Five Astonishing Things About NASCAR (From a Mets Fan Perspective)

(Or A Mets Fan’s Guide To The Monster Mile)

My four-year old son loves the movie CARS, so he loves racecars, so father of the year here took him to his (and my) very first NASCAR race at Dover International Speedway, otherwise known as The Monster Mile.  Here are some things I learned that I bet you didn’t know about the NASCAR experience:

5. NASCAR tickets are cheap – Yeah, you can pay for premium seats, but they have some great deals.  We went on a Saturday and got two tickets for a total of $55.  Even on Sundays for the big race you can get a Walmart 4 Pack which is $100 for 4 tickets and includes hot dogs and sodas for everyone and a program too.  The Mets have had some innovative pricing deals lately but to my knowledge most of them are in the crap seats, whereas our seats were right at the starting gate/finish line and I don’t believe in the entire 100,000 seat capacity is there a single obstructed view

4. NASCAR parking is FREE – On Fridays and Saturdays parking is absolutely FREE, and on Sundays it’s just $10.  FREE.  And they encourage taligating.  Meanwhile CityFiled is charging $19.

3. A FREE Mini Amusement park for the Kids – They have a giant FUN ZONE where you can walk around and see the cars and the kids can sit in Military vehicles and what not, and a special Monster Fun Zone for the kiddies, complete with a church-fair style whirly-gig ride, a bunch of bouncy house things… we spent over two hours at this place without spending a nickel.  There was even a free raffle where they give away a bunch of NASCAR souvenirs, and you just have to stick around and be present for the drawing, about an hour before the race starts.

2. From Central New Jersey, it’s easier to get to Dover than it is to Flushing.  I just shot down 295 to Delaware… it took about two hours, I didn’t hit traffic at all, all the way into the FREE parking lot.  No Goethels or Verrazano tolls, no taking your life into your hands on the BQE or the Belt.  Mass Transit doesn’t seem to be an option, but have you checked the prices lately for two people taking New Jersey Transit and the LIRR to Flushing?

1. They let every single person attending Bring a Cooler full of Beer and Ice inside the stadium.  This has to be the most astonishing thing in all of sports in 2012.  NASCAR leaves all that Beer Money on the table and lets everyone bring in their own cans of Milwaukee Best Light.  All 100,000 people, after tailgating all day outside, are allowed to bring more beer into the place.  I would like to go on and on about this but really the first sentence says it all.  They let every single person attending Bring a Cooler full of Beer and Ice inside the stadium.

So, those are the headlines.. but here’s why hopefully that was my last race…

1. NASCAR is LOUD.  Holy crap, loud.  We all had ear protection, and even then it was LOUD.  So my son would ask me questions and it was either too loud to understand his questions and/or too loud to explain the answers (assuming I knew any answers).  I’ve never been to a sporting event where you can’t have a conversation with the people you are with.  This was a “short” 200 lap race, that took under 2 hours. We actually left the seats at lap 150 because we couldn’t take sitting there anymore.  More than half the fun of a live sporting event, for me, is experiencing it with someone and B-S’ing with someone.  That’s why I love Mets games and am willing to shell out the cash for the experience even when the on-field event is sub-par.

2. The Food is Horrible.  This is not a problem for the die-hards because they are all tailgating anyway, but for those of us who are buying the food… I had the single worst cheeseburger I’ve ever had.  At least they didn’t charge extra for the e.coli.  I wasn’t expecting a Shake Shack, or a Two Boots, but I am not sure why they can’t step up this part of the experience… You don’t need fancy facilities to have great food – grease trucks, anyone?

3. The Facilities are No Frills.  If you want the pee-in-a-trough Wrigley/Fenway experience without the joy of baseball, look no further than Diver Speedway.  They are at the perfect height so you’ll have to lift up your kid by the shoulders so he can pee in the thing.

4. Free Parking is Not Worth the Price. This was a Saturday, so the place was about 1/5th capacity.  We left the race at lap 150 to beat the traffic, but had to make a bathroom break, a stop at teh souvenir tent, and another bathroom break, before reaching the car.  By that time the race was over, and we missed our advantage.  There is one path in and out of the parking lot, so it is a very slow go out of the lot.  So slow, in fact, that we sat there for 40 minutes and did. not. move. an. inch.  Luckily, some redneck cut a hole in the fence and we drove through.  Otherwise we might still be there.  On the way in I saw all these signs for people charging $20 or $30 to park, and I was so confused because I knew parking was free.  Now I understood.  Pay $20 and get out easy.  Pay nothing and sit there for eternity.

5.  I had no idea what I was watching.  Wow, these cars are fast.  Unbelievably fast, and I was blown away by seeing these 46 race cars whip around this track.  For about 5 laps.  I didn’t have anyone to root for, and really didn’t understand the dynamics of what was happening, despite my watching CARS 483 times in the past two years, so I was rather bored by lap 10.  Granted, this was not NASCAR’s fault, and only my own, but without being able to understand what was happening, the novelty wore off for me fast.  And due to the noise, there was no way for the more knowledgeable fans around us to give us some explanations.  My son said he had fun today, but I am pretty sure it was mostly because of the Monster Fun Zone, the ice cream, the souvenir Monster stuffed toy, and the McDonalds after the race. Most of the race itself he was climbing on the grandstands… I dunno, maybe he liked it.  I am sure I will take him again if he really wants to.  Please please please son… grow out of it!  At least I got to listen to Howie on the drive home.

Here’s the takeaway – The Mets could learn a little bit about fan relations by attending a NASCAR event… bring back/expand the fan fest, don’t be afraid to leave a little money on the table, and, noisier does not equal better.  How long until the home opener?