Being an invited guest to a suite to watch a race is a great experience.  Sometimes, there’s even a bus ride to the race included.

The following photos are of a few of the suites I worked while in Motorsports.  This first one is from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  We used this suite for the Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400.

The bus would pick up the guests at their hotel and bring them to the race with a police escort to beat traffic.  If you’ve ever been to a race like this before, then you know it’s the only way to go besides a helicopter.

We’d have breakfast ready when the guests arrived.  There would be the morning’s paper and the TV would be on racing programming.

We changed drivers every so often, so we had to redecorate the suites also.

The guests would have breakfast and something to drink, then get ready to start their day at the races.

I would take those that wanted to go, on a Garage and Pit Tour.  They’d learn a lot and get some great photos.

After the tours were over, it would be getting close to lunch time.  Sometimes we had guests that ate a liquid lunch because all of the beer and cocktails were free from the bartender.

Here I am with our Driver, Greg Biffle, as he speaks to the guests.

Our bartender Paula, Karen and Kellie in our Indy suite.

Our staff was one of the nicest.

Paula, Karen and Kellie.

Paula, Moi’ and Kellie.

Karen, having a good time in the suite with the guests.

I liked getting to the track very early.  Most times I’d be there to hear the cannon go off to signal the start of race day.

Here’s our view from the suite.

Quite a bit of difference when you add hundreds of thousands of people.

It’s a tranquil feeling early in the morning, mixed with excitement for what was about to unfold this day.  History will be made.

Being on the front stretch was always great.  The driver’s call this canyon of fans “The Million Dollar View’.  I drove this track in a NASCAR race car, so I know what it feels like to drive it, but nothing like what a real race car driver sees with all of the fans present.

This next pic is from the Brickyard 400.

Now I’ll show you the suite at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Not as nice as Indy, but still great accommodations to watch a race.

Each guest also received a ‘Goodie Bag’ with things they could use throughout the day, i.e. a hat, a Koozie, a shirt, autograph cards, ear plugs if the suite had an outside observation deck, like Indy.

The breakfast, lunch and free beer and cocktails still applies, as well as the bus ride to the track from the hotel.

On hot days, it’s nice to watch a race from inside the air conditioning.

The item most used by our guests was the koozie.  They always drank a lot of beer.

The TV’s allowed our guests to see the replays and hear the commentators call the race.

We had nice furniture to relax on.

And lunch was always hot and good.

During the Caution Flags, we’d hold a Raffle for Prizes to keep the guests entertained.  A lot of times, I’d be the one to buy the Raffle Prizes and I always bought nice things… things that I’d like to win if I were a guest.

Atlanta had a little outside room next to the suite for smoking.  That’s the view below.

This photo shows the disparity between the people in the air conditioned suite and those camping in the hot Infield.

Now we’ll take a look at Bristol Motor Speedway.  Bristol is nicknamed ‘Thunder Valley’.

It’s like a bowl of thousands of people and loud ass race cars.  The noise is deafening.

Here’s the campground nearby.

This view is from a photo I took at Phoenix International Raceway from our suite.

Here is the view from our Daytona suite.

It was a great place to see the Pre-Race festivities from.

I miss Daytona.

Kortnie and I in our suite at the Houston Raceway Park drag strip.  I hope you enjoyed this brief look at a day in the suites.

That completes this NASCAR 101 Course.  Give yourself 3 Credits towards Graduation.  Congratulations on your Quest for a Degree from The Universite de Arachnida.

To see other course requirements for your degree, see next link.

Motorsports Degree Requirements

Any questions and/or comments may be directed to the following:

Dr. Spider Michaels, Phd.

https://SpiderMichaels.com

Spider@SpiderMichaels.com

February 22, 1959 – The first Daytona 500 is held and Lee Petty defeats Johnny Beauchamp.

Most Victories: (7) Richard Petty (1964, 66, 71, 73, 74, 79, 81)

Most Consecutive Victories: (2) Richard Petty (1973-74); Cale Yarborough (1983-84); Sterling Marlin (1994-95); Denny Hamlin (2019-20)

Most Times Completing All 500 Miles: (16) Bill Elliott

Most Miles Completed: (14,892.5 miles; 5,957 laps) Terry Labonte

Driver Leading the Fewest Laps and Winning: (1) Kurt Busch (2017)

Youngest Winner: 20 years, 0 months, 1 day, Trevor Bayne (2011)

Oldest Winner: 50 years, 2 months, 11 days, Bobby Allison (1988)

Here is the Dale Earnhardt Memorial at Daytona International Speedway.

I tried to go by and photograph it every time I was there.

Dale died in a crash at the 2001 Daytona 500.

Big Bill France, the father of NASCAR, and his wife, Anne.

Here are 3 photos from 2 different years.

I witnessed a truck with a trailer get stuck in this tunnel.

Millions of fans wish they had access to the Infield through this tunnel.

The inside.

You always see the Blimp for a Daytona 500.

Cool Pace Car.

The cars on Pit Road.

Pre-Race festivities are always eye catching.

Ben Affleck started the race one year.

Right after 9/11, the security was beefed up.

Observers and snipers were on the buildings.

Pit Road gets extremely crowded.

Sometimes, it’s hard to move.

Imagine trying to work in this environment.

Before the race, drivers have time to chat.

Dale Jr. and Michael Waltrip.

Daytona International Speedway is 2.5 miles long.

A 500 mile race is 200 laps.

Daytona always has a crash called ‘The Big One’.

I met Jennifer on Pit Road, during the race.

Had to get a pic with her.  She was a nice gal.

Victory Lane

Darrell Waltrip had good luck with the number 17 during his victory.  He won on Feb. 17 in his No. 17 car during his 17th career attempt.

Spider Michaels, Bill Goldberg & Jeff Gordon.  I hope you enjoyed reading this post.

That completes this NASCAR 101 Course.  Give yourself 3 Credits towards Graduation.  Congratulations on your Quest for a Degree from The Universite de Arachnida.

To see other course requirements for your degree, see next link.

Motorsports Degree Requirements

Any questions and/or comments may be directed to the following:

Dr. Spider Michaels, Phd.

https://SpiderMichaels.com

Spider@SpiderMichaels.com

The following photos are of the big rigs used in NASCAR.

The first one is from when Nextel was the Primary Sponsor of the series.  It’s the Registration hauler.

One time, we were so hungover and smelled of alcohol that they almost didn’t give us our credentials.

And here’s a Registration hauler when Sprint was the sponsor.

My friend drove the Sprint Vision rig all across the country from race to race.  Shout out to Mark Parrish.

Next, we see the NASCAR Officials haulers.  A driver never wants to get called into one of these haulers.

These haulers can cover as many as 70,000 miles a year.

This is a shot from Phoenix International Raceway.  Notice the hill in the background.  I took a golf cart up it for the view.  It’s a bumpy ride, but the view is worth it.  Phoenix Hill Views

When the haulers first arrive, they begin to unload.

Those silver rear doors, on the ground, are what is used to remove the race cars from the haulers.

This is a photo from a suite at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The rigs are parked according to the driver’s standings in the points.

This is a rare shot.  Steve Park, Dale Jr. and Dale Sr.

Here are the silver doors in action.

Teams bring 2 cars to every race.  A Primary and a Back Up.

Phoenix again.

Here’s a better view of the rear doors.

During practice, the teams monitor things from atop the haulers.

This is a pic before their set up is complete.  Look in the reflection to see me taking the pic.

A photo of the inside of a hauler.  I see the Dale Earnhardt logo in the back.

Crews arriving for work.

Dale Jr. was always a popular driver, now he’s a popular TV Analyst.

One of the best rear doors.

Now I’ll show you some Autograph card holders that are located by the haulers for people in the Garage Area to pick up cards from.

This is a cool one.

Good branding.

Good logos.

Appropriate.

Jeff had one of the best ones.

“Because we know a thing or two about NASCAR.”

Nicely themed.

I prefer it when the cards are positioned correctly, instead of sideways.

Fans love Autograph Cards.  I hope you enjoyed this post.

That completes this NASCAR 101 Course.  Give yourself 3 Credits towards Graduation.  Congratulations on your Quest for a Degree from The Universite de Arachnida.

To see other course requirements for your degree, see next link.

Motorsports Degree Requirements

Any questions and/or comments may be directed to the following:

Dr. Spider Michaels, Phd.

https://SpiderMichaels.com

Spider@SpiderMichaels.com

A big part of NASCAR is merchandising.  The following photos are of some vintage merchandise haulers.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. always won the Most Popular Driver and his sales were enormous.

Jeff Gordon is another driver that was very popular during his driving career.  Now, he and Dale Jr. are NASCAR commentators for television.  And still very popular with the fans.

Merchandising haulers travel tens of thousands of miles every year attending every race of the season.

Budweiser never had it so good as when Dale Jr. was driving for them.

Here’s a shot of the haulers before they opened and before the crowds.

The average salary for a NASCAR truck driver is $38,717 per year.

That’s not a huge salary considering how important they are to the team, the driver and the sponsors.

Dale Earnhardt Sr. had an estimated net worth of $70 million at the time of his death at the Daytona 500 in 2001.  Merchandising helped that a lot.

Dale Jr. has an estimated net worth of $300 million.  Not bad for signing thousands of his race cars for fans, among other things.

Jeff Gordon’s net worth is estimated to be $200 million.

Dale Jr. ended his career driving for Hendrick Motorsports.  Not as flashy as the Budweiser haulers.

In this photo on his hauler, Dale Jr. is signing some of those race cars I just spoke of.

NASCAR was invented February 21, 1948, Daytona Beach, FL.

A good shot of people enjoying spending money on NASCAR items.

Dale Jr.’s first name is Ralph and his nickname is Lil’ E. (For Earnhardt).

The only track Gordon didn’t win at during his career is Kentucky Speedway.

Dale Jr. only read a half of the book written about him.  He says that since he already lived all the experiences, the interest level was just not there for him to continue the book.  He still thinks the author did a good job, though.

Here’s a shot of Gordon’s hauler before the fans get there.  Good pix.

Dale Jr. changed oil at his famous father’s Chevy dealership for two years before he started racing.

One of the best things about a NASCAR race is getting there early and going shopping for cool NASCAR stuff.

Here’s a photo of the Event Pins I have from some of the races I attended and worked.

I collected some of the cars I worked with during my time in NASCAR.

That completes this NASCAR 101 Course.  Give yourself 3 Credits towards Graduation.  Congratulations on your Quest for a Degree from The Universite de Arachnida.

To see other course requirements for your degree, see next link.

Motorsports Degree Requirements

Any questions and/or comments may be directed to the following:

Dr. Spider Michaels, Phd.

https://SpiderMichaels.com

Spider@SpiderMichaels.com