Race pics and experiences

[kkfan91]

Was at Pocono today didnt realize I'd actually got a good part of the big wreck on video skip to the 2:30 mark for the crash

 

[kkfan91]

 

[Speedbowl14]

I was at Bristol the whole weekend Wednesday night-Sunday AM. I have been to Bristol for the Short Track Nationals the past two years but never a Cup race there. My buddy and I camped at what is a town park two miles from the track only for tents. The place was off-the-hook the whole weekend. Friday and Saturday night it was at capacity and we partied into the night at 2am.

With the crazy heat we bought a kiddie pool at Walmart which turned into a very good investment. Being outside all day with temps in the 80s and low 90s you'd sweat the whole day and obviously there's nowhere to go for AC. It was nice to go in for a dip once in a while and drink a cold one.

The only Cup races I've been to are Dover, New Hampshire, and Pocono...not a large sampling but big enough to say that what Bristol has for fan experiences outside the track are top-notch in this sport. Monster truck rides, canoes on the little stream by the track, ATV test rides, bull fighting, souvenir tent after souvenir tent, cornhole EVERYWHERE, driving simulators...I even rode a mechanical bull. All this for free. Even being there the whole weekend and spending a solid 2-3 hours at the track before each race I still didn't see everything.

Truck race I sat on the frontstretch, Xfinity I sat in turn 3, and for the Cup race we were at the end of the backstretch. My advice for prospective ticket buyers- sit above row 15 but below where the terrace seats start (the red seats). IMO, the red seats while more comfortable and expensive are too high. And DO NOT buy the garbage seats in the Earnhardt Terrace where you'll need your own oxygen tank they're so damn high.

The racing all weekend was spectacular. Every race exceeded expectations. When Matt D did his post-race interview for the track he got a huuuuge applause and he got all choked up. What a special night and an awesome place. I really hope I can make it back but it won't be next year unfortunately.

 

[2 Sweet]

I'm so jealous of you guys that go camping at the track. That sounds like such a fun time. I wish I would've experienced it myself in my single days. My wife doesn't like tent camping and I can't go to a race without her or she'd kill me, since she's a big fan too. I really need to invest in a camper, maybe a cheap pop-up or something.

 

[Speedbowl14]

I'm so jealous of you guys that go camping at the track. That sounds like such a fun time. I wish I would've experienced it myself in my single days. My wife doesn't like tent camping and I can't go to a race without her or she'd kill me, since she's a big fan too. I really need to invest in a camper, maybe a cheap pop-up or something.

I too would like to get a small RV. Unfortunately the financial commitment is just astronomically high, but camping in a tent is fun and dirt cheap. Like I said in another thread...I forgot my tent poles at home and had to buy a new tent in Bristol...$35. Throw in some camp chairs, a small grill, air mattress, a $130 shade tent, and some cheap cookware picked up at the second-hand store and you're good to go. Even if you have literally none of that stuff the investment will pay off in one race week with hotel prices over $150 a night.

RV's on the other hand are totally different. Even a small used trailer that's 15ft will set you back $5-8k used. Now you need a vehicle that can tow 3,000 pounds, preferably at least 5,000. Unless you're using it 5+ times a year it's tough to justify an investment of at least $15k with high annual recurring costs like insurance, tax, and maintenance.

My family used to have a pop-up camper that we'd take on 2-4 trips a year (roughly 15 nights a year in the camper). Once our Pontiac Aztek finally quit it just wasn't feasible to buy another large car with gas prices and insurance much greater than when we bought the camper/car 15+ years ago.

 

[Cholo]

Pros and cons to an RV / Trailer. I have a 26 foot trailer that I took to Daytona and Kansas but it's also a lot of work. For the Bristol race didn't have a ton of time off so just threw cooler, chairs, fire pit and a **** ton of beer in my pickup and drove up. The best times I've had at a track have always been in the tent lots.

 

[Cholo]

 

[Cholo]

No pool but that's a great idea for next time. Did get pretty hot sitting around day drinking.

 

[Bob]

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I went to Indy at Pocono in '16 I believe (may have been '17 I forget but) Will Power won that one too. I don't know anything about Indy other than having been to one race, the speed they take around those corners is not to be believed. Saw maybe 40 NASCAR races at Pocono but you don't see anything like the speeds they get in Indy cars. Sad to see the place so empty for the event. I say that because although not a fan of Indy racing I remain a fan of Pocono. They always treated me well as a customer. I would not like to see them lose an Indy race but I don't know what kind of deal they have with Indy.

 

[aunty dive]

Great pictures and observations, gentlemen.

I’m impressed.

 

[10-4]

Might be a little off topic but I figured this would be a good place to ask instead of starting a thread. Can anybody recommend good seats at Talladega? Any good parking areas, we dont mind paying to park but would prefer if we did that when we are leaving it's in a good location where we can get out on the highway quickly. If that makes any sense. I remember we parked for free at Atlanta one time back in 2013 and it seemed like it was about 2 hours of creeping stop and go to get out of there. That's what we'd prefer to avoid if possible if we pay to park somewhere.

 

[Stu Jameson]

Might be a little off topic but I figured this would be a good place to ask instead of starting a thread. Can anybody recommend good seats at Talladega? Any good parking areas, we dont mind paying to park but would prefer if we did that when we are leaving it's in a good location where we can get out on the highway quickly. If that makes any sense. I remember we parked for free at Atlanta one time back in 2013 and it seemed like it was about 2 hours of creeping stop and go to get out of there. That's what we'd prefer to avoid if possible if we pay to park somewhere.

Sorry for the size. If there were 100k seats and 100k members here you would get 100k different replies. After attending races at Talladega since 1969 and sitting in virtually every section at least once I now always look for tickets in the areas marked on the turn 4 stands. The first time I sat there was due to comp tickets I received and a what the heck they're free attitude. The cars coming thru 3 and 4 look like they are headed straight to you and it is one of the best visual and audio experiences I can remember at any track. One of the things I enjoy is when they get ready to pit this is where they start the transition. Last time I was there there was a gigantic big screen in front of us and when you lose sight of the cars as they exit the tri-oval you can quickly turn to the tv to see them past the start line. As far as parking, anywhere near a tram will get you where you need to be and 2 years ago I was able to get into the parking area right by the first entrance which is directly behind the stands where those seats are and we had a very short walk to the seats. As far as the tram goes I have parked up to a mile away from where I needed to enter and the tram got us where we needed to be in a matter of minutes. I no longer worry about traffic as the state closes all or at least enough lanes to get you in, and more importantly out, efficiently. Leaving on Speedway Blvd.you can exit going east towards Atlanta or west towards Birmingham but its tricky.Once you commit they will not let you turn around to go the other way. Long-winded but I hope helpful.

 

[Stu Jameson]

Might be a little off topic but I figured this would be a good place to ask instead of starting a thread. Can anybody recommend good seats at Talladega? Any good parking areas, we dont mind paying to park but would prefer if we did that when we are leaving it's in a good location where we can get out on the highway quickly. If that makes any sense. I remember we parked for free at Atlanta one time back in 2013 and it seemed like it was about 2 hours of creeping stop and go to get out of there. That's what we'd prefer to avoid if possible if we pay to park somewhere.

Also,unless it changed in the last year,all of the places I have wanted to park were free.

 

[10-4]

Sorry for the size. If there were 100k seats and 100k members here you would get 100k different replies. After attending races at Talladega since 1969 and sitting in virtually every section at least once I now always look for tickets in the areas marked on the turn 4 stands. The first time I sat there was due to comp tickets I received and a what the heck they're free attitude. The cars coming thru 3 and 4 look like they are headed straight to you and it is one of the best visual and audio experiences I can remember at any track. One of the things I enjoy is when they get ready to pit this is where they start the transition. Last time I was there there was a gigantic big screen in front of us and when you lose sight of the cars as they exit the tri-oval you can quickly turn to the tv to see them past the start line. As far as parking, anywhere near a tram will get you where you need to be and 2 years ago I was able to get into the parking area right by the first entrance which is directly behind the stands where those seats are and we had a very short walk to the seats. As far as the tram goes I have parked up to a mile away from where I needed to enter and the tram got us where we needed to be in a matter of minutes. I no longer worry about traffic as the state closes all or at least enough lanes to get you in, and more importantly out, efficiently. Leaving on Speedway Blvd.you can exit going east towards Atlanta or west towards Birmingham but its tricky.Once you commit they will not let you turn around to go the other way. Long-winded but I hope helpful.







View attachment 41239

That's exactly the kind of info I was looking for thanks a lot. Especially about the large tv screen the track had set up. That's surely something they set up every year. That was a big concern even though I didn't mention it in the post knowing how big the track is and you can't see a lot of it. We wondered about renting fan vision which I think is worthless at short tracks, might be ok at mile and half, and maybe more useful at a track like Talladega. Anyone ever tried fan vision? Is it worth it or just a gimmick waste of money?

 

[10-4]

Good to know they are on top of the traffic situation down there too. That's one reason I will never go back to Atlanta. Unless something has changed down there because when we went in 2013 traffic leaving the track seemed like a disorganized nightmare that wasted hours. Haven't really seen that at any other track, not even Bristol with almost 100,000 fans there.

 

[Johali]

Anyone ever tried fan vision? Is it worth it or just a gimmick waste of money?

Fanvision is different for everybody. I always rent them so that I get in-car audio/officials audio/MRN-PRN radio, race replays etc. As well as the lap stats, comers and goers etc. To me personally It's worth it.

 

[10-4]

We have our own headsets and RE3000 scanner which does all of that except for race stats, laps, and TV screen with replay. The fanvision TV screen seems like it would be a nice feature to have at a superspeedway. I suppose that'll be a race day decision for us whether or not we rent and try fanvision leaving our RC stuff in the car. Appreciate your input.

 

[racingfan7]

Fanvision is different for everybody. I always rent them so that I get in-car audio/officials audio/MRN-PRN radio, race replays etc. As well as the lap stats, comers and goers etc. To me personally It's worth it.

I like Fanvision, but the slight audio delay (vs the PA and what not) is kinda lame, I'm guessing that's the same with the scanners though?

I'm going to LVMS and will be in a section where I can see the ISM video board pretty easily so I doubt I''ll pay for Fanvision, would a scanner work better in this instance, anyone know?

 

[Clutch]

I like Fanvision, but the slight audio delay (vs the PA and what not) is kinda lame, I'm guessing that's the same with the scanners though?

I'm going to LVMS and will be in a section where I can see the ISM video board pretty easily so I doubt I''ll pay for Fanvision, would a scanner work better in this instance, anyone know?

You should stop by and see us. We're the guys and gals wearing the RE scanners.

 

[racingfan7]

You should stop by and see us. We're the guys and gals wearing the RE scanners.

I'm still trying to get the time off but I got a hot pass from Xfinity (you might be able to get one if you PM me lol). I'll keep y'all posted.

 

[kkfan91]

ASCOC at BAPS Motor Speedway

 

[Magicmiler]

 

[Magicmiler]

[

Like I said. Bristol first, then Waffle Houe.

 

[aunty dive]

I appreciate your pictures. Thanks for putting them up.

 

[gnomesayin]

A few shots from my wanderings around Portland International Raceway during the IndyCar race on 9/1:

 

[gnomesayin]

World of Outlaws with my son at Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, OR on 9/4:

 

[aunty dive]

Great pic of your son.

Big boy teeth and a real cutey. Prolly looks like his mom.

 

[gnomesayin]

Big boy teeth and a real cutey. Prolly looks like his mom.

You got that right.

 

[Charlie Spencer]

What's the trick to uploading pictures? I thought my problem was because I didn't know how to it from my phone, but I have the same issue on my desktop computer.

Thanks.

 

[Clutch]

What's the trick to uploading pictures? I thought my problem was because I didn't know how to it from my phone, but I have the same issue on my desktop computer.

Thanks.

No trick bud.....
Click on this..

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

 

[10-4]

There's a trick to it for some of us. It only accepts certain files and I don't know what kind of file my gallery pics are on a note 8 but they will not load to this forum's format.

 

[Magicmiler]

I've found that if I have a pic I want to show, I have to screenshot said pic, then upload it from screenshots in my gallery to this forum. Did that make sense? Older phone,Samsung S 7.

 

[Charlie Spencer]

No trick bud.....
Click on this..

I'm with 10-4 on this one. That's what I've been trying. I get a type of progress bar in the upper left for a few seconds, on phone or desktop, then nothing. No errors or warnings, it's like I never clicked the button in the first place.

 

[Johali]

I click on Microsoft, then Microsoft Word (I have the 2010 version but they should all work) copy and paste the picture to the word document then copy and paste it to thread reply. It's the only way that I've been able to copy and paste pictures and documents.

 

[Clutch]

Or if you see a pic on a website that you want to post.... you can just right click on it and copy image.
then control v to paste into your message.

 

[10-4]

I've found that if I have a pic I want to show, I have to screenshot said pic, then upload it from screenshots in my gallery to this forum. Did that make sense? Older phone,Samsung S 7.

Yeah that doesn't work. I'd refer you to what Charlie Spencer said.

 

[10-4]

I click on Microsoft, then Microsoft Word (I have the 2010 version but they should all work) copy and paste the picture to the word document then copy and paste it to thread reply. It's the only way that I've been able to copy and paste pictures and documents.

It's very rare that I get on my laptop. I don't even use it to run my business. I do everything on my smartphone. If I can't figure out how to post pics direct from my phone gallery it's a meh situation where I'm not going to take the time to upload pics to photobucket, or whatever equivalent these days, on my laptop. I'm too lazy to do that. Which kinda sucks cause I have a bunch of pics from the track when we go.

 

[Clutch]

It's very rare that I get on my laptop. I don't even use it to run my business. I do everything on my smartphone. If I can't figure out how to post pics direct from my phone gallery it's a meh situation where I'm not going to take the time to upload pics to photobucket, or whatever equivalent these days, on my laptop. I'm too lazy to do that. Which kinda sucks cause I have a bunch of pics from the track when we go.

Tapatalk is very helpful in this regard.

 

[Clutch]

This is on topic as we were on our way to LVMS from Los Angeles.
Our buddy Paul drove @BobbyFord and myself to Vegas and he wanted to stop for breakfast in Barstow, CA.
After we finished breakfast we went to get gas and encountered this dude that we have named Barstow Bob.

Sad, but he is a visual commentary of the times we live in....

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

 

[BobbyFord]

This is on topic as we were on our way to LVMS from Los Angeles.
Our buddy Paul drove @BobbyFord and myself to Vegas and he wanted to stop for breakfast in Barstow, CA.
After we finished breakfast we went to get gas and encountered this dude that we have named Barstow Bob.

Sad, but he is a visual commentary of the times we live in....

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

Dude was fried from sleeping in the sun.