Michigan Advice

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29-4

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My wife is leaving me before the she starts teaching again in the fall for a "girls cruise." So I'm thinking about doing something she wouldn't: drive from Milwaukee to Michigan for the day for the Michigan race. Anyone have any advice about the track? I'm cheap, so is there good free parking? Track staple foods to try? Best value seats? I see something called "The Deck" which is the cheapest available, but I'm not into the music and crap they say will be there. Has anyone gone to that?

Thanks!
 
I'm still tossing around going out. The best value seats appear to be in Turn 2. I saw top row on MIS's website for $59 which seemed very reasonable!
 
If I was in your shoes, I would go in a heartbeat. I went last August, and absolutely fell in love with that place. FREAKIN' GO! I walked around during Practice, and stuff and couldn't find a bad seat. GO!!!!! Not going this year because of the later date, but I will be back next year, and I cannot wait.
 
I used to go there twice a year. You can park at the track ( or at least in the past they let you) just plan a tailgate party afterwards, It takes hours to get out of the lot. best seats were on the front stretch about 500 feet before the start finish line. 3/4 the way up the stands. halfway thru the race your in the shade. Its usually very hot in August and the air flow is not existent. No glass allowed in the stands as usual. Cooler sizes are limited. Call the track for info, they will fill you in and you will speak to a real person instead of a computer. Get there early and tailgate before as well. They used to let you walk from turn 1 to almost turn 4 right next to the track which was pretty kewl. They dont allow that anymore. I have no idea if its a sell out, I doubt it, so tickets are available. Try to get there by 10- am. Otherwise you might miss the start of the race. It in a small town and basically only 1 road to get in and out and its busy. sun screen for sure.
 
Revman said:
If I was in your shoes, I would go in a heartbeat. I went last August, and absolutely fell in love with that place. FREAKIN' GO! I walked around during Practice, and stuff and couldn't find a bad seat. GO!!!!! Not going this year because of the later date, but I will be back next year, and I cannot wait.
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My only other real choice is Chicago, but I generally think I'll prefer Michigan. Kinda cool to get to go to a track I've been seeing since I was a little kid rather than one that's only been around for a decade, after all.
 
29-4 said:
My only other real choice is Chicago, but I generally think I'll prefer Michigan. Kinda cool to get to go to a track I've been seeing since I was a little kid rather than one that's only been around for a decade, after all.
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I went there in a similar situation last August. Wife and son were busy, and I jumped on a plane and went for it. I like the 2 mile open motor tracks--power and reliability so huge--the TRD thing in me. I couldn't believe what I found there. Beautiful state. Didn't mind the difficulty of getting out of the track because I took the long way back to the hotel anyway--such a beautiful drive. The people at the track were off the charts awesome. The people I sat with were hugely knowledgeable--didn't like my TRD slant on things, but were kind and classy. In honesty, I am jealous. I want to be there this year. Going to a Chase race instead....
 
rocket dawg said:
I used to go there twice a year. You can park at the track ( or at least in the past they let you) just plan a tailgate party afterwards, It takes hours to get out of the lot. best seats were on the front stretch about 500 feet before the start finish line. 3/4 the way up the stands. halfway thru the race your in the shade. Its usually very hot in August and the air flow is not existent. No glass allowed in the stands as usual. Cooler sizes are limited. Call the track for info, they will fill you in and you will speak to a real person instead of a computer. Get there early and tailgate before as well. They used to let you walk from turn 1 to almost turn 4 right next to the track which was pretty kewl. They dont allow that anymore. I have no idea if its a sell out, I doubt it, so tickets are available. Try to get there by 10- am. Otherwise you might miss the start of the race. It in a small town and basically only 1 road to get in and out and its busy. sun screen for sure.
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I absolutely loved Michigan too! It's easily my favorite track that I've been to!

When we went in 2003 and 2004 there was little trouble with traffic all things considered. We stayed in the Ann Arbor area both years. I'll definitely second how hot is in August! We fried! My biggest issue with going this year is weather. I had to drive back Monday so a rain out will mean I'll miss the race. I've already dealt with two rainouts this year at Pocono....
 
KodiakRusty89 said:
I absolutely loved Michigan too! It's easily my favorite track that I've been to!

When we went in 2003 and 2004 there was little trouble with traffic all things considered. We stayed in the Ann Arbor area both years. I'll definitely second how hot is in August! We fried! My biggest issue with going this year is weather. I had to drive back Monday so a rain out will mean I'll miss the race. I've already dealt with two rainouts this year at Pocono....
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I will be waiting until I can see the 5-7 day forecast to be sure. I don't want to take a day off work. One nice thing about races not selling out anymore is you can afford to this if it's within driving distance.
 
29-4 said:
I will be waiting until I can see the 5-7 day forecast to be sure. I don't want to take a day off work. One nice thing about races not selling out anymore is you can afford to this if it's within driving distance.
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It's amazing how easy it is to get tickets now. We use to renew our Dover and Pocono tickets 10-14 months prior to the event to ensure we kept our seats. We had the same ones at Dover for 20 years.

I already took a half day Saturday and off on Sunday/Monday the weekend of the Michigan race. Hopefully the weather cooperates so I can justify the drive out. This would be my third trip to Michigan in less than a year. I played golf outside of Traverse City in early May and went to the Eagles-Lion game on Thanksgiving last November. I really like the state!
 
Go to MIS, Sit in turn 1 or in the main grandstands at Pit exit. Park on the south lot (across US 12, NOT at the track lots. it's free, and you'll get out faster). Take the tram from there. Or walk.

It's hot. Enjoy.
 
I'm going to go to Michigan someday. I just don't want to drive there by myself. It's only about a 3 1/2 hour drive but I just don't want to go alone.
 
KodiakRusty89 said:
I absolutely loved Michigan too! It's easily my favorite track that I've been to!

When we went in 2003 and 2004 there was little trouble with traffic all things considered. We stayed in the Ann Arbor area both years. I'll definitely second how hot is in August! We fried! My biggest issue with going this year is weather. I had to drive back Monday so a rain out will mean I'll miss the race. I've already dealt with two rainouts this year at Pocono....
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I stayed in Ann Arbor as well. Awesome place!
 
I'm still 50/50 on going out to Michigan. I want to go the Indy Car race at Pocono this week but once again weather might be an issue, ugh...

Anyone else pull the trigger on Michigan tickets?
 
I'm watching the weather on a daily basis. Right now, it's says 30% chance of rain in the morning. Waiting a few more days to get clarity on the forecast before I commit (why can't it just say a sunny day for once?! This is three races in a row with questions about the weather for me :mad:)
 
29-4 said:
I'm watching the weather on a daily basis. Right now, it's says 30% chance of rain in the morning. Waiting a few more days to get clarity on the forecast before I commit (why can't it just say a sunny day for once?! This is three races in a row with questions about the weather for me :mad:)
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I just started looking at the long term forecast today. Right now they have it humid with a chance of tstorm/showers. Hopefully it's sunny and no chance of rain by next Wednesday. I have my rental car reserved. The weather will dictate if I'm going to the race of heading up to New England golfing.

I've had horrible luck with weather this year. Two Monday races and a washout at the US Open.
 
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Weather for Sunday is still looking a little dicey! This sucks! I still haven't pulled the trigger on a ticket...
 
So....I went ahead and did it on Tuesday afternoon when the forecast said sunny. By Tuesday evening, it said 50% chance of rain. I'm a bit annoyed needless to say. I will more than likely drive over and hang out all day now in the hopes that I get lucky, but I'm so tired of dealing with bad weather every.single.time. I go to a race.
 
29-4 said:
So....I went ahead and did it on Tuesday afternoon when the forecast said sunny. By Tuesday evening, it said 50% chance of rain. I'm a bit annoyed needless to say. I will more than likely drive over and hang out all day now in the hopes that I get lucky, but I'm so tired of dealing with bad weather every.single.time. I go to a race.
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I had a year like that but instead of rain, every race I went to was won by Jeff Gordon. :D
 
Here I am, been talking about going to Michigan but I won't be here next year. I'll be in the Pacific Northwest.
 
I think I'm ultimately going to pull the trigger tomorrow if the forecast stays about the same. There's definitely going to some thunderstorms around given the heat and humidity but I'm fairly confident they'll get 400 mile in. The days are still pretty long out there so they can run until 7:30 or so without much trouble imo.
 
Forecast is better now, so I'd go for it. My main reason for pulling the trigger on Tuesday was a lot of the higher up seats (st least in turn one) were filling up.
 
29-4 said:
Forecast is better now, so I'd go for it. My main reason for pulling the trigger on Tuesday was a lot of the higher up seats (st least in turn one) were filling up.
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I'm going to call the track tomorrow morning and see what I can dig up. I only need a single so it should be pretty easy to grab a great seat up top!
 
If you are willing to make the trip, you will be able to easily get some choice tickets right outside the gate for <70% of face especially if you are flying solo. If you are bringing some strange and you need a 2nd then you will still be able to get a good deal (less than face) but not as great of a location.
 
JD McNugent said:
If you are willing to make the trip, you will be able to easily get some choice tickets right outside the gate for <70% of face especially if you are flying solo. If you are bringing some strange and you need a 2nd then you will still be able to get a good deal (less than face) but not as great of a location.
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Dangit McNugent, where were you earlier this week?!:D
 
I considered going the scalp route but for some reason I actually feel bad for some of these tracks so I went through the ticket office. In hindsight maybe I should have went the scalp route. My $59 ticket a month ago is now $79. Plus, another $15 service fee! Owell, hopefully MIS puts my money to good use. I'll be in section 53 at the top! Hopefully the weather cooperates! I've hedged my bets. If 4/5 of my races this year get rained out you might see me jump off of section 53....

This was my most expensive ticket this year. My June Pocono ticket was $45 (bought at the gate on Monday), Kentucky was $66 after fees and August Pocono was $88 after fees.
 
I put my ticket up for sale on StubHub. Looking more and more like a washout. I seriously may stick to sports where weather isn't an issue.
 
29-4 said:
I put my ticket up for sale on StubHub. Looking more and more like a washout. I seriously may stick to sports where weather isn't an issue.
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I'm trying to figure out what weather you're looking at? Everything I see (accuweather/ weather.com/weather.gov) is a slight(20-30%) chance of thunderstorms in the morning as the warm front passes through then sunny and hot in afternoon. I've been pretty jaded by the weather too but I'm not at all worried for Sunday. It's going to be a great summer day for racing!
 
KodiakRusty89 said:
I'm trying to figure out what weather you're looking at? Everything I see (accuweather/ weather.com/weather.gov) is a slight(20-30%) chance of thunderstorms in the morning as the warm front passes through then sunny and hot in afternoon. I've been pretty jaded by the weather too but I'm not at all worried for Sunday. It's going to be a great summer day for racing!
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I've been looking at weather.com. I'm guessing one ticket won't sell, so I'll probably be there hoping your forecast is the better one!
 
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