When it comes to NASCAR races, we’ve been around a bit. When we heard they were building a temporary road course on the active military base on Coronado Island, that sounded like something to make a trip out of. Add Kyle and Melissa and off we went.
We landed Saturday morning and had a little time before the second-tier O’Reilly race, so we randomly ended up a couple of places. First was Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery on Point Loma between San Diego Bay and the Pacific, with rows and rows of perfectly aligned white headstones running down both sides of the road. It holds over 100,000 burials and is generally considered one of the most scenic national cemeteries in the country, so it’s worth the detour if you’re in the area.
Continuing the grass theme, one must swing by Torrey Pines to gawk at the golfers. And, in this case, the croqueters. Apparently, Torrey’s greenskeeper is also in charge of the croquet court, as it was immaculate.
The Race
We made our way toward the island with much anticipation and excitement, only to be met by one logistical disappointment after another. Stopped traffic all the way across the bridge and the island… and this way only for the baby race. After about an hour we get to the base, to find that ONE SINGLE LONE INDIVIDUAL is asking each car which parking lot and pointing left or right. One silly choke point was backing traffic up for an hour!
Ok, fine, we’re over it. Head into the main spectator area where the booths and everything are set up. When it’s about time for the race, we head to our seats, which are a bit away. We were then told we couldn’t walk, but would have to take the tram. That’s ok; it’s ONLY a 75-minute wait. I think I’ll grab a Coke for the wait in line… which means waiting in the Coke line. Do you think they have Coke? Nope, all out, just water. One logistical fail after another.
We finally got to our seats to find out three things. First, of the 3.4-mile course, we could only see the cars come out of one turn, go past us, then disappear around the next corner. Not terribly engaging. Second, the expensive radios they rent to listen to the race and drivers didn’t work at our seats. The radio commentary is arguably the best part. And last, the food vendors by our seats had another HOUR wait to get food. What’s that word? Oh yeah, logistical failure… sensing a theme yet? We’d had enough, so figured we’d better leave before the race ended to get a tram before the line got long. No go, another hour waiting to get back to our car.
Sold our Cup tickets that night on Ticketmaster and went to SeaWorld instead! Didn’t even go to the Cup race. Shame on you NASCAR.
To round out the rest of the trip we visited the temple open house, went to a Padres game, got Japanese curry from the same place as we did in Japan, went on a dolphin tour, toured the USS Midway Museum, and putted around the harbor in a 3 mpg electric boat.
Was fun, but NASCAR kept it from being great. I know which race I won’t be going back to.
