Attend testing in person? (1 Viewer)

[LoPony]

This may have been answered on here before, or maybe I didn’t find it. I have maybe a novice question. Is it possible to attend in person at testing days at tracks? Or is this invite only? John Force was crowing about this at the mile highs, just wondering if it’s possible for a spectator to attend.

 

[Chili]

This may have been answered on here before, or maybe I didn’t find it. I have maybe a novice question. Is it possible to attend in person at testing days at tracks? Or is this invite only? John Force was crowing about this at the mile highs, just wondering if it’s possible for a spectator to attend.

It all depends on the track. I’ve been to testing up at Bandimere and had some friends who went to Vegas testing the Monday following their National event. Charlotte testing was not open to the public several years ago when I was there.

 

[ZWeinstein]

Like Chris said it all depends on the track. Years ago they opened the gates for the "Monday nationals" in Phoenix a few times. When they did not open the gates you were able to park in the motorhome section trackside outside of the gates and as long as you were not making a mess or causing problems security left you alone. I use to grab lunch and sit for a few hours midday. Best bet is to call the track and ask.

 

[qualified17th]

I believe the thing Force was talking about was the midweek testing before the Dallas race, and yes, that will be open to the public. Looks like you do need a ticket though, it's not free like some places

Texas Motorplex Online Registration System

 

[LoPony]

This, to me, has always sounded like one of the best ways to enjoy the races. Almost no one there except the teams that want to test.

Can you walk around in the pits and interact with teams on test days? Sorry for the questions and if this has been answered before, just trying to wrap my head around ways to do this.

 

[qualified17th]

This, to me, has always sounded like one of the best ways to enjoy the races. Almost no one there except the teams that want to test.

Can you walk around in the pits and interact with teams on test days? Sorry for the questions and if this has been answered before, just trying to wrap my head around ways to do this.

You can, but it won't be the same as an actual race weekend. There will be hardly any spectators there, so drivers aren't gonna be at the ropes signing stuff and talking to people if there's no one to talk to. But you're welcome to walk around and watch them work if you want

 

[LoPony]

You can, but it won't be the same as an actual race weekend. There will be hardly any spectators there, so drivers aren't gonna be at the ropes signing stuff and talking to people if there's no one to talk to. But you're welcome to walk around and watch them work if you want.

Understandable. 75% of it (for me) has always been about walking around and seeing what people are up to without actually bugging them.

 

[J. S.]

Test days aren't really very exciting to attend. There is a lot of time when there is no on-track action at all. And most of the fuel teams are just going to make 60' or 1/4 track "squirts" and not "full-pulls" all the way to the finish line. Those squirts aren't any fun to watch in my opinion.

It's very hard to beat the non-stop action of an NHRA National Event, or a big independent Nostalgia show like the Bakersfield March Meet.

 

[4onthefl4]

One of the best races I ever attended was sometime in the 80's the Gatornationals got rained out on Sunday and the finals was held the next day. NHRA said Sundays ticket would be good that Monday.
Talk about having the place to yourself, I was in drag racing heaven.

 

[T.Smith]

It's not terribly exciting. Mostly aborted runs and all the runs are singles. No announcer, big screen TV or concessions.

We tested at Indy in April. It was pretty weird being the only team on the property for three days.

 

[LoPony]

One of the best races I ever attended was sometime in the 80's the Gatornationals got rained out on Sunday and the finals was held the next day. NHRA said Sundays ticket would be good that Monday.
Talk about having the place to yourself, I was in drag racing heaven.

Same happened to us in ATL one year, maybe 95 or 96, got to stay over on Monday and watch eliminations. That was the event where Tommy Johnson Jr. tossed the rear axle out of his TF car in the final. That was weird to see.

 

[twostep]

Understandable. 75% of it (for me) has always been about walking around and seeing what people are up to without actually bugging them.

Once at the Motorplex I stopped and watched Anderson and Line's teams just to see what they were "up to" and watch them work on their cars and noticed a few stink eyes. Took a picure of the two cars and that was a really big mistake - a crew member charged over to the rope and, well, let's just say he was mighty unhappy. Guess there's a lot of spying that goes on in the world of Pro Stock.

 

[LoPony]

Once at the Motorplex I stopped and watched Anderson and Line's teams just to see what they were "up to" and watch them work on their cars and noticed a few stink eyes. Took a picure of the two cars and that was a really big mistake - a crew member charged over to the rope and, well, let's just say he was mighty unhappy. Guess there's a lot of spying that goes on in the world of Pro Stock.

Interesting. Kind of makes sense, though and good to know. Thanks for the factoid.

 

[Jer]

Once at the Motorplex I stopped and watched Anderson and Line's teams just to see what they were "up to" and watch them work on their cars and noticed a few stink eyes. Took a picure of the two cars and that was a really big mistake - a crew member charged over to the rope and, well, let's just say he was mighty unhappy. Guess there's a lot of spying that goes on in the world of Pro Stock.

So what happened when he charged at you.

 

[BaldyLochs]

I went to a NASCAR test once at Daytona.
Stupidest thing I’ve ever seen. Darrell Waltrip Tide car. Fans could pay to watch it. The radio stations were promoting it ahead of time. About 30 fans Just sat there in the seats, clear blue sky, warm sunny FL day, literally for 6 hours. No concessions were open.
Every once in a while you’d maybe hear an engine start, idle, then shut off. You’d see them rolling the toolboxes and tire carts around the garage area. You could see the garage area really well but they had their hauler parked way far away in the infield far from garage and that’s where they were working on the car from.

Finally, like 4 hours into just sitting there like this, bench racing with other fans, a shiny sedan (rental) car came through the infield tunnel, went all the way around the track at about 55 mph and then pulled right up to the Tide hauler. Everyone around us started jabbering, getting excited saying, There’s Waltrip! That’s him! Binoculars were focusing… we were ready for some action !!

It was so far away from where we were seated You could hardly make out who it was. Could have been Joe Blow or anybody. Eventually Waltrip supposedly got into this primered gray stock car with the Tide logo on it, literally started it up, idled out onto the track, revved the motor a couple times going maybe 30 mph….. then made a slow U-turn on the track and went back to the infield to the hauler. No car ever made another lap after that. LOL I still can’t believe my Dad paid for that.

 

[Chili]

One of the best races I ever attended was sometime in the 80's the Gatornationals got rained out on Sunday and the finals was held the next day. NHRA said Sundays ticket would be good that Monday.
Talk about having the place to yourself, I was in drag racing heaven.

Monday races are the best, if you can hang around for them. Bandimere in 91 ran Monday evening. One of the best racesI ever went to. Charlotte2 in 2019 was pushed to Monday. Very few people to deal with and there was a very quick pace.

 

[ANDY]

the longest day of my life was the race in Topeka KS in 1998 we made it to the final
in fc and had to race Capps and the time was 1:20am when we raced after a bunch of rain storms
and track drying etc NHRA was determined to finish that race that day no matter what.. we got beat
runner up but still a very long day...

 

[LoPony]

Now, I bet there is a lot more to that cool story if you don’t mind sharing with us.

 

[T.Smith]

the longest day of my life was the race in Topeka KS in 1998 we made it to the final
in fc and had to race Capps and the time was 1:20am when we raced after a bunch of rain storms
and track drying etc NHRA was determined to finish that race that day no matter what.. we got beat
runner up but still a very long day...

Well, at least you didn't have to wait 6 weeks to runner-up...lol.

 

[James]

I have stopped by Atlanta 2019 for Monday testing and literally drove my vehicle into the facility without so much as a glance.

Same with Bristol 2019 Monday testing.

Watched a few cars and was never bothered at either venue.