The New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) Operations team is well versed in preparing the 1,200-acre property each year for Motorcycle Week at NHMS and NASCAR weekend, typically a month apart from each other. This year, however, the team faces a unique challenge with the two major annual events happening back-to-back, even overlapping by a day. On Saturday, NASCAR campers can occupy their campsites starting at 8 a.m. while Motorcycle Week riders enjoy the final day of demo rides and vendors on site.
“One of the things that helped us tremendously this year was not having a ton of snow that we had to wait until it melted to start prepping the property,” said New Hampshire Motor Speedway Senior Operations Manager Nick Duggan. “We were able to start getting grandstand banners and fence scrim put up a month earlier than normal as well as prepping the facility to open for track rentals in April. Coming in to this year, we had to reprioritize certain projects that we would normally do in between major events, because they all had to be completed prior to Motorcycle Week this time around.”
The careful planning and execution of logistics always plays a vital role in the success of hosting tens of thousands of visitors. This year, with NASCAR week beginning as Motorcycle Week ends, the need for well thought out plans was enormous, and some projects had to shift around to make both events work.
The motorcycle racing events had to move from their traditional spot during the second weekend of Motorcycle Week to the first to allow for the transition from one event to the next during the overlap weekend. As soon as last weekend’s racing ended, the NHMS Operations team went to work converting the racetrack from the 1.6-mile road course that the motorcycles compete on to the 1.058-mile oval that NASCAR’s stars race on. Air fence was cleared, the backstretch wall was closed and pit road was adjusted to include additional walls and tire packs.
In addition to balancing the logistics of preparing for two major outdoor events at the same time, factors such as unpredictable weather can throw a wrench in the most well thought out plans, creating the need for plans B, C and D.
“One of the biggest challenges is coordinating when vendors and contractors need to be here as well as battling weather conditions,” said Duggan. “We are almost constantly looking at the forecast.”
The pop-up showers and wind the past few weeks prevented tasks such as painting and banner hanging from being completed as originally planned, and the team had to shift gears to other tasks when those outdoor activities were on hold so as not to waste a single minute.
So, what exactly does it take to prepare a facility to host tens of thousands of fans for a major sporting event? Here’s a look at New England’s only NASCAR weekend, by the numbers:
One Mile of Temporary Fence: Serving as a temporary perimeter at The Flat Track and the TV compound, temporary fence is also utilized in other areas around property that need a certain area defined, such as the golf cart compound.
Four Mobile Office Containers: Office space is created using 8’x20’ metal boxes. These mobile office containers are used by NHMS’s catering partner Levy at its hospitality kitchen for office work, by infield security for check-in and daily assignments, behind “The Magic Mile” Stage to serve as a green room for talent and by the DHART Helicopter crew on standby at the helipad.
27 Generators: Ranging in size from 20kW – 400kW, generators are used to provide power all over NHMS grounds. They provide backup power for race control, the infield care center and the scoring pylon as well as providing power where there’s none in various areas such as the golf cart compound and food court.
30 Pieces of Rented Equipment: In addition to the equipment NHMS owns, a variety of different sized forklifts and construction equipment such as a skid steer, excavator and small ride-on sweepers to clean under the grandstands and roadways are rented to allow the NHMS Operations team to properly execute tasks.
50 Light Towers: Light towers are placed around speedway property at The Flat Track, for Friday night’s SIG SAUER Academy Dirt Duels event, and throughout campgrounds and parking lots for safety. They will also be used as crews clean the grandstands Friday and Saturday nights of NASCAR weekend.
68 Dumpsters: Dumpsters are placed throughout campgrounds and parking lots so race fans and vendors can help keep their area clean for everyone.
100 Hours Spent Mowing: With 1,200 acres of land – much of it covered in grass – crews spent more than 100 hours mowing to ensure campers are pleased with their home-away-from-home and the property is clean-cut and ready to welcome race fans.
340 Signs: Ranging in size from 6”x6” to 4’x8,’ directional signage and property maps are placed in all areas of the facility to help guide race fans to different areas they want to get to such as the Fan Zone, Rock Point, their grandstand seats, campgrounds and tram stops. There is also a plethora of informational signage placed in key areas to inform race fans of permitted and prohibited items, free fan Wi-Fi, driver appearances, ticket renewal information and other general event-specific information.
1,500 Gallons of Paint: A fresh coat of paint is always at the top of the to-do list for the racetrack wall, walkways, parking lot lines, buildings and laying out campsites.
2,000 Feet of Bike Fence: Whether it’s lined up to keep fans safe along the catchfence of the racetrack, defining ticket entry ways, outlining hospitality areas or corralling media members who want to grab an interview with the drivers, bike fence is utilized all over NHMS property for a variety of needs.
2,000 Safety Cones: Mostly used to help guide traffic efficiently on and off property, safety cones are also used to block off areas such as the Fan Zone, so race fans can walk around freely without worrying about cars.
50,000 Square Feet of Banners: Whether it’s extra-large grandstand banners promoting kids tickets or commemorating a retiring broadcaster, scrim lining along fences creating privacy or banners on flag poles welcoming race fans to “The Magic Mile,” banners are in no short supply.
150,000 Pounds of Concrete Weights: Placed all over property, concrete weights are used to hold down anything that has the potential to blow away or fall over with a gust of wind, such as temporary fence or vendor pop-up tents.
New England’s only NASCAR weekend is June 21-23 at NHMS. On-track action kicks off Friday with practice and qualifying sessions for the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) and Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT) plus SIG SAUER Academy Dirt Duels at The Flat Track. The action continues with NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) qualifying, the SciAps 200 NXS race and Mohegan Sun 100 NWMT race on Doubleheader Saturday and culminates with the NCS taking on “The Magic Mile” Sunday for the USA TODAY 301.
For a NASCAR weekend schedule, visit NHMS.com/Events/NASCAR-Cup-Series/Schedule/.
Tickets:
Log on to NHMS.com for tickets and more information on the weekend’s lineup of action-packed racing. Tickets for SIG SAUER Academy Dirt Duels start at just $25 for adults and $10 for kids 12 and under. Tickets for Doubleheader Saturday, featuring the SciAps 200 NXS race and the Mohegan Sun 100 NWMT race, start at just $49 for adults while kids 12 and under are free. Sunday’s USA TODAY 301 NCS race tickets start at just $64 for adults and $10 for kids 12 and under. Further details can be found on the NHMS website or by calling 833-4LOUDON.
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