2023 Coca Cola 600
After years of waiting and watching Nascar races it finally happened!
It's Tuesday May 23rd 2023 I'm finished work and it's happening. I'm headed on my first Nascar trip.
Truck loaded it's time to boogey and 16 hours later lots of traffic and way too much caffeine.
We made it.
Now a few things I would suggest is scope out your spot ahead of time on Google maps. It'll save you a whole lot of headache and prevents you from driving around with a 40ft trailer for an hour like we watched several people do.
Now at this point I'm like a kid on Christmas and we're a few days early for racing so it's time to head to some race shops seeing how we're in the holy land of Nascar.
First shop we had hit up was JR Motorsports. Being a long time Dale Jr. fan it was cool to see the shop and take a tour and get to see the studio where his podcast is recorded and they have a small showroom where you can see into the garage but no cameras aloud!
After JRM we headed to Hendrick Motorsports which had a huge collection of cars as well as a great merch shop. You can definitely see the difference in intensity between an Xfinity Series shop and a Cup series shop.
Hendrick has a whole facility for each team security everywhere and a massive property.
We picked up some merch from Hendrick Motorsports and moved on to check out Joe Gibbs Racing which we did a quick tour of as time was getting tight for closing time.
Back at the trailer it was beer time. The weather was warm we had met some new friends and the games of Cornhole were flying by.
It was Friday now and the trailer was woken up the loudest most holy sound of all time. A V8 screaming at 7,000+ RPM at 7am my ears have never heard a more beautiful sound.
Awake and caffeinated it was time to check out some merch trailers before the crowds arrived and did I ever luck out and got a signed Noah Gragson T-shirt (Picture below is before it had it's fate sealed inside a bag never to be worn again)
At this point we had walked around for a few hours and it was beer and watch practice and qualifications on top of the trailer. With $1 bets on who would place where let's just say your boy came out $3 richer.
It was truck race time. We lumbered our way to our seats cooler full of Miller's it was time to see what we came for and I definitely wasn't disappointed.
The trucks roaring to life, the smell of rubber and race fuel. It's something you can explain but only understand when you're in the stands under the lights.
Now at this point we had figured something out. The infield shuttle is your best friend when it's muggy, hot and you've had too many beers this electric buggy is like riding in a Cadillac.
As the next morning came around the thing we dreaded the most appeared.
Rain.
Now to be fair we knew the possibility of rain was pretty high and it was never really sunny the entire time we had been there but the sky's couldn't hold off any more and it poured.
And poured more and guess what. It poured more cancelling all the events of Saturday and left us playing Nascar on the big screen in the trailer for hours on end and drinking beers.
Now after 8 hours straight of my brother and I trying to beat each other's lap times it was time to head to the concert pavilion which by the way the track offers no information on where this is or how far it is.
We got lucky and our neighbor happened to see us and give us a ride over. Now country isn't my favorite genre but seeing Kevin Harvick on stage was a pretty cool experience to get me to enjoy the concert.
Now it was Sunday. Essentially Christmas day for everyone at the track, but one problem.
RAIN still. It had rained all night and the infield was soaked, the track was soaked, but in the distance you could hear the glimmer of hope as the jet dryers screamed away trying to dry the track.
Racetime rolls around the track drying team is finishing up! Cooler is packed headsets have batteries and the hype is a real as it gets!
The prerace activities finish up in a hurry because as you can probably guess a rain cloud is closing in quickly and it's not looking good and sure enough next thing we knew we were back in the trailer waiting for Monday because the race had been postponed.
Now we had a dilemma. We all had to work Wednesday and we were going to lose one of our travel days due to the race now for next time I know to plan an extra day just incase instead of having to use a sick day.
Monday was here and the race was on! Mother nature got the rain out of her system and was it the greatest thing ever! The race was exhilarating, loud and the crowd was wild.
The checker flag flew Blayney wins it and I lose my bet because Larson ended up in the wall.
Would I do it again? 100% rain and all it was a blast.
Now what do I suggest for someone looking to do this?
- Good rain gear and a rain plan just incase.
- Plan for an extra day of travel
- Look at your camp site before showing up at the track.
- Plan to pay an arm and a leg for water a and pump out as everything is off-grid.
I hope this helps you decide to go to your first race. I would definitely suggest Charlotte the facility was very beginner friendly, facilities were always clean and it great shape and the racing was great!
Remember.
Always Outdoors.
John