We've been bitten by the NASCAR bug, and would like to attend a race to see what it's like "in person". Does anyone have any good hints on safe ways to buy tickets (have talked to someone that got stung on trip bought thru computer) - where are the better seats, best tracks, can one get transportation from local hotels to the track without renting a car, etc? Any help would be appreciated!

Karen,
My family attends the nascar races at Texas Motor Speedway every year. We buy season ticket in order to be able to get good seats for nascar. This years race is April 7th. You can look up their website, but I'm sure they are probably sold out. You can find alot of tickets in the Dallas Morning News. Last year when we tried to get extra tickets they were selling for $250. Regular price is around $90. My best suggestion to get ticket at regular price is to plan ahead for next year. Tickect go on sale usually sometime in November for the next season, and good seats sell out within about a week. If you do go to Texas Motor Speedway you will definately need a car as it is outside of Fort Worth in the country. The races are great fun, I hope you check them out.

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You don't say where you live and whether you plan to drive or fly, but if you want to see a good race the short tracks are the ticket. Bristol, Richmond, Martinsville. Charlotte is also a nice race track. Superspeedways are nice but better watched on Tv. If you plan on going this year check out all the tracks online to see if they still have tickets. Martinsville probably still does. For next year make a note of when tickets go on sale to the public, usually in the fall. We managed to get tickets to Bristol this year after buying them off Ebay last year. It's never too early to book your hotel. You can always cancel. I booked mine in Oct for this Aug and am still 70 miles from the track. Also check out this site. Jeff's ticket trader. You can place an ad or sell tickets here for face value. Jeff's an honest nascar fan from Tennessee who set up this site to help other Nascar fans find tickets at a reasonable price.

Thanks for replys - I would like to plan ahead for next year's season, and would be willing to fly out of Minneapolis. No specific time frame in mind, but having a "shuttle service" or something similar to get to the track as opposed to driving on unfamiliar crowded roads would be a big plus. I understand this is available in Las Vegas - how about other locations? Is there an average price for tickets, or are the costs higher for better seats, as with concerts? Any good sites to go to for this information, besides the NASCAR site?

Karen,
My best suggestion for finding ticket prices at different tracks would be to call the direct. Check the nascar website & you will probably find a listing of all of the tracks. I can only speak of my knowledge of the Texas Motor Speedway and Indianapolis 500 (Indy cars - not Nascar) - the traffic going into a major racing event like Nascar is VERY HEAVY!! If you do not go to the track 3 to 4 hour early (sometimes earlier) you will be sitting in traffic possibly upto an hour or more. Also, you will have the same trouble leaving the track. It can be EXTREMELY HARD

Sorry, can't seem to controll my fingers tonight.

As i was saying...

It can be extremely hard for cabs or shuttles to get back in to pick you up. When they do make it back in you can plan on waiting more than an hour to get back out. 2 years ago it took us 2 1/2 hours to get out of the parking lot and we left the race 10 - 15 minutes early. I would recommend you drive your own car, unless someone can give you specific information about having used a shuttle before!! Don't let this turn you off of going to the races, it's just that these are very large events with lots & lots of people.
Good luck!

Dover is another good place to see a race. Getting accomodations is challenging. We used to book our room 9-12 months in advance. For Dover, we liked to stay in the Kent Narrows area in Maryland ... halfway between Dover and Anapolis.

At any race we have been to, the traffic coming and going is a nightmare. Plan on arriving very early, i.e., about 10 am. There is lots of "tailgaiting" and also always a huge area where vendors set up their trailers to sell souveniors, clothing, etc.