This was my first year at Barrett-Jackson and I can honestly say I didn’t know what to expect. I had seem some of the past auctions on late night cable over the years. So I had a feel for what the general purpose of the auction was but I didn’t have a clue how big this event was nor did I know how much money changed hands over the course of the entire event.
I entered the massive Barret-Jackson grounds setup at (Westworld in Scottsdale, AZ) and walked through a bunch of Vendors and what I assumed sponsors of the event walking past some of the most expensive or amazing cars I’ve ever seen in my life. I’ve never been a big car or auto racing fan up to this point in my life but the more I walked into the event the more my curiosity was slowly aroused as I was engrossed by all that the Barrett-Jackson auction had to offer.
Then it happened.
Slowly the smell of burning tires slowly wafted its way to my nose and drew me to its source like a couple of imaginary hands dragging my olfactory senses and curiosity outside.
When I discovered the source of the burning tires, I witnessed one of the few racing events that I absolutely love to watch in person. Drift Racing.
(If you want to learn about Drift Racing there will be a link at the bottom of the article for the Drift Racing Wikipedia page.)
Ford Motors had a demonstration of Drift Racing where the public could enter their names for a chance to win a ride around the demonstration track. They had two professional Drift racers take the lucky winners around the demonstration course a few times while the public watched.
I could have stayed and watched the drift racing for HOURS but I had more ground to cover. I wanted to know why residents of the greater Phoenix Area were drawn to this event.
As I explored the grounds out side the auction house I was blown away by some of the amazing machinery available for sale. From the early days of the internal combustion engine to a prototype Chevy Camaro to be auctioned off for charity to celebrity owned cars. After looking over the amazing variety of cars that were to be auctioned off, I would think it would be difficult to find one person there who couldn’t find a car that they didn’t like.
Then it dawned on me. The Barrett-Jackson auction isn’t just an auction. The Barrett-Jackson auction is a sporting event.
Now I know what you’re probably thinking. How can the Barrett-Jackson auction be considered a sport? There’s no scores, and there’s no teams.
True.
However, like all spectator sports, watching a given sport on TV isn’t the same as experiencing the event live, upfront and in person. You have to experience the event in person to fully understand and appreciate the sport on a more personal and emotional level.
Barrett-Jackson auction contains all of the necessary ingredients or characteristics that all other spectator sports have:
1) There are large numbers of fans willing to pay top dollar to attend the event
2) People love the rush of the action of the events.
3) People can sign up for fantasy sports leagues
4) There are people who are very knowledgeable about all aspects of the event.
5) Celebrity Appearances at the event – the Celebrities I saw at the event either live or via video were Goldberg, Yvonne Craig, Richard Petty, Rusty Wallace, Rick Hendrick, and Harrison Ford.
I could go on but you get the idea as both sporting events and the Barrett-Jackson auction share the same characteristics…
Anyways, I now see why people from the greater Phoenix area flocks to the Barrett-Jackson auction as it’s a place to get your sporting ‘fix’ as well as a place to see some great things and to be seen.
Barrett-Jackson Auction - Jan 11-18 2009
For more information about Drift Racing, please refer to the Wikipedia page on the topic:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drifting_(motorsport)
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