, the cars do need to be refueled after a certain range of laps which varies from track to track.
Teams can also make minor adjustments, sometimes major adjustments, to improve the car's handling#NASCAR | #ContenderBoats250— Seth Eggert (@MotorsportRev) June 14, 2020
i gotcha!! seee that’s wild. i also just learned that there’s no fuel gauge on the cars… all calculations by the crews. 🥴 i’d run out of gas
— Alvin Kamara (@A_kamara6) June 14, 2020
So be sure to tune in, if you aren’t already. There’s a good chance the Saints superstar might cameo here and there during Sunday afternoon’s headliner.
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