Bristol Motor Speedway

I have been attending races at BMS for several years. It is a great facility for motorsports.
«There is not a bad seat in the house!» — How true. Over the aforementioned years of attendance my family and I have switched switched several times and have never really had an issue with the sight lines. You’ll have your occasional jackass or two that think they are deserving of more than the seat they paid for, but it is what it is.
One great thing that has changed over the years is the «No Smoking in the grandstands» law. Fantastic for we non-​smokers; but would be even better if they would enforce it 100%. It has been brought up to them before — only to be replied with multiple excuses. It has gotten better over the last year as more and more smokers just accept it and take a hike to the Smoking Zones or just wait. There’s a novel idea.
The concession prices are HIGH. But, it’s professional sports. You’ll have that. One of the best things about professional motorsports is the ability to bring in your own food and drink to the venue. There are still a lot of people who don’t know this or simply just don’t care to pack a cooler to save a buck, then bitch about the cost of concessions.
Be prepared to walk when visiting BMS. They do have a lot of transportation — but the closer it gets to Cup raceday the longer you will wait for a ride. It can be quite difficult for older folks to maneuver the grounds due to the mountainous region. And it pisses my Parents (older folks) off when they are struggling up the aforementioned mountainous terrain only to be passed by golf carts full of youngins’!!
I can not review the traffic flow because we camp across the Red Bridge.
I’m only a mere three hour drive away — so it would be nice if they have more racing events like they did in the past — but I understand it is expensive to operate a venue of that size when you don’t have the attendance of a Cup race.

I traveled from New Jersey to Charlotte and then drove three hours to take in the Irwin Tool 250. This was awesome!
The Midway here was fantastic. Vendors were everywhere. There was lots to do pre-​race. I even found someone who prepared a decent (not great) brisket sandwich. :) Lots of freebies. Plenty of free transportation to whirl us around the grounds.
This visit was comped by a sponsor. We had a SuperPass. We walked the track and got to see the cars up close as the crews prepared for the race. We were right in front of the stage for the Steven Tyler/​Loving Mary concert. Awesome! We were on the track for the driver introductions. We then took our seats in the Ernhardt Terrace. Great seats high so we were able to see the entire track. Ear plugs and headphones dampened the noise to the point I was most comfortable.
The people who worked the track and the fans were the nicest folks I have encountered in a large venue before. I saw great acts of kindness and everyone was super pleasant to us.
The only knock to our experience was how the flow of traffic worked after the race. We had an awesome parking spot that should have gotten us onto the road with relative ease. But the way the officials emptied the lot, we were held up for nearly an hour.
I would readily come back, however, to Bristol to take in another race. I loved this venue!

UGGG!!! NOT a fan of this speedway! Now, our hosts were awesome and very accommodating but HOLY LOUDNESS!
We were invited to the race by a vendor of my husbands. We were treated VIP all the way prior to the start of the race.
THEN, the real experience began! Our seats were super high which really bothered by Vertigo since these seats are STEEP!!!
When the race began I quickly inserted my ear plugs because this short track is freakin loud! There is no reprieve from the sound since the track is only ½ mile.
Don’t even think you are going to communicate with those around you unless you spend the $ 60+ bucks a peice for the head phones.
We are really not race fans but were thankful for the vendor’s hospitality. We will NOT be back to this track.

This is an exciting track for Nascar races.
However, be prepared to do ALOT of walking.
They have golf carts that take you uphill to gate 14 and around. After the race, they do NOT run the golf carts until an hour later… plan accordingly or be prepared to walk a long way back to the parking lot.
Also, be warned that there is NO handicapped parking. You have to pay $ 20 to park in a field that when it rains turns into a huge mudpit and you will get stuck in a normal car.
The vendors that are in here are alittle scary. You will pay alot of money ($ 8 for a footlong corndog) and I stood and watched the lady touch money then touch the corndog without washing them. VERY unsanitary. Also seen a guy transporting the food from the kitchen to this stand smoking a cigerrette and eating a chicken tender ($ 11 w/​fries)
The consession stands of the Bristol track is the best place to get food. Cheeseburger ($ 5)
Really good… sanitary and ALOT cheaper amongst other items hot dogs ($ 3) w/​chili ($ 4)
Wait to buy your Bristol shirts after the race. ($ 10 – 15) instead of paying $ 25.
Make sure you check the website of what you can bring to what you cant inside the collisium… 14″ coolers, no wider. No umbrellas.
What upset me the most was no employee/​staff member knew where thr «fan zone» was at. Except for a nascar fan that overheard us asking several people, even the sheriffs that were there didn’t know… Its located down from gate 14 down the hill.
They have tickets to the Bristol outside of the entrance area if you are needing tickets.
Would go back next year.

NASCAR racing at it’s finest, folks. For NASCAR fans like myself, Bristol Motor Speedway, especially it’s annual Night Race in August is a bucket list item. I have been to a number of tracks on the circuit, and this may be my new favorite. There is no way you can visit this track and NOT have a great time!
It’s a bit nerve wracking your first time visiting, but I have to give the track and the police force credit– they did a great job of welcoming everyone to the track and trying to make it as easy as possible to get where you’re going. Parking was plentiful– just be patient and you’ll find a good lot, how much you pay depends on how far you’re willing to walk. We ended up finding a nice gentlemen who opened his home on a side road near the track — $ 15 for a shaded parking spot w/​indoor bathrooms and a 20 minute walk to the track itself, not too shabby!
Seeing this place for the first time is amazing, it just appears on the horizon in the valley, and it’s an awe-​inspiring sight. The walk in wasn’t too bad, and the police were good at letting people enjoy their beers on the walk in. Outside the track, there were two major areas to get your merchandise. One major area had all the driver’s haulers where you can buy the driver swag, another area had all the vendors where you could pick up all the free goodies. It’s nicer at some tracks where you can get everything in one large area, but it’s not too bad of a walk– just be sure to get to the track early enough so you can experience everything.
Once you’re inside, there’s not a bad seat in the house, and I mean that. My wife and I walked around the entire track, it’s so amazing how tight everything is packed into the world’s fastest half-​mile. Walking right next to the track even I was amazed at how those cars can go that fast in that tight of a track, and to look up and see how high the seats go… it’s just amazing.
I like the location of the restrooms, food areas, and drink areas in this track a lot. You don’t have to walk very far to find a restroom area, and there are a lot of great food choices located all around the facility. I’m also a huge fan of the Olé Smoky Moonshine, and they have a number of those areas around the track serving drinks, and they are delicious, and make this place even more fun!
Pre-​race ceremonies were spectacular, highly Patriotic, and a lot of fun to behold. And once they fire those engines, boy, this crowd gets HOT. And I will tell you this– when they take the green flag and those engines come to life in this tightly packed arena, there is NO better sound in the world, it honestly takes your breath away. I’ve been to many tracks, and I thought it was awesome to see the pack come screaming by at Daytona, but nothing compares to the scream of the pack circling Bristol.
If you’re a NASCAR fan and you’ve never been, YOU MUST GO TO BRISTOL. If you’re not a NASCAR fan, but curious, YOU MUST GO TO BRISTOL. I cannot overstate how much FUN this track is. Make sure you get there hours early. Find yourself some good parking. Bring a cooler full of water and beer. Walk around and take in the sights, meet some new friends, and experience all that this track has to offer. I had an unbelievable time, and I WILL BE BACK, I think I will make the 8 hour drive to Bristol every year for the night race. Cannot recommend this track enough.

This speedway is great. It is small enough to get around, yet very big. Put on your walking shoes when you go. You’ll be walking up and down hills quite a bit. Also, drink plenty of water. It’s quite hot especially during the August race. Even though it’s a night race, you will arrive during the heat of the day.
There are some concession stands under the bleachers with souvenirs and such, but not so much that it blows you away.
Very expensive (as are most stadiums), such as $ 4 for a Pepsi and $ 7 for small container of Pulled Pork Nachos.
There are plenty of Bathrooms within the stadium, but not as many throughout the events outside the stadium.
There were lots of EMS stations around, as I’m sure they have plenty of heat related issues to tend with. Plenty of law enforcement from various counties were patrolling. We had a few issues in the stands which were handled quickly.
The stadium has high walls in the turns with very high fencing so sitting near the track near the front rows is not conducive to shooting photos. If you want some good action shots, I would sit near the middle of the seats with a good zoom lens.
We enjoy going here and will probably go again in the future. Great for family!

We had a great time on the tour of the raceway. It was fun to see the owner’s suite. We got to ride around the track several times.
Our tour guide was friendly and informative.

Multiple Nascar fans recommended Bristol as the track to attend for our first race.
We camped at the track because of traffic concerns, but the race was poorly attended and traffic would not have been a problem. The camping was fine for what it is and the shower house was very clean and always had hot water. Shuttle bus drivers were also friendly as well. However, we found the concessions at the track to be over priced, staffed by slow workers and poor quality. We had to wait out a rain delay and dined on bad pretzels and hot dogs during the delay. The concessions and poor attendance is while I did not give this four or five stars.

Great place for camping before the big race and you can get a lot of free swag from the sponsors in front of the track. As for the race itself it can’t get much better than the bristol night race lots of aggressive driving and lots of tempers flaring. All in all if you never have been to a race come to this one you can see the whole track and it is a great atmosphere.

I thought racing fans all looked alike, man was I wrong. NASCAR racing is a huge blast folks — for everybody.
This was my first ever race and it was an experience to remember, heck, my ears are still ringing from the sound of the motors.
Your heart and body will pound when the cars come zooming by. The crowd was enormous and they were almost as loud as the engines.
I still dream of racing down the speedway (but I keep to the speed limit on the road).
This is thrilling, take the entire family.

Bristol! What can I say fun awesome and WOW! The last great colosseum is correct! Very fan friendly and easy to get in and out of the track! I should add that this is an opinion based on other racing venues.

I’ve been to several NASCAR races and I have to say so far I have enjoyed Bristol the most… the people are so friendly, and the track is just awesome!

Even if your visiting around the area and there isn’t a race going on — you got to go take a tour! AWESOME!

Since I have become a huge NASCAR fan, I have some tracks that are on my list to visit. Bristol is one of them. And now that I am back in TN it is my home track so to speak (although Talladega is closer). So I rounded up some friends, got my camper gear together, and headed out to Bristol Motor Speedway for some short track racing!
First off, the campgrounds are confusing online. Apparently the ones owned by the track aren’t all that close to the track. However, surrounding the track are all kinds of campgrounds that are privately owned. We chose Earhart Campgrounds which was right beside the track with an entrance into the track conveniently located (see my review, I’ll do the campground separately). Suffice to say we couldn’t have been any closer unless we had camped INSIDE the track so that was sweet.
Once you get inside, note that you will have to climb some big hills to get into the grandstands. They have shuttles for those of you that cannot walk up hills so don’t worry. For the rest of us, we got our first exercise of the weekend getting up to our seats. Unless you count 12 oz curls as an exercise…
So the track… oh my goodness. Think of the Roman Colosseum. A small track encircled by seats all the way around. Very high banking (I think 36 degrees) on the turns. Seats were typical grandstand seats but I did see sections with full plastic seats. We got seats about mid-​way up in the bottom section, near the checker flag. The pit stalls are on each side so your driver may or may not pit on your side, depending on the spot they choose. Food selections appear to be very basic, lots of cheeseburgers, sausages, turkey legs, pizza, etc. I couldn’t find anything special. One thing pretty cool — they were selling Olé Smokey TN Moonshine drinks with special Bristol collector jars to drink them out of. Coooolio.
When the engines are started, OH MY GOD. You can feel the rumble, you can hear the extreme loudness of the cars more than any track I have been to. The nature of the track holds the sound in and you can feel and even smell the cars the entire race. It is SO FUCKING EXCITING. I hear if you sit down near the front you will even get rubber on your clothes from all the rubber off the tires. Bring your earplugs or your scanner headphones to protect your ears… but maybe take them off for just a minute to hear the full roar! Any seat you get is great because it is such a compact, small spot.
The racing… holy hell. Whoever thinks that Bristol racing has gone downhill or something is smoking some crack or doesn’t know what racing is. This was full excitement racing. Both the Nationwide race and the Sprint Cup race were awesome, sit at the edge of your seat, nail biters. I was extremely anxious and excited and nervous and had the best time EVER at a race.
Oh and also… MY DRIVER WON THE RACE! Kasey Kahne, Spring 2013 Bristol Winner. I was OVER THE MOON I tell you!!! What a great thing to go to a track for the first time and see your driver win for the first time ever. I recommend it, especially if your driver is the same as my driver. Hehe
If you are a race fan, you must go to Bristol. If you are not a race fan, perhaps going to Bristol will make you one!

Outstanding race track. I’d never been here before (have been to RIR, Charlotte, and Dover) so didn’t know what to expect. Had to park waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay far away from the track in a paid lot (rookie mistake) but for $ 20, it was right at a tram stop so I’m not going to complain. The weather was a little sticky out, but tolerable. The place was extremely well run with the tram going where you needed to go consistently. Everyone we encountered at the track was super helpful, and we had restrooms right at the bottom of our seats (which were clean throughout the whole race). We left about 75 laps before the end because we wanted to beat traffic out of there, and we got out of the lot right about the time the fireworks ended.
I would not hesitate to go back here again, this time with more people. This was my husband’s first NASCAR race and he had a blast seeing Tony Stewart throw his helmet at Matt Kenseth. He wants more. I will deliver. We have decided we’re going to try getting a camper for next year.

Got to treasure the one we got here.
Overloaded and fun during the race season. Love the Christmas lights show on the holidays.

This is Bristol Baby! No other track is as exciting as this one. The fastest half mile in the world delivers in all aspects.
1. Great view from any seat.
2. Lots of washrooms.
3. Reasonably priced vendors.
4. Multiple driver trailer locations around the stadium.
5. NHRA strip nearby.
6. Close to major stores for your supply needs.
7. Lots of huge campgrounds within walking distance.
The entire place just rumbles and no other track can deliver this experience and rush as the noise and vibration run through your veins. I had a blast here and hope to come back for one of next year’s races.
Racing the way it oughta be!

Was there this weekend for the Food City 250 and the Sharpie 500. Man that place is a class act. We came in on Thursday night and were escorted to our two RV spots. We always have really nice neighbors in the rows and this year was no exception.
Love the fact that ice trucks come by many times during the day. I was also happy with how relatively clean the showers were. It’s got to be hard to keep it that way. Still wear flip flops…
The races were great and the seats and track always look great. I“m spoiled for this venue and would be pretty harsh on any others because I hold BMS as the gold standard.

O what an awesome life we get to live! And the Sharpie 500 is one of the biggest parties you will never get to see, because this year was the final year Sharpie is sponsoring. Next year, it will be the Irwin Night Race, and it should be just as awesome.
Picture this: 43 cars, 850 horses in each, going around a ½ mile concrete track at 45mph when the green flag is waved. It is an instant wall of roaring energy and you had better have some earplugs! It is louder than the loudest concert you have ever experienced.
I have watched the race from the top row, from the middle and this year, from 8 rows up from the edge in turn 4. I have also watched from the Sharpie suite, way up high. The track is so small, there is not a bad seat in the house and everyone has a great view.
Kyle Busch won this year, to the consternation of the Earnhardt Nation. The ever-​classy Mark Martin was second, and it was great to see the bumping and banging, and the give and go that happened at the end.
A great race to end the 9 years of Sharpie sponsorship.

I love motorsports esp. Nascar. I love this non-​steroid sport, although Nascar is predominantly a Southern sport, it has gained increasing popularity nationwide throughout the years after the tragic death of Dale Earnhardt, who is a well-​known driver & legend of the sport.
After a painful 3 hour drive from the Nashville, we have arrived to BMS. This is my first ever Live NASCAR event, and I feel like a little kid again. This popular racetrack, which is raced twice a year in Bristol, is also known as the «Famous Half-​Mile» because the configuration of the track is so small in comparison to other NASCAR tracks. The racetrack holds 160,000 spectators and they get to see the top 43 colorful drivers in Nascar, including my favorite driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose legendary father, as mentioned, died in a race in Daytona 5 years ago, and other drivers including the #48 of Jimmie Johnson (Prima’s favorite driver) race for the winning trophy in November.
Unfortunately, Matt Kenseth, who drives the #17 and sponsors DeWalt won the race. Sadly, my favorite driver Dale Jr. finished third, but my first ever live NASCAR event will be my most memorable one. With the loud roar of auto-​racing, be prepared to bring a protective ear-​piece to cover your precious ears