Experiences at/with the Track Discussion

[DPawlak]

...and to think tracks that could fill the seats have lost a race or two in efforts to expand to some places (Chicago) that can't fill the stands.

Tracks are practically trying to just about give tickets away.I believe I read that this is the first time it wasn't a sell out. Made getting out of there easier. I was home in half an hour.

dave

 

[Enter Sandman]

Tracks are practically trying to just about give tickets away.I believe I read that this is the first time it wasn't a sell out. Made getting out of there easier. I was home in half an hour.

dave

Sweet, in Loudon in September it takes a couple hours to get out of the track, then another to get back to the hotel. Of course, I get to the track early to go in the infield so I'm parked closer to the track than the road. It's still plenty fun though. Ads on TV have tickets to the September Loudon race as low as $39 now. Keeping the seats I have is worth paying more for though, good seats close to the action.

 

[instantCLASSIC]

Ooh, don't get me started on parking issues at tracks. Went to Texas in 05 (Biffle won) and it took me 6 HOURS to get back to the hotel. Race ended @ 4. We spent an hour in our parking spot waiting to back out. Then the other 5 inching along out of the parking spot, onto Lone Star Circle and making it to the freeway at about 8? Then trying to drive down this small highway to get back south to Arlington. SHEESH.

Went to Vegas last year, and it was PERFECT. Got the reserved parking, race ended. Hung out for a bit. When I went to leave, it only took me 30 minutes to get back to the MGM Grand.

Vegas is a must if you're going to a NASCAR race. Great, great weekend.

EDIT: 301st post! what was my 300th? ah well.

 

[88fan]

You know an easier way to get out is to wreck Jr.........seriously i went to the shootout and it was packed and i mean packed.......around lap 50 or so Jr got into a wreck half of the entire audience left!! Ill see if i can find a picture of Before and After.

 

[Janitor Dave]

Out of my family's three trips to the October race in Martinsville, I'd say that it took the longest (5 hours, Oct. 07) to get home. Getting out of there took a while in 2007, but in '08, it was nothing. Of course, we took another route (there's a crap-load of roads getting outta there), so that factors in as well. And the fact that I live 117 miles from Martinsville Speedway, too.

P.S. In 2008, I got to watch a couple of drunk rednecks argue about one of them almost tagging the side of the other's truck... kept me entertained for a few minutes.

 

[JMH714]

Ooh, don't get me started on parking issues at tracks. Went to Texas in 05 (Biffle won) and it took me 6 HOURS to get back to the hotel. Race ended @ 4. We spent an hour in our parking spot waiting to back out. Then the other 5 inching along out of the parking spot, onto Lone Star Circle and making it to the freeway at about 8? Then trying to drive down this small highway to get back south to Arlington. SHEESH.

Went to Vegas last year, and it was PERFECT. Got the reserved parking, race ended. Hung out for a bit. When I went to leave, it only took me 30 minutes to get back to the MGM Grand.

Vegas is a must if you're going to a NASCAR race. Great, great weekend.

EDIT: 301st post! what was my 300th? ah well.

Meh. I had worse experience -

I took train to go to Auto Club Speedway for my first time (Feburary last year) - I thought it would be easier because the train station is 1/2 miles from here and it stops right at back stretch of Auto Club Speedway and I don't have to worry about parking there.

Anyways, as you know it rained out, the train REFUSED to leave till an hour after race or NASCAR officially call it quit. We waited at train from 7 pm till midnight and NASCAR finally announced they will move the race till the next day. Our train finally left about 2 am and I got home 3 am. :arghh:

Many fans in train were completely pissed off at NASCAR for being stubborn trying to dry the track at late night.

 

[Enter Sandman]

P.S. In 2008, I got to watch a couple of drunk rednecks argue about one of them almost tagging the side of the other's truck... kept me entertained for a few minutes.

That just reminded me of the dude in Loudon last year who was standing in the back of his making a blow-up doll wave at everyone on the way out of the track. That was funny. Somewhat disturbing, but funny.

 

[DPawlak]

If I wanted to I probably could have rode my bicycle... but my cooler is too big.

Dave

 

[beatnik]

Out of my family's three trips to the October race in Martinsville, I'd say that it took the longest (5 hours, Oct. 07) to get home. Getting out of there took a while in 2007, but in '08, it was nothing. Of course, we took another route (there's a crap-load of roads getting outta there), so that factors in as well. And the fact that I live 117 miles from Martinsville Speedway, too.

P.S. In 2008, I got to watch a couple of drunk rednecks argue about one of them almost tagging the side of the other's truck... kept me entertained for a few minutes.

Yeah Martinsville is garbage for trying to leave. First you get trampeled as you go to the gates, then trying to pull out of the "parking" mud you are stuck behind everyone with a 4 cyclinder car who are in pretty deep. Then after that you get directed onto the most narrow and longest road...

Basically it's a huge cluster pup.

 

[MattSRD28]

Moved these posts out of the Chicagoland thread because I thought it was a really cool discussion that deserved its own thread.

Have you had any interesting experiences at a NASCAR track? Share them here!

This includes, but is not limited to, how much you, or others, are paying to have experiences at a NASCAR track.

Tracking how racetracks charge for tickets, etc, has always been an exercise in "huh?? :err:" but now it's becoming downright NUTTY!

Check out what Phoenix has decided to do:

Phoenix offers $25 Reserved seats for November Cup race: Phoenix International Raceway is offering a $25 reserved seat to fans for the Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 Presented by Pennzoil on November 15 – an unprecedented value to watch the semifinal race in NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup. Beyond the hard-charging Sprint Cup action of the Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500, fans can secure three full nights of NASCAR action for a mere $47 by purchasing the NASCAR Extreme Value Ticket Package. PIR is offering a $15 reserved seat to its Nationwide Series race on Saturday, November 14 and a $7 reserved seat for the Lucas Oil 150 in the Camping World Truck Series on Friday, November 13. PIR kicks off the November race weekend with grassroots USAC racing as part of the famed Copper World Classic on Thursday, November 12. Tickets for the November NASCAR event weekend at Phoenix International Raceway are available now by calling 1-866-408-RACE (7223) or visiting www.phoenixraceway.com.(PIR)(7-13-2009)

A Cup race for $25?????

Nationwide for $15! Trucks for $7!!!!!

This is CRAZY!!! If you've never been to a NASCAR race, maybe THIS is your chance! If you think flying to Phoenix, getting hotel, etc is expensive, just consider how much you're NOT paying in that ticket to those races! This is just absolute insanity, and it really deserves to be taken advantage of.

 

[Enter Sandman]

That's some incredible pricing dude. The hotel prices haven't gone down any though. Since I couldn't exactly make the hotel stay cost less for this year's race what with the reduced income on the workshare program I had to cut out the infield passes for $100 each, along with heading up to NH on Thursday so I could be at the track first thing Friday morning. Between the hotel, tickets, gas, food, and souveniers I think I ended up dropping $2000 or so last September for two people.

 

[David24]

man those tix are CHEAP!!!

ive been to the fontana race twice '98 & '01. it was pretty cool but tbh wouldnt going to any cup race be awesome?!?!
i would love to go to another one soon but money is an issue and the closest track to me is infineon

 

[MattSRD28]

Then I heard something about Southwest Airlines offering flights from San Francisco to SoCal for $9??!!!?!!

What is going on here?

 

[Enter Sandman]

With the number of airliners dropping out of the sky on the news lately I'm sure alot more people aren't flying to go with the economy..........I know I wouldn't be caught dead on one of those planes now.

 

[waltrip55]

Ooh, don't get me started on parking issues at tracks. Went to Texas in 05 (Biffle won) and it took me 6 HOURS to get back to the hotel. Race ended @ 4. We spent an hour in our parking spot waiting to back out. Then the other 5 inching along out of the parking spot, onto Lone Star Circle and making it to the freeway at about 8? Then trying to drive down this small highway to get back south to Arlington. SHEESH.

Went to Vegas last year, and it was PERFECT. Got the reserved parking, race ended. Hung out for a bit. When I went to leave, it only took me 30 minutes to get back to the MGM Grand.

Vegas is a must if you're going to a NASCAR race. Great, great weekend.

EDIT: 301st post! what was my 300th? ah well.

lol i went to texas 05 too took me 30min to get on the open road go north LOT FASTER THAN TURN OFF AND TAKE SOME BACK ROADS WENT LAST YEAR TOOK 10 MIN TO GET OUT BTW PARK ON BACKSTECH OR TURN 4

 

[NDilbeckWx]

When we went to the Daytona 500 last year, we left our home in Bluffton, SC at 3am, and got there at around 6:30 or 7. Parking wasn't a problem, since we we're directed to the spot. We got on the shuttle from the parking lot (the one off of Clyde Morris Blvd). We got to the track early and we're there, literally all day. After the race the fun part began. I told my dad that we should wait about 15-30 minutes before we decided to leave. This based on our Atlanta expirence in which the race finished around 5pm, and didn't leave the track until about 8 or 9, and then didn't get home till after midnight (we lived about 30mins out of Atlanta in '01). My dad insisted that we continue. well we weaved our way as quick as possible to the ped bridge to get back to the shuttles. During this time we had to dodge unknown liquids falling through the stands above. I was glad that by the time we made it to the pedestrian bridge, there was more room to walk, especially since we had to come right through the tri oval area where the biggest mass of fans were. Best still once we got to the shuttle, there was a line that went from the loading area, all the way almost to the pedestrian bridge. We waited for what I estimate at about 1 1/2- 2 hours waiting on that line to get shorter in front of us. What really pissed me off is the fact that up until we got to the moveable fences, did they start letting people go farther down to another loading area. If they did that in the first place we'd been out of there hours earlier. Once we got to the parking lot things were pretty hectic at first, but sorted out I guess, and got out of the lot within about 30-45 minutes. Overall it wasn't bad, compared to the Atlanta disaster

 

[Enter Sandman]

Unknown liquids.........I remember that very well from Loudon. Of course, there was rain at the same time so who knows which was rain drainage, beer dumpage, cooler dumpage, or the inability to wait for a bathroom.