January 26, 2011: This article might now be out of date:
Nascar changed the points system for basically the first
time since 1973. (I say "basically" because a few
minor tweaks were made over the decades.) Also, if
qualifying is rained out, starting positions are based on
practice speeds. If practice is also rained out,
Nascar goes back to the owners' points as in the past.
This rules change was rolled out as a fait accompli
about three weeks before the season started.
The new points systems awards
46 points to the winner, 42 to the 2nd-place finisher, on
down to 1 point for 43rd place. (There is no
provision for more than 43 entrants: when the old system was
new, some races had 60 or more entrants, depending on the
length of the track.) Everyone who leads a lap gets 1
bonus point, with a 2nd bonus point to the car with the most
laps led: the maximum number of points you can win is 48.
We shall see how this changes the action on the track: my
first observation is that I foresee that leading laps will
be even more important than it has been. I also think
that the new system will lead to a lot of more jockeying for
position at the rear of the pack. The difference
between 43rd and 20th used to be 34 points versus 103 points
(about 3-fold), whereas now it will be 1 point versus 23
points.
I guess I qualify as a
Nascar fan, even if I am an effete Northeastern liberal. I
am also very peripherally involved in the sport as an active
participant. For the past several years, I have been working on
race weekends at New
Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, NH. My first event
was the Fall 2001 race, which was moved from the weekend after
9/11 to the Friday after Thanksgiving. From 2002 to 2007, I worked
at Unit 61 (not to be confused with Area 51), an NHIS souvenir
tent near the end of the main grandstand. In 2008, under the
new ownership, I worked as a "runner" instead, bringing
stuff back and forth from the units. I have missed the 2009 and
2010 season, aside from several visits as a guest.
There probably are thousands of Nascar-related web sites out
there, so there might not be much I need to add.
Three of my favorite Nascar-related web sites are:
I suppose I should also mention my employer's, Speedway
Motorsports, Inc.'s web site, even though it is all routine
corporate information (although it does link to the various SMI
tracks' sites, which are interesting):
After the 2007 season Bob
Bahre, the legendary founder of the track, sold the facility
to one of the giants of the race track industry, Speedway
Motorsports
Inc., bought the track for the (pretty big) sum of $340
million.
Bob Bahre is a wonderful,
down to earth fellow. The first time I met him, he was walking
out of a restroom with a clear plastic bag of garbage in his
hand (presumably this bag was the liner of the loo's trash
can.) Even though he is a multimillionaire, he still helps
take out the trash.
Immediately after the sale,
only one change was announced: the track was renamed "New
Hampshire Motor Speedway" to fit in with SMI's other oval
tracks which are all named "[Whatever] Motor Speedway." When I
first visited the renamed NHMS in June 2008 the place did not
look much different. SMI put up new signs, repaved the access
roads (and the track itself), and built some new skyboxes.
Many changes gave followed. And even more changes are on the
way.
When and Where
Traditionally, there are two Nascar weekends per year at Loudon,
one in June or July (generically known as the New England 300,
currently sponsored by Lenox/Irwin Industrial Tools, which is a
division of the same conglomerate which makes Rubbermaid and Sharpie
products.) and one in mid-September (generically known as the New
Hampshire 300, currently sponsored by Sylvania.)
The July race in recent years marked the beginning of the second
half of the season, being the the 19th of 36 points
races, taking place on the second or third Sunday after the Fourthof
July. In 2007, the race was moved up to the Sunday before July
Fourth, i.e., July 1, 2007. This made it the 17th
points race of the season, i.e., the beginning of the so-called
10-race "Race to the Chase" series. The schedule change was
fortunate since there is now an August Busch Series race in
Montréal, which is not far from Loudon. The interval leaves a
little extra time for Quebecois fans (who are très fanatical) to
rest up between events and save up a few more loonies and twonies
to buy more hats and T-shirts.
The September race weekend coincides with the onset of the "leaf
peeping" season in northern New England and also in Quebec: a
detour to the north before or after the race is highly
recommended!
Next year's Sprint Cup events will be:
The Lenox Industrial Tools 301 (Sunday, July 4, 2013)
The Sylvania 300 (Sunday, September 22, 2013)
My record as a state legislator has been mixed vis a vis NHMS's
agenda. I actively agitated in fabor of a bill in 2009 which fixed
a problem with their liquor license. And I supported a package of
road improvements which includes widening Route 106. I am also in
favor of lowering property taxes, which are way too high.
(The track pays $750,000 or more just in property tax.) But I
voted to raise the rooms and meals tax, and more seriously I worked
hard in 2010 to help kill several (only slightly) different
casino bills.
To tell you the truth, SMI jumped in late and played a
small role in the 2010 lobbying effort, even though they were in
fact the only one of the three or four prospective casino
operators who could be relied on to actually build the casino
right away. If we had passed the bill, SMI could have— and
probably would have— started building the Loudon casino the next
day. Loudon's casino was a shovel ready project. The other guys
would have needed outside funding and other resources before they
could get started. NHMS and SMI never pressured me at all for my
vote.
Loudon is a rural community in central New Hampshire, about 8
miles north of the state capital of Concord, and 15 miles south of
Laconia. The official PR materials say that the track is an hour
north of Boston. You would have to drive like Kurt Busch to make the trip in an hour, but
Boston is not very far away. Fans come from all six New England
states, Quebec, Atlantic Canada, Upstate New York, and even from
the New York City area.
The track is located on Route 106, which roughly parallels
Interstate 93. The street address of the track is: 1122 Route 106 North; Loudon, NH 03307.
On race days, traffic is very heavy on Route 106, and also on the
main east-west highways leading to and from Concord (Route 4 and
Route 9.) Getting out after the race is much harder than getting
in before the race, but generally speaking the traffic plan works
pretty well at both ends of the event. The post-race traffic is
mostly heading south, so if you go in some other direction you can
avoid most of the insanity. There is a major natural barrier to
the west, the Merrimack River, and there are few if any alternate
routes to the south, but there are plenty of little roads heading
north and east. The hard part of the trip south is getting to
I-93. Just north of Manchester, there is a toll booth (which now
takes E-ZPass) and a fork in the road. The 3-digit
alternative, I-293 (which eventually becomes US 3) is actually a
more direct route than I-93 proper to most points south.
On Sundays, unless you're driving a shuttle bus or
an emergency vehicle, you cannot drive past the track: after the
race, Route 106 will be one way south to the south of track and
one way north to the north.
Parking is bundled with the tickets and there are
some off-track lots which charge about $20/day. The new owners
have been putting a lot of work into improving the on-site
parking lots. There are free shuttle busses which run up and
down Route 106. You can also park in Concord and take a pay
shuttle bus.
The only motel in Loudon proper is a Red Roof Inn
on Route 106. Laconia and Concord have a full assortment of
hotels and motels, including the ubiquitous chains. Manchester
has an even wider assortment. There are many other towns with
places you could stay. Fans stay as far away as Portsmouth,
which is about 40 miles east of the track. The closest airport
is Manchester-Boston Regional Airport; the closest train station
is the Durham/UNH station which is four blocks blocks from my
house. (I have no extra room, but there are two excellent hotels
in town.)
Tickets
The Sunday Nextel Cup events are usually sold out, although
oftentimes the track does find that it has a few tickets to sell.
In the springs of 2007, 2008 and 2009, the track bought lots of
regional TV and radio time. This is not exactly unusual, except
that the ads were hawking Sunday Cup tickets, not just Friday and
Saturday undercard tickets. The same thing happened in June, 2010,
only this time the track ended up about a third empty. That is not
unique to Loudon: even Indianapolis was only half full for the
2010 Brickyard 400.
You can find out out about ticket availability by logging onto
the track's web site: http://www.NHMS.com/
There are always tickets available on a walkup basis for the
Thursday through Saturday programs, although the best seats do
sell out far in advance.
"Scalping" tickets is perfectly legal in New Hampshire, though
the track still tries to discourage such activity. You will, as
you would expect, find quite a few ticket dealers camped out on
Route 106 (and even Routes 4 and 28) on race day, though not on
the race track property itself.
The tickets don't become physically available until a few weeks
before the event, so anyone offering advance tickets on eBay
and most other internet sites is (most likely) selling tickets
which they don't actually have physical possession of yet. Caveat
emptor. (But:
Go
ahead and click here to check out the deals on eBay!)
The Track Itself
The track is a paperclip-shaped 1.058-mile oval (hence the
nickname "Magic Mile".) The Nextel Cup races are traditionally
scheduled for 300 laps, which is 317.4 miles. (There is also a
road course, which uses the frontstretch, Turns 1 & 2, and
part of the backstretch of the Nascar track, while also looping
through the infield and up the grassy knoll behind the
backstretch.)
There is one long grandstand
(the Loudon Grandstand, now usually known simply as the Main
Grandstand) extending the length of the frontstretch, and smaller
grandstands wrapping around Turns 1 and 2 (the Concord Grandstand)
and Turns 3 and 4 (The Laconia Grandstand.) There is also a grassy
knoll on the backstretch where fans can stand and watch the race.
Track workers sometimes jokingly refer to the grassy knoll as the
"Pittsfield Grandstand" (after another neighboring town.) There
are no lights: there are various legends as to why there aren't
any.
Visibility is outstanding: fans have a great view of the pits and
garage area, as well as of the far side of the track. The
grandstands are unshaded. The seats are, in most cases, long
aluminum benches, although newer and less uncomfortable benches
were installed recently: butt pads are still a good investment.
The simple seating aside, the amenities are outstanding: the staff
are friendly and there are plenty of restrooms and concession
stands. You can bring limited quantities of beer onto the track
property, but no alcohol is for sale — except at two or three
small concession stands. (I worked on a bill, SB 190, which
created a special liquor license to make sure the track to
continue its existing practices. It was unclear if the practices
were legal before that. It's a long story.)
Now that Winston is no longer a Nascar sponsor, no tobacco is
available either. Smoking is still tolerated. (Back in the day,
Winston used to give away free cigarettes. But, under the new
regime, Sprint/Nextel does not give away free cellphones! Oh
well... They will occasionally give away free phone cards and
other goodies.)
This used to be a "one-groove" track where it was
difficult to pass, but the racing has been getting better every
year as they tweak the surface, the banking, etc. It's a
challenging track because the turns are very tight while the
straightaways are very long, so it combines the most difficult
features of a short track and a superspeedway.
\
Dale Jr. & Dale Sr.'s joint souvenir truck; Loudon 2007
Who Loves Ya?
The same as everywhere else, the most popular driver at Loudon is
Dale Earnhardt, Sr.
Dale Jr. is the most popular living driver
at Loudon, even though he usually struggles here. He is especially
popular with Quebecois fans. Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon have huge followings.
Racers with Northern New England roots (e.g., Ricky Craven and Martin Truex) always get a warm reception at
Loudon. Quebec's Patrick Carpentier created a lot of
excitement in 2008 when he won the pole for the Lenox 301. Carpentier drove lentement in
the race itself and finished 31st, two laps down.
Quelle dommage. In 2009, Middletown, Connecticut's Joey Logano won the Summer Loudon race at
the age of 19 years old: he was the youngest winner in Cup
history.
The most vigorously reviled villain used to be Kurt Busch, who swept both Loudon races in
his championship year of 2004. But, his
star has faded.
This page does not get a huge number of hits, but a large
percentage of those hits are from people Googling phrases like "NHIS+hospitality+tents".
I
don't know a whole lot about these tents, even though I have spent many
long hours within sight of them: I worked for seven seasons at a souvenir stand
behind the main grandstand, and the tents are on the other side of
a chain link fence. I will say that the main hospitality tent area
is in between Route 106 and the track proper. You do, I believe,
need a separate pass for the Hospitality area, as well as a ticket
for a specific tent. Those items are normally only supposed to be
given out along with a race ticket, although people do buy and
sell their hospitality passes separately. (Naughty, naughty!) You
need a contact with a corporate sponsor to get a hospitality tent
pass. Once you get inside the tent there is the usual free food,
drink, music, schwag, etc. to be snarfed up.
On a more rarefied level, there is a complex of luxury suites on
top of the main grandstand. This is one of the places where the
drivers and other celebrities hang out when they're not working.
It's virtually impossible to get up there unless you are extremely
well-connected. It is far from impossible, however, to get a pass
for the infield, where you can get a closeup look at the garages.
However, in my own case, I worked 16 events at the track before I
had occasion to go to the infield (and then to get there I had to
drive a golf cart through 18 inches of rather dubious-looking
standing water after a post-race thunderstorm. And I also nearly
got run over by J.J. Yeley's hauler.)
The best freebies used to be the colorful MBNA T-shirts,
available if you applied for an MBNA Racing Rewards credit card. I
have about a dozen of them myself. Sadly, MBNA no longer exists.
Well, actually, I don't mind that they don't exist: I just miss
their schwag. There is a large "fan fair" area just outside the
track's perimeter, near Turns 1 & 2, which gets better with
each event. SMI also built a million-dollar bathhouse near
the fan fair, which is a massive convenience for the tens of
thousands of RVers in the crowd .
The best place to see drivers and other celebrities for free is
the SpeedTV
studio. Also, if you arrive early on Sunday morning, there are
always several Cup drivers signing autographs at their souvenir
haulers before the main event (especially now that Speedway
Motorsports is running the show: the vast majority of those
haulers are affiliated with SMI
Properties.) Sometimes you even see pit crew members signing
autographs. The drivers also like to sign autographs on Saturday
mornings. The driver who turns up the most frequently in the
concession area is Michael Waltrip, who owns and manages his own
team and who keeps a close eye on his company's souvenir sales. I
once even saw him there once when the race was still going on: he
had DNFed early.
January 26, 2011: This article might now be out of date:
Nascar changed the points system for basically the first
time since 1973. (I say "basically" because a few
minor tweaks were made over the decades.) Also, if
qualifying is rained out, starting positions are based on
practice speeds. If practice is also rained out,
Nascar goes back to the owners' points as in the past.
There is one long grandstand
(the Loudon Grandstand, now usually known simply as the Main
Grandstand) extending the length of the frontstretch, and smaller
grandstands wrapping around Turns 1 and 2 (the Concord Grandstand)
and Turns 3 and 4 (The Laconia Grandstand.) There is also a grassy
knoll on the backstretch where fans can stand and watch the race.
Track workers sometimes jokingly refer to the grassy knoll as the
"Pittsfield Grandstand" (after another neighboring town.) There
are no lights: there are various legends as to why there aren't
any.
