Nearly every year for the past few years I've spent a weekend camping with friends at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. This is not your normal camping experience with woods, birds chirping, and relaxation. This is race weekend camping. It's not about the campground. Generally, it's not even about the race. It's about having a good time. After a couple of sub-par years, Loudon came through this year. Several improvements have been made to the track experience.
First off, let me explain racetrack camping. If you're looking for a pristine campground, this is not your place. If you camp in the track owned lots, you are faced with camping in a dirt parking lot. You are tightly packed in. There are no facilities. The advantage is that you are close to the racetrack, and if you’re looking for a party, you are close to other race fans also looking for a party. It’s more about that party and the race than it is about the camping. In order to camp at the track-owned lots you need to have a self-contained camper, and have tickets to the Sunday race.
There are several private spots to camp at different lots surrounding the track. These are mostly private landowners that allow campers for a fee for race weekend. These are not campgrounds. They are fields. The owner usually will bring in a porta-potty, and maybe provide some water. Again, the conditions are not pristine. However, you have more freedom (i.e. tents etc. are ok), and more space.
My group has a unique approach to race weekend. We camp at a private lot across from the track. We get there Friday night, eat, and have some beers. We make a big breakfast Saturday, then pack our coolers for a day at the track. We catch the modified and the Nationwide race. The modified race is usually the best race of the weekend. After the race, we head back to the campsite for some food, then head back to the track camping lots for the party night. Saturday night at X-lot is usually the big party night. Redneck Mardi Gras. This year they had a concert just outside of X-lot. There were tens of thousands of people having a good time at the concert. The band was not a name act, but they were good. They did a lot of covers. It was a great addition to race weekend. Typically, there’s no entertainment for people, so things can sometimes get out of control. The concert gave everyone something relatively peaceful to do.
On Sunday, while everyone else is heading in for the Sprint Cup race, we’re packed up and heading out. We pass thousands of cars waiting in line for miles for the race. We’re heading in the opposite direction. It’s a great feeling. Most people can’t understand why we leave instead of staying for the main race. There are several reasons. First, in all honesty, the racing at NHMS is not the most exciting. There is not a lot of passing or action. Many times it’s like watching a toy train go around and around. Additionally, unlike the Saturday racing, you’re packed into those stands like sardines. The third reason is that we all have to be at work on Monday. After 2 days of partying at the track, we all could use the day Sunday to recover. The last reason is the money. While tickets for all the Saturday races run ~$40, the Sunday race is significantly more expensive. However, this year prices were lowered to a more reasonable level.Our approach is unorthodox, but it has been honed from several years of track visits. The concert was a big improvement to the race weekend experience, and a good time was had by all in 2009.
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