It’s Race Day at the Daytona International Speedway and folks here are totally pumped up. I was on the road around 4:30 a.m. and was pretty surprised to find myself in a traffic jam. It was even busier at the Cracker Barrel — seems race car fans need a hearty breakfast before they cheer on their favorite drivers. Following are some photos from Fox News Radio base camp in the infield.

You’ll also find some shots from a free pancake breakfast — cooked up by local Southern Baptists. They provide free food and a church service for NASCAR fans. A good number of NASCAR drivers have been known to drop by, too. They were pretty high on Michael Waltrip.

And I ran into several young NASCAR fans who said they were going to pray that their drivers would win. So — Jeff Gordon — if you win — you might want to thrown a few extra dollars in the offering plate!

You will also see some photos of me with Thomas Kinkaide — the famous painter of light. Mr. Kinkaide has been commissioned to paint the Daytona 500. He set up his art studio on the upper deck of the Sprint Fan Deck.

He’s an amazing artist and a really nice guy. I was impressed that he would stop and sign autographs in the middle of his work — a great American!