First NASCAR Race (Because 'Merica)

The weekend of 10/10-10/11 I am planning to attend my first NASCAR race ever, the Saturday night 500-miler in Charlotte. While I don't really follow stock car racing at all, this has still been on the bucket list for quite some time, because what red-blooded American male doesn't love beer and v8s screaming along at 8k?

I'll be going down with my college buddy Chris and making a bit of a road trip out of the weekend as well. Our plan is to rendezvous at my place in PA on Wednesday night, then depart Thursday morning in Chris's '05 GTO, taking the scenic route down through VA, maybe stopping to do some hiking along the way, and end up in Roanoke Thursday night. Friday we'll mosey on down from Roanoke to Asheville, where we'll crash with another buddy of ours, then head to Charlotte on Saturday, watch the race, and camp out near the track.

So I guess my question for you all is what are the 'pro tips' you can offer a NASCAR novice to maximize the experience? Non-obvious items we might want to bring along? Where is the best seating at Charlotte, as we have yet to buy our tickets? Anything else?

Just let go of any preconceptions, let go, and enjoy the show. They make it look so easy from the grandstands. Meanwhile, it's a high speed 4 wheel drifting powerslide balancing act almost all the way around. Ask any of the ex-F1 or Indy pros who race there now if it's a cakewalk or not.

At every NASCAR race they have race scanner rentals. You can listen to the drivers crew chiefs and spotters all talking. You can also listen listen to the race broadcast. These races after they get going can be a bit confusing with lapped cars mixed in with the leaders especially if there are long green flag runs with no cautions to bunch up the field. You can rent scanners with a splitter and two headsets so two people can listen to the same scanner radio which is cheaper then renting two scanners. I would recomend getting tickets in the grandstands rather then just hanging out in the infield because you can see so much more. Charlotte is a great place to see your first race, I'd also recomend getting to the track as early as possible because of the traffic but there is also a lot to walk around and see in the vendor and food areas. There will also be a lot of characters as far as people watching.

Arrange your camping now--- you don't want to get there and realize all the camping spots are sold out. Race tickets will likely be easier to find.

Bring twice as much beer as you think you will need. Beer is good, beer makes friends.

Don't wear sleeves---- sleeves are for hoity-toity road racers!

Enjoy! Regardless of what the France family may tell you, Charlotte is the home of NASCAR. You are heading into the belly of the beast!

Also as Joe Gearin said Charlotte is the belly of the beast and just about all the race teams are located within 25 to 50 miles north of Charlotte (Concord/Mooresville Area)so if you are so inclined visiting the race shops can also be interesting although that whole week will be crowded.

If you wanna Hike, go Hike the Race Shop tour.Go straight to your friends and sleep there, every night , And get to the track by Sun-up.

I went to my first race at Kentucky speedway this past weekend for the xfinity series, I lucked into some free tickets. Bring hearing protection. If you aren't seated really low, go as far down as you can on a restart and a few laps in to grasp just how loud and fast these things are. They put on a fantastic show, it's much more entertaining in person than in television. Go in with an open mind and prepare to unleash your inner redneck.

Loud. Also, walk down to chicken bone alley for a while, and see if you can catch a tire in the teeth.

Oh I'm all about embracing my inner redneck, no problems there.

Joe Hearing, good call on the sleeves. Fortunately I am well prepared in that regard, as I have been wearing a sleeveless flannel in the garage recently that seems most appropriate for the occasion. There will be plenty of beer.

Campsite is booked, so we're good there. The scanner sounds cool, definitely worth checking out.

What in the hell is chicken bone alley?

Also, this is how I watch long stretches of green flag oval racing - I try to pick out one car that seems to be moving up in the field. If you get T&S on your phone it might help you in figuring out which one to watch, and i just focus on that car, watching its line, watching it set up cars for the pass, watching where it gains and loses to the car it is trying to pass.

It seems a lot more interesting to me than just staring at a corner and watching the cars whiz by.

Never been to Charlotte, but have been to Dover, Richmond, and Martinsville numerous times. Pirate is spot on about the scanner. I had my own so I had the race broadcast on one channel and several cars I was interested in on other channels. The race broadcast made it easy to follow what you were seeing(Essential at Martinsville with all the lapping). The team transmissions were very interesting, especially the pit stop strategy discussions.

The scanner headsets should take care the noise problem but you might want to take some earplugs also. As noted, get there early and walk around to check out the team trailers,etc.

Depending on your age and tolerance for college towns, Virginia Tech is in Blacksburg, VA which is about 30 miles south of Roanoke (Exit 114 off I-81 about 10 miles on US 460 West). Might be a fun place to spend the night if that's of interest. Cheaper hotels are in Christiansburg right off the interstate. You pretty much have to go through Christiansburg to get to Blacksburg from I-81. Typical small college town that doubles in size when school is in session.

Furious_E wrote: What in the hell is chicken bone alley?

Cheap seats right down at the bottom, at the exit of turn 4.

First of all....Enjoy the show. Nascar puts on the greatest overall show in all of american racing. Being part of the Chase the blood is a little hotter than if it was the spring race.

The radio scanner is definitely a good addition. The whole thing will make more sense. Listening to the tower is interesting. They definitely don't take any crap. You can also hear the who is really begging for a caution because the spotters will report again and again about debris on the track.

If you are camping near the track, ear plugs are great if you want to sleep when the rest around you are still partying. I second the suggestion to see some race shops since you've never been. I believe every sports fan should go see a NASCAR race at least once, ideally with someone who's been to more than a few.

klb67 wrote: If you are camping near the track, ear plugs are great if you want to sleep when the rest around you are still partying. I second the suggestion to see some race shops since you've never been. I believe every sports fan should go see a NASCAR race at least once, ideally with someone who's been to more than a few.

Good Show... Even the Back Markers are Pretty Darn FAST Till they wear out that first set of Tires, then they decide if they are good enough to keep playing or just go on to the House. Like BaseBall there is a lot going on out on the field, there seems to be seems Fans on here and they Have given Great Advise.have a great time

You'll have a good time. The sound is incredible. There's more passing and closer competition throughout the field than most other racing series. Tips: -As mentioned above, rent a scanner and listen to the radio broadcast (usually channel 69). It's essential for understanding who's on what strategy and keeping tabs on the race. -Pick out a couple of favorite drivers. You can choose based on hometown, car brand, sponsor, car number, paint scheme, or whatever else but having a couple of drivers to watch closely and cheer for will enhance the experience. -Most tracks let you bring your own beer and food into the stadium. This can help save money over consession pricing. -Park as far away from the track/as close to the road as possible to make your exit easier. But plan on being stuck for a while.

As Crash Dummy mentioned you can bring in a cooler with alcoholic beverages and food. Because like most stadium seating they don't give you a lot of room they limit the size of the cooler you can bring in. Not sure about Charlotte but most tracks it is no bigger then 14 x 14 x 14 inches basically the size of a 12 pack cooler. Some tracks are pickier than others enforcing the rule but if its to big and they won't let you in the alternative is to take it back to your car whuich can be a long ways. No glass! You might want to take a snack going to the concession stand takes a lot of time and crawling over people in your row is a pain.

If you bring a cooler bring a piece of rope. Hanging the cooler below your seat will free up space in what is usually a pretty tight space.

If you have Sprint phone service you get the NASCAR app for free to listen to drivers, radio broadcast, and officials. The sounds and smell of 43 screaming V8's on restarts is pretty damn awesome.

When I did the NASCAR thing I was cyber-geek: Two scanners going with a y connection, so I could listen to cars and the announcers. Got a lot of strange looks on that one. If it's a night race, those yellow "sunglasses" are great to cut the glare of the lights, and let you see the cars.

I've never watched one other than from pit road or the spotters stand, but like was said above, ear protection! And I whole heartedly recommend the scanner. What you miss on TV is hearing all the action behind the scenes, and a scanner will help with that. It's often more interesting than what is happening on track.

And yes, leave any preconceptions at home. I've been around a lot of different types of racing either as crew or a driver, and it is definitely the hardest from a crew standpoint, and takes the biggest appendages from the driver.

Of course the crowd is definitely, lets say, more tanned around the neck area, but just rip off the sleeves and grab a bud or miller and you should be fine!

As a side note, my old doctor used to also work Talladega for the races there, and the stories about the spectators was far, far more interesting than anything he worked from the driver's side. Some of the injuries they received were epic, many of course starting with alcohol and clothing optional activities!

Lots of small friendly games you can do as well to up the fun factor. Who will get 17th? Who will crash first? Highest placing ford/gm/chrysler/toyota? Drink/toast every time someone says 'america' or 'rubbin is racin' (see how many other people you can get to join you in this). to name a few.

Personally I find the teamwork and racecraft of NASCAR very interesting as well, but its usually not really the main stream of info about the races.

To Furious E Reader, How about letting everyone know how your first NASCAR experience turned out after you get back?

When everybody else stands up, stand up. Generally something interesting just happened.

Scanners, yes. Earplugs, yes.

Where in PA are you starting from?