I would like to surprise a lady friend with tickets to a Cup race next year. She is a die-hard fan. I can dig it myself, but she is hard-core. As the commercials say, she’s got it bad.
What’s it like to watch one live?
I can afford to get some package deal like room, tickets, maybe pit passes etc, but i’m wondering if we would even enjoy it, what with the crowds and so forth.
Apologies if I have missed a thread about this.
Thanks for any input!
I’ve been to two. They’re incredible. It’s actually harder to follow the action live than on tv because you don’t have The Amazing Bouncing Camera giving you the view of each car individually and telling you who’s driving what and so forth, but it’s definitely an experience. You can feel the speed and the motors make your chest vibrate and you get caught up in the adrenalin rush.
It’s also a great opportunity to buy memorabilia (both at the drivers’ individual Stuff Trailers that congregate at the track, and at the inevitable galaxy of small-timers who form little instant flea markets along the roads leading to). You can often meet drivers at their Stuff Trailers, too, most often on Saturday if it’s a Sunday Afternoon race, or right after Happy Hour but before the race starts if it’s a night race. Most of the non-huge-names (i.e. not Earnhardt or Gordon, but most everyone else) make it a point to have an autograph event for their fans every weekend.
There are a few things you have to be prepared for, though. First of all, it’s LOUD. Bring earplugs. The first race I attended, I forgot to bring some, so I had to buy them at the track for some insane price. The second race I brought them but forgot to put them in because I was so busy running down to the chain-link fence over Turn 4 to look at the cars and feel their motor-loudness rumbling in my chest (this was at Richmond, where the stands go right up to the fence; at Pocono there are two levels of fencing - there are positives and negatives to each setup that I won’t go into detail about here, since I’m not sure it’s germane to what you need to know). After a while you get used to the volume - HUGE ROAR as they go by, fading to a loud “whizz” noise when they’re on the opposite end of the track, back to HUGE ROAR and repeat. Then you get thirsty and go back below the grandstands to the food and beverage vendors and as soon as you’re off the stands you feel like you’ve walked into a vacuum. No sound whatsoever, and the vendor has to shout before you can comprehend what he’s telling you.
The other thing to be prepared for is the traffic. You will NOT be leaving the racetrack immediately following the checkered flag. It can take several hours for it to clear out enough for you to leave your parking space, much less get home. This is one reason why so many folks take motorhomes. NASCAR fans are a sociable bunch, however, and if you’re parked in the boonies you can generally find yourself some brand-new friends to spend the wait with. At Richmond my family and I ended up having a barbecue and several games of horseshoes with some complete strangers whose names we never got before we got clear enough to move our van and go home.
The last thing I can think of to beware is the high cost of hotel rooms in a race-track town when NASCAR’s around. You’ll need to make your reservation far in advance, and you’ll be paying more than you would on a “normal” night. I was accidentally caught travelling through Virginia and Tennessee the night of this past spring’s Bristol race (I’d forgotten it was that weekend), and hotel rates were tripled all the way down in Knoxville and Chattanooga when I could even find a vacancy.
racinchikki, much obliged!
Actually, I was hoping you would reply to this thread.
Thanks again.
I haven’t actually watched a race, so no comment there, but I have worked concessions at three races in Bristol.
The prices of concessions are outrageous. My booth was charging $3 for a piece of pizza or a drink (though at least those came with spiffy plastic cups)…it’s even more for the stuff like subs and ice cream and beer. Terrible. Though there was a huge variety of stuff to buy…and there’s always people offering free cartons of cigarettes if you filled out a survey.
Also, the majority of concession workers were volunteers. They were working to raise money for their local high school band (myself there) or sports team. We weren’t usually very happy to be there or very experienced in selling food to large groups of people. Just a warning there.
And even where I was working, it was incredibly loud. I tried earplugs, but then you can’t hear people ordering their food…just a dull roar. Charming. Lots of people have these headset things. I still don’t know if those are earplugs or headphones, listening to race coverage on the radio.
But I’m sure if you like racing, you’d like to watch a race. The people there always seem quite happy.
Been to several races of various types, and I have to say, pit passes are very nearly a must have.
Professional motorsports (at least in the US) is second to none when it comes to fan access to the teams. You can walk right up to the cars, tour the transporter trucks (which are AMAZING in themselves), and very likely meet one or more of the drivers.
At the last race I went to (many years ago sadly) I got pictures taken with several drivers, and Mario Andretti even accidentally ran over my brother’s foot on a scooter 
If you get pit passes, be sure to read the fine print, most pits have dress requirements (e.g. no open tied shoes).
You’ll want to go into the pits during practice and qualifying the day before the race when all the drivers are out and about, so you’d have to plan on being at the track both days.
I’ve been to 18 cup races, and racinchikki pretty much said it all. All I have to have to add is that is no glass allowed in. NONE. A girl I took for a weekend at Charlotte had a case of Coronas sitting on her porch, needless to say, we had to hit the store on the way. You can also take a cooler in but not much more than anything that would hold a six pack. As far as the tickets go, this is the best advice I can give, don’t be cheap. Spending an extra $20 a ticket will make your experience much more enjoyable (the higher the better). Try to get in the front stretch if you are at a track that doesn’t have pit stops on the back stretch, that is a really important part of racing. Like racinchikki said, if it is just you and her, don’t be afraid to make friends. 99% of the people will be there are looking to have a great time and are usually very hospitable. Damn, I guess I did have a little to add.
What racinchikki said.
My preference is for the bigger tracks because the sound of the cars is so much different. I prefer ovals to road cources because even at the super speedways you can see the entire oval whereas you miss a lot of action at a road course.
Love the cars rattling my rib cage as they thunder by.
I second the motion for pit passes - especially if you’ve never been to a race before.
Also second the motion on seeing qualifying and practice.
Have fun!!
Can I go too? I am a huge NASCAR fan but unfortunately live in Outer Slobolia (the Seattle area) and none of the big 3 NASCAR series come to this neck of the woods. We had the Craftsman Truck Series come up here for 5 years and I did not miss any of the races, but the trucks just isn’t Winston Cup. Occasionally a Winston Cup driver will drive in a Winston West race at Evergreen Speedway but it is not the same. I was an almost attendee of the 1993 race at Phoenix. I went to work as a crew member for Ernie Cope but he did not qualify for the race and we had to leave before the race started. When I was 8 my dad took me to the Grand National (pre WC) race at Riverside but I don’t remember much.
Thanks to you all for the tips and advice.
I will 3rd the get a pit pass advice. Great fun.
I’ve been to 2 NASCAR races and one ARCA/NASCAR practice. Talladega sucks in the summer time. 100,000+ people on aluminium bleachers packed in like sardines in 110 degree weather drinking piss warm beer. On the other hand sitting on top of the Hooters transport truck watching the last race of the year in Atlanta wearing Hooters pit crew pants* is a blast. I was able to walk right up and touch all the NASCAR cars on saturday after happy hour (except the number 3 car, it was roped off). Saw plenty of NASCAR drivers including the King. Get a pit pass and show up early.
*We showed up on Saturday to watch the ARCA race. My ex-Father in Law used to work for Loy Allen Jr’s dad and knew Loy pretty well. We were wondering around the infield looking at all the trucks selling team gear and we saw Loy Allen Jr and he got us in the pits. I was wearing shorts. You can’t wear shorts in the pits so I was loaned a pair of Hooters Pit Crew pants. I got to change in the drivers dressing room of the transport. Very nice.
The headsets mentioned by JessEnigma are wireless headset radios, for listening to the radio coverage of the race. They’re really useful, and not too expensive if you pick them up at Walmart in your hometown (do NOT buy the branded ones at the track; they’re overpriced). The loudness of the cars makes it so you can’t hear the race callers well over the loudspeakers except during cautions, and having the radios will both block some of the sound and allow you to listen to the race callers on the air. Take the headsets off during the radio’s commercial breaks and you can still listen to the commentary over the track’s loudspeakers. The headsets are also fun during the pre-race festivities, because for a while there’s nothing going on on-track besides parades of local firetruck companies and the rolling public service announcement (when I went, they were stressing the “blind spots” of semi trucks by having a Mack drive around the track with cop cars driving just outside of its blind spots, showing you where it’s safe to follow). But if you have the radio, you can listen to last-minute interviews of the drivers in the pits that don’t make it onto the loudspeaker.
I didn’t have a pit pass when I went, but next time I go to Richmond I’m getting some from an uncle who works for Elliott Sadler’s father’s car dealership. Sadler just happens to be my favorite driver, so it will be fun. It probably won’t be until '04, though.
Let me just say now: If you ever get a shot at tickets for Bristol, take them. I’ve been to 9 or 10 races at Bristol (spring, sadly) and it’s the most fun I’ve had at a sporting event. In fact, I’m going back in 2003 (my family has tickets).
As for going, here’s the important things I always take:
-brianjedi