Track walk at Charlotte Motor Speedway Coca-Cola 600

Track walk at Charlotte Motor Speedway Coca-Cola 600
Track walk at Charlotte Motor Speedway Coca-Cola 600

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Why NASCAR is the best sport: Interacting with Nascar Drivers

             Connecting with stock car racing drivers is easier than one might think. In fact, it's the fourth reason (of my top five) that Nascar is my favorite sport.  In other sports it's pretty difficult to meet any of the stars, mainly due to the fact that the fans are not integral to the star's paycheck. He will be paid whether the fans love him or hate him. But in Stock car racing, the fans carry much more weight to a driver's future success.
           The fact of the matter is that whether a driver is in the Sprint Cup, Nationwide series, Late models or even the Karts,  they realize that fans drive the sport (no pun intended). Well, actually, companies and advertisers are the main funds of the stock car enterprise- and the companies sponsor the drivers. And obviously, businesses want a car with their logo in the winner's circle, but these companies also want to sponsor drivers that have FANS. Just think of it from a twitter perspective. If I ran a major company and I wanted to sponsor a driver, and I had a choice between two drivers of equal talent, would I sponsor a driver with 10,000 fans or 100,000?
              For example, Ricky Stenhouse recently had a contest on his twitter (@StenhouseJr )  where his followers had to take a picture doing something "extreme" with a NOS energy logo in the shot- he picked six of the entries and put the winner's name on his car for the Texas race. From NOS' perspective, he's got 50,000 followers, and every tweet laced with #imNOSome was marketing gold. Not only did these 50k followers get these tweets, but also those following their friends who made an entry got a little bit of NOS grassroots advertising.
            So, how do drivers go about increasing their fan base? They intentionally connect with potential fans at state fairs, at sponsor events, at races, and even on the internet. A week ago I posted a blog where I described an event where my family was able to meet Danica Patrick, Ricky Stenhouse, Elliot Sadler as well as many others in the Nationwide series. I mentioned Jeremy Clements in the blog and tagged him in the tweet that promoted that blog entry. Within minutes Jeremy, currently 14th overall in the Nationwide Series, had responded with a series of tweets you can see above.  Not only was he great to meet in person, he also was very complimentary in twitterville. There's no doubt that I will be rooting for the #51 the next time I see a Nationwide race. I followed him on twitter at @JClements51 and will think of these interactions every time I see him race. Yes, Jeremy is probably a genuinely a nice guy, but he's also quite marketing savy. He's realized that this is exactly what he needs to do to drive up his fan base and eventually to secure more and more sponsors.
       Whether intentional or not, Nascar has structured itself to be fan-friendly, and the drivers have something to gain by meeting fans, whether well-worn veterans or Nascar Newbs like myself.

If you liked what you've read, and you want to know more about our family experiences and tips for Nascar Newbs - follow this feed or my twitter account @DeanHardy23

Monday, October 29, 2012

How to meet Nascar Drivers: episode #3 - Trevor Bayne

       Meeting stock car racing drivers is easier than one might think. In fact, it's one of my top five reasons that NASCAR is my favorite sport.  Here's my experience with getting a chance to meet one of the skyrocketing stars in the sport: Trevor Bayne.
     
Trevor Bayne signs our stand-up photo
         I have to admit, as a little bit of a Nascar Newb myself, I jumped on the Trevor Bayne bandwagon with his win at Daytona in 2011. Not only was he a nice, young guy, and an exceptional driver, he also was an outspoken Christian- thus automatically making him one of my favorites.            
Roush Fenway's retweet via Trevor's twitter account
        While at the track for the Bank of America 500, I had no expectation to meet Trevor, and so I was shocked to see the tweet below on the day before the big race. I was lucky to have Trevor's mobile notifications sent directly to my phone, or I would have completely missed this opportunity.  (Tip: Follow your favorite drivers' twitter feed and make sure you get mobile notifications before and during race week.)
     So, that afternoon I decided to go look over in the vendor's section to see if I could find something for Trevor to sign.  I was a little skeptical whether or not we'd actually get to meet Trevor. We didn't have any sort of "ticket" and I didn't know how long we'd have to wait in line OR how long Trevor was actually going to sign stuff for his fans. So, I wasn't going to purchase something too expensive for him to sign, but I still wanted to have something.... just in case.   My son and I found a 12" stand up of Trevor for $5, and my son begged me to buy a Kyle Busch version as well (more on that in a future blog). I wheeled and dealed with the vendor and got both for $8.      
My son waits to meet Trevor- we were second in line!
       I arrived at the Planet Gadget display in the main "fan zone" at about 2:45 and there was a line to get to spin their wheel to win prizes. So I got in line with my son and asked one of the planet gadget girls if there was a line started for the Trevor signing. (Strangely enough, there were NO signs announcing Trevor's autograph session!) She acted as though they weren't going to have a line, and I got confused and a little worried. Was it going to be a mob rush? After about 25 minutes, I got to the front of the line and spun the wheel of Planet Gadget promotional materials, then noticed what looked to be one of the supervisors of the booth. After I got my Planet Gadget satchel I approached and asked if there was a Trevor Bayne line and he pointed over to the back deck of the booth and said "hang out over there." There was an older man sitting there and I asked if he was waiting to meet Trevor and he said yes, so my son and I sat with him. We were second in line!
      At 3:30, one of the Planet Gadget folks began announcing that Trevor was going to be there soon and only then did the line start getting long. Trevor showed up at 3:45 and was as pleasant as I expected. I asked him to sign with a Bible verse since I was going to put it in my classroom and he responded with "Ephesians 6, it's a good chapter!", I concur.

Upcoming blog on meeting my son's favorite driver: Kyle Busch

If you liked what you've read, and you want to know more about our family experiences and tips for Nascar Newbs - follow this feed or my twitter account @DeanHardy23

Thursday, October 25, 2012

How to meet Nascar Drivers: episode #2 - Danica Patrick, Elliot Sadler, and Ricky Stenhouse

              Meeting stock car racing drivers is easier than one might think. In fact, it's one of my top five reasons that NASCAR is my favorite sport.  Here's my entry on meeting one of the sport's most famous drivers, a driver gearing up for the Nationwide Championship, as well one who is catapulting into a Sprint Cup car next year: Danica Patrick, Elliot Sadler, and Ricky Stenhouse.
Signed Sadler and Patrick Cars
            When visiting the Charlotte Motor Speedway website I noticed the picture on the right on their main page. What an easy way to meet these three drivers (and the Ninja Turtles too!). Yes, it's $20 a person, but you aren't going to find these drivers at one place at one time. I asked my rep. at Charlotte Motor Speedway (Call Quinn at  704-454-6401 and buy tix for the next race-  mention Dean Hardy and we'll both get a $50 credit!). Quinn said that they are willing to sign one item per ticket. So, either you could bring an item, or you could get their 8x10 card signed. 
Danica Patrick, Ricky Stenhouse, Elliot Sadler signatures
         A couple tips here: first, only buy tickets that you need. I bought two thinking that both of my kids would like to get pictures with the turtles, and I can bring a couple things to get signed for each driver. Well, I only bought a Sadler and a Danica Car to be signed, so I probably wasted a ticket. They would have let all four members of our family in on one ticket, plus the drivers didn't know who did and didn't have tickets- so I probably should have only bought one. Secondly, I didn't realize that there were going to be so MANY other drivers there. It was great to meet many of the other Nationwide drivers like Jeffrey Earnhardt, James Buescher, Jeremy Clements, as well as the others mentioned above. If I would have known that I might have gotten some more things to get signed.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
meet my 3 year old son
    Another tip, buy your cars and other merchandise to get signed over in the "vendors" section of the raceway. I was actually pretty surprised at the price of these 1/24 diecast cars. Some fetch over $100. Well, I'm still a Nascar Newb, so I went for the cheapest cars I could find. The Sadler car was $15 and I grabbed the Danica black and silver one for $30 (most of hers were $65!).  Now I just have to figure out  a way to display them!
The boys with Danica Patrick
     As for the actual event, they simply looked over our tickets and had us get in line. It moved pretty efficiently and most of the drivers were pretty friendly. Some even took the time to spell my sons' names on the driver's 8x10 pictures (Jeremy Clements was especially nice to my boys!) Elliot seemed a little sulky that day- while Stenhouse appeared a little introverted and hid under his massive cowboy hat, Danica was very kind and even leaned forward to take a photo with the boys (even though one of my sons didn't completely make it into the photo!). 
     Overall it was a great experience and well worth the $20. I probably should have been a little more prepared, but that's the part about being a Nascar Newb- you learn from your mistakes! In an upcoming blog, read how I was able to meet both Trevor Bayne and Kyle Busch!

If you liked what you've read, and you want to know more about our family experiences and tips for Nascar Newbs - follow this feed or my twitter account @DeanHardy23


Thursday, October 18, 2012

How to meet Nascar Drivers: episode #1 - Gray Gaulding

    Meeting stock car racing drivers is easier than one might think. In fact, it's one of my top five reasons that NASCAR is my favorite sport. Obviously, some drivers are more difficult to meet than others, but for this first entry let's discuss one of the most outgoing and easy to meet drivers I've ever met: Gray Gaulding.
     Yes, he is young (age 14 at the writing of this blog), but he's already being heralded as a prodigious up-and-comer in the sport.  He's already attracted the attention of Krispy Kreme Donuts which has signed Gray to a 5-year contract. He drives the #2 Super Late Model for Coulter Motorsports in the Pro All Star Series (PASS).
     I originally became aware of Gray early one morning when driving thru a local Krispy Kreme (picking up donuts for a youth event) and saw his hauler out front. He was making an appearance inside the shop. My kids pleaded with me to go in to meet Gray, but I was running late for our event and we merely got to wave through the drive through window.  (Tip: If you live in NASCAR country- look for driver appearances at local sponsor shops and "fan fests" at the race shops.)
     Generally, the easiest way to meet drivers are at the booths of sponsors at major Nascar events. We finally were able to meet Gray at the Krispy Kreme booth at Charlotte Motor Speedway at the Bank of America 500. Here's a picture of my boys with Gray- he happily signed an 8x10 picture and even took the time to get my boys names spelled properly. You can see my oldest is looking concerned in the picture- apparently a spider was crawling up my arm. After the picture, Gray quickly walked over and knocked it off my shoulder and stepped on it. Nice kid!
   Gray was recently featured on Speed's "Race Hub" and I found the video to be quite entertaining. Not only is he a pleasant and outgoing young man, but also he's got some serious SWAG. Watch the video and see how he hits on the older female reporter. Dude has some skills....

Gray can be followed at @graygaulding or find more info at: http://www.graygaulding.com

If you liked what you've read, and you want to know more about our family experiences and tips for Nascar Newbs - follow this feed or my twitter account @DeanHardy23

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Nascar Newbs: is Nascar really Family Friendly entertainment???

      I have to admit, after my first experience at a Nascar race in 2004, I didn't think that this would ever be a place I would bring my kids. There are quite a few incidents that come to mind on that night, but the most memorable was a fully "lit-up" nascar enthusiast who sat down next to the girl beside me and had a complete conversation. While she couldn't understand many of the words he was slurring, I do believe that he was hitting on her. Nonetheless, while I find drunk people with mullets humorous, I didn't think I wanted my young, impressionable boys to experience these hooligans.
         With that being said, in the last ten years Nascar has made some serious strides to make the sport accessible and "friendly" to families and with some knowledge of these accommodations, you can make your trip to the track smooth and enjoyable.
           Most tracks have cordoned off certain seating sections as "alcohol and smoke-free" zones and they are diligent to make sure that no substances of the sort enter that section, and there are no shenanigans whatsoever. Ironically, these seats seem to have the least amount of demand, so you can get these at a fairly decent price. I recently bought tickets for two to the Bank of America 500 for $59, and when I used my 50 dollar credit that I received in the mail, I ended up paying under $10 for tickets! Some tracks also have special kids rates, so you can buy one ticket at the normal price and a child's ticket for half price, or even free!
         After thinking about my past experiences with Nascar races, I realized that most of the "problematic" incidents  at the track occurred right before and right after the event in the main parking lots as well as right outside of the main entrance. I recognized that if I camped in the family campgrounds section and bought tickets in the family section that was on the edge of the track, I evaded all of these negative encounters. I simply walked my kids from my camper up to the nearby gate and I was IN the family section!  (You can see in the picture on the left- the gate is right where the seats end.)
      Also, I made sure that my family was not around the main entrance of the track within two hours of the event. One of my boys and I hung out at the campsite while our friends were enjoying the pit passes in the infield. (I will discuss pit pass upgrades on another blog entry...)
     Keep your eyes out for family-friendly Nascar events. In an upcoming blog I will review my boys' reaction to a recent Nationwide Autograph event that included Danica Patrick, Ricky Stenhouse, as well as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!


If you liked what you've read, and you want to know more about our family experiences and tips for Nascar Newbs - follow this feed or my twitter account @DeanHardy23

Monday, October 15, 2012

Nascar SWAG: Free Stuff at NASCAR events- even if you don't have tickets!

My 6 year old son's favorite part of any Nascar weekend is the Nascar swag. From earplugs to food , coozies to lanyards, satchels to cups, stickers to sunglasses and shirts, you will end up with bags of random free "stuff."  From one display to the next, there are usually "games": spinning color wheels, corn hole tosses, even a "plinko" game (at the hall of fame booth). Some booths simply hand out stuff- no silly games required! Many will ask for an email address and phone number. You will need to choose which companies you want to give your legitimate information to, but know that I highly suggest that you give your emails to the other speedways in the Nascar circuit- especially if you are interested in attending those races. This last year I got vouchers for $50 off tickets for our local speedway, just because I was on their mailing list.

     I did overhear one man in our campground say that he was shooting for 100 coozies by the end of the weekend. While I never saw him again, it's safe to say that he probably reached his mark. The ease of getting this "stuff" is almost humorous. For instance, while we were at our campsite at a recent race, we were given boiled peanuts, two huge cans of Glory brand beans and potatoes, Goody's headache medicine, and Target coozies and sunglasses. People rode around in their promotional golf carts- handing out their products. Everywhere we turned, people were giving us stuff!

   My only suggestion is to get to the track hours early. Many of these items are handed out fast. For example, many people asked us where we had gotten the foam car hat (pictured above) as well as a large Aaron's reusable grocery bag; they were all given out hours before the race. The event started at 7pm, but we started collecting at noon.   My favorite recent takes were an 88 lanyard and cups from Bristol Motor Speedway, not to mention the free hamburgers!

If you liked what you've read, and you want to know more about our family experiences and tips for Nascar Newbs - follow this feed or my twitter account @DeanHardy23


What to bring to the track: #1 & 2 Ear Protection & Radio


        You might think that ear protection is an obvious thing to bring to the track, but you'd be surprised how many people we see putting their hands on their ears to muffle the sounds of roaring engines.  Ear protection is a MUST have. If you do not have on ear protection, you are bound to have a headache for days after the event- as well as potential hearing loss for the rest of your life. 
         Many people use ear plugs, and while these are better than nothing, I haven't had good experiences with them. They simply don't muffle the sound enough for my liking. I also find that ear plugs are not easy to use for children. You can't get them into their small ear canals and I can't tell if they have sufficiently muffled the sound in my boys' ears.  If you do forget ear protection, they will sell these trackside and at concessions, and some vendors give them away for free. Recently we picked up some free earplugs at the Air Force as well as the Nationwide Insurance booths around Charlotte Motor Speedway. 
       Yes, some people rent headsets and scanners, but if you are new to the sport and aren't willing to invest, there is a cheaper option. I picked up a set of winchester earmuffs from Walmart for under $10 for each of my family members. Here they are at Walmart's website.  If you are willing to pay $20-$120 for tickets, invest a few more dollars to enjoy the race and watch headache-free! (Notice the picture above of my boy on the third row- horrible seats but they were free tickets- he's happy as a lark with his earmuffs on!) Now here's #2 of the most essential items to bring to the track, and it might surprise you: a radio.
        I always bring a small hand held radio, or mp3 player that has a radio, and some ear buds to put under my ear muffs. I'm almost to the point where I am going to invest in a scanner, but for now I am happy with my radio/ear muffs combination. Why is a radio such a big deal? Well, honestly, sometimes it's hard to know what's going on during a race. Sometimes the leaders and the "lapped cars" often get mixed, so you can't distinguish who is in the lead and who is in last place. Each track has a radio frequency that gives you live analysis of what's going on in the race.  Also, it should be noted that wrecks happen FAST. If you are looking in the wrong direction, you could miss the entire thing. But if you have someone yelling in your ear "wreck in turn 2!" you may actually get to see part of the incident.


If you liked what you've read, and you want to know more about our family experiences and tips for Nascar Newbs - follow this feed or my twitter account @DeanHardy23



Sunday, October 14, 2012

Top Five reasons why NASCAR should be America's favorite sporting event

The stereotypical NASCAR fan gets a bad rap. They get painted as hillbillies and missing-tooth ignoramuses. As the history of NASCAR has it's roots in moonshiners escaping prohibitionists, there's no denying that there's a little hillbilly in it's origins, but it's a fallacy to think that all who attend the races are of this sort. (To digress, I've noticed that some, usually college -aged students, are actually "embracing their inner hillbilly" and dressing up for the occasion- sometimes with full mullets, cut-offs jean shorts, etc.)  This blog is being written to promote the sport to families and first-time race goers who may want to release their inner hillbilly.

So, why is NASCAR better than any other sport on the planet?
1) The whole package
      There's no other sport in our country that people show up with RVs and campers a week before hand and start setting up shop. The race is not a single "event," it's potentially a week long (or week-end long) experience. Unlike other sports like the NFL, basketball, and baseball, you don't merely show up to the event, buy your son a hot dog and find your seat. You can wake with your boys and make breakfast at your campsite a few feet from the speedway, or find a mobile Krispy Kreme or Bojangles (if you are in the South) peppered around the track grounds.
2) Camping
      Yes, CAMPING is an amazing experience. I cannot believe I just wrote those words. If you would have asked me if I liked camping as little as five years ago I would have laughed in your face. I have slowly and surely fell in love with camping. No, we do not have a massive RV. My family enjoys all of the comforts and pleasures of living on a teacher's salary (sarcasm). But we have been blessed with a 1985 toyota Granville that serves our NASCAR camping purposes beautifully without breaking the bank- and with places like Charlotte Motor Speedway charging $100-150 a spot for a week, how can you beat it? I have come to find camping to be fairly restful, but a highly memorable experience. As I will mention later- most of the memories at the Nascar track will not be in the actual event. The pre-race activities and the general time spent with one another at and around the track always promote memory making.
3) NASCAR Swag
     One of my oldest son's favorite past times at the track is collecting Nascar swag. (Click Here for examples!) Every attendee of Nascar pre-race festivities (whether you have a ticket or not) is subjected to hundreds of companies who are trying to promote their businesses. With every coozie, satchel, bead necklace, hat, keychain, and so forth- my son gets happier. There's even often free food from vendors such as Cargill, Jack-in-the-Box, and Glory foods (canned food products in the South). The highlight of our recent race included a free tailgate party from the people at Target. I had low expectations, but to our surprise, it was a full spread with grilled chicken, chicken sausages, potato salad, and even free drinks (yes- even beer). They had raffles for door prizes (usually pit passes!) and games for all.  And for enders, Juan Pablo Montoya showed up to take photos with each attendee! On that note, let's segue into reason #4:
4) Connect to the drivers
      Nascar is one of the few sports where the main players are accessible.  In our last race we had the opportunity to meet over ten drivers from the Sprint and Nationwide series (more on these on future blogs), and we were in arms reach of more than 30 Sprint Cup drivers. If you follow this blog, I will reveal how getting close to the drivers and close to the action is very easy in Nascar.
5) The Races
     You probably have heard that attending a Nascar race consists of merely watching cars go in a circle. I personally think that there's much more to this drama than turning left.  If you've never seen four drivers battle for first place on a last lap or have never seen a 10 car pile-up LIVE, just wait, it will be engrained in your memory and you will be forever hooked.  But honestly, if you are new to the sport, or you are a family man (or woman) who is looking for something new for your family to experience, Nascar is a great choice EVEN if you don't care for the racing!  It may surprise you to know that many times when I run back to the camper to restock supplies in our cooler during the race, I see men and women around the fires at their campsite just enjoying each other's company.  For some people, it's not about the race, and that's OK!

If you liked what you've read, and you want to know more about our family experiences and tips for Nascar Newbs - follow this feed or my twitter account @DeanHardy23