*However, keep in mind that these tips are based off of Memorial Day weekend; therefore, there may be changes if you attend the NASCAR races in October!
1. Try to stay off 77 -- There were many times when traffic would come to a
complete stop for no reason. Everyone would just bunch up for a couple
of miles. A trip from our hotel to the track that was supposed to take
thirty minutes actually took over an hour. I was told this was not
because of track traffic -- it's like this all the time! This is why I
suggest finding a way to the track that avoids 77. We found a way around
it (I shall not give away our secrets!); therefore, it is possible! It
made the trip easier and quicker.
2. Parking -- Park in a free lot! Charlotte Motor Speedway offers a lot of parking space, which is great. For Thursday night qualifying, all of the parking lots were free so you could park relatively close to the gates. On Saturday and Sunday, the lots closer to the gates were not free. However, there were free parking lots that were a bit further away. It's not *too* far of a walk; plus, there were shuttles that took you closer to the gates. Supposedly, the shuttles run after the races, as well (I say supposedly because I only saw shuttles taking fans back to the campgrounds -- not the parking lots -- but it is possible we just missed the shuttles that were taking people back to their cars). But like I said, it isn't too long of a walk (especially if you get there early)!
3. Walk the track -- On Friday, Charlotte Motor Speedway offered a track walk to individuals who had purchased a ticket to the Coca-Cola 600, as well as the opportunity to play games, spend time with fellow fans, and drink ice-cold Coca-Cola before and after the walk (or during, if you decided not to walk the track). In addition to walking the 1.5-mile long track, fans were visited by drivers sponsored by Coca-Cola, including Danica Patrick, Elliott Sadler, Bubba Wallace, and Tony Stewart. Now, I'm not the type of person who walks 1.5 miles every day so I was a bit weary. If you aren't that type of person either, I promise you that it is not strenuous! You walk slowly, and you even stop every now and then. It was a lot of fun!
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| A photo from the track walk at Charlotte Motor Speedway. |
4. Arrive early on Sunday -- As mentioned, arriving early is great for getting a reasonable parking spot in the free lots. When we looked at our schedule, we saw that the gates didn't open until 12:30 p.m.; however, the Fan Zone opened at 10:00 a.m. I strongly suggest arriving early to spend time in the Fan Zone. Holy cow -- there's so much to do. Vendors, games, driver appearances -- not to mention the infamous, race-day tweetup. Plus, once the gates opened, Charlotte Motor Speedway even had the Indy 500 playing on the big screen (I appreciated that)!
5. Go to The Dirt Track at Charlotte (and bring goggles!) -- We decided to include tickets to The Dirt Track races in our ticket package, and I'm sure glad we did. There's not much that beats dirt track racing. You don't really need to bring goggles, but it's not a bad idea. This was my first time at a dirt track, and I was not expecting it bother my eyes as much as it did. (Maybe I'm just wimpy!) Either way, it's definitely worth including.
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| The Dirt Track at Charlotte |
Thank you, Charlotte Motor Speedway, for a wonderful time!
I've always wanted to go to a Charlotte race! The smell of race fuel burning is awesome. I'm sure it smells like that big time at this race.
ReplyDeleteWill Jenkins | http://unitedoil.net/race_fuels.htm