Sleeping arrangements for 2 or 3 day events

S

speedyk

New member
I was curious as to what most of the competitors do during these 2 or 3 day events, specifically the ones who traveled some distance to get there? I am trying to break into this whole new world (purchasing a car very soon), and I understand, that once the time comes, I foresee traveling within a region (or even further someday) being something I would like to do. With that being said, decent hotel rooms, that don't leave you with that "dirty" feeling, can get expensive in a hurry. I have an enclosed trailer, and the skills to convert part of it into somewhat of a living quarters if that's the route I end up taking. The problem I see with that, is that I assume most tracks don't have power hookups, or if they do, they may not be available to me, and I don't want to be "the annoying generator guy", lol, I'm here to try and make friends not enemies. I have looked into the inverter generator as an option, but before I choose a specific direction, I would like to pull from the knowledge of those who already do it. So do you camp at the track? If so, do you run a generator? Do you choose to stay at a hotel? Just trying to gain some knowledge. Any help/advice is greatly appreciated.

Kyle
 
When I started this game 15 years ago, my wife had zillions of hotel points so we just stay at hotels. Not everyone has that luxury.

That said, the last thing you want to do is get a crappy nights sleep when you need to be sharp and focused the next day. So do whatever it takes to get the rest you need. The rest of us are counting on you having it together while you're on track with us. Part of understanding what this costs is to look at the entire picture......not just the car. Descent lodging, good food (try driving with 'iffy' leftovers percolating through you) and crew (you can't do it all yourself) are expenses that you need to consider as well. I'm not saying you haven't....but its easy to overlook certain aspects of this gig in the zeal to get on track.

Dayle
 
When I started in 1993, I used to camp @ the track. When I got married, my said "I don't camp" so we usually stay in hotels. WE did a cost comparision of hotels vs motorhome, and with the additional costs, storage, insurance, etc. it was cheaper to rent hotels than go down the RV route.
 
Lot's of guys on a budget sleep in their trailers.

Generators are not an issue, especially the quiet little ones, but if you are talking about running AC in your trailer, you might be better off in a hotel. If all you want to do is run a tv or radio at night, 2 trailer batteries and an inverter is all you need if you want to be "quiet".

Lots of drivers and workers also tent camp.

I used to sleep in a tent, on my open trailer. Once I had more money, I did hotels. Now I have a motor home, and it is, to me, the perfect way to do it.

There are gooseneck trailers with living quarters in the front, and there are also truck campers.

It all depends on your budget.

If you are tight, tent or trailer for spring or fall racers when it is cool, and hotel for those hot July and August nights.
 
I stay in my trailer.

I have a 28' enclosed that I have a bunk in. I have 2"x2" aluminum angle iron bolted to the walls about half way up that runs front to back. Took out a row of screws on the outside, drilled threw the wall/support and used carriage bolts. Aluminum deck with queen size mattress that slides front to back. Slide to the front for travel (with the roof on the car it doesn't clear), slide to the back at the track. If I'm there for more than a few days I take the bunk down, turn it 90 deg and put it on cross bars about 18" off the floor. I have E-track and use wood beam sockets and 2x4's. https://www.mfrexpress.com/e-track-wood ... 80opdeqtt2 When I travel to or from an event it's nice to stop when you want, go in the trailer and get a good nights sleep (2 nights each way to Daytona, saved close to $400).

Spend the money on a good generator. I started with a Honda EU2000i and have upgraded to a EU3000i. Super quiet, I put it on a mount on the trailer tongue and can hardly hear it inside. I also have a small fridge, microwave and a bbq grill.

I like staying at the track. No traveling back and forth to the hotel. It's nice after a long day to sit around the fire with friends and tell stories (lies about how fast I was) and have a few cold beverages.

Trailer is still loaded from Daytona or I'd add pics.
 
To echo the rest...
24' enclosed here. I have a queen size blow up mattress and a couple sleeping bags in the trailer for when the wife comes. It's good for anything between 35-85 degrees. When it's just me, I have a couple of hooks on the wall of the trailer and a hammock.

Honda EU2000 generator for when I need power, and a couple camping lanterns for when I don't. They put out plenty of light with a 6V battery that I don't need to run the generator unless I'm working on the car.

Friday nights, I usually run into town and grab something to eat with everyone else after I unload the trailer. Saturday nights, I feast on whatever grub & beer they serve us at the party. I usually work corners as well so lunch is provided Sat and Sun- sometimes breakfast is even provided via donuts or kolaches from one of those philanthropical drivers that can afford to stay in a motor home or hotel. ;) That means I usually only need to pay for dinner on Friday and Sunday. breakfast- if I'm hungry- is either trackside tacos or fruit & granola bars I brought from home. (No worries of percolating leftovers!!)

Crew? What's crew? the only time I've had any semblance of a 'crew' was when I lost a clutch master at NOLA and Mike Ogren shoved his lunch off a table and made me use it to tear down a Miata master (borrowed from Reynolds- thanks!) and shove the guts into my RX7 cylinder. ;)


A second option for power that I'm slowly collecting parts for is a 50w solar panel mounted to the top of the trailer feeding a couple deep cycle batteries and an inverter. That will run all the lights and phone/camera chargers and whatnot I need and make zero noise. I have the generator if I need to run the air compressor or welder. I have all of the parts collected, I just need to make time to install them. Might start working on that now that the weather is tolerable in Houston. (it's supposed to get down to 85 this weekend!!)
 
We go to the track with a motorhome pulling an 22" enclosed trailer. My 70 something year old parents and my girlfriend go to every race and I know my mom would not go if she had to sit out in the heat everyday at the track. At tracks we cannot get power, it has a nice quiet diesel generator for power.

The nice things about using a motorhome:
Very comfortable when sitting around waiting for your race with all the comforts of home like full kitchen, satellite TV
We eat all meals in the motorhome from when we leave home till we get back home so that saves money over eating out.
Don't have to pay for nice hotels or stay in the roach motel that is more affordable.

The downsides:
When we get to the track, we are stuck there. I have had to borrow trucks to go get parts. We did get a rental car at Daytona because of being there for so long.
It is bit of investment to use just for racing but we use ours for but we use ours for more than just going to races.(motorcycle rides/races and just plain old camping in the mountains) It also gets used as a guest cabin at home.
The maintenance on the motorhome seems to be nonstop. I feel like I work on it more than the racecars.

If/when my parents decide they do not want to go to races anymore, I will probably go to a larger enclosed trailer with living quarters in the front and tow with a truck.
 
We just switched from an open trailer to an enclosed trailer. We stripped our old popup of the AC, dining set and mattresses. We have 2 cots that we bungee together (an idea we got from Pat Simpson) and put the pop up mattress on top. The dining set from the pop up makes another bed if we need it. I like to be at the track around 7am to start going over the car. That’s just me. If we stay in a hotel , everybody has to get up and get ready. If we stay at the track, I can start going over the car while everybody else is asleep. We need to get a quiet generator. I don’t even load our old loud Coleman. We have a refrigerator and a microwave.

You need to also think about if everybody in your family are morning people or not. My oldest daughter is not a morning person. Numerous times, “Get up and get ready”, “I’m up”, “then why are you still in the bed with the covers over you”, “I’m UP”, “No you’re not”. On and on then it’s an hour to get ready.

Before we got our enclosed trailer, we walked around the paddock and saw what others did. Our trailer has insulated walls and ceiling. The AC unit has a little heat strip in it.
At night, the staying at the track I’ve noticed that its really quiet.

Hotels are nice when it’s really hot, you can crank up the AC and cool off or go get in the pool. On the other hand you better know where you’re staying if you stay in a hotel. My father-in-law wanted to stay at the Motel 6 in Memphis. The cock roaches where at least 2 inches long and it had hourly rates. Another hotel in Memphis, the clock radio next door went off at 1am and stayed on for a while. If you break and you stay at a hotel, you might have to stay or get charged an extra night that you don’t need. In a trailer, you can load and go home.
 
My wife comes to every race as well. She also does not "camp"...whether that be in our trailer or in a tent. We stay at hotels or head back home (a couple tracks are within an hour-ish). She's happy and that makes me happy.

If I did this by myself, I'd probably crash in my trailer.
 
I'm with Jon, staying at the track with friends (or when you have to fix something) is always better than hoteling.

We had a trailer with living quarters, which we loved - and just sold on here.

We spend a lot more time camping than racing, so we bought a nice truck camper, and a basic trailer. This lets us do both sports in comfort.

Thanks for the suggestion Rick Harris.

YMMV.
--Bill
 
So the answer is there isn't only one answer - it depends on the size of your wallet and what you and your wife/crew are comfortable with. I have done all of the possible choices over my many years of racing, starting with camping in a tent when I was young, and now we are on our third motor home. When we raced in Texas it was really great to get away from the track and swim in the pool and use the AC from the motel, so we didn't camp much.

I like staying at the track, but that can be accomplished two ways. A motor home typically has more comforts than a trailer with some living quarters but you are stuck at the track, so you better be able to cook because you can't get out. A converted trailer is ok if it is just you and your crew because all you want to do is crash for the night and don't need many amenities. Your wife might not be happy with that. Unless you get a good motor home you will make much better time on the road with a good dually pulling a trailer. Motor homes, even good diesel pushers don't do well above 70 mph. Older class C's are lucky to do 65 to 70.

Having said that I love my motor home. I sleep at least as well as I do at home. But, as someone said you can spend as much time keeping it up as you do on the car. Insurance, depreciation, winter storage, gas mileage, and upkeep puts it in a category where if you don't use it for something other than racing it doesn't make much sense. If you are just starting out, I would go with an enclosed trailer, quiet generator, an air mattress or cot, a small compressor, and a cooler with ice. That is, unless you race in the south - then I would get a room.
 
Whatever we decide to do, one thing is definitely for certain after having read all these replies..........I will be getting a t-shirt that says " WIFE / CREW " for my better half, lol. I know that's not how it was meant, but I think she would see the humor in it. To this day she tells me " I hate when you have to bleed the brakes" lol
 
My whole family comes to most of my races. That's the wife and 2 small kids. Therefore, I built wooden bunks for the trailer (28' tag) that fold up out of the way when not in use. A "double" (48") and two "twins" (24"). A trip to an upholstery shop later and I had 6" thick foam mattresses with covers for each... I swear I sleep better in the trailer than I do at home.

A/C on the roof, a couple of shelves for misc crap like an alarm clock, and then this year's addition of a countertop and cabinets underneath at the front (blem kitchen cabinet from Home Depot, countertop is a thick piece of hardwood ply cut to fit, some random Ikea style cabinets above it that came with the trailer. The cabinets aren't as wide as the trailer, so it left space to tuck the little refrigerator under the counter and out of the way. I also mounted the microwave to the countertop for safe traveling.

We're able to keep cool in GA summers, we use an electric heater (the heat strip that came with my A/C is useless) for winter races. We can warm milk for the little ones, make popcorn, whatever.

We like it so much that we're planning to take it to Disneyland in a summer or two and use it like an RV at one of their campgrounds instead of getting a room. I'll just need to rig up a sink with a way to tap into a spicket and a small holding tank underneath with an easy way to drain it and get a portable toilet for nighttime "emergencies" and we'll be good to go.
 
Racing is a family event for us as well.

We did sleeping in a van when it was the two of us, and with one kid.

We did sleeping in tents when we moved to two kids. <--that sucks.

My wife had a moment of weakness after a particularly stormy night of tent camping and gave me the green light to find the right motorhome.
It is awesome at the track, and has been awesome at Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Rocky Mtn State Park, Yellowstone, Lake Superior, college football tailgates, just heading up to the Runoffs or June Sprints to crew.

I would second the recommendation to camp in the trailer or van at first, and increase your equipment footprint/cost based on your needs and interest level. I would also not really ever try to go racing without a motor home again if I can help it.
 
Kyle- I have enjoyed staying at the track sleeping in the back of the van. Having said that the tracks I frequent have showers and food service that usually is open by 8 am. I rarely have anyone with me and I can usually fall asleep anywhere.
There are pros and cons - try the hotel route first. Sometimes it can be an advantage to get away from the track and gather your thoughts in a comfortable hotel room.
Enjoy the effort, you'll make some great memories.
EZ
 
I have a 22' 9" V-nose trailer and built cabinets in the V for counter space and storage. For my bed, I built a queen size Murphy bed that folds up when the car is in the trailer. I have A/C, microwave, flat screen TV and a DVD player for comfort and entertainment. I'm usually plugged in at the track, but do have a small inverter generator to power everything but the A/C. Food is stored in a cooler for the weekend and cooked either in the microwave or a large electric griddle.
Here is a good site to give you some ideas what others have done. http://www.tnttt.com/viewforum.php?f=42 ... 1ed81cf414
 
I have a 24' enclosed trailer. I had RV windows installed to make it more pleasant to sleep and relax in. Has A/C that I run with a cheap Chinese generator. Sometimes there is power depending on the track. When there isn't, most folks are gone at night so the generator doesn't tend to bother folks. It helps to position it so the exhaust is facing away. The trailer also has a 30 amp land line with an extension, so the generator can be some distance. Almost all the tracks I've been to have a shower somewhere. Helps to have empty Gatorade bottles for middle-of-the-night emergencies (TMI?).

Tow Mater pillow optional:-

S72LpB.jpg


Oops, sorry for gigantic pic.
 
One of the best cots that I have used is the Cabelas Outfitter XL. Very big and strong enough for bigger people.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/cabela-s ... 752509.uts

Also instead of the TMI option, you can use a luggable loo type lid with a 5-6 gallon bucket with trash compactor bags/liners and cat litter in the bag. We use this with a folding privy tent while tent camping and hunting. We only use it for middle of the night #1s.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/reliance ... 716922.uts
http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/product. ... tId=746435

We are thinking of selling our motorhome project (40' Prevost bus conversion) because we don't use it enough to justify all the costs. It tows and drives great but is just a pain all the other times. I plan on sleeping in an enclosed trailer or we get a hotel when the wife comes along. We plan to upgrade one of our daily driver to tow it and cut down the number of vehicles in the fleet.

One idea that I kicked around is double towing a little tear drop camper behind the race car trailer. But we figured too many states would have issues with that idea.
 
Not the place to post but I have a self contained toilet, holding tank in base, with machination pump I need to get rid of. It came in the ambulance I use for tow vehicle; it had been set up for stay at track use. Better than bucket with lid or Gatorade bottle. $50 plus shipping or I will deliver to a track next year. Will probably go to New Orleans, Atlanta, Hallett and MId-Ohio; and maybe St. Louis depending on who has Majors. Also have under-counter fridge and small ss counter top sink I got the same way. Package deal $100 for all 3. Need to clear the space, hate to throw them out. this prompts me to post on For Sale.
 
Motorhome, I like being at the track, I don't have a wife any longer so that makes the motorhome even better. It is some work to keep up but it pencils out. I carry my motorcycle in the trailer so I can get around I needed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top