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content/20260521_bubbacitos.md

@@ -27,10 +27,10 @@ Teammate <span class="green">██████</span> remembered that we had an
 
 The next day must have been quite uneventful and boring because I don't remember anything about it except that the food delivery idea had been spot on. Apparently, the late shift the evening before had sold so much food on delivery runs that barely any leftovers remained. On this day the weather had fortunately cleared, and our Tex-Mex junk food had become an unexpected morale booster for the *Waterworld* population outside. Word of mouth proved to be far more effective than what our increasingly desperate sales tactics had failed to do, and more and more customers started finding their way to our food truck.
 
-The actual "[Interstate Batteries 500](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEBZA3nx7Bs)" race and official inauguration took place the following day. Texas weather had decided to show its best side, and more than 150,000 *NASCAR* fanatics had found their way to the grandstands, with several thousand more filling the infield. The place was absolutely packed. The opening spectacle delivered every Texas cliché one could possibly hope for: horseback cowboys, stunt parachutists, a military jet flyover, and the suitably braggy helicopter arrival of landowner and Texas business tycoon *Ross Perot Jr.* and Governor *George W. Bush*. The atmosphere was electric, and business was booming without any need for active marketing.
+The actual "[Interstate Batteries 500](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEBZA3nx7Bs)" race and official inauguration took place the following day. Texas weather had decided to show its best side, and more than 150,000 *NASCAR* fanatics had found their way to the grandstands, with several thousand more filling the infield. The place was [absolutely packed](https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/speed/). The opening spectacle delivered every Texas cliché one could possibly hope for: horseback cowboys, stunt parachutists, a military jet flyover, and the suitably braggy helicopter arrival of landowner and Texas business tycoon *Ross Perot Jr.* and Governor *George W. Bush*. The atmosphere was electric, and business was booming without any need for active marketing.
 
 I was especially thrilled to spot actual celebrities wandering the infield with their entourages: bad-boy basketball star *Dennis Rodman* shaking hands with some of the drivers, and, much to my excitement, *Sandra Bullock* in the flesh, looking absolutely gorgeous, and probably there to promote her newly released flick *Speed 2: Cruise Control*.
 
-The race itself turned out to be a hot mess, with the very first turn of the opening lap featuring a devastating 13-car pileup. Later, another driver spun out near the finish line and triggered a second crash that took eight other cars with him. Several racers later [openly criticized](https://frontstretch.com/2017/04/06/nascar-101-the-first-race-at-texas-motor-speedway/) the brand-new track as so difficult to drive that it might require a complete redesign.
+The race itself turned out to be a [hot mess](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEBZA3nx7Bs), with the very first turn of the opening lap featuring a devastating 13-car pileup. Later, another driver spun out near the finish line and triggered a second crash that took eight other cars with him. Several racers later [openly criticized](https://frontstretch.com/2017/04/06/nascar-101-the-first-race-at-texas-motor-speedway/) the brand-new track as so difficult to drive that it might require a complete redesign.
 
 As someone who had never cared in the slightest about sports, let alone car racing, and had fully expected nothing but greasy hands, boredom and a testosterone-soaked cringefest, I ended up having an absolute blast. I left with extra dollars in my pocket, a solid reputation for my one-man German efficiency initiative, and the quiet satisfaction of having accomplished all that as a mere foreign exchange student who didn't even possess a work permit in the first place.