nascar at Watkins Glen

First camped at the track in 1969. In the infield in a tent. Wild times but a lot of fun. Watched the likes of Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart and others race.

bgum wrote:
First camped at the track in 1969. In the infield in a tent. Wild times but a lot of fun. Watched the likes of Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart and others race.

Yeah-- back in the days of the "bog"
I haven't been to the NASCAR races there, but attended the F1 races for many years. My favorite thing to do was walk the track, with a back pack of cold brew, to get different perspectives of the racing action. While in the area, you may want to tour some of the many wineries in the area. Walking the Glen state park is worthwhile.

We will be staying in the reserved lot in August as well. This will be my first road course experience. I'm looking forward to it. Maybe we'll see you there.

Hi, I have camped at the glen in the infield for 8 years. Up to 2 years ago. We now stay at Sampson State park. We have tickets in the Pit Paddock grandstand. We park in the pit paddock infield parking lot. We liked being at the track but felt it got too expensive. The Glen doesn't mess around with anybody making noise after 10pm. The police walk through(LOTS OF THEM) they warn once and if come back the offenders are given 15 minutes to pack up and they are gone. NO TICKETS and no rights to renew for next year. Consequently it is quiet and family oriented. It is very handy to get to your seats and to experience all of the sights and sounds. Turn 10 is the only area for debauchery if that is what you want. Not excessive. The old history of formula 1 has made things tame now. You can get out and back in without any trouble except on the usual race day rush. The Walmart is close in town. Any more you need to know let me know...
John

We are sitting in pit terrace. Not sure if that is a good spot for the race but it's where they put us. Is this a good spot? Also staying at gate 1 reserved row L. Couldn't afford track side. I image just a spot in a field not expecting more. Going to have a second car when wife joins us sat. morning. Not sure if allowed a second car on site. Hoping for cell reception so we can meet up easier. JLS did you stay in family section or is everything quiet at 10? Speaking of noise I Think a oval will be too much noise for my son That is reason for a road course for his first race.
Clements I will be near the drunk guy wearing a Earnhardt shirt. Should narrow it down. lol.

PS: Kids love Sampson, nice big sites and. Great bicycling but really looking forward to staying at the track.

We camp at the track for the 6 hour race and the Vintage cup - just too full for me during the Nascar race. We stay at Sampson State Park for the Nascar race.

You will find the in-field full during the Nascar race. Don't expect it to get quite.

Cell reception is good - new towers were installed a few years ago.

The second car - plenty of parking outside the track. Just takes awhile to get out of the area after the race - 1/2 to 1 hour.

Thank you for the responses. Expecting it to be a big party atmosphere which is great. Sometimes my kids get overwhelmed by the noise. Like the time I took them to the monster trucks. So I am bringing ear plugs and ear muffs. They should be fine since 43 cars spread out not like a smaller track as least that's what I am hoping. They seemed ok at the half mile dirt track with the modified cars and it has been over 7 years since the monster truck melt down.
Really curious about our seats and what we will get to see other then the pits. Lastly I didn't realize Sampson so so popular during the race weekend. After race we are heading to Robert treman state park for the rest of the week.

Hi again. What you can see of the track from your seat depends on where you are in the paddock. The Lower your section number the closer you are to turn 1. There is quite a bit of action in turn 1. No matter where you are in the PP you will see all of the main straight away. There is a jumbotron across from sec2 and you can see the whole racetrack on that. It is the video feed for tv. If you have a scanner you can listen to both tv or mrn audio feeds. The track is much quieter than ovals. The noise is always audible, but the loud comes and goes with the cars being so far away much of the time. Due to the distance the team transmisions(scanner) are hard to get. Last year we (Pit Paddock ticket holders) got free rental on the (Nascar's scanner) fanview. I don't know if we will get it again but it works well. We are in sec 2. As for the quiet time all is quiet at 10. The turn 10 area is the rowdy area. But still quiet at 10. Beings you have PP seating don't waist your money getting pit tour. tickets. You see all you can with the passes right from your seat. As for the second vehicle I'm not sure. Never had a second. Call the track. They are very welcoming and helpful.
John

Thank you all for the help. Email says pit terrace-15 row 9. Also says we get 2 fan visions. We own a scanner which we will bring also. Two years ago when staying at Sampson we drove to Watkins Glen but the $20 per car to drive the track was closed as they where getting ready for the nascar race in a few weeks. We actually were just looking for the racing museum and they told us about the drive the track deal. When I called the number for the track the call goes to someone in Florida. I am sure we will figure it out. Good to hear there is cell reception as the track seems to be away from town. Again thank you I really didn't see much on the web so I posted here and glad I did.