Going to a stock car oval race is definitely a thing to see. I happened to be near Daytona in February 1997. Two days before the 500 I called the ticket office to see if I could get a ticket. After she stopped laughing, she said I could still get tickets to the Busch race (now know as Xfinity). As the cars went around for the warm-up, I thought to myself "that's pretty fast". Then the first lap after green I thought "wait, that's really fast". Then once they got up to full speed my mind was blown. The Busch cars weren't as fast as the Winston Cup cars, but I think they still got over 180 mph at Daytona. I'd never seen that kind of speed before. I went down and stood right against the catch fence and as the cars came towards me I couldn't force myself to stay there. The wall of sound and speed forced me to take two steps back. It's really something you can't understand until you see it live. (I also got yelled at for being at the fence). So yeah, if you can get to an oval race I highly recommend it. You can't really see much of the race, especially at a bigger oval, but it's still amazing to see. Although since you've been to the Indy 500, stock cars will probably seem slow to you.
I've been to Daytona, Talladega, Darlington, Richmond, Dover, and even Rockingham before it was taken off the schedule. There's nothing like being at a Nascar race in person. You can't get the real experience sitting on your couch. Now I just need to get to an Indycar race..
If it's within driving distance for you for a weekend trip, I would recommend you go to the Michigan race over Indy. Disclaimer - I've never been to either of those tracks, but I can't imagine the views at Indy are any good, and Michigan is the fastest track on the schedule as well (yes, faster than Daytona and Talladega). The tracks I've been ranked from best to worst personal experiences IMO are Daytona, Dover, Phoenix, Watkins Glen, New Hampshire, Pocono.
Awesome stuff Matt! Glad you had fun at your first Nascar race. I went to my first race at the LA Clash in 2023 and that was a blast. Like you said, the smell of the gas, brakes, and tires is something special. Get yourself to the Indy Car Race at Long Beach brother!! If you liked Chicago, you'll love LB
I’m glad you had a good time man! If you want to go to an oval that is close, go to the IMS for the Brickyard 400 down here in Indy! As much as people give it crap, it’s a fun race if you go there! That and I also recommend going to the Bristol Night Race!
If you ever get a chance you should definitely check out an IMSA race as well, I went to the Glen this year for the first time and have never had such an open range style experience with the track and being able to check out all the cars up close. I had the mechanics opening car doors and everything for us to check out. Very friendly crews, pit demonstrations, and the symphony that is all those different cars on track is certainly hard to beat. NASCAR is next
now.. if only F1 can send you and your family to Vegas in NOV! Awesome video, Matt. Sometimes I wonder if you would have had a career narrating educational docus that we all watched in school during the 90s.
if you're gonna go somewhere for a nascar race my vote would be pocono. I've not been to many different tracks so maybe there's a better one, but the pre race stuff and the fan zones there were awesome and it was just a great overall fan experience, especially if you can get the paddock pass and get in on saturday as well, going on saturday for the arca race (which was supposed to be friday but got pushed to saturday), the trucks, and the xfinity race all on the same day was an amazing experience with enough time in between each event to explore all around
As a boy: going to a race is cool! As a teenager/annoying shit: well ACTUALLY real racing is only done in the blahblah you should only go to blahblah Now: going to a race is cool! (And pricey. Ow my wallet)
