I've been to a lot of NASCAR races over the years, but about 90% of them have been at Atlanta Motor Speedway, my home track. I haven't missed a race weekend there since 1985, so it will always be the track I compare others to. This past weekend, I took a group of guys from the office to Texas Motor Speedway for the Samsung Mobile 500 weekend. Three of the four guys had never been to a race before, and none of them had ever camped in the infield for a race weekend. This was a first for me too, as I'd never been to the north Texas track.
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| Texas Motor Speedway |
Texas and Atlanta obviously have a lot in common. They are both "cookie cutter" tracks owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc. aka Bruton Smith, though Atlanta hasn't always looked the same as the likes of TMS and Charlotte Motor Speedway with the double dogleg. They feature similar racing with multiple grooves available for the drivers to move
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| Atlanta Motor Speedway |
around and find the best line for their setups. They are also both popular stops on the schedule for the drivers. But there are a lot of differences that I noticed too, especially regarding the fan experience, despite the fact that they are sister tracks.
I'll start from the beginning... driving up to the track is completely different. Texas Motor Speedway is located right off of I-35, a major interstate that runs through Fort Worth. The view of the track from the main entrance is overwhelmed by the huge continuous grandstand from turn four to turn one, and the condominiums overlooking turn two. Atlanta, on the other hand, is actually located in the town of Hampton, about 45 minutes south of the city, and a good twenty minute drive from the nearest interstate, I-75. It is really out in the middle of nowhere. It looks just as massive from the main entrance, though, with similar grandstands that stretch from turn four to the entrance of turn one, and another large grandstand in turn three. Until 2006, when a tornado hit the track, there was an additional grandstand on the backstretch, which served as the main grandstand back in the day when the track was a pure oval, and the start finish line was on the other side of the track. Atlanta has a bit more of an awesomeness factor in this category, in my opinion, because it sticks out so much from the surrounding farmland and rolling hills, whereas TMS looks a bit like just another large complex on the outskirts of Fort Worth. It's all relative, I suppose. Huge props to Texas though for having a Cup car, INDY car and Truck Series truck sitting in the middle of one of the ponds near the entrance of the track... that was cool!
You enter and exit the infield the same way at both tracks, through one of two tunnels that take you underneath the track surface. Inside the track is where the differences become much more noticeable and important to the fan experience. First, the Texas Motor Speedway infield is comprised of only reserved RV spaces, whereas Atlanta has a section in turns three and four for tents and pop-up campers only, allowing a cheaper alternative for fans wanting to camp in the infield. This is a HUGE selling point for me, not just because I'm biased from being one of those tent campers for the last 26 years, but because renting an RV for a race weekend is expensive, let alone owning one! An RV rented from Houston and driven to the track and back cost us $1350 including gas, and this was cheaper than the alternative of renting one in the Dallas/Fort Worth area because of the race weekend premium on all the rentals. In addition, the space itself cost us $1000 for the year, and that's the cheapest reserved space you can get in the infield. Compare that to Atlanta, where we spend $1200/year for four spaces and sleep in a tent (admittedly these four together are about the same size as two RV spots at TMS). Our only other expenses for the weekend are the infield tickets and food, both of which you have to have at Texas as well.
The facilities within the infield differ as well. Our Texas spot is in turn three, so I tried out the bathrooms located on the north side of the track. There were far fewer bathroom stalls at Texas than at Atlanta, and fewer places to actually do your business in general. However, there were many more showers at Texas, which is a huge plus since there is almost always a line outside the door to the showers at Atlanta with only 5-6 showers available. I'd say Texas had 15-20. Unfortunately, at least the time I tried to use the showers last weekend, there was no hot water... in fact there was nothing but freezing, take your breath away cold water. Two thumbs down for that. Even if it had been 100 degrees outside, it wouldn't have felt good. It was like jumping into a mountain stream in Colorado.
For attractions other than the racing, Texas and Atlanta have a nice mix of options. The Midway areas at both tracks offer a wide range of displays and activities, but Atlanta seems to have more souvenir haulers than Texas did. I may have just missed it at Texas, but at Atlanta there is a cluster of "Mom and Pop" souvenir tents a few hundred yards from turn three that is a goldmine for collectors. You can find just about every die cast car you can think of there, all kinds of vintage memorabilia, and there are items for every price range. Texas has a nicely organized row of sponsor displays and souvenir trucks, but Atlanta seems to have some of the lesser known drivers' souvenirs, and multiples of the big names like Earnhardt and Gordon.
A major plus for Texas Motor Speedway is the 1/5th mile short track outside the big track, where we watched the Legends and Bandalero races on Saturday. With its own little grandstand, we were able to see some of NASCAR's potential superstars battle it out. And though there were no races held there last weekend, there's an awesome dirt track right next to the 1/5th mile. If Atlanta built a dirt track on their property and held a race during Labor Day weekend, in my opinion that would put that race weekend among the best on the schedule, right up there with Daytona Speedweeks and the All-Star Race/Coke 600 weeks at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Bruton, if you build it, we will come. Who wouldn't show up to watch Bill Elliott and his son run on dirt at Atlanta Motor Speedway?! Finally, I have to give kudos to Texas Motor Speedway for their infield restaurant, Fuzzy's Taco Shop. I'm not much of a fan of tacos, but I've found most everyone who has lived in Texas longer than me is. I can't tell you if it's any good, or how much it costs, since we didn't eat there. Regardless, having a restaurant in the infield that serves something other than a hot dog or funnel cakes is kinda cool.  |
| From turn 3 to turns 1/2 at TMS |
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| From turn 3 to turns 1/2 at AMS |
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| View of turn 3 from our spot at AMS |
The view from inside the track is a little difficult for me to objectively compare between tracks. Our spot at Atlanta Motor Speedway is a treasured piece of real estate right up against the fence in turn three. The space we received through the lottery at Texas Motor Speedway is in the middle of turn three, about 5-6 RV rows back from the fence. As I mentioned, Texas has nothing but RV spaces, so you're always looking over everyone else's RV or through the people standing on top. I've never watched a race from the top of an RV at Atlanta. There, we build platforms on the back of pickup trucks for our view, since we are in "no RVs allowed" section. Despite the lower height of our platforms, we can see the entire track at Atlanta except the front stretch from our spaces. The reason for this, I believe, is that Atlanta is much more bowl-shaped than Texas. The turns seem to be elevated a little higher in comparison to the infield there, perhaps giving a better view because you are almost looking up at the track. Since you have to look up anyway to see over your neighbors standing on their platform or RV, you still get to see the cars go by. At Texas, if they were running the low groove, you had no view of them at all. Another thing helping Atlanta is that the backstretch, which used to be the frontstretch in the old configuration, has few if any visual obstructions. The old garage area is at a lower elevation than the track, so there is not much to look over. In my opinion, this is a feature that sets Atlanta apart from many other tracks, allowing a great view of the backstretch for fans all around the track.
One of the main reasons fans camp at NASCAR tracks is for the partying that goes on at night. Even for those who aren't party animals, campgrounds can at least provide some highly entertaining people-watching. Though I've heard things can get pretty interesting outside the track, the infield is where most people think the action is on Friday and Saturday nights. About ten years ago, NASCAR seemed to be at its peak in popularity, and around that time I recall seeing a lot of college-aged people in the infield at Atlanta. This was also about the time when Girls Gone Wild was all over late night TV infomercials. Mix in some Mardi Gras beads, and, well I'll leave it at that. Since then, I've noticed a less rowdy crowd at AMS. Texas Motor Speedway gets the prize for the better party track. There was a little of everything there- Margaritas in a blender powered by a motorcycle engine, handlebars and all... karaoke, laser lights projected onto the ground, tetherball, and tetherball dancing without the tether or the ball (yes, that would be pole dancing, and we saw at least two such poles in the infield). There were toy haulers with the back door down and people dancing on them, NASCAR beer pong tables, there were funnels, and yes there were women lifting their shirts. Everyone was just having a good time, and the even police patrolling the infield let everybody do their thing as long as it didn't get out of control.
I'm convinced no matter which track you go to, you're going to have a great experience at any NASCAR race. If you've never been, you won't truly understand until you go. It doesn't matter if it's a short track or a superspeedway, the first lap is enough to get your blood pumping. I can't wait to get back to the track again on Labor Day weekend for the Advocare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway!
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