Camping In The Infield At Daytona

February 17, 2008

By Kim Roberson

Kim Roberson

I have been camping before, and have been to races before, but I have never camped at a race…until this weekend. And what a weekend it has been.

Daytona and Talladega have huge infields, most of which is used for camping during race week. Talladega has a more infamous history; however Daytona is far from a quiet place to hang out.

It is also a fun place to be.

I arrived at Daytona on Thursday just before the Duel races kicked off. A friend of mine, who is has been dubbed by many of his fellow campers as the “Mayor of the Daytona Infield”, has had a campsite at Daytona for, well, forever, and has encouraged me to head down and pay a visit since I became a fan. This year, I decided to take Corky up on the offer, just to say I was there for the 50th Daytona 500.

I was met at the turn 4 tunnel and I hauled my stuff in via the very small sidewalk…actually, it was too small for the carts I had, which meant we were somewhat of a moving roadblock as we crossed through. Once inside, we loaded the case on a wagon and rolled it into the orange campground, which is between turns 3 and 4. My host is well known to many of the folks who camp for both Daytona races, and we were intercepted at least half a dozen times from the entrance to the campground to the campsite.

Folks in the infield are a friendly bunch.

As I got settled and headed up to the top of the truck to watch the Gatorade Duel qualifying races, I was joined by half-a-dozen other people who I had never met before; however by the end of the Duels, we were high fiving and saying “I told you so!” to each other.

After the Duels, it was BBQ time. There are campers and tents all around us, and grills were going with burgers and brats filling the air with delicious aromas. More people filed in and out of camp, and more names were passed along that I doubt I’ll have any chance of remembering. The son-in-law of a friend is also a rookie infielder, and as such, was ordered to help me assemble my tent. (It took both of us, and a little help from 2 others, but we got it up.) My tent was placed back up against what is called “Club 3”. Club 3 is just that…a club. There is a large tent with “dance floor”, and quite the electronics set up for music and lights. Above Club 3 is a sign advertising the club, and off the back…a viewing deck overlooking the entrance to turn 3. Music was pumping from the club until 2:30, when they decided to call it a night. I was in bed well before that, however I was awake for the end of the music.

Did I mention that it was just a little cold Thursday night? I had 3 blankets and hand warmers tucked in my socks, and I still felt like I was in a freezer. Brrrr!

I was up before the sun on Friday, which allowed me to take in the sunrise over turn 3. I have to tell you, it is a beautiful sight to sit in a chair with hardly a sound around you, watching the sun rise over that wall. Painted on the white wall in gold is “Daytona” with 50’s on either side. There were a few clouds in the sky, but the sunrise was one I will remember for a long time.

After watching the sun, I decided to strike out and see what life was like in the infield at 7 a.m. on a race weekend. There were a few morning people like myself, moving about getting fires re-stoked for cooking, but the majority of camps were quiet. I walked from the orange camping area over towards the entrance to the Fan Zone. No one was in the garage area, although I was surprised to find quite a line for the showers. I turned around and headed back, crossing paths with several folks as I walked. Everyone that was up had a smile and a “good morning” for me as I passed them, and I returned the morning greeting in kind. A souvenir trailer was already open and had customers making their first 50th anniversary memento purchases of the day.

As I made my way back to camp, I noticed every campsite had a morning paper dropped on the front “doorstep”. There were free papers in stands near the restrooms, so I grabbed one for later reading.

Since no one else was up in my camp, I decided to make a stop at a small building with a “store” sign above it in a search for food and something warm to drink. I was greeted by two young men who had just opened for the day. They had coffee on, and as I tried to decide what to purchase, I struck up a conversation with them. It turns out they are not from the area, but one is a student at Auburn, and the other at Valdosta State. When I asked how on earth they ended up working a small infield store at Daytona, one said his uncle was in charge of the ice concession for the infield, and he had been recruited several years ago to come help. He enjoyed it so much he now comes for both race weekends, and hired his friend to come with him. I commented it wasn’t a bad gig if you could get it, and they both smiled and agreed.

Slowly but surely, the infield came alive as the sun rose higher in the sky. More fires were stoked, and grills were lit. Before long, the smell of bacon and eggs and coffee filled the morning air. More and more people emerged from whatever they were camping in, greeting each other and their neighbors as they greeted a new morning…and a new race season.

As the day went by, the Cup cars hit the track for practice, and the Nationwide Series cars took their qualifying laps. One of the nice things about being at this location in the infield is you have the ability to walk up to the fence and watch with nothing between you and the track but a swath of grass and a low wall. When David Stremme rolled to a stop on the backstretch before he could take his lap, there were several dozen of us perched right where we could snap pictures of the stopped car.

Overhead, the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds practiced flyovers, first one direction, and then the other…sometimes in trios, sometimes in a pack of four. As they came overhead, people stopped to look up and follow their progress over the infield.

As I walked around one more time before returning to camp for the race, I came across the pit crew for the #1 car hanging out in the infield at a set up called “Club Chance 2”. Bono Manion and half a dozen of his crew stood chatting with folks, but no one approached the guys asking for autographs or to bother them. They were just relaxing in the infield after a morning of practice, trying to blend in with the thousands of people around them.

As night fell, the excitement of a race started to buzz around the camps. Grilling went on as it had the night before, however people set up their satellite receivers and made sure their TV’s had power. More viewing platforms went up, and chairs gathered over in the empty area next to the turn 3 fence. Club 3, which had been in full swing by 9 p.m. Thursday, was dark so everyone could go and watch the race. A Dale Earnhardt look-alike, who I have encountered before in Charlotte and Martinsville, came into the camp area, shaking hands with folks. As the trucks took to the track, hundreds of people stood silhouetted against the bright lights of the track, cameras and radios in hand, waiting for the first sounds of the trucks to come by.

Once they did, it didn’t take long to get the excitement and adrenaline running through everyone’s veins. A fiery 10-truck crash on lap 18 led to a 16 minute red flag, and had what appeared to be every response unit in the Daytona complex spread across the super stretch.

The truck race was stop and go, and even the guys on MRN were discussing the possible need to order up breakfast during their off-air discussions because of the delays caused by the crashes.

As the race came to a close, post race activities began to take shape. A table was set up to race die-cast cars; Club 3 swung into action; the Tiki Bar down the way got the Jeff Gordon stand up dressed in drag ready for folks to laugh at.

Todd Bodine crossed the first race of the year as the winner, Kyle Busch was second, and Johnny Benson third. As they made their cool down lap, fireworks lit up the night sky, and the campers in the infield moved to begin the second part of their night.

Racing is back, and so are the fans. I’m glad I got to enjoy both first hand.

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You can contact Kim at.. Insider Racing News

    Read other articles by Kim Roberson

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.

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