Discussion: Your First Trackside Experience

[Emery]

June 1969 Portland Rose Cup Races at Portland International Raceway, age 6. My older brother (he's 19 years older than I am!) drove us there in his BMW 2800 purchased to replace the Barracuda he'd rolled during the winter ice storm. High wing Formula A (aka Formula 5000), Formula Ford, Formula Vee, C & D Sedan Minis, H Production bugeye Sprites, Lola T-70s, Porsche 906, and A Production big block Corvettes made the most impression on me, to the point that the second car I bought was a '68 Mini instead of something practical like a Subaru Wagon.

In those days, there were very few bleachers at PIR and most everyone paid to sit on the east levee rather than pay more to sit at the west end or in the bleachers or buy a paddock pass. The experience of sitting on the levee was always one of either being sunburned while gazing into the setting sun or being drowned in a late spring rainstorm.

I'm fortunate to have seen PIR evolve over the decades. The circuit was redone in 1970 from the flooded out town streets that had been known as Vanport in 1948 to what y'all are used to seeing today in a few sims, with the number of bleachers gradually being increased through the '70s. The PIR rebuild used elements from Oregon International Raceway (1964-65). Chicane wasn't added until CART came to town and then it was expanded into the festival curves in the '90s.

 

[rubaru]

1) A funny little redneck thing called Mud Boggin'. Like drag racing for trucks and tractors in thick mud.
2) 2015 Goody's 500 at Martinsville. Great first time NASCAR race, and really flipping loud. Sat at the top if the stand in Turn 4 and could see the whole track.
3) 2016 Firecracker 400. Seats 2/3 the way up at pit lane exit. The "Big One" started right under me.

 

[Nick Milton]

First ever race was brands hatch, local circuit, watching agostini in the world motorcycle championship, my elder brother was a Formula Ford driver, struggling bricklayer to pay for it, I followed at 10 watching him every third weekend,
At 11 I attended a F1 Goodyear tyre testing day at brands, Tyreall, JPS Lotus, Ferrari, etc , puts all open and no restrictions at any grandstand, it was a Thursday, and awesome, able to stand next to cars as team spoke to the drivers, In 75 ,at13, I attended again, literally leaning in the tyrell with Ken on the other side, and Jody Scheckter, as if I was actually helping ,lol,
At 14 1976 brands hatch, I struggled to climb onto a fire engine at paddock hill bend, to get a view of the GP, my hero Niki Lauda, what a day, stayed there whole race, if the engine had been called into service, I guess I would have hung on as it went lol. Went on to attend , silver stone, spa, Monaco, Nurburgring,(waste of time ), and race in ralkycross championship, drive formula fords, did 3 days test driving Rover cars ,taking a Rover clients for fast drives around brands hatch, ending in karting at buck more park Kent,. Now a RD sim driver, AND THE SLOWEST IN THE WORLD, and it ain't getting any better, I just can't drive computers, but it's fun.

 

[Matheus Machado]

2004 Brazilian GP. Went with my dad, sitting right in front of descida do Iago. I arrived on Saturday morning in São Paulo and we could see the F3 support event from the plane.
What impressed me the most was being able to hear the V10s 3km away from the track.
I still get thrills remembering two grey Mclarens coming 3 wide with Schumacher into the turn.

 

[howitzer155mm]

2001 Daytona 500

 

[Omer Said]

Went to the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix. I was with my daddy. It was a crazy feeling to see/hear those landrockets for the first time at the Saturday qualifying session. The sound and their speed are something else compared to what we see on the broadcasts. I remember shivering immensely.

Our ticket was for the off-stand areas. So we could travel around the track in the course of the race session. Luckily, Albers shunted his Midland to the wall right in front of us. I was actually looking elsewhere and heard him hitting the barriers. As a Schumacher fan, I was really excited to see him tailing Alonso each lap. Was a bit disappointed by the end result as he failed to pass him. All in all, that was a fantastic time and I am happy that I could be able to witness F1 in its "loud" era.

 

[F_B]

My first and only race I ever attended was the 1994 F1 Grand Prix in Spa, sitting at the straight after Eau Rouge.

 

[DND]

In 1974 my dad worked as an accountant for a division of Universal Oil Products and called home to ask if any of us kids wanted to come by his office as they had a race car in the shop having some welding done to it. The only racing on TV at that time in the USA was the Indy 500, Daytona 500 and Monaco. I had no idea what I was going to see but at age 12 knew I wanted to see it. A Can Am car was something I had never seen before and the 1974 black UOP Shadow was something to be seen. Meeting the driver with an accent was really cool too. He went on to win the championship that year his name is Jackie Oliver.
That weekend my mom and dad packed us kids in the station wagon and went north about 150 miles to Elkhart Lake Wisconsin to Road America to see them in action. Enough said I was hooked and although some years have been better than others I think sportscar and prototype racing are the most exciting they have been in years.

 

[krusti]

From when i was 4-5 years old to now, every year (except last 2) i'm on track to see the local Rieti-Terminillo (Hillclimb, where J. Plaza died).One of the best hillclimb track in Europe, fast and dangerous.

Dec 2016, first track day of my life, as a passenger, at Vallelunga on a Alfa Giulietta QV. It was awesome, exciting a lot!

Last week, first time in a Kart track to train a bit with my camera+new lens.

Next April, it will be my first time in a track for a race, Blancpain GT Series at Monza!

 

[Deleted member 205301]

Lived at Pau until this fall (France)
So, naturally, my first event was the 1987 Gp de Pau F3000 (I was 7 years old, and never forgot this), everyyear since that until now I was at this GP (and raced 3 time). I saw so many future F1 stars, from jean Alesi to lewis Hamilton, Rosberg, vettel, verstappen, Ryan briscoe, Montoya etc...So for me, having the luck to race here was fantastic, and I did it in "Formule France" and later in "Legend car" then in "mitjet serie" (something close to the ACR Camaro we have in AMS).
My first F1 race was Magny-Cours in 2000 then Barcelona in 2002, then barcelona 2013. Now I try to go in Barcelona each winter for the pre-season test
I watch lots of auto racing, and I practiced myself for a while (still racing in go-kart : x30master), been on about 15-20 tracks on France, Spain, Belgium and germany, but for me, nothing could remplace the Pau GP, the first ever I saw, and my hometown race !
Everything : noise, smoke, vibrations, the smells of hotdogs, the sound of speakers, the wind made by racing cars...all this conviced me, at the age of 7 years, to be a driver one day. I could say easily that was one of the 3 goals in my entire life : running here, at Pau (with having my own family and owning my house).
Now I did it, I could die without any anger ..euh....the latest possible off course
....I was lucky, living in this city, we have the Gp de Pau every year, we have a great track : Pau-Arnos for training, and we have the Nogaro track very close (30min), we also have 3 national go-kart tracks here in Pau, and it helps a lot^^, so if you want to, here you can do auto racing
@++
PS : the image is the start from the 2015 FIA F3 race (Jake dennis won it, behind Charcles leclerc and Antonio Giovinazi)

 

[Patrick Wuyts]

http://www.racingsportscars.com/etcc/photo/Spa-1973-07-22.html
I STILL SMELL THE BARBEQUE MIXED WITH BURNED OIL AND FUEL, AWESOME. GOOD MEMORY'S

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

some awesome stories so far folks, it's really interesting to see the range of experiences we have here. From the early days in the 60's all the way to people making their "live" debut this year! Wicked!

Man you're lucky to catch CART, would be amazing if Indycar came back, I'd be all over it like a kid in a sweet shop!

Yeah it was good, however I went with mates and it was during my "misspent" youth period. So although I was technically present at the race throughout I had a serious combination of many intoxicants in me at the time, so I can't actually remember much about it .... (this is not to be condoned as either big of clever in any respect. I was young and silly)...

He is propably one of the most inspiring persons I have ever seen, so humble and nice guy

For those reading this quote out of context he refers to Alex Zanardi. I cannot agree more with you mate. The man is a legend, and that word is far over used. An inspiration to everyone and truly a giant amongst men. I have more respect, admiration and any other superlative you care to use for that man. He is my hero. A true sportsman, a true gentleman and someone that quite literally defines how one can achieve above what one ever thought possible. Everyone should look at his story and draw their own inspiration from it. A superstar beyond words.

In fact after all that I've decided I'm going to write an article about the man and try and get an interview sorted. Sweet Watch this space....

 

[Nickl561]

mine was the 1969 british grand prix at silverstone. Stewart won after an epic battle with Rindt i watched it from copse corner

 

[Nick Hill]

Wow, some awesome stories in this thread! I feel conspicuously...American.

My first memory of being at a track was circa 1991 at a half mile oval in Cedar Rapids, Iowa called "Hawkeye Downs".

The majority of exposure I had to racing to that point was watching the Indy 500 on TV. Seeing race cars in person made quite the impression - in particular, I remember:

- being able to actually feel the sounds of the engines in your chest as the cars went by
- seeing the flames shoot out of the pipes as the drivers lifted into the turns
- not being able to hear anything on the car ride home and being somewhat concerned I was going deaf

It's funny to think because I'm really a road racing guy through and through, but based on the part of the world I grew up in, the majority of races I've seen in person have been on either 1/2 mile paved or 1/4 mile dirt ovals. They are fun experiences - always plenty of wrecks and plenty of rednecks behaving badly in the grandstands!

 

[Rob]

I got into racing late, relatively. I was about 26 when I went to my hometown race track, Richmond International Raceway for the Pontiac Excitement 500. There was nothing "international" about it -- except it was about to become a centerpiece in the fastest growing form of motorsport at the time -- NASCAR. It was an old dirt track in a fairgrounds that now seats over 100,000. It was 1992, and I had never been to a race, or even watched one on T.V. No, I grew up wanting to be a rock and roll drummer or, alternatively, a relief pitcher. Neither of those worked out, but I spent a lot of time in my youth working on it, and not watching racing.

So, it was a major shock to the system to see those cars averaging 125mph around a .75 mile track. And it's not like I had any warning, any hype, any real expectations (of speed) so an oval race, even though NASCAR, imprinted just a few things right up front, principally, danger and speed. The sport was largely unregulated back then and so was the crowd. It's a *lot* more safer on the track than in the infield partying. So, I peered over the wall and nearly had my head taken off with air. That, combined with the crowd of about 65,000, the smell of gas and rubber, and the noise, had me hooked. I have since moved away from following NASCAR so closely, as series' change over time, but as a first race, and a first impression, it could not have been more dramatic. I'll never forget it, despite since going to other tracks, like Spa, Nazareth, and VIR. It also later formed the foundation that allowed me to realize, sanctioning bodies and money aside, racing is racing, no matter where or in what. It's the purest form of competition and often the biggest is not the best. It's a very fluid form of entertainment really, because sanctioning bodies change, but "to race" you only have to do one thing...get there first.

Oh, and Bill Elliott won that race I saw, as the second of a four race winning streak. He was racing for the legendary Junior Johnson at the time, and as good as he was (lifetime fan), he was beaten by a better driver over the season, a real nail biter, so dramatic that it pushed NASCAR forward, without gimmicks, like the Chase. Alan Kulwicki won it all that year. Also racing at Richmond were Davey Allison, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt Sr., Ernie Irvan, Rusty Wallace, and yes, Dick Trickle. Rockingham and North Wilkesboro were both still on the calendar.

Bucket List? Only one. The Indianapolis 500.
Le Mans is second, by a country mile.

The race that I would least likely "give back" was the Nazareth 400, an IndyCar race in the hills of Pennsylvania. I miss that Venue. I lucked out and the year was 1993. I had been following Nigel Mansell for less than a year, and he then...jumped. We all thought -- that's interesting, but no freakin' way, he's a puss-ass, Perrier-sipping, money-grubbing F1 driver. We were wrong. And I saw him win the PPG C.A.R.T. Trophy that day. He also won the race, I believe. It's like he had been racing at 180 mph around mile-long ovals all his life! That's why I consider him the best that has ever lived.

 

[Knoxstar]

All great stories whether it was decades ago or just recently. I can feel the love for racing in your accounts.
Mine might be the oldest to date. I grew up near Mosport (Canadian Tire Motorsport Park now) and my mom took me and my 3 sisters to a USAC stock car race on the famed road course in 1967. We stood at the end of the straight and you would see the cars coming over the brow before swinging into turn 8. I saw Parnelli Jones, Dan Gurney, A.J. Foyt, Bobby and Al Unser and Mario Andretti just to name a few. Back then drivers wore open face helmets and often tied a handkerchief around their mouth and nose to keep the dirt, grime and some fumes out. My mom, bless her heart thought Mario was enjoying the race as to her it looked like he had an ear to ear grin.
Living nearby, I hitchhiked to most races and got picked up by a beautiful woman once (bet that doesn't happen ever now) in a cream coloured Mercedes. She passed me off as her kid and I got in free. I saw many Can-Am races with some late great drivers like Donohue, Hulme, Revson (still have the pics). In 1971 I attended my first F1 race (a wet one) and became an instant fan of Jackie Stewart. I still attend races every year and stay at the old farm in the evenings. I've turned on many people to motor racing that thought it bland because TV just does not do it justice. The sight, smell, sound, taste and vibrations are a welcome assault to your senses.
Sorry for the essay.

 

[Luke Maney]

I have been to many races...F1, Sprint cars, Stock cars, Kart, Indycar, Top Fuel, etc...

But my first real trackside experience was life changing:

It was 1976 in Long Beach California USA. Dad wanted to take the family to the beach. So we piled into the chevy van and headed to the West about 2 miles. Dad parked near downtown close to the beach. We started walking down the sidewalk and noticed plywood sheets on end behind a fence sheilding something from view on the other side. Then it happened, we could hear in the distance a racecar approaching our position. It was a different sound than other racecars, it was very loud and exotic. It got close to us and then turned and went the other way away from us going up thru the gears furiously accelerating. My hair was on end and I wanted to go in and see what was making that wonderful noise, but dad had other ideas...from then on I was hooked and I have been trying to relive that excitment from that day ever since. (Long Beach Grand Prix; 1976)

 

[Deleted member 130869]

1996 GP 500 and CART series in Jacarepaguá. I saw Valentino in his rookie season and had no idea .

 

[Eagle Racer]

My first trackside experience was World Series by Renault at Donington Park in 2005. I sat at the Melbourne Hairpin

 

[Rob]

My first trackside experience was in the weekend of 8 mei 1982 on Circuit Zolder. It was the tragic weekend that Gilles Villeneuve died.

I was 12 years old. When we were at the entrance, we heard the that there was free admission up to 12 years. So i got in free. We walked to the paddock, there you needed special tickets, unless you were younger than 12.

Once we were in the paddock we went up to the pits building. Another special ticket needed, but my nephew and i got in for free. 1,5 hours later we managed to squeez to the front off the pittbuilding, just before the race started. From there we could see the start and all the pitstops below.

We watched the entire race from the best place available for free. Tickets for seats like that are now way above my pay grade.

After the race we saw a lot of people were running towards the good year trucks. So we followed.

There they were handing out the used Good Year slick tires to the public. For free.

We went home with 2 rear slicks tied on the roof of the car. Eventhough it was a tragic weekend with the dead of Gilles Villeneuve in qualifying, for us personally it was the best trackside experience a kid could ever have.

This has to be the best thread ever.

The 60s one has me jealous. But there are so many like it. And this one above is good for reminding me how much things have changed. They used to hire strippers and homecoming queens in Richmond (back when RJR sponsored the series) to run around in next to nothing and corner all the guys who where smoking (about 60%) and offer them a free carton if they'd be willing to hand over their one smoke. Instant conversion (for a week). It was a brilliant attempt to tie sex, racing, and smoking all together, and seriously, why the hell not? Dick Trickle was caught smoking while racing two years earlier. Yes, racing is beautiful, but it can be awful dirty too. Real dirt too.

Circa 1997, at Road Atlanta, they made the mistake of letting us have booze and golf carts in an enclosed environment. No question that should have killed me, as I got more speed down the final turn then most of the race cars (my crazy ass friend put the thing in neutral). The object was to run the track and stop inside a burning campfire and physically run to the finish. Old school. (I never knew red clay was permanent...the RV rental place had a fit).