It has just gone 1:10pm Eastern Time on February 11, 2006. And defending Daytona 500 champion Jeff Gordon is transfixed.
Not by any set-up changes made on his number 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Not by the constant fans and media that always surround the man who has more Nextel Cup titles than any other active driver. But by the huge plasma television screen inside his personal motorhome, parked in the infield of Daytona International Speedway.
He is watching the qualifying session for next weekend's Daytona 500, the very same session that he will later be competing in.
As every driver completes his two solo qualifying laps, Gordon mentally notes their fastest laptimes before the television commentators - he is just watching the terrestrial feed - turn that lap into a fan-friendly mph figure that the 34 year-old ignores.