From scoring zero points in five cornhole matches against ACL pros to spending 20 laps on the Rick Ware Racing pit box, a Sunday at Kansas Speedway offered an up-close look at how professionals can make the difficult look routine.
We thought we'd be alright.
NASCAR Roundtable publisher Tyler Jones and I had played cornhole before. We weren't expecting to win the tournament Sunday morning at Kansas Speedway, but surely we could hold our own.
Five matches later, we had scored exactly zero points. Not zero wins. Zero points. Three pool-play matches and two more in a double-elimination bracket, and we couldn't put a single number on the scoreboard.
Our first clue that we might have underestimated what we'd signed up for came when we learned some of our competition regularly competes on the American Cornhole League circuit.
Then came the top seed. They looked like two normal guys who had rolled out of bed in their pajamas. Then they started throwing. They cooked us.
You can watch the full experience in the video above, from our humbling attempt at the cornhole tournament to an inside look at the Rick Ware Racing pit box during the Hollywood Casino 400.
Suddenly, the distance between the boards felt a whole lot farther than it had every other time I'd played cornhole.
It was a humbling — and hilarious — start to race day before the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, but it also became one of two experiences that gave me a different appreciation for what professionals make look easy.
A few hours later, I was sitting in the pit box with Rick Ware Racing. Through a connection from the team's marketing side, I was able to spend roughly 20 laps watching the race alongside the crew for Cody Ware.
Ware was running toward the back of the field, so the pit box was relatively calm during my time there. But that almost made it easier to appreciate everything happening behind the scenes.
Multiple monitors showed different angles and information from around the track, while a team headset allowed me to listen to the communication between the pit box and Ware throughout the race.
The crew continually fed Ware information, telling him where cars were positioned around him and helping him navigate traffic. Sitting there watching the different screens while simultaneously hearing those conversations provided a perspective of the race that you simply don't get watching on television.
Even while running at the back, the communication never stopped. Then Ware came down pit road.
Watching a NASCAR pit stop on television is one thing. Watching it happen from the pit box gives you a much different appreciation for how many people it takes to change four tires, fuel a race car and send it back onto the track in a matter of seconds.
Even the equipment provides perspective. A full NASCAR fuel can weighs around 96 pounds, yet the crew has to handle it quickly enough that fueling doesn't cost its driver valuable time. All of that work happens while the race continues around them.
Kyle Larson ultimately won the Hollywood Casino 400 as the NASCAR Cup Series Chase continued at Kansas, but some of my biggest takeaways from Sunday came from watching people far away from the spotlight.
A pit crew can make servicing a Cup car in seconds look routine. A couple of guys wearing pajamas can make repeatedly putting a bag in a hole look pretty routine, too.
Sometimes it takes standing a few feet away — or getting absolutely destroyed five consecutive times — to appreciate just how difficult "routine" actually is.
And for the record, Tyler and I are officially 0-for-Kansas. We may need to stick to covering the professionals.
