Open wheel action

Highlights of a Saturday at Richmond International Raceway:

• The fact that the track is the opposite of every football stadium I’ve been to. Tailgating is allowed just like anywhere, but the folks at RIR encourage you to take the tailgater with you wherever you go – through the parking lots, at the sponsors’ exhibits, and into the seats too! It was like a big block party, with everyone carrying their beers everywhere. And with no deadline to stop drinking, I could pace myself and have a nice continuous buzz throughout the day.
  
• Access to the infield and pit road. With our press passes, we could go anywhere in the infield before the race. At one point we were following a crew pushing one of the cars from the garage to the trailer, just because we had the opportunity to be two feet away from an actual Indy car. We walked up and down pit road about 45 minutes before the race and checked out all the crews setting up their pits and getting the cars ready. And of course, our tailgater was easy to set up since we only had to worry about a cooler of beer – the media room provided us with all the food and water we wanted all day long.
  
• Indy racing can’t hold a candle to Nascar in Richmond. About 45,000 people came to the 107,000-capacity track for this race. Not only did the quantity of people make it easier to move around, but the quality of spectator was quite inoffensive – the redneck element was gone but not missed from this race.
  
• A ¾ mile track is superior to a 2.5 mile track for the spectators. We sat about 30 rows up in turn 1 for the race and could see every inch of the track, with especially good views of pit road and the start/finish line. We could see every pass, every maneuver, and all the wrecks (such as they were – just a couple of tire blowouts, no multiple-car pileups). I may even have to amend my previous remark about racing being better on TV.
  
• There’s no united front. One of the best things about going to a football game is everyone’s rooting for either one team or the other. It makes for a great atmosphere before the game, during the game, and (if you win) after the game. Since the race fans – of those that even root for a particular driver -- are divided amongst the 19 drivers, there is much less of a rah-rah atmosphere in the stands. Everyone cheers at the beginning, then again at the end, but even when a driver wipes out or gets passed, there’s really no huge reaction from the crowd. Though I’m sure there’s a little more excitement during a Nascar race, I’d still say that no car race can even come close to matching the experience of a big college football game.
  
• Racing is what you make it. I was minimally familiar with the Indy car series and about half of its drivers before Saturday. (I am equally familiar with them now, after attending the race.) I made it a point to take in as much as possible and just have a good time. And you know what? I did. Sure, the infield pass made it a lot cooler, but just being at the track, tailgating with friends, and seeing the race was a really fun experience that I enjoyed a lot. I’ve done RIR on training wheels – now bring on Nascar this fall!