NASCAR at PIR

November 7, 2008
Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale, AZ

We have an excellent spot in the "unreserved" section of the RV parking areas at Phoenix International Raceway ("PIR"). We're glad we arrived relatively early, on Tuesday afternoon. I say "relatively" because they opened up the RV parking on October 18th! From the looks of some groups, they had plenty of takers.

There are three different type of RV parking here. Actually, I should say "camping", since there are about 15% tents, plus a few 18-wheeler tractors mixed in. The first is "reserved", in which each space is striped off at about 20' wide by 40' deep and numbered. Many groups reserve a block of sites and then park in a square or "U" pattern, with a common area in the middle. These spaces are pretty tight together and we wouldn't fit well (too long).

The second area is what they call "campgrounds", but they aren't in the traditional sense since there are no services present. These are just dirt sections carved out of the brush, also striped off into small "spaces". This area is too tight for us to maveuver.

The final section is comprised of three "lots", large hard-packed dirt areas with "roads" laid in using some kind of oil to make for a contrasting color. The roads are about 80' apart, but no spaces are striped out, so we were able to "claim" a space about 30' wide by 80' deep, just by showing up early. Since the whole area is situated in rolling desert, we were also able to claim a relatively level spot as well - nothing to sneeze at after we saw some of the rigs parked at steep angles or jacked well off the ground. (Dave will recall how we had to leverage the coach into position at his place up North.) We're close to the tram stop (we're about a miles from the track and trams run every few minutes) and not too close to the porta-potties, so we're in excellent shape.

Of course, we're not exactly die-hard, rabid NASCAR fans, either, so we're keeping a low profile in some ways. We have no "stuff" with numbers. No t-shirts and hats, no banners, no chairs and seat cushions, no decals and bling on the Range Rover, no flags attached to 30' poles hanging on the coach. Most of the people we've met are very into certain drivers and/or teams. Of course, this also means that they're also not into "competing" drivers and/or teams. We certainly don't know all the "rules" and "tribes", so we just nod a lot. It's more complicated than the WWF.

Anyway, racing actually started yesterday, Thursday, with two USAC events in the evening after various practice sessions were completed during the day. I rode my mountain bike around during the afternoon, checking out the various parts of the layout and getting a handle on the "shopping" area (every driver/team has at least one huge trailer selling "stuff" - generally all the same "stuff"). We had an early dinner and headed over to the track around 5:30 PM, where we caught the end of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series practice session, followed by two USAC (the other major track racing organization beside NASCAR) sanctioned races. The first was a 25-lap Midget race which took forever (caution laps don't count in races under 100 laps) and the second was what they call the "Silver Crown" series, which reminded me of the "Modified" races we used to see as kids. These are open-wheeled, small-block powered cars that are basically roll cages with tires. They were running lap speeds over 130 MPH on the 1-mile track, so they're pretty quick. The pole-sitter won the race, leading all but 4 of the 100 laps. The same guy won the earlier Midget race, so he had a pretty good night.

Other than a few idiots shooting off fireworks between midnight and 1 AM, we had a pretty good night as well. This morning, we did a little shopping (the obligatory seat cushions, new sunglasses for Geri) and I took a few more pictures (film this time, to give the F6 some working time). Click here for a link to what I've posted so far. This afternoon, it's been a bit of relaxation (OK, I fell asleep in the chair while we were "relaxing" outside), and we'll have another early dinner before heading over to the track for tonight's Truck race.

So far, so good!