First off, this is the
closest track to me, so I have always gone to Sears Pt., and since this is a road course,
we all know that watching it on TV is the best seat for the race.
There are numerous large
monitors for fans seated in the various reserved seating locations who want to watch other
portions of the track; it is a direct feed from ESPN (who covers the race).
The reserved seating is
located at many different locations, and I have seats in the Turn 7 location, and as you
see from my pictures. You can see a large portion of the track from turn 4A through the
chute, and down through the S’s.
The track has leveled some
of the hills over the past couple of years, for better viewing of the area of the chute.
On race day, people bring their blankets, early, and set up all over the hillsides. These
hillsides have weeds, so plan on having a heavy blanket if this is the way you go (Some of
these weeds are the yellow star thistle).
Traffic on raceday can be
some of the worst I have been in, if you don’t get to the track early enough. Gates
to the track do open at 6:00 am, and by 9:00, the traffic is noticeable off in the
distance. The track is attempting to improve traffic flow, but there is a lot of red tape
in California, and the environmentalists don't understand raceday traffic, and probably
don’t care!
There is a lot of parking,
but try to pre-plan your parking, depending on where your seats are, which should all be
depending on where you are staying. This is due to the insufficient number of catwalks
across the track, which get very crowded before and after the race. I DON"T recommend
having to cross any of these close to the green flag or afterwards.
With my seats in turn
seven, I park on the back entrance of the track. It is a definite hike straight uphill
afterwards, but I do get out in good time. Wear tennis shows because you will be doing a
lot of walking/hiking all over the track.
You can get rooms in all
directions of the track approximately ten miles or more away. Sonoma is a little town to
the north of the track with neat restaurants and shops. Napa is 30-45 minutes away, and
has more lodging. As any wine conisseuer knows, there are wineries all over this region,
even just outside the track. Marin is located the other direction and also is a larger
city, so there are more rooms. San Francisco is around 30 minutes away.
The entire Napa Valley has
great little towns with good shops, food, and great wine!
It can get hot on raceday
after the morning fog lifts, so be prepared to be cool in the morning and hot later in the
day.
Coolers are allowed, and
checked pretty well for NO ALCOHOL, and NO GLASS! They do sell beer and wine, but it gets
expensive. Trackside RVs are allowed to bring in their own alcohol.
No pit passes are
available, and garage tours are given through corporate sponsors only.
Drivers do walk through
the fans to get to the garage from two different sides of the garage area, so you can get
autographs throughout the weekend without a pit pass. I would definitely recommend
planning on walking all over the track to check it out on Fri. and Sat. during the
different sessions of practice and other racing that takes place. This way you can see
where you want to watch these other races and qualifying.
-- Thanks Keith Nofield
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