OT: Talladega

[GTAdawg]

My five year old has become obsessed with NASCAR, so looking at taking him to Talladega later this month for the cup race. Any tips on seating, parking, etc?

You’ve gotten a lot of great advice here. So, I’m not going to restate everything. But since you are taking a five year old I would suggest spending the extra money and buy a couple pre race pit passes, and also they have some infield club seating right behind pit road that you can shuck out extra money for. No you can’t see the full length of the track, but you see them scream by up close in the tri-oval and they have a big screen to watch the rest of the lap. The club area is covered, serves food, and is a good space for a 5 year old to run around. Can not stress enough how cool it would be for the both of you to rent scanners to listen to teams talk throughout the race.
Lastly, prepare for a long ride home. Traffic will be horrible. Please report back after you take him.

 

[Herbert Nenninger]

You’ve gotten a lot of great advice here. So, I’m not going to restate everything. But since you are taking a five year old I would suggest spending the extra money and buy a couple pre race pit passes, and also they have some infield club seating right behind pit road that you can shuck out extra money for. No you can’t see the full length of the track, but you see them scream by up close in the tri-oval and they have a big screen to watch the rest of the lap. The club area is covered, serves food, and is a good space for a 5 year old to run around. Can not stress enough how cool it would be for the both of you to rent scanners to listen to teams talk throughout the race.
Lastly, prepare for a long ride home. Traffic will be horrible. Please report back after you take him.

We got seats in the Talladega tower. We did go with the Sunday race since he knows the drivers so well. Mom and big sister are gonna come too. He told sister she can root for Chris Bell since he already looks kind of like a girl. And got the pit passes. And will get at least one scanner. The kids are pumped and I will report back after. Thanks for all the advice!

 

[aTotal360]

We got seats in the Talladega tower. We did go with the Sunday race since he knows the drivers so well. Mom and big sister are gonna come too. He told sister she can root for Chris Bell since he already looks kind of like a girl. And got the pit passes. And will get at least one scanner. The kids are pumped and I will report back after. Thanks for all the advice!

If you got pit passes, make sure you wear closed-toe shoes and keep your head on a swivel if you got the top tier hot passes. The room behind the pit boxes is tighter than most tracks despite the size of the track. Tire and fuel guys will run your *** over.

 

[theoriginalSALTYdog]

My five year old has become obsessed with NASCAR, so looking at taking him to Talladega later this month for the cup race. Any tips on seating, parking, etc?

Camp out in the infield and use the public restrooms......Nice clean environment and they keep the restrooms super clean.........*******

Seriously though, I've sat down low before and it's just too loud. Parking, there's no secret here. It's gonna take you a long time to get outta there no matter what you do.

 

[Herbert Nenninger]

Update:
Dega was a success. And Sunday was definitely the best choice.
Weather was great; actually a little chilly. Once we got close, it took an hour to go about a half a mile, and we still weren't close to parking, so me and the 5yo hopped out and walked a mile to the stadium so we could have time to do the garage area stuff. Got some pics on pit row and on the track. Some of the areas we needed to access were not intuitive to find (the trailer for the headsets and the entrance for the garage experience), and most attendants didnt seem very knowledgeable. But everything else was fine. 5yo (and 10yo sister) sat thru entire race and were entertained the entire time. He was disappointed that Bubba wrecked and Ty ran out of gas; but he was pumped that Kyle won. And my daughter felt bad for BJ Mcleod always being way behind. Sat in Talladega tower; noise wasnt an issue w/ head phones; and they took turns listening to the spotter headsets. Some standard redneckness, but no hooligans or shenanigans. The lady in front of us (with her approx 13yo son) would flip off Logano each time he passed by (but i dont think he ever saw her, so i dont think it hurt his feelings). I think we were the only ones in our section rocking a matilda jane cooler.
Tidbits:
Traffic moved better leaving than coming in.
They didnt check our cooler or purse sizes.
Saw a dad walking around a few times with a brand new newborn baby. Didnt have earphones the first time.
In the bathroom, i think the ratio of guys urinating to guys washing their hands after urinating was about 8:1.
Spent about 8 hours in vehicle and 3 hours in stands and still managed to walk 7 miles on the day.

 

[Ranchdawg]

I am a NASCAR fan. I've been to Talladega probably more times than anyone on this board...(12 races I think) I go to 2-3 races a year and went to the Daytona 500 back in February and will be going to Dover and Darlington this year.

Here's what I recommend--

Tickets: I would recommend tickets in the Thornton Tower. I believe NASCAR has deals for kids under 12 at $10 ticket. Thornton Tower is near the Start/Finish line at Dega and you will be able to see the whole track and the cars that coming off of pit-road. I would recommend that are where it is not as expensive as middle of the tri-oval and you want your son to see the cars come off of pit-road.

Parking: There will be fields to park in when you come in...just remember where you parked. If the green flag is at 1:20pm...I'd get there and park no later than 11am. Prepare to walk...you'll probably be out towards Turns 3-4 area when you park and will have to walk a ways to your seats closer to Turn 1 if you do the Thornton Tower.

Bring a carrying back-pack cooler. You will be doing quite a bit of walking and it's a life-saver. You can bring in drinks...water/gatorade/alcohol...just no glass. Pack some snacks and food in there for you and your son. I usually bring granola bars and make sandwiches or even stop at a sandwich place in the morning---Subway/whatever for food to bring in. You can save quite a bit of money doing this.

Bring sunscreen.

When you park, I recommend going straight to one of the REI headset rentals. Do this for you and your son. I highly recommend it. Listening to Motor Racing Network on the scanners during the race and switching the radio to a driver channel and listening to them and their spotter is worth it. It will change the way you view a NASCAR race. The racing at Talladega and Daytona where they are running 195mph and inches apart and the spotter is constantly talking to his driver. I think the rental would be around $45-$65. And you drop it off after the race.

Take your son to the 18-wheeler merchandise area. Walk around there and look at the merch and get something for your son...he'll remember that experience when he gets older.

Traffic in-and-out of Talladega is not bad anymore. They removed the backstretch grandstands around 2012. The late 90s and early 00s traffic was bad...a lot of people in one spot....you would wait for hours getting out. Not the case anymore.

Scanner Headsets/earplugs/back-pack cooler with drinks/food and tickets off of the exit of pit road up in the Towers sections. Do this.

Great recommendations. We've been to 3 races there. One trip we went to truck race, Busch series and Winston. The truck race ended up being the most fun. The scanner headset makes you feel part of the action. Like everyone said sit up high so you can see the entire speedway.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

In the bathroom, i think the ratio of guys urinating to guys washing their hands after urinating was about 8:1.

Haha, on military deployments the number of men who wash hands, even after a field dump, is painfully low and that's AF, can't imagine what the ratio is for the urmy and marines.