I've been watching NASCAR for a few years now, after many years watching Formula 1. Not actually watching, more like having it on to accompany whatever I'm doing - on TV you miss the speed and sounds of a real race. I once had a taste of stock-car racing when I volunteered at the Edmonton Indy, and thought the thunderous sound of a V-8 pushrod engine at 9500 RPM was AMAZING.
So I'm planning to see a race - in Bristol, Tennessee ...
| 2012.08.22 |
Race Day 1: Whelen Modified and Trucks Races |
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Nikki toured me around town and the track, then left me to my own devices. Bristol lies between low rolling hills, furry with tree cover a more consistent green from the lack of darker spruces. Despite being a half-block away from a gas station on a 4-lane parkway, the noisiest time of the day was at night - the racket of critters in the creek and hills behind and trees around my lodging was much louder than even the loudest nights in my off-downtown home. There's a lotta somethin' in that darkness.
The week's races are very big business here. Already there are campers and vendor tents and parking signs lining the road to the track, and residents not making money off the race have to survive traffic jams and 160,000 fans and 40-some race crews and support and the whole circus that sets up around a major sporting event invading a town of 25,000, not all of them happily, as a meter-checker from the TVA lamented to me.
Tonight are two races that are very lightly-attended, a good introduction to Bristol Motor Speedway and what I'll have to deal with as a fan.
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Accommodations and Parking are an issue, and anyone with space along the Parkway within many miles of the track has some premium real estate for a week, for camping or parking. I pick a church I noticed yesterday as Nikki toured me around - Faith Community Fellowship - about 2 miles from the track. Their sign advertises taking donations - I figure they aren't in the busy of making money normally, so they can have mine. The fellow who easily accepted my 5 bucks gave me a commemorative Dale Earnhardt history/religous booklet. I gave it to Nikki - she said it was like a mini-Bible. From there it was a pretty easy walk along the wide shoulder of the Parkway. |
Approaching | |
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the | |
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track | |
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There's a huge parking lot and areas of grass around the track, all of which will fill with hospitality areas, large trailers selling all kinds of things, and campers barbecuing and partying it up. |
I wandered among the trinket trailers and bought an over-ear AM/FM headset for hearing protection and to hear the race commentary. Then just soaked up the space. Since I had a general admission ticket I had to walk a quarter-way around the front entrance area off the Parkway, through security, and into the understructure of the grandstands.
A side-note about security: No Glass, No Umbrellas (spoils people's view), and coolers have to be 14" max in any dimension. Coolers that can contain, unlike every other pro sports facility I've ever attended, food and beverages, including alcohol. No need to pay the facility 8 dollars for a flat draft beer in a plastic cup, or their version of food. This doesn't seem to hinder business at the many track-provided or private food/beverage booths. On to see inside the track area.
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My seat for the next
two nights is
somewhere over
there in the red
area, above the
Start/Finish line | |
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Pleeeeeenty of room for people. The Start/Finish line is to the right, and races run counter-clockwise around an infield filled with team trucks and pit areas along the straights (unique to this track). The two square structures in the foreground are used for sponsor guests, and will be filled with people for the next 2 races. |
This place is Real Big. It's not listed on Wikipedia's List of stadiums by capacity but it tops the #1 on that list by 10,000 at a maximum attendance of 160,000. It's certainly larger than any NFL or US College Football or Soccer stadium. Bristol Motor Speedway ranks as #8 on Wikipedia's List of sports venues by capacity , all of which are raceways with much longer tracks. Today it's racers and I'd be very generous in saying 10% fans. The track is a half-mile long - 6 city blocks - connected in an oval and surrounded by a lot of people in what amounts to a very tall football stadium with multiple (3 to 4) concourse levels running around the whole thing. It's 2-2/3 times larger than the 60,000-seat Commonwealth Stadium I'm used to at home.
Tonight is a double-header: NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. First up, the Whelen Modified cars. The Modified division was created at the beginning of NASCAR and acts as a minor league for entry into the NASCAR world. This race may have been televised, the Trucks race for sure. The Whelens do 150 laps.
1/3 of the seats were closed off | |
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The Whelens are the least
"stock" form, one of two
open-wheel divisions,
and often used as testbeds
for new technologies.
Wikipedia entry | |
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On lap 4 there was a crash with cars flying about. Good racing, things happen pretty quickly. The Truck race was up next, and I moved a quarter-turn to the right to watch them do 200 laps. |
pre-Start line-up | |
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43 trucks | |
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crescent moon | |
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just | |
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after | |
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Start | |
An entertaining evening of a new place and the races. My headset didn't pick up anything but the usual AM/FM drivel, and the trailer where I got them was closed by the time I got out into the warm humid night for the walk to my car. This is a BIG place all-around, so it takes some time to navigate around it, and up/down it. An easy walk back to my car, and I was enjoying a tall cold beer with the night critters on the steps of my lodging. |
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