It is the end of summer, Labor Day weekend to be exact, and we prefer to stay close to home on big weekends when possible. We have done the river, gone hydrofoiling every chance we could and cruised the street bikes with our friends, so what next? Well, we had such a good time at the last NASCAR race that we went to and California Speedway was doing its first night race under the lights, The POP SECRET 500; so it seemed only logical to go to the races and check out all the new toyhaulers and see the ways the fans use their space to make it the best for themselves and their friends.

Well if you hadn't figured it out by now we were in the infield not the stands, although a lot of the infield people had seats in the stands also so they had the best of both worlds.

I know that the people in the infield get to stay from Thursday after noon until Monday so it is a long party for the fortunate people that get that many days off. These lucky NASCAR fans get to see the main event on Sunday, the Busch race on Saturday and all the qualifying on the other days. The whole time having your weekend home with you when a break is needed from the sun or the partying. I don't know about the other infields for the NASCAR races, but at California Speedway they had a concert Saturday night for everyone to enjoy the music and to keep the party going. It is an action packed few days, so that's where the motor homes, travel trailers, and yes the big bad toyhaulers come into play. Of course I am a little biased, but it appeared to me the toyhaulers had the most user friendly areas around their camp. With the rear ramp open it is easy to set up a little patio for everyone to enjoy. Once again, I don't know about the other infields across the nation, but in the 1800 infield spaces at the California Speedway (which by the way averages 7 people per site) the room between rigs is very tight so there isn't a lot of room for chairs and other stuff which means the ramp door is the way to go (in my opinion, of course). Don't get me wrong, everyone no matter what they had was having a great time on this fantastic southern California weekend.

If you have never been to a NASCAR race and you like excitement then by all means check one out. They say at this race there were three times as many people here than at the Super Bowl. Just to watch this many people yelling and screaming for their drivers is totally exciting even if you don't have a favorite. Vickie and I owe a special thanks to Corky and Kim the owners of Poles and Holders for inviting us to share their weekend with them, and to Savannah and Wayne Fowler for helping us get to our spot with all the coolers and cameras we brought. We'd also like to thank all the people in the infield for their hospitality. We had a great time. If any subscribers would like to invite us to check out your infield, we'd be happy to come see what makes your NASCAR race special or just send us pictures so we can see how big the party is in your neck off the woods. - Terry Gluckman