I was thinking about this today, because I realised that pretty much none of my Facebook "friends", who live in the same state as I currently do, give a flying fuck about this particular "hobby"...
It's actually quite rare to meet people who do like, and admit to liking, motor racing, these days, around these parts.
I go to track meets. I wear motor racing t shirts and gear sometimes (people tend to ask about band tees much more than, say, a Bathurst tee). I've been to the Bathurst 1000 twice, which is... The mecca of Aus car racing. I've always been into this since I was a kid. But yet... I've never really made friends out of it, oddly (excluding an ex who raced karts, and our mutual friend, who is an arsehole, so I won't be contacting them, lol)...
Anyway, just figured I would see what any "rev heads" here were up to, in this regard. I'm going to go to another "track meet" in a few weeks, which is like... One of the highlights of this time of year. Should be good.
Anyone else been to any races lately/planning on going to any? Obviously there's plenty of stuff on the TV, and a few decent "latest generation" games, but... In person is generally better, for this, IMHO.
What's big in your part of the world? We've established by now that I know a bit about Indycar and (less so) Nascar, but in Europe, I don't really know that much apart from Enduros, rallying and F1, lol...
Anyway, just a conversation starter, if anyone shares this common interest!
I'm definitely into cars, more so wrenching on them and driving them. I keep getting the itch lately for another fun car, I kinda want something with a V8 but who knows. I just like to get things to work on. New cars are dying for me with hybrids and electrics making everything into a box with an electric motor, chairs, a steering wheel, and an iPad for a gauge cluster.
Racing? Well I like F1. I've been to a couple F1 races and the Indy 500. Generally I don't like spec series or ovals, and well that burns up my interest in most of the high level racing in the USA. F1 has gotten really popular here in the last few years, which is interesting because I'll think I'm talking to an F1 fan and mention Schumacher, Raikkonen, when Vettel was good, etc. and they are totally lost. It's a bit of a shame in that it's priced me out of races, but I'm happy going to the Friday session anyway.
Yeah, the GP here (F1) is absurdly expensive, too…
I can’t really afford to spend like three months of savings just to go along to that (I’m exaggerating, but with hotels and flights and all - it adds up), so I tend to go to local stuff instead, where I can!
And yeah, I don’t really “get” oval racing and the like, so much, either, so I can understand that, lol…
I don’t mind some of the Indycar races I’ve seen on TV, though (the street circuit ones). They’re sometimes fun to watch, though I would say (V8) Supercars in Aus is more enjoyable. For me at least!
I'm close enough to Austin I can get away with driving there for a day and making it back home if I'm really down for a long day. I last did a race in 2018 though, the prices have at least doubled since then.
What really surprised me is the Indy 500. I was thinking prestigious race and all it would be insane. I just happened to be in town that Sunday by accident. I got a really decent bleacher seat for right around $50. There were places to stand that were no more than 25 feet from the track too and outside of a few food lines it really never felt crowded at all despite the over 300k people there. I did almost walk my legs off though, it's a huge place. I have to give them credit though, for what little I spent there was a lot of value in that day.