[caption id="attachment_197" align="alignleft" width="228" caption="Big Red Tent Setup at RIR"] [/caption] Big Red's Crew scored a major victory this weekend at the races at Richmond Raceway. While we've become accustomed to long lines at some of our better events, we were shocked to see  50-100 people in line for 9 straight hours.  It just never slowed down. My week started out poorly on Tuesday.  I dropped off a load of equipment at RIR, plus picked up an extra fryer from Salim at Amira Concessions, my main supplier. Next, I took off for Woodbridge for a baseball game.  There was like 50 people in the stands and I struggled thru a night of selling one funnel cake, one mini-funnel cake and one cup of lemonade.  Wednesday's game was rained out as was Sunday's.  I was closed Thursday, Friday and Saturday for the races.  Of course, those were good games with good crowds.  Oh, well.  We'll make up for that at the next home stand. [caption id="attachment_198" align="alignright" width="224" caption="We Were Setup at the Base of the New Tower"] [/caption] Thursday was spent getting everything ready, going thru a Health Department inspection,  a visit from the Fire Marshall and getting credentials taken care of for my staff.  Everything was fine and we were ready to go. Friday, we opened at 9:00 am for the early practice sessions and later in the day for qualifying for both the Nationwide Series Race Friday night and the Sprint Cup Race Saturday night.  The Charlie Daniels Band did a concert but it was out on the compound, and we were set up inside the fence. Things were spotty during the day until about 4:00 pm and then we got busy.  By the end of the race about 10:30 pm, we had finished a really good day. I understand that Jr. stopped by and had a Richmond Dog at the booth next to mine, took a look at the long line at our tent, and took off.  That was the closest I came to any driver sighting for the weekend.   I just stayed to busy to look. Friday, Jean and Kaitlyn worked the front, while Peggy and I handled the cooking.  Remember, we were only doing funnel cakes and corn dogs. [caption id="attachment_199" align="alignleft" width="199" caption="Jennifer and Kaitlyn"] [/caption] Several people at the track told us as popular as we were on Friday, it would be twice that on Saturday and we probably needed more help.  So Kaitlyn called in a friend of hers, Jennifer Bangs.  On Saturday, Jennifer was the sugar queen moving product from Peggy and I to Kaitlyn and Jean up front and, of course, powder-sugaring the cakes.  As we got into the flow of things, Kaitlyn ended up coming back and helping with the frying.  She took to it like a real pro.  Basically, I'd go down the line pouring cakes.  Then Kaitlyn, or Peggy, would pull the rings, flip the cakes and put them on the plates while I was re-pouring.  We were actually serving at a rate of six funnel cakes every minute and a  half or so. Yes our lines were ridiculously long.  But we turned them pretty quickly. At our next races, the Indy Car Race at Richmond in June, I'm adding another fryer at least.  Two of us will be pouring and one flipping and pulling.  That should get us up to 9 or 10 every minute  and a half. [caption id="attachment_200" align="alignright" width="210" caption="No Line Means The Race Is Over and Everybody Is Gone"] [/caption] Still, after nine hours or so at that pace, you're exhausted.  And, I was.  We doubled what we did on Friday, setting both a new sales record for a day, and a record for a weekend. If you've been following me for awhile, you know I make fun of everyone around me.  Jean, Peggy and Kaitlyn have all been the target of caustic comments I've made.  Today, I can say nothing but good about the girls, and Jennifer.  They were fantastic.  And, Peggy was doing it with a cracked rib. [caption id="attachment_201" align="alignleft" width="186" caption="What One Looks Like After Cooking 1,000 Funnel Cakes"] [/caption] I also can't say enough about the Americrown staff.  They were fabulous.   Not just Todd and Danny that I work with all the time, but everyone.  Even down to the guys that came around to empty the trashcans.  We even had a nice visit with the President of Americrown.  They're just an unbelievable company and I'm proud to be associated with them. There are a bunch of pictures from Richmond.  Just click on the Flickr thingy on the right and it will link you. This week, I'm leaving on Wednesday for Peggy's and spend a couple nights with her grandson, Kagen.  Friday, early, Peggy and I head for Woodbridge to pick up Big Red, clean it, and drive to Bethesda, Maryland for the Bethesda Fine Arts Festival which starts Saturday morning.  They're expecting 20,000 or so for the two day event and we're the only funnel cake vendor.  Also, Big Red will offer crepes, lemonade and sweet tea.  So it should be another big weekend. A report will follow, plus I'll try to Twitter updates during the weekend. While I was gone, my niece, Amanda, (@Zooleft to you Twitter folks) got into an argument with one of my animals, Brat the Cat.  It apparently was quite vocal on both their parts and after consulting with both, I think Brat the Cat won. Later, y'all.