Trip to the Monster Mile

[m630]

That's right, I was at the Monster Mile this weekend down in Dover, DE to take in my first NASCAR race live. What a good time! For those not familiar with this course, its a short 1 mile oval with high banks, except when you need to walk from one side of the stadium to the other as I did as we could not get good directions to our seating section! All of a sudden the 1 mile is like 3 miles of back and forth and up and down as the grandstand stops and starts and you cannot clearly walk directly around the oval for some strange reason, its a maze for which the designer should be shot! But enough babble, if you are going to house over 130,000 fans, I guess you have to consider your options and do the best, and it all works somehow. Now by being only a mile track affords certain differences from many of the bigger tracks, firstly you can always see all the action, and secondly, as they have built the track as a stadium more or less, the sound echoes and is amplified and is really wild to experience. The cars actually create a rhythmic wave that "races" around the track and ultimately as the pack breaks up, you get a constant ring of sound as the exhaust tunes bounce round and round and round, really really loud, but not so much that it hurt your ears, just very enjoyable from my seats.

At this track, the logic of seating is reversed, the lower grandstand is the least desirable due to the intense sound levels (you basically must have ear protection on down low), while the upper grandstand is premium seating. I was fortunate enough to be able to score 2nd row in the upper grandstand, so luckily some of the best seating to view and experience the race.
And a great race it was, start to finish with the last 10 laps the whole crowd was standing for the finish.

Other highlights, you can bring you own beer!!!! Imagine going to baseball or football and being able to tailgate for days and drink as much as you want!!! :greenlaff: and the fans are really committed. There are camps all around the track where 10s of thousands of fans camp out for days in evertything from the most basic tents to the most elaborate luxury rvs, with simple carcoal bbqs, all the way up to smokers, gas and electric grills and so on...you had all of america on display and it was quite a scene. :woohoo:
I'd definitely recommend a trip to a race for all to feel the fun in person, now I gotta figure how and when to get to an ALMS to see the M3s on the course. :electric:

[D!Tailed]

Been to one NASCAR race out at Fontana I believe in CA. It was definitely an experience.

Been to a couple ALMS races the last two years and they are really pretty cool. I miss seeing the TDI Audis and the Penske team this year, but there was some good racing. The BMW's out there certainly look great, but they are pretty slow in the company of the rest of the cars. They had a cool display though with one of their race cars done up in traditional colors and an M1 done up the same way. I think I send BDAW a pic from my crappy cameraphone.

ALMS is fun to watch though. 4 classes at once it way cool!

D!

[Richard in NC]

That's right, I was at the Monster Mile this weekend down in Dover, DE to take in my first NASCAR race live. What a good time! For those not familiar with this course, its a short 1 mile oval with high banks, except when you need to walk from one side of the stadium to the other as I did as we could not get good directions to our seating section! All of a sudden the 1 mile is like 3 miles of back and forth and up and down as the grandstand stops and starts and you cannot clearly walk directly around the oval for some strange reason, its a maze for which the designer should be shot! But enough babble, if you are going to house over 130,000 fans, I guess you have to consider your options and do the best, and it all works somehow. Now by being only a mile track affords certain differences from many of the bigger tracks, firstly you can always see all the action, and secondly, as they have built the track as a stadium more or less, the sound echoes and is amplified and is really wild to experience. The cars actually create a rhythmic wave that "races" around the track and ultimately as the pack breaks up, you get a constant ring of sound as the exhaust tunes bounce round and round and round, really really loud, but not so much that it hurt your ears, just very enjoyable from my seats.

At this track, the logic of seating is reversed, the lower grandstand is the least desirable due to the intense sound levels (you basically must have ear protection on down low), while the upper grandstand is premium seating. I was fortunate enough to be able to score 2nd row in the upper grandstand, so luckily some of the best seating to view and experience the race.
And a great race it was, start to finish with the last 10 laps the whole crowd was standing for the finish.

Other highlights, you can bring you own beer!!!! Imagine going to baseball or football and being able to tailgate for days and drink as much as you want!!! :greenlaff: and the fans are really committed. There are camps all around the track where 10s of thousands of fans camp out for days in evertything from the most basic tents to the most elaborate luxury rvs, with simple carcoal bbqs, all the way up to smokers, gas and electric grills and so on...you had all of america on display and it was quite a scene. :woohoo:
I'd definitely recommend a trip to a race for all to feel the fun in person, now I gotta figure how and when to get to an ALMS to see the M3s on the course. :electric:

Welcome to NASCAR. We get it redneck southern style. Just imagine 1/2 of those 150,000 fans as pot bellied tanned tee shirtless guys, many with a rebel flag painted on their chest. And maybe a few of the women as well.

One other downside to the closest (lowest) seats. That's the chicken bone section where everyone else throws the un-eaten bones from their fried chicken picnic boxes.

[m630]

Welcome to NASCAR. We get it redneck southern style. Just imagine 1/2 of those 150,000 fans as pot bellied tanned tee shirtless guys, many with a rebel flag painted on their chest. And maybe a few of the women as well.

One other downside to the closest (lowest) seats. That's the chicken bone section where everyone else throws the un-eaten bones from their fried chicken picnic boxes.

:greenlaff: well those 75,000 shirtless potbellies were definitely in attendance with me!!! I've never seen so many confederate flags in one place, they are REALLY committed!!!! LOL!!! And the women are tooo!!!!

There were lots of wild things going on, and even some moonshine was offered my way, though I got outta that tasting!!!

Americana at its best :electric:

[karen1122]

M630,

Glad you had a good time. The Monster Mile is a fun time and my only experience with NASCAR as well.

With the track right on Route 1, did you see any crashes on the public highway right behind the stands?

More importantly, did you make the trek back that evening or sample any of the local hospitality? Dover it self is rather dull, however, the surrounding areas offer an interesting variety. South is Rehoboth and the Chesapeake basin. North is South Jersey (over the Del Mem bridge or the Cape May Lewes ferry - yes this is an actual ferry boat), Wilmington ( a hidden gem is you know where to go) and the Philadelphia area.

Glad you had the experience.

[m630]

M630,

Glad you had a good time. The Monster Mile is a fun time and my only experience with NASCAR as well.

With the track right on Route 1, did you see any crashes on the public highway right behind the stands?

More importantly, did you make the trek back that evening or sample any of the local hospitality? Dover it self is rather dull, however, the surrounding areas offer an interesting variety. South is Rehoboth and the Chesapeake basin. North is South Jersey (over the Del Mem bridge or the Cape May Lewes ferry - yes this is an actual ferry boat), Wilmington ( a hidden gem is you know where to go) and the Philadelphia area.

Glad you had the experience.
It was a really nice track! We didn't see any wrecks outside the stadium off, but as I was sitting on turn 1, I did get to see a nice crash on the track up close!! :greenlaff:

I had gone down on Saturday and stayed in Dewey Beach, we figured we'd relax a bit and get some dinner and drinks locally. It was very nice, but the 1AM closing time for bars just can't be real!!! That leaves too much time for mischief, I can't imagine the trouble that the regulars get into when they are kicked out of the bars all the time so darn early, in nyc I don't often get out till 1!!!
After the race it was of course madness with all the traffic, so we took our time leaving, and with all the people and the distance to the parking, that was a couple of hours. Then we had dinner at a diner right across from the track, so by the time we were done, the traffic was gone...

[cobradav]

Back in the early to mid '90s that was my weekend commute going by the track. I lived in Virginia Beach and worked in Bucks County, PA and Cherry Hill, NJ. I can remember listening to the race on the radio and racing to get by the track prior to race end. Twice I made it and once I did not. What a PITA. All I can remember from those trips is the huge amount of large flags these folks flew. And there were more RVs in in once place than I thought existed in the world.

Another fun thing on that trip was watching the new suspension bridge being built over the Delaware River. I never got to use it on my commute but a few years later I did cross it on my way to reunion of undersea warfare oldtimers. Didn't know where I was for awhile.

[m630]

There were lots and lots of flags flying, very large American flags and confederate flags all around, nearly all rvs had something they were flying.. :electric:

The "new" Delaware bridge is foreign to me as well, as a child my family would take trips down the east coast nearly every year, so I spent lots of time in maryland, washington, virginia (williamsburgh and the beach), the carolinas and florida, and knew 95 quite well long ago...but as its been years since I took the road south of NJ, this was my first time on the new bridge and its quite nice! I always enjoyed virgina and the beach so it must have been nice living down there...

[cobradav]

There were lots and lots of flags flying, very large American flags and confederate flags all around, nearly all rvs had something they were flying.. :electric:

The "new" Delaware bridge is foreign to me as well, as a child my family would take trips down the east coast nearly every year, so I spent lots of time in maryland, washington, virginia (williamsburgh and the beach), the carolinas and florida, and knew 95 quite well long ago...but as its been years since I took the road south of NJ, this was my first time on the new bridge and its quite nice! I always enjoyed virgina and the beach so it must have been nice living down there...
We really loved the area and the dog friendly beaches. Had true 4-seasons but being near the ocean was pretty tame on extreme or severe weather. And very BUG free compared to Florida.

[karen1122]

I had gone down on Saturday and stayed in Dewey Beach, we figured we'd relax a bit and get some dinner and drinks locally. It was very nice, but the 1AM closing time for bars just can't be real!!! That leaves too much time for mischief, I can't imagine the trouble that the regulars get into when they are kicked out of the bars all the time so darn early, in nyc I don't often get out till 1!!!


Ok this one got a good chuckle out of me. Any comparison on NYC and Lower-Slower Delaware is a tale of two extremes. In the chicken capital of the states, people normally get out of bed on weekend mornings at 5AM, not just get in them!!

Glad you got a chance to see Dewey as it is a nice small town. Too small in the summer for all of the shoebees and weekers, but I would image that it was not too crowded on the race weekend.

Smart move waiting out the traffic. The roads are just not made for 100K+ people even though they have been dramtically improved recently. Just imagine - the Route 1 highway is only 10 to 15 years old. Before that old Route 13 was the only way to go north and south. Stop light after stop light and being the main road through all of the little towns. In those days you would have to wait until the next day for the traffic to clear.

[karen1122]

Back in the early to mid '90s that was my weekend commute going by the track. I lived in Virginia Beach and worked in Bucks County, PA and Cherry Hill, NJ. I can remember listening to the race on the radio and racing to get by the track prior to race end. Twice I made it and once I did not. What a PITA. All I can remember from those trips is the huge amount of large flags these folks flew. And there were more RVs in in once place than I thought existed in the world.

Another fun thing on that trip was watching the new suspension bridge being built over the Delaware River. I never got to use it on my commute but a few years later I did cross it on my way to reunion of undersea warfare oldtimers. Didn't know where I was for awhile.

Another great bypass to I95 is Route 50. We visit relatives in Annapolis on a regular basis and this route is a great alternitive to the mess that is 95.

I bought the 6er in VA and took 50 back. Top down, playing with the iDrive, I look up and had unknowingly gotten up over 100! That's when I knew I had made the right decision!!

[karen1122]

We really loved the area and the dog friendly beaches. Had true 4-seasons but being near the ocean was pretty tame on extreme or severe weather. And very BUG free compared to Florida.


So you have been gone long enough to forget the green head flys????? Please let me remind you of the painful bites when there is a land breeze!!!