It’s only the Nationwide series but it should be fun. Has anyone been to a race? Lots of questions, specifically if you’ve been to the track in Ontario, Ca. Any suggestions for parking? They must have off-site areas and then bus you in, right? Since it’s not the big race on Sunday, I am guessing it will be a slightly smaller crowd and maybe less of a hassle for parking. Obviously, binoculars and sunscreen are musts. What can we do about the noise? I have some foam earplugs but I imagine it is going to be crazy loud. I see a lot of people on TV at the races wearing those earphone things. Can you rent them? Do they act as radio receivers so you can hear a play by play of the race???
Any info is greatly appreciated. Please don’t rag on me for being a Nascar fan, I just discovered it a year ago and am so excited to see a race in person.
You can buy the earphone things and they give play by plays of the race, yeah. Foam earplugs won’t help much. Most people do get used to the sound though, and not everyone gets the play by play headphones - it can get expensive, though I don’t remember the prices offhand.
Bring sunscreen in case, though I’ve only been in July (Chicagoland Speedway), so not sure what late September is like.
My experiences are based on multiple trips to Bristol (and a couple of trips to Nashville), but here goes:
Get a headset radio and find the local radio affiliate carrying the race before you get to the track, so you don’t have to search for it.
Hit the merch trailers outside the track and buy seat cushions if you’re on bleachers and not in chair seats.
Get there early. Like, seriously early. If the green flag is scheduled for 1, be at the track by 9 a.m. at the latest. You have no idea how far away you’ll have to park or how bad traffic will be on the way in, so allow plenty of time. If you get in fairly easily, again, peruse the merch trailers outside or take a nap.
Take a stopwatch (if you’ve got a dual one, even better.) It’s fun to clock intervals and lap times to see if someone’s gaining or losing time, especially over the course of a run.
As was mentioned earlier, take a radio or scanner or something to keep up with what’s going on. If not, foam earplugs will help with the sound. NASCAR races don’t bother me, but Indycars have a high pitched sound that does, so I wear ear plugs for those.