How do you attend a NASCAR race weekend?

dpkimmel2001

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I was just curious of those of you that actually attend some of these races, how do you travel/stay when you go to these events? These races can get very expensive to attend maybe some of you out there have some cost saving methods or tips for others.

We always camp. Sometimes @ the track, other times off site. Here's a few tips/tricks that we use for some random tracks.

Bristol - You can get camping on site for as little as $99 for the week. That is the option that we use. We stay @ BMS's campground named 'The Landing'. Sites are 20' x 50'. I have purchase two sites side by side for both the spring and fall races. Sites are level, high and dry. That is a rarity @ Bristol for that price. The offer shuttles to/from the track as well as to/from the local grocery stores. It's a secure campground that is regularly patrolled by the local police. No tents allowed @ this campground.

Across the road from our campground is a private campground named Farmer Bob's. $150/site/week. Level sites are harder to find here and they are all on grass. They allow tenting for a cheaper price I believe. The have shower houses and an onsite grocery store. They also have shuttle service.

If you are not camping but you are looking for free parking. All along Rt. 394 is free. There is a place just southest of the track named Whitetop Creek Concession. It is adjacent to a soccer field and ball fields. Paved parking is free and restrooms are available. Great place to tailgate and an easy way to get in and out after the race.

Dover - They offer camping at the track but I am not sure of the cost. All are withing easy walking distance and the terrain is very flat. We stay 20 minutes south at the Delaware State Fairgrounds in Harrington, DE. $35/night with hookups. They have a casino the as well as restaurants and a horse track with onsite betting. We driver north on race day an hour before the race and park at a place called the Blue Hen Corporate Center. $20 a space with a shuttle to/from the track. The shuttle service is very fast and it drops you off and picks you up at the main gate on the front stretch. They have independent access to the toll road that borders the track. You can easily be back at you car and driving within 30 minutes of the checkered flag.

Martinsville - We've stayed @ the track and off site as well. $150 for the week with water and electric hookups at the track just outside turn #1 within a stones throw of the stands. Off the track we stay at the Salthouse Branch government park for $22/night water/electric. Lot's of room there and plenty to do.

Parking is free around the track but arrive early and stay late. Great tailgating track.

Richmond - Arrive early and stay all day tailgating outside turn #1. Great time and parking is free. Camping on site is by a waiting list. When we camp, we stay south of the track at Pocahontas State Park. The price is under $30 a night.

I'm running out of time but if you's like any info on Michigan, Pocono, Watkins Glen, Charlotte let me know. Add to the list if you have any info on these places to help people out.
 
I've been to MIS twice. my advice. rent your own port-a-jon.

I need an RV.
 
Dover-Since its only a 2 hour drive for me, my buddies and I just make it a day trip. Get up real early, park in the giant grass lot accross from the stadium for $10 and just tailgate before the race. After the race we'll ususally cook the left over food and wait out the traffic.

Richmond-Also about a two hour drive, but since its a night race that means we'll drinking for 12+ hours before the race starts. We'll just split a hotel room since no one wants to drive home after such a long day. Comes out to about $35-$40 a person for the room(4 people to a room) so its do able.

Charlotte (All Star Race) and Bristol(Fall Race)-Starting to plan those now, 99% sure we will be camping for both of those. As said in another thread, got myself an inverter generator for christmas so cant wait to use for camping purposes. So far its been great at other sporting events I have been too.
 
For Charlotte and Chicagoland I did the hotel thing. I usually stay 30-45 minutes away from the track to avoid price gouging.

If I tailgate I arrive quite early but usually I go with my kid so we generally arrive about 90 minutes before green flag. Since I live less than an hour away from MIS we take our bicycles. We ride over to the merch area and buy some things then ride back to the car to put things away. When it's time to head into the track Aiden grabs the scanner bag and I grab the cooler. We ride to the track and chain our bikes to the fence near our entrance. After the checkered flag we get to our bikes and get to the car before the other people that stayed to the end. This results in a swift exit from the lot.
 
We ride to the track and chain our bikes to the fence near our entrance. After the checkered flag we get to our bikes and get to the car before the other people that stayed to the end. This results in a swift exit from the lot.
Very cool idea.
 
I've been to Martinsville the last two seasons, and for those who don't have an RV....Danville is a great place to stay and is only about 45 minutes from the track. The 2 years we have gone we have actually found hotels willing to let us stay for only one night, which cut down on expenses. Growing up I have to so many tracks, I have been to Richmond 5 times and Bristol 3 times, and I did stay in an RV those times with my Grandfather.

I actually plan to go to Richmond for the first time in a LONG time this year in Septemeber. Any ideas for good places to stay for cheap would be nice.
 
I actually plan to go to Richmond for the first time in a LONG time this year in Septemeber. Any ideas for good places to stay for cheap would be nice.
I can't help you with the lodging but if you stay near either of these two places this is a great service. The “Park and Ride” shuttle program from downtown Richmond at the Richmond Coliseum parking lot and The Showplace parking lot on Mechanicsville Turnpike. It think that it was $5 and it worked great from the downtown location.

Try this link and scroll down to the Hotels/Motels section. No prices but all of the contact info that you could possibly ask for.

Link
 
Very cool idea.

Having a bike at the track is the next best thing to a golf cart. Being able to ride back and forth between the merch haulers to lock our goods in the car before the race saves a ton of time and energy. But you have to be careful. People will suddenly change directions and walk right in front of the bikes. I almost hit a guy once and which resulted in him unleashing a toothless tirade of politically incorrect statements about me and my driver of choice as I rode away. haha
 
Having a bike at the track is the next best thing to a golf cart. Being able to ride back and forth between the merch haulers to lock our goods in the car before the race saves a ton of time and energy. But you have to be careful. People will suddenly change directions and walk right in front of the bikes. I almost hit a guy once and which resulted in him unleashing a toothless tirade of politically incorrect statements about me and my driver of choice as I rode away. haha
I had my teeth fixed since then.
 
I actually plan to go to Richmond for the first time in a LONG time this year in Septemeber. Any ideas for good places to stay for cheap would be nice.

What's the most you'd be willing to spend per night on lodging and how far away from the track are you willing to stay?
 
What's the most you'd be willing to spend per night on lodging and how far away from the track are you willing to stay?

Usually like to stay at least with 45 minutes to an hour of driving to the track itself......I wouldn't want to go to far over $200 a night....
 
Usually like to stay at least with 45 minutes to an hour of driving to the track itself......I wouldn't want to go to far over $200 a night....

You have lots of options, then. I like to stay at Embassy Suites whenever possible. They have a great complimentary breakfast and all of their rooms are 2 room suites.

This one is only 10 miles from the track:
http://www.embassysuitesrichmond.com/
 
When I was going to 7 or 8 races a year, I always went with a tour group. They had the hotel rooms and provided bus service to and from the track. Their race tickets were always in prime areas. More expensive, but worth it to me to avoid the hassle.

Avoiding the hassle is always worth a bit of extra coin.
 
Martinsville - Greensboro NC is about 45 minutes south, dual lane most of the way. It's large enough that the hotel rates don't change much on a race weekend. I've stayed there in Holiday Inn Expresses and Hampton Inns several times for $90 - $120. It's also large enough to have things for the non-racing family members. Of the eleven tracks I've been to, M'ville has the best handicapped parking and shuttle management, but the lot usually fills by 9:30. Good views all around, but Turns 3 and 4 have the sun in your face.

Bristol - Ashville NC is about 1:15 south, interstate most of the way, dual lane where it isn't (and boy, do I appreciate that in the wee hours of an August Sunday morning). Again, large enough that the hotel rates aren't affected much and are about the same as Greensboro. To get in the handicapped parking, you must contact the track in advance for a permit. Shuttle service for handicapped is well-managed, just not quite as good as M'ville. The lot usually fills by 9:00 in the spring and 11:00 in the fall. Turn 3 stays in the shade all day; bad in the spring, great in the fall. The Wednesday races for the Trucks and a supporting series (usually Modifieds or K&N) are the best bargains in NASCAR. If you're making a long weekend of it in the fall, check into the various whitewater rafting outfits all around the area; I recommend Nantahala Outdoor Center's various facilities.

Darlington offers a military discount (50%). Sit in Brasington Tower in Turn 1; the sun may be in your face for a while, but you can see them coming at you down the front stretch and tell when they're in trouble funneling in. Wanna beat the traffic if you're coming from the west on I-20? Get off in Bishopville on US 15. Go north 12.5 miles to Lydia; turn right on Indian Branch Road. There used to be handicapped parking in several places, but now it's all consolidated behind Turn 3; get there by 10:30 or so. I'll be using that lot this May for the first time since they moved it, so I can't comment on their efficiency. It was never better than 6 or 7 out of 10. You can 'Park and Ride' from the Florence Civic Center, about 15 miles away. Don't combine the race with a spring trip to nearby Myrtle Beach unless you're a biker; a Harley festival the following week makes it tough to get a room.

Richmond - Harvick_Fan, like DPK says, the 'Park and Ride' is the way to go. I haven't been there in a while, but Petersburg used to have moderate room rates half an hour down the road

Indianapolis - don't bother.
 
When my dad and I go to a race at here at Texas, we simply drive to the track from home before the race and drive home from the track after the race. :cool: We did the same thing for Charlotte when he lived in NC for a while.

When my dad and I went to Bristol last spring, we stayed in Ashville. I would recommend the same to anyone going to Bristol (as Charlie Spencer just said; assuming you don't have an RV like dpkimmel2001).
 
When I go to races at Daytona with my finally we usually drive over early in the morning and spend the whole day at the track and drive back home afterwards. If we're there for multiple races or it ends late like the 400 we stay somewhere close like Ormond Beach or Sanford.
 
Back in the day ,we used to drive around the local area and find the motel with all the Nascar duellys parked out back.We would stay near there then head over to the bar in that motel in the evening .We got to meet lots of officials , owners , crew and a couple drivers .Best way to meet them was to send a round of drinks over to their table.
 
I think NASCAR should make this site their data-mine. I can't get over the ammount of smarts we all have here.

This is the place for THE NASCAR FAN.
 
I think NASCAR should make this site their data-mine. I can't get over the ammount of smarts we all have here.

This is the place for THE NASCAR FAN.
Or the narcissistic head case.:D
 
I live an hour away from Martinsville so I drove back home each day.

Richmond - I used to drive home to Waldorf because every hotel from Waldorf to Richmond was already booked (back when people actually went to that boring ass race).
 
I just figured that there is a wealth of knowledge here among these members. I learn something every single time I go to a race. We explore the area around the track more and more each time and always find something new to see/do. These weekends are far more than racing for my family and I. They are all mini vacations.
 
Honestly, hotel rates for Richmond have come down a lot and you'll be able to find a room for $90/night near the track. Like I said, people just don't go to that race anymore. The COT absolutely destroyed the racing there.
 
Honestly, hotel rates for Richmond have come down a lot and you'll be able to find a room for $90/night near the track. Like I said, people just don't go to that race anymore. The COT absolutely destroyed the racing there.
Their forced ticket packages didn't do them any favors either. In order to retain my seats high in the turn #1 terrace they forced us to buy the IRL weekend too. We could even give those tickets away to anyone. After a couple of years of eating the $200 ticket weekends we said bye and never looked/went back. They called us over and over since then but we've moved on.
 
Their forced ticket packages didn't do them any favors either. In order to retain my seats high in the turn #1 terrace they forced us to buy the IRL weekend too. We could even give those tickets away to anyone. After a couple of years of eating the $200 ticket weekends we said bye and never looked/went back. They called us over and over since then but we've moved on.

Yeah, I'm not a real big fan of them forcing you to buy Nationwide tickets. When I tried to get rid of my Nationwide tickets one year, I couldn't even give them away, for free. :rolleyes:
 
I didn't mind the Nationwide, that was still part of NASCAR. The IRL weekends didn't/don't interest me in the least. That was my beef with them.
 
Been to New Hampshire twice and Rockingham once. I don't remember Rockingham that well other then we were on vacation. New Hampshire, we've camped and stayed at a cheap motel the night before. Since we only go to the Cup race, we take the time to check out the merch and all that. its a great time.
 
I was just looking for more pics of our 5er that we attend races in and found this one with the deck open. We just bought this rv last fall and it's maiden voyage was to Bristol and later in the fall to Martinsville. In twelve more days it will be heading back to Bristol.

7765984060_7414b6923b_b.jpg
 
Any good places to stay at for the Eldora Trucks race? I know it's sort of in the middle of nowhere and a huge crowd is expected, so I'm wondering if I'm going to have to stay in Indianapolis or something...
 
I just figured that there is a wealth of knowledge here among these members. I learn something every single time I go to a race. We explore the area around the track more and more each time and always find something new to see/do. These weekends are far more than racing for my family and I. They are all mini vacations.
That's how I feel. I just wish the wife like racing even a little bit. The only reason we agreed on Daytona for next year is because of Disney and staying at a resort where she has something to do while Aiden and I are at the track.

Hopefully one of the chicks I date after this marriage likes racing.
 
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