on the road to america indycar with adrian rickard
With the Austin GP due to go ahead at the end of 2012 Adrian has taken some time to talk to you about his trips to America for IndyCar to give you some generic but very useful bits of advice on what it is like to visit the USA for motorsport and the best ways to go about your trip!
*Adrian was at the Las Vegas leg of IndyCar last year when Dan Wheldon unfortunately lost his life competing in the sport that he loved. If you would like to read adrian's tribute to that weekend please view:
http://gracef1fanatic.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/13th-lap-dan-wheldon-1978-2011.html
*Adrian was at the Las Vegas leg of IndyCar last year when Dan Wheldon unfortunately lost his life competing in the sport that he loved. If you would like to read adrian's tribute to that weekend please view:
http://gracef1fanatic.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/13th-lap-dan-wheldon-1978-2011.html
Adrian; "Ok, I’ll admit, this isn’t going to be a direct guide to travelling to races in Austin or to New Jersey (given they haven’t taken place!), but having visited America on 3 occasions taking in 5 IndyCar races, I have picked up a few tips along the way."
Transport
Getting to a from the race tracks are, well for the most part, hard if you don’t have your own transport, circuits are often removed from and offer no public transport.
Best advice? Hire a car (or ren’all as you may mishear it!) you can hire direct from rental companies but watch out for charges once you pick up the car, my best deals have come from buying through online merchants, such as Expedia. But who would turn down the opportunity to fill your car up for £30!? Parking at the track is often free; sometimes there is a small charge closer to the track, as in a couple hundred yards away from the free lots. So if you are prepared to take a couple hundred more steps...
Best advice? Hire a car (or ren’all as you may mishear it!) you can hire direct from rental companies but watch out for charges once you pick up the car, my best deals have come from buying through online merchants, such as Expedia. But who would turn down the opportunity to fill your car up for £30!? Parking at the track is often free; sometimes there is a small charge closer to the track, as in a couple hundred yards away from the free lots. So if you are prepared to take a couple hundred more steps...
hotels and motels
Race weekends are normally big events in cities in the US so it is best to book in advance to secure a room and at a reasonable rate, I know of one case the room I was staying in quadrupled by the race weekend from when I booked it! Not that I work for them but I have found the best prices on sites like expedia, as hotels
give a certain amount of rooms at a standard rate, where the price does not go up until very late.
give a certain amount of rooms at a standard rate, where the price does not go up until very late.
At the circuit
As you would expect these are plentiful and also expensive, different circuits have different rules on alcohol and containers. Check on the websites before hand, but it may well be worth taking a few of your own snacks and drinks to save a few dollars. Programmes are generally priced at a reasonable rate and come with spotter guides as American race series are so commercialised liveries can change every race weekend! |
|
paddock passes
Traditionally these are reasonably priced in the US and offer great access to the drivers, cars, and a great way to watch the weekend unfold and soak in the atmosphere. Without knowing the prices for sure, I can only imagine they will be a bit (well a load) more expensive than IndyCar events which in my personal experience,
which have ranged from $0 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to $50 at Texas Motor Speedway.
which have ranged from $0 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to $50 at Texas Motor Speedway.
tailgaiting
No, not the rage inducing act of having a car riding the bumper of your car, this is food... and lots of it! Race fans will turn up early and stay late grilling food out of the back of their pick-up trucks, invites will go around and join in the fun, bring some steaks and beer. Just be aware that the drink drive level is a lot different to UK, but the punishments are heavier.
locals and twitter
Probably stating the obvious here as most of you reading this know about it and have contacts all over the world, but try and find a few in the area who are going to the race, these are Americans and they for the vast majority love British people, once they have established you aren’t Australian.
Walk into any bar and by the end of the night you will have drinks bought for you and still be sober (if you are on the Lite beer). It is an easy way to make friends who within no time are showing you the local sights and inviting you back next time around.
Walk into any bar and by the end of the night you will have drinks bought for you and still be sober (if you are on the Lite beer). It is an easy way to make friends who within no time are showing you the local sights and inviting you back next time around.
a few travel tips
DO NOT forget to Register on ESTA, this costs $10 and you will not get in if you don’t do it!
Tipping – this isn’t stingy Britain, anything less than 15% is generally frowned upon, and don’t expect to pass yourself off as Mr Pink in Reservoir Dogs... unless you are going to McDonalds.
American airlines for the most part have been better with in-flight services, and beer supplies to help break up the journey... one downside, you can never seem to get where you want to fly to directly!
Tipping – this isn’t stingy Britain, anything less than 15% is generally frowned upon, and don’t expect to pass yourself off as Mr Pink in Reservoir Dogs... unless you are going to McDonalds.
American airlines for the most part have been better with in-flight services, and beer supplies to help break up the journey... one downside, you can never seem to get where you want to fly to directly!
making a holiday out of it
Let’s face it; it’s a long way to travel for just one race weekend. Major motor sports event run nearly 12 months on the year and flights around the country aren’t too badly priced. NASCAR has around 3 race meetings a month, IndyCar 2, similar amount of race too for Grand-AM / ALMS. Getting to one of these races can be good value and most will provide you the opportunity to get close the cars during the race weekend with pit / paddock prices reasonably priced.
Hope this has been of a little bit of help, feel free to get in touch if you have any questions via twitter @rkid84, I am heading out there again in May and June for the Indy 500, Detroit GP and at Texas Motor Speedway so will have more to pass on!