Tips for attending a NASCAR race as a family
We finally took a family trip to our first NASCAR race in Charlotte, NC at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. As a family, we are definitely sports fans in general. Now that we have experienced racing we wonder what took us so long to finally discover this particular sport! It definitely helps that we now live in race country, and it also helps to have friends who showed us the way. None the less, our synopsis after this event… awesome experience!
Since this was our first time, we wanted to share some thoughts and tips on the the day for anyone else who decides to give this a try. We hope this is helpful!
Buy your tickets online early. You will find the link at the raceway website, in this case CharlotteMotorSpeedway.com, to find and purchase seats through Ticketmaster. A nice surprise was that tickets for kids 12 and under were only $10 which were about 1/10 the cost of the adult seats. Seats that are higher up are better as you have a better view of the entire race course. We selected seats near the finish line which we thought were great. Take a look at the raceway map for your own personal preference and view.
Arrive early. There is a ton of stuff to do in the Fan Zone outside the race. There was an area that was just for the kids, but the entire event was family friendly. We were there more than 2 hours early and we could have spent even longer. Our son enjoyed sitting in the various race cars that were displayed and of course there were souvenirs, food, and entertainment at the venue. We even came home with some free swag from the various sponsors.
Plan for the sun. Wear sunscreen and protective clothing such as a hat and sunglasses. The entire event is outside with no shade and it is important to take care of yourself!
A company called Racing Electronics rents (or sells) scanners that allow you to listen in to the race team radios. Totally worth it! The headphones help with the noise and we rented a set with an intercom microphone so that we could talk during the race. It was really fascinating to listen to the race teams talking, especially in Pit Row. Just be aware, according to the staff, you need to rent these well ahead of time as they sell out by race day so plan ahead. www.racingelectronics.com
Bring hearing protection. If you decide not get a scanner with headphones, you will need hearing protection, especially for the children. We have over-the-ear ear muffs for our son and just made it understood that this was a part of going to see a race.
Bring your own cooler. Yes, NASCAR allows you to bring a soft cooler to the event with beverages (including alcoholic) and snacks. It definitely adds to the affordability of the day and makes it kind of like an all day picnic. We chose backpack coolers from Igloo that we bought at Walmart and they worked great. In fact, since the NASCAR race we take the coolers everywhere with us now to save money. One thing to note, they do not allow glass containers, so keep that in mind when you are packing that cooler. Otherwise, you’ll be giving away your glass bottles of beer outside and spending a lot more money inside. Also, definitely check on the size restrictions as they might change over time.
Plan time for parking and Uber. Whenever you have an event with close to 100,000 people, you know that it is going to take time getting out when you leave. Parking is spread out and it will take time to walk from your spot, so bring your patience at the start and at then end. Also, if you decide to Taxi or Uber in, there is a specific location for pickup. Find this out beforehand and don’t make our mistake where you are waiting for pickup in a random parking lot a long time after the event.
Pick and car or driver to win. Even if you know nothing about the participants, take a look at the cars and teams and find something that you identify with and pick that as your team or driver for the day… then watch and see how they do. Chances are you will become a fan. We chose our car and driver because we liked how the 23XI Team bridges the legend Michael Jordan and basketball with racing. As we learned more, we really liked the values the team stands for and we followed them through the end of the season and will follow them again next year.
Buy some souvenirs. When you are enjoying the pre-race festivities you will notice that every team and driver has there own souvenirs to sell. Replica cars and t-shirts are popular, and we have ours displayed in a fun place at home.
Bring your “please and thank you’s.” I have to say that I have been to a lot of huge sporting and arts events, and the crowd at NASCAR is by far the friendliest and most polite crowd I have encountered. It was really refreshing to have everyone be so polite and patient, and it was a great lesson to our son!
Our Son at this first NASCAR Race
We hope to see you out there in 2025!
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