We’re all gear heads. That’s why we are here. Sooner or later all gear heads have to at least explore auto racing. Most likely, what will happen is that they will watch some racing on TV or on their computer. Either they will like it or they won’t. If they catch the racing bug, then they will need to see more. If that sounds like you and you haven’t been to a racetrack to watch a race live, then this post is for you. You see, everyone who likes racing should make sure to go to a race at least once in their life.

Photo : Rob Ristuccia


The reasons not to go

There are plenty of reasons not to go to a race track, starting with the weather. Rally and ice racing aside, most motorsports take place in the summer when the temperature is hot. Ideal weather for racers is probably in the mid- to upper 80s with bright sunshine that makes the track heat up and the tires stick like glue. Unfortunately that means we the spectators end up spending the day sitting or standing in the sun, trying our best to remember to reapply our sunscreen and to drink plenty of water. It means hats and sunglasses. If you’re lucky, there might be a tree someplace that you can stand under. If you’re really lucky, there will be camping facilities with potable water so you don’t have to keep buying bottles at trackside prices.


Of course, if the opposite happens and you end up with a cloudy, rainy day, you have all of the opposite problems. Without a roof over your head, standing in the rain all day will eventually soak you to the bone despite your best attempts at keeping dry. And even on a hot day, rain makes you cold, especially when it gets into your shoes and you have soaking wet feet. Racing in the rain is spectacular, but only for as long as you can take it.

Rain at the 2015 Sahlen’s 6-Hours of Watkins Glen Photo : Rob Ristuccia


Rain at the 2017 Devil in the Dark Photo : Rob Ristuccia

All complaining about the weather aside, the biggest problem with attending a race in person is that figuring out what is going on is a real challenge. If you can’t hear the trackside announcer or see a screen with the running order, it’s up to you to keep track of who is in each position and when passes have taken place watching the running order each time the cars pass by you. Oval racing doesn’t usually have this problem because you can see the entire track from your seat most of the time. But road courses usually only give you a little window on what’s happening during the race.


Big tracks that host events like Formula 1, WEC, or IMSA usually have screens located around that track that fill you in on the action if you are nearby, but to be honest I usually find that I forget to look at them when there is live action happening on the track in front of me. Some of them also have apps you can download that show you the running order, but they only work if you are getting decent phone reception at the track which is not always a given since most racetracks seem to be located out in the middle of nowhere.

Cost is another barrier to track attendance. Tickets for a major racing series run pretty steep. The last race I went to, IMSA’s Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park, wanted $60 just to get through the gate. Although parking was free, lunch and beverages easily ran another $30. It’s been years since I went to a Formula 1 race, but my ticket to the 2001 US Grand Prix cost $80. It also wouldn’t surprise me to find $8 bottles of water for sale at any race track. Sure, you can save some cash by going to smaller events, such as historic races or smaller SCCA/NASA events like The Devil in the Dark, but if you want to see top-tier drivers and machines, you need to be prepared to pay top-tier prices just to get in the door.


(Note: My favorite historic racing event, the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix, [which I would also argue is the best historic racing event on the east coast] is a rare exception to the high-ticket-price-rule in that has no entry fee but offers spectacular racing and world-class car show.)

So, griping about weather and money, why do we go to these races? Why do we shell out hundreds of dollars to bake in the sun and watch cars go around when we can’t always tell who’s winning?


The reasons to go

The best reason to go to a race is to see all the things you can’t see on TV or the internet. There’s a lot that happens that the cameras don’t capture or the directors don’t show because they are focused on other things.


For starters, race cars have a presence that you can’t pick up on when you watch them on a screen. The engines make great noises, but at the track you not only hear them, you feel in your chest as they blast by you at full throttle. And the differences between different engine types is a lot more obvious. Take, for example, the sound and feel of the V8 in the Chevrolet Corvette C7.R compared with the flat-6 in the Porsche 911 RSR at then end of this clip:

The sounds of the cars are not just limited to the engines either. The brakes squeak and the tires squeal and scuff, which tells you you a lot about how the cars are moving on the track. It comes down to this: if you watch racing on TV, the cars look like space-age pieces of high technology; if you watch the race live, they become mechanical beasts that screech and pop like a high-performance car should. Just don’t forget your ear plugs.


Another advantage to live attendance is that you can stand on one particular corner and watch the way each driver approaches the turn. Careful observation of the cars as they go through a corner also reveals differences in the ways they take a corner that are not always obvious on screen. Different cars and drivers will brake at different points and carry different levels of speed through the turn. Some cars are better able to bounce off of curbs than others. Some have better grip and the driver will get back on the throttle sooner. Once in while, somebody will get it a little wrong and the car will hop over the inside curb or the back end will step out on the exit.

We also know that drivers will try to out-brake each other to make passes at the entrance, but if you stand on the entrance to a corner you can tell precisely where each driver is starting to slow for the turn. If Driver A is catching Driver B but Driver B brakes 10 meters later for the turn than Driver A, you know that the pass isn’t going to work there. However, if Driver A is able to get on the gas sooner coming out of the turn, maybe they will take Driver B on the straight before the next turn. Watching the differences between the cars and drivers in these minute details is fascinating. It’s even more interesting at a historic racing event where the cars are so very different from each other.


Some racing events also include exhibition runs that you won’t see on TV. For example, during the lunch breaks at the Lime Rock Historic Races, they usually feature rare cars of great historical importance to the automotive world. Take this 1919 Mercer, with its hand-operated fuel pump, that turned some laps during the Historic Festival XXVIII at Lime Rock Park in 2010. Or these vintage Mercedes-Benz Formula 1 cars from Historic Festival XXXIII in 2015. Yes, that’s Sir Stirling Moss in the passenger seat of the #41 car.

1919 Mercer with hand-operated fuel pump and period-appropriate mustache Photo : Rob Ristuccia


Pre-war Mercedes Grand Prix car with Stirling Moss in the passenger seat Photo : Rob Ristuccia

Mercedes W154 Formula 1 car Photo : Rob Ristuccia


Live attendance is full of things you won’t see on a broadcast. Perhaps the ultimate example of something happening on the track and it not being picked up on the broadcast is Takuma Sato’s spin during qualifying for the 2004 Canadian Grand Prix. I attended this race and saw the spin but didn’t think much of it. It was Takuma Sato; he spun a lot that year. Later that evening, I was riding the metro back to my hotel in Montreal and I happened to be standing near two track workers who were discussing the incident. Apparently one of the workers was standing near the entrance to the corner and saw a piece of ballast fall off of the car as Sato braked for the turn. He described in detail how it bounced down the track and with enough force to dent the wall at the end. With the car sufficiently unbalanced, he spun on the exit. I’ve never seen that story reported but that’s what I saw and heard at the track.

Many races also offer fans a chance to get up-close-and-personal with the cars on the grid or in the pits before the race starts. You can walk right up to them and poke your head inside. The drivers are often there as well to sign autographs and chat with fans.


Pitwalk from the 2015 Trans Am race at New Jersey Motorsports Park Photo : Rob Ristuccia

Pitwalk from the 2018 IMSA Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park Photo : Rob Ristuccia


Outside of the racing action, many motor races have a whole host of things going on inside of the bounds the track for spectators to enjoy between races or when they want a break from the action. Circuit de La Sarthe has an entire carnival happening inside of the track, but that’s relatively uncommon. However, even smaller races have vendors with tents set up in the infield. You can usually find all kinds of interesting automotive merchandise (like book, magazines, models, and clothes) as well as full-on swap meets where you can buy that MG Midget radiator you’ve been looking for. You can probably also get all the info on the local driving school. Frequently, major sponsors will have tents set up where you can see the cars they have for sale as well as last year’s race car that is no longer competitive on the track.



Swap meet from Historic Festival XXXIII at Lime Rock Park Photo : Rob Ristuccia


Tire changing competition at the 2005 IRL Watkins Glen Grand Prix Photo : Rob Ristuccia

BMW display at the 2018 IMSA Northeast Grand Prix Photo : Rob Ristuccia


The infield at a race track is also a veritable car show if you take the time to walk through the parking lot instead of going straight to the gate. A lot of car clubs will have reserved parking areas (which you can join if you bring the right ride) and you can walk through to see all the Porsches or Ferraris together. Car races are also the perfect event for drawing out people’s classic or exotic cars that they don’t drive everyday. You never know what you might end up parking next to in the general parking lot. Last time I went to Lime Rock Park, I parked the Miata next to a pristine E30 M3, which I had to check out before I headed to the gate for the race.

It’s time to commit

It’s the off-season here in the northern hemisphere, so there aren’t many major races to attend now. However, the 2019 schedules are starting to go up on the internet. If you are convinced that you need to go to a race or were already planning to go, that means now is the time to start planning. It’s never too early to buy your tickets as most tracks offer a discount if you buy in advance. More popular events might even require you buy tickets in ahead of time or you risk not being able to get a ticket on race day.


See you outside under the sun. I’ll be the guy with the vintage McLaren-Mercedes Formula 1 hat.