1-2 Month trip to America - Help needed..!

[Adam74]

Hello All,

I'm hoping to come over to the US for a possible 2 month trip either in June 2011, or if I'm not ready by then, June 2012.

Its a racing themed trip, I want visit as many tracks and meetings as I possibly can in my time there. From Dirt track racing - to Asphalt racing, from NASCAR to Demolition Derbys I want to see it all.

I had no idea where in America would suit me best, but I seemed to have narrowed it down to areas like North Carolina, Virginia and Georgia etc..

I'm after any help and info that people can give me, am I looking at the right areas, the best places I should visit whilst there etc...

All help would be greatly recieved,

Thanks in advance,
Adam.

[fieldodreams79]

Welcome!

Oh, the options, and joys of 2 months to go where ever and see whatever racing you want.

If you decided to hit Georgia, the entire state (and the southeast for that matter) is dotted with dirt tracks, asphalt tracks, speedways, dragways and road courses. And yes, demolition derbies I'd be leery of some of the local dirt tracks as they can have some pretty rough and tumble crowds, but maybe that is what you're looking for...

But after this summer, I suggest coming in the spring or fall. The weather is much more bearable, unlike this summer, which has been absolutely awful; consistently hottest I can remember, and I have lived in North Georgia for 30 years.

The choices are endless, my friend, and you could actually get from North Georgia to Virginia in a about 8 hours or less. You can even take the Blue Ridge Highway, which is a absolutely gorgeous drive. So don't narrow yourself to one particular area as it is all easily accessible with a rental car.

Google is your friend. North Georgia Dirt tracks, Hartwell, Lavonia, Toccoa, Winder-Barrow, Woodstock (Dixie), and on and on and on. Hartwell runs races Friday night and Lavonia runs races Saturday, or vice versa; popular dirt tracks and a good place where you can discover the culture of rural North Georgia (cue the banjo jokes). And they are less than 20 minutes away from each other.

Asphalt tracks, Greshams Motorsports Park, Lanier National, and on and on.

All of the above off the top of my head...

Good luck!

[Adam74]

Fieldodreams79, thanks for the welcome.

Your information is great - exactly what I needed.
Georgia sounds perfect, just the sort of place I'm looking for..

Hartwell and Lovania sounded like the places i'd like to visit - I've googled both, Hartwell seems to have closed for the time being which is a shame.
I'm certainly not looking to visit tracks with Rough crowds if I can help it, I'd rather stay
clear of them.

Blue Ridge highway sounds great, and I'm certainly looking to explore as much as I can so the more places I can get to the beter. It's good to know North Georgia is roughly 8 hours away from Virginia, I have no idea of distances from state to state so
that's a help.

Any more help and advice will be glady welcomed..

Cheers again

[JHamilton]

I think the best thing to do is find a few key events you want to see and then decide on the time frame. If you are just looking for local events, you can pick just about anywhere in the country and find great racing. I'm quite partial to Georgia myself though. Dixie and Lanier are awesome venues. If you like road racing, you could spend the day at Rd. Atl and walk to Lanier for Saturday night.

[FordCosworthPanoz]

If you do this make sure you spend some of your time in the Charlotte Area. There are NASCAR race shops everywhere, and most of them are open to the public. What's better is that most of them are free-of charge and many offer viewing areas of the cars being assembled, gift shops and even some like Hendrick have museums. Charlotte Motor Speedway is mostly open and you can take the richard petty driving experience. Also, there are plenty of cool dirt tracks and even some road courses in the area. Also the nascar hall of fame is a must-see.

[mountainstar]

You'll find motorsports in every part of the country where there is population.

Often foreigners lump America in as all one country. Really it is 50 individual states with major differences in culture, food, topography and speech. The 48 continental states is one block of land over 3000 miles wide and 1700 miles tall.

I'd say if you are mostly interested in Nascar and oval racing, a good start is places like:

Daytona, Florida
Talledega, Alabama
Atlanta, Georgia
Charlotte, North Carolina

There are small ovals all over the country.

If you like sprint car type stuff, it's very popular in states like Indiana, Iowa, Pennsylvania.

California also has a very thriving oval racing market with both stock cars and sprint car stuff going on out there.

If you have 2 months, I certainly would not limit yourself to one region of the country.

One thing you can do that I have done is get a Rand McNally road atlas(you should be able to buy one on amazon or at a map shop) with all the maps of the 50 individual states and start marking places of interest on them to help plan a trip out.

[Flyin Ryan]

Originally Posted by Adam74

Hello All,

I'm hoping to come over to the US for a possible 2 month trip either in June 2011, or if I'm not ready by then, June 2012.

Its a racing themed trip, I want visit as many tracks and meetings as I possibly can in my time there. From Dirt track racing - to Asphalt racing, from NASCAR to Demolition Derbys I want to see it all.

I had no idea where in America would suit me best, but I seemed to have narrowed it down to areas like North Carolina, Virginia and Georgia etc..

I'm after any help and info that people can give me, am I looking at the right areas, the best places I should visit whilst there etc...

All help would be greatly recieved,

Thanks in advance,
Adam.

I'd tell you don't bother on the demolition derbies...

Like mountainstar and others have said, it's a big country and one state is different from the next. Here's a rough guide to how racing in the country works. The best way I can put it is racing in this country is regionalized. The forms of racing you see below are pretty much all across the country, but what I list for each region is what type of racing is the best racing in that part of the country as far as entrants, money, and seriousness.

Northeast - modified racing and DIRT (not as in the substance, but in the sanctioning body); the biggest race up there has historically been at Syracuse, not sure if that's still true

South (when I say South, I mean it in a cultural sense, so this doesn't include Florida) - late models and dirt late models

Midwest - USAC and their front-engined open-wheel cars (midgets, sprint cars); front-engined open-wheel cars are also big in number of events outside of USAC sanction

Kind of skirting the boundary of the above three is the barnstorming World of Outlaws. They are winged sprint cars. Winged sprint car racing is an entirely dirt discipline pretty big in some areas as stand-alone events outside of Outlaws jurisdiction (for example, guys that do it in Pennsylvania historically make enough money racing in Pennsylvania that they don't have to leave the state as much to make a living, giving them the nickname of the Pennsylvania Posse)

California and by extension the Southwest - they love desert racing and motocross, tons of performance tuner shops for import street cars, therefore this is the part of the country most into street racing in the Fast & Furious sense, also the place in the country with the highest per capita of exotics like Porsches and Ferraris that you ogle on the road, there's also an oval racing culture there of some repute

Those are the main most well-known regional boundaries for racing. There are events for each of the groups in other parts of the country, USAC does allright running a few events in California and Phoenix for example, but that's generally how the boundaries work. Although some of the boundaries for grassroots don't make sense and just is what grew organically. For example, Indiana loves and supports sprint car racing. Kentucky, which has a fair amount of cultural ties to Indiana, can care less about sprint cars but they love their dirt late models, which on the flipside don't get much money in purses up at Indiana events.

Road racing is like a niche everywhere. It's not the main in any one place but exists with a community in a lot of places. Ditto motorcycle racing, both paved and motocross, although motocross is the more popular form of the two. Drag racing and go-karts are a lot like road racing in that you have a few people everywhere interested in it but it's not "the main thing" in any one place. There's tons of other forms that exist like these as well.

[Adam74]

Awesome guys - thanks to all of you for taking the time to reply.

JHamilton - picking some key events sounds like a good idea to me, I'll have to do some proper research when I know the exact dates. Do you know when the tracks normally release the next years fixture lists..? I've been reading today about a big event at West Virginia Motor Speedway at the beggining of September which is a 4 day event which concludes with The Hillbilly 100 - thisvsounds like just the sort of thing I'm after so could be a good finishing point for my trip - it seems to be an annual event..

FordCosworthPanoz - Charlotte would have to be a key point of my trip by
the sounds of it. Seems like there's so much to do there, it would be heaven for me. Thanks for all the info - I would enjoy doing all the things you listed so much.

Mountainstar - I really hope I don't have to stick to one region, I want to explore as much as I can. Im struggling to work out what a realistic area that I could cover would be. The more I could do the beter, but I have no idea of the size of each state and how long it would take to each one.. I guess if I started in North Carolina, I'm not sure how far I could get?

Floridas another place I would love to get to - Daytona as you said, as well as the beaches that will keep my partner happy
The sprint cars in the area of Indianna, Iowa sound great - I'm just as interested in visiting the smaller, local dirt tracks as I am the big NASCAR tracks.

California is somewhere I haven't thought about yet due to being completely the other side of where I have been looking - but maybe I should start doing a bit of research there too.

The Road atlas is a great idea and a must do - I'm going to search for that right now.

Thanks again, and keep the suggestions coming..

P.S (JHamilton - I looked at the Dixie speedway website and it looks brilliant there, I wasn't aware of Lanier but that place looks AWESOME. I just watched a small YouTube clip from there website - great stuff. Looks like you've planned one of my days already - a day at the Road races followed by an evening at Lanier)

[Adam74]

Flyin Ryan, your post has been amazinly helpfull - I really apprciate it.
I need to read it a few times to let it all sink in, but it will be so helpfull when planning my trip.

The outlaws sound unreal, I hope I can catch some of them whilst over there.. The Penssylvannia Posse sound great Over here in England, we have BRISCA F1 & F2 stockcars which are very popular, especially F2s. They have the winged roofs, I'm guessing the outlaws are kind of similar.

Do each formulas stick to Dirt or Asphalt, or do some race on both..?

I'm guessing the Demo Derbies are no good then..? We have a Banger racing Formula here which is mega hard with big contact, extremely popular though with events all over the country every weekend.

It's funny you mentioned motocross - that's another big hobbie of mine so I'd definately love to take some of that in. I love watching the AMA stuff on tv here.

Thanks again, keep the info coming.

P.S Love the name Flyin Ryan' - there's a speedway rider (bikes) that raced for my local club last year that goes by that name. It's Ryan Fisher from the US.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by Adam74

I'm certainly not looking to visit tracks with Rough crowds if I can help it, I'd rather stay clear of them.

Steer clear of Winder-Barrow Speedway then...

I think Sprint cars are the only series that cross-over from tarmac to dirt. Others like late models and modifieds change "forms" from dirt to tarmac.

Forget demo derbies...go to Monster Jam.

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by Adam74

JHamilton - picking some key events sounds like a good idea to me, I'll have to do some proper research when I know the exact dates. Do you know when the tracks normally release the next years fixture lists..? I've been reading today about a big event at West Virginia Motor Speedway at the beggining of September which is a 4 day event which concludes with The Hillbilly 100 - thisvsounds like just the sort of thing I'm after so could be a good finishing point for my trip - it seems to be an annual event..


P.S (JHamilton - I looked at the Dixie speedway website and it looks brilliant there, I wasn't aware of Lanier but that place looks AWESOME. I just watched a small YouTube clip from there website - great stuff. Looks like you've planned one of my days already - a day at the Road races followed by an evening at Lanier)

Most oval tracks across the county race every Saturday night. Some of the larger small tracks (if that makes sense) will have large series come through like ASA, ARCA, the Outlaws, etc. once a year. Road courses will only have one event a month or so. I will say that every race fan should see winged sprint cars (preferably on dirt) before they die.

I have to thank you because I just checked Lanier's website and see that the USCS Sprint cars are coming in September. I happen to be in town that weekend... hmmmmm.

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

Steer clear of Winder-Barrow Speedway then...

I think Sprint cars are the only series that cross-over from tarmac to dirt. Others like late models and modifieds change "forms" from dirt to tarmac.

Forget demo derbies...go to Monster Jam.

I LOVE monster trucks. I don't think that part of me will ever grow up!

Agreed on the dirt vs. asphalt late models, two different animals. Dirt late models make me laugh... That sheet metal bent over a roll cage is an Impala, eh?

[ptclaus98]

Originally Posted by Adam74

Hello All,

I'm hoping to come over to the US for a possible 2 month trip either in June 2011, or if I'm not ready by then, June 2012.

Its a racing themed trip, I want visit as many tracks and meetings as I possibly can in my time there. From Dirt track racing - to Asphalt racing, from NASCAR to Demolition Derbys I want to see it all.

I had no idea where in America would suit me best, but I seemed to have narrowed it down to areas like North Carolina, Virginia and Georgia etc..

I'm after any help and info that people can give me, am I looking at the right areas, the best places I should visit whilst there etc...

All help would be greatly recieved,

Thanks in advance,
Adam.

Boyd's Speedway in Rossville, GA on the TN-GA stateline. I'll even meet ya there.

[Adam74]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

Steer clear of Winder-Barrow Speedway then...

I think Sprint cars are the only series that cross-over from tarmac to dirt. Others like late models and modifieds change "forms" from dirt to tarmac.

Forget demo derbies...go to Monster Jam.

Blimey - I just checked out Winder Barrow speedway on YouTube, all I could find was fighting haha.. I see what you mean!

[Adam74]

Originally Posted by JHamilton

Most oval tracks across the county race every Saturday night. Some of the larger small tracks (if that makes sense) will have large series come through like ASA, ARCA, the Outlaws, etc. once a year. Road courses will only have one event a month or so. I will say that every race fan should see winged sprint cars (preferably on dirt) before they die.

I have to thank you because I just checked Lanier's website and see that the USCS Sprint cars are coming in September. I happen to be in town that weekend... hmmmmm.

Thanks for that - hopefully I can find a few that do Friday nights and maybe Sunday too.
I'll make sure I take in these winged sprint cars, on dirt, while I'm there, they sound great!

Cool - glad you checked out there website then, sounds like a visit is in order for you.

[Adam74]

Originally Posted by ptclaus98

Boyd's Speedway in Rossville, GA on the TN-GA stateline. I'll even meet ya there.

Sounds good to me. The place looks great so I definately hope to visit. I'll let you know

Thanks to everyone for the help - keep them coming!

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by Adam74

Blimey - I just checked out Winder Barrow speedway on YouTube, all I could find was fighting haha.. I see what you mean!

Yep...the old "went to a fight and a race broke out."

I understand they are starting to crack down on that sort of thing.

[Flyin Ryan]

If you're coming in June and July and are going to swing by the Midwest, my suggestion for July is there's a week of races in Indiana with a race every night 7 days in a row at a different track across the state called Indiana Sprint Week in early July. There are a lot of people that'll follow the races all that week.

If you go to Charlotte to look at NASCAR shops and such, the local track around there is Concord, which is a half-mile decent for local racing.

[fieldodreams79]

Because I am thinking about as it is on SPEEDtv right now, you need to consider the Knoxville Nationals. It is on my racing bucket list.

[Adam74]

Originally Posted by Flyin Ryan

If you're coming in June and July and are going to swing by the Midwest, my suggestion for July is there's a week of races in Indiana with a race every night 7 days in a row at a different track across the state called Indiana Sprint Week in early July. There are a lot of people that'll follow the races all that week.

If you go to Charlotte to look at NASCAR shops and such, the local track around there is Concord, which is a half-mile decent for local racing.

I really hope to take in Indiana, and this sprint week sounds like the perfect time to do it. Just the sort of thing I'm looking for..

Charlotte is gauranteed, so I'll look to visit Concord.

Cheers for more help..

[Adam74]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

Because I am thinking about as it is on SPEEDtv right now, you need to consider the Knoxville Nationals. It is on my racing bucket list.

Just checked out Knoxville - looks a great place. Not sure if I'm going to get as far as Iowa, although I really want to. It's definately noted, thanks.

Keep them coming..