Daytona here I come

[arthursykes]

Getting ready to go to the Rolex 24 in Daytona. It's coming up pretty quick. I'm excited to see an actual race, and watch these guys drive some awesome cars.
http://www.motorsport.com/alms/news/level-5-clinches-fourth-championship-with-win-in-virginia/
I'm also excited about the roar. I once lived by a race track, but that's not the same thing as being on a race track!

[jimclark]

You're at least 20 years too late. If you hurry and git yourself a passport and visit France in June real soon you might still catch the real thing before it's destroyed on that side of the pond too....  


edit: Are you spectating or driving? (re: "but that's not the same thing as being on a race track!")

[Boorish Grobian]

I agree with jc, the race is a shadow of what it once was.  Its certainly a good time, hanging out & partying.  But as for the race itself?  I don't expect much out of United Sportscar.  If you do want to go to a USCR race, go to Sebring in March, or Road America, or Watkins Glen over the summer.  The circuit at Daytona is crap, the weather is usually foul, and the folks who work the speedway are about as friendly as a pack of wolves.
Fax

[Grand_Fromage]

It will be good to see genuine prototypes again at Daytona 2014. Let's hope the end of next year sees the decline of ugly spec cars (DP) masquerading as prototypes.

Also, don't expect Daytona 500 sized crowd at the Rolex 24, the attendance is a tiny fraction. Good natured and enthusiastic, but not as numerous as the Sebring 12 hours and spread-out further.

[Canada Phil]

Hi Arthur,
             I second the opinions already expressed. The Roar as they call it is the test week end so if you like seeing cars come out for a couple of laps and go into the pits for more adjustments go ahead.
The one advantage Daytona has is the view from the grandstand where you can see all the way around the track.
A shadow of it's former self.  For raceday pack a full wardrobe from shorts through to full on winter parka as there will be frost on the bleachers Sunday morning.
Phil

[Grand_Fromage]

January in Daytona can be perishing cold first thing in the morning then shirt-sleeves at noon. It can also be wet VERY wet. The last time I went (2004) it seemed to rain like a bitch for 23 out of 24 hours. The race was suspended early in the morning for several hours because teams were running low on rain tyres!

Hi Arthur,
             I second the opinions already expressed. The Roar as they call it is the test week end so if you like seeing cars come out for a couple of laps and go into the pits for more adjustments go ahead.
The one advantage Daytona has is the view from the grandstand where you can see all the way around the track.
A shadow of it's former self.  For raceday pack a full wardrobe from shorts through to full on winter parka as there will be frost on the bleachers Sunday morning.
Phil

[Boorish Grobian]

Yeah GF, I was there for that one as well, I think we spent more time during the evening at the Hooters across the street watching it on the TV than at the track.  We woke up early AM to the sound of rain, no engines.  At that point we said screw it and drove back to Orlando and watched the finish warm & dry at Matt's house.  Gets seriously cold at night.
Like I said, the people who work there have absolutely zero fan-friendliness.  They're always barking at you for some reason, and if your camped there, the security will start to harass you to get off the property before the podium ceremonies have even finished.  Most of the time they act like the sports car crowd is a necessary evil they have to put up with.
Fax

[Canada Phil]

Yeah GF, I was there for that one as well, I think we spent more time during the evening at the Hooters across the street watching it on the TV than at the track.  We woke up early AM to the sound of rain, no engines.  At that point we said screw it and drove back to Orlando and watched the finish warm & dry at Matt's house.  Gets seriously cold at night.
Like I said, the people who work there have absolutely zero fan-friendliness.  They're always barking at you for some reason, and if your camped there, the security will start to harass you to get off the property before the podium ceremonies have even finished.  Most of the time they act like the sports car crowd is a necessary evil they have to put up with.
Fax

Hi Fax,
          Thanks for reminding me why I do not go antmore. While the weather is not always as bad as you describe the attitude of Speedway staff certainly is a deterent.
Phil

[jimclark]

Interesting. 'Been goin' since 1975 and approaching with a smile and with light, amicable conversation, I have had very little of the above negative attitude (some of course, as you will find in any day to day living) 

Not having met any of you (that I know of), I wonder what your approach is...   

[Martini...LB]

... approaching with a smile and with light, amicable conversation,

The only way to go through life, surely...

>Martini...LB

[Boorish Grobian]

jc, I think if you meet our colleagues on here, you'll find they are a most agreeable group, pleasant company.  A smile, fun, and amicable conversation is a hallmark of this lot.  You would be hard pressed to find a more likeable person than Phil, and we both have similar thoughts on the DIS staff.
I've been to a great many racing circuits, and its the only racing venue I've been to where I've found the staff to be genuinely unpleasant.  And yes, we go there with a smile, and relaxed frame of mind.
Being chased down in the pits by some grossly obese Bubba Buford T Justice, barking at you that you shouldn't be in there, then when you produce your pass he shuts up and goes back to his bucket of fried chicken.  Or one of your group being told that he is going to be arrested, and his perfectly street legal KE100 is going to be confiscated, when a polite please can you park that for the weekend would suffice.  Or the above mentioned episode where as we were fixing some lunch before packing up and heading home, and security came around and started telling everyone that if they weren't packed up and gone in a half hour their campers would be towed.  Things like that wipes the smile off your face pretty quickly.
It all smacks of thanks for coming and spending your hard earned money, now get the hell out.
There are some venues where you truly feel welcome, and part of the event.  I've never felt that way at Daytona, and I've been there more than a few times.  Their attitude seems to be one of you should feel privileged to be able to come here and spend your hard earned income.  My last trip there was for the '08 Daytona 500, because my wife had always wanted to see the 500.  But having fulfilled that request, I'll never set foot back in that dump.
Fax

[Grand_Fromage]

Daytona security people can be a bit crass. I was once shooting pit stops during the night (about 3am) in the heavy rain, from the outfield with a 500mm sitting in grandstand opposite. I had a photo pass, but wanted to do something different with night pit stops. The seating area was completely deserted apart from me and an assistant with an umbrella to keep me and the equipment reasonably dry. Well you may not know this, but opening umbrellas in the Daytona grandstands is not allowed, (because of the inconvenience to, and blocked view of other spectators). We had been shooting for a few minutes in the soaking wet and deserted grandstand in the wee hours of the morning when a security guard approached us and told us to take down the umbrella. We looked around and asked him who we might be inconveniencing. He just kept on repeating "your'e gonna have to take that down". No pleading or common sense had any effect. Finally he threatened to report us to the 'authorities'. We said "OK you do that". He wandered off and we never saw him again.

[jimclark]

jc, I think if you meet our colleagues on here, you'll find they are a most agreeable group, pleasant company.  A smile, fun, and amicable conversation is a hallmark of this lot.  You would be hard pressed to find a more likeable person than Phil, and we both have similar thoughts on the DIS staff.
I've been to a great many racing circuits, and its the only racing venue I've been to where I've found the staff to be genuinely unpleasant.  And yes, we go there with a smile, and relaxed frame of mind.
Being chased down in the pits by some grossly obese Bubba Buford T Justice, barking at you that you shouldn't be in there, then when you produce your pass he shuts up and goes back to his bucket of fried chicken.  Or one of your group being told that he is going to be arrested, and his perfectly street legal KE100 is going to be confiscated, when a polite please can you park that for the weekend would suffice.  Or the above mentioned episode where as we were fixing some lunch before packing up and heading home, and security came around and started telling everyone that if they weren't packed up and gone in a half hour their campers would be towed.  Things like that wipes the smile off your face pretty quickly.
It all smacks of thanks for coming and spending your hard earned money, now get the hell out.
There are some venues where you truly feel welcome, and part of the event.  I've never felt that way at Daytona, and I've been there more than a few times.  Their attitude seems to be one of you should feel privileged to be able to come here and spend your hard earned income.  My last trip there was for the '08 Daytona 500, because my wife had always wanted to see the 500.  But having fulfilled that request, I'll never set foot back in that dump.
Fax

Again. Interesting. The tone of your post makes me feel uncomfortable. No offense intended, but I have not had such experience in 38 years of attending....  

edit:

Daytona security people can be a bit crass. I was once shooting pit stops during the night (about 3am) in the heavy rain, from the outfield with a 500mm sitting in grandstand opposite. I had a photo pass, but wanted to do something different with night pit stops. The seating area was completely deserted apart from me and an assistant with an umbrella to keep me and the equipment reasonably dry. Well you may not know this, but opening umbrellas in the Daytona grandstands is not allowed, (because of the inconvenience to, and blocked view of other spectators). We had been shooting for a few minutes in the soaking wet and deserted grandstand in the wee hours of the morning when a security guard approached us and told us to take down the umbrella. We looked around and asked him who we might be inconveniencing. He just kept on repeating "your'e gonna have to take that down". No pleading or common sense had any effect. Finally he threatened to report us to the 'authorities'. We said "OK you do that". He wandered off and we never saw him again.

And this happens all the time??? I run into these type as fellow customers in my local environment...if I move am I not going to run into it whereever I end up? I find how I deal with the sitiation is what determines how I feel about my fellow mankinds ways...  

Many feel entitled...egos and whatnot...this is so whereever one goes, no?

'Nuff on this one...  

[Boorish Grobian]

JC, with all due respect, we all deal with rude crap every day, that's life, especially when your working class schmuck's like the wife & I.  You can give us all the sanctimonious bullshit you can come up with, but at the end of the day the reason we go to races is to escape from day to day grind, and animosity.  If I encounter it there, where I've spent the time, effort and expense to visit, f**k them!
Fax

[smokie]

Bit of a shame that the OP, a newbie with just one post to his name, has come on here and joined us all excited about going racing and all we've managed to do is put the damper on it.

Is there any upside to going racing? Anyone?