Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

Looking for tips on a first visit. I do have a question about pit access. At Charlotte they have a free pit pass with earlybird purchases on tickets. Anything like that for Knoxville? Or is a pit fee each night? I'm coming from PA and we like to hit the pits and visit with friends. I'm not a grandstander. I see some people have used RVshare.com to rent RV's. Any one care to share how that worked for them? If stuck in the grandstand how tight are the seats? At Charlotte we buy five seats for four butts cause it's tight. What keeps people busy by day when visiting Knoxville? Thanks! Doug

There is a pit fee each night.  Pretty pricey as I recall.  However, at Knoxville, the cars are parked in various parking lots & areas on the fairgrounds.  On their race nights, they roll the pit wagon & car into the infield but when races are over, they go back to where their haulers are parked.  

If you put in some foot time during the days, you can see various drivers & crews working on their cars in the blocks surrounding the track.  Cars start rolling into the infield around 3:00 or so each afternoon.  It is a sight to behold to see sprint cars being pushed down the street on the way to the track.  The infield pits are open after the races.  

As to seating, they widened the front stretch seats a couple years back (just renumbered & took some seats out).  There is more room than there used to be.  I would say it is comfortable even when packed on Friday & Saturday night.  Prior to that, the Saturday night had a feeling of being packed in like sardines.  

Yea up until mid afternoon on Wednesday the whole town is like one big pit area. That’s one of the great things about the place. 

As mentioned above the seats are very comfortable for a dirt track with seat backs and a lot of room compared to years past. 

Lots of planned Nationals activities during the days,  race cars use parking lots for pits, interesting HOF with nonstop films in their little theater, plus interviews & discussions, more sprint fans to BS with than you've ever seen, yard sales all over, lots of folks in Dingus bar... you won't get bored. Just show up!

I like to exercise, You can swim, lift weights, use machines or shoot hoops at local Rec center

Everybody's friendly too....

The whole day prior to racing is essentially a pit pass. The teams are all across the city in the parking lots & you can't miss them. Plenty to do during the day with walking around the town looking at the cars. There is a fee for the pits each day & your view is limited. Plus they open the gate only a few times during the night so you could get stuck in the infield.

I'd recommend getting grandstand tickets so you can see everything. I'm 6'6 & my buddy is 6'3 270 & we have plenty of room. I would save the money & not buy an extra seat. They all have backs on them. Stop at the hall of fame, dingus, sample the local food, go to some of the vendors. Plenty to entertain you during the week. Haven't used rv share before but normally stay in oskaloosa. Just stay away from the Newtown inn in newton. 

I am a sucker for the parade on Saturday.   It is always fun.   You see all kinds of stuff in the parade.   I remember one year, there was a racer who was running for some political office.   He had his late model being towed by a four wheeler.   Every block or so, he would start the engine and bring the crowd to life.

All of the above. And don't forget the Aloha Chicken plate.

On Saturday afternoon start wandering around the back campground and look for a guy with a stuffed rat mounted to his ballcap. Slip him a $20. He will be oranizining an epic wet t-shirt contes...........hold on, being told it's 2019 and that was cleaned up 20 years ago. Nevermind. I'm sure there's plenty of merch trailers to check out where you can purchase a black t-shirt of your favorite driver's special Nationals vinyl wrap and 12 variations of hats. 

That one & pork tenderloin, as well as Cattleman's Assoc. Steak & corn on the cob... good stuff!

I secured tickets yesterday. Looking forward to it. Now to RVshare or hotel? Gotta get cracking on the details.

Thanks,

I'm looking to buy tickets this week as well. Three of us all first timers. 

Don’t know anything about RVs, but hotels are tough to Find super close to the tracK.

Knoxville is certainly sold out, Pella is also probably sold out. Oskaloosa May have some availabilty. Newton will definitely have some places but is farther out. 

We stay around the Des Moines airport which is a very easy 40 minute drive from the track. 

Me too, & way less expensive.

Plus, Kville Nats usually coincide with Perseid meteor showers. On the way back to Des Moines, pull over by some farmland, stretch out & match Mother Nature's free show..... no air pollution, light pollution, noise pollution

Indianola is about 25 minutes from the track and there are a few hotels there.   It's also not far from Des Moines Airport and there good restaurants too.   

RV /Camper it if you can.. Staying in town close to everything is part of the experience. We had someone next to us bring in 2 identical campers (nice ones) set them all up, leveled them and had them ready to go so when ever the people showed up they hit the ground running....

Chariton Iowa is only 25 miles down the road. Motels/hotels, places to eat. Easy drive straight south on hwy 14 after the races.

Im also looking to go next year for the 1st time, since its the 60th... driving down from Ontario. I was looking up parking spots around the track but couldnt find much info...

Any suggestions ?

There is a lot of parking you have to pay for around the track. Around $5-10 per night for the Nationals. 

How many RVs available during Nationals week? Roughly of course. Also who can I get in contact with about renting one? 

Yea, I never tried that... I bet its fun!