The air smelled like sunscreen, burning rubber and hot asphalt. Billows of blue-tinted smoke drifted over the vibrating bleachers as a pair of dragsters rocketed down the quarter-mile track.
As spectator Jeremy Hudson put it, “It’s one of those sports — TV doesn’t do it justice.”
The 45th annual Amalie Motor Oil National Hot Rod Association Gatornationals returned to the Gainesville Raceway Thursday through Sunday, bringing with it about 100,000 spectators hooked on the speed and adrenaline of drag racing.
Hudson, a 30-year-old Panama City resident, said he travels to Atlanta Braves games across the country, but he likes drag racing because the drivers are much more accessible than, say, professional baseball players.
“They’re not inviting us into the dugouts,” he said.
In contrast, at Gatornationals, the pits resembled the midway of a county fair. In an area behind the grandstands, crews rebuilt engines and changed tires beneath colorful awnings attached to RVs and trailers. Spectators gathered to watch, and often, drivers walked over to chat with them.
That’s why Heather Walls, 35, came from Pennsylvania.
“It’s a great fan experience because you get to talk to the drivers,” she said. “They’re not snobby.”
She noted drag races are the “closest you’ll get to celebrities, basically.”
If feeling close is a reason thousands of people flock to the track, it’s also a reason many out-of-towners choose to camp while they’re at Gatornationals.
Saturday afternoon, Gary and Patti Gullotta and Chris and Connie Ciccarone sat by a campfire in the sunny, 75-degree weather drinking Blue Moon and cracking peanuts. They’d been at the track earlier in the day, but they drove the three and a half miles back to their site at the Jaycees Campground for some downtime.
“Camaraderie,” said Chris Ciccarone — that’s why he likes camping.
The 57-year-old has been coming to the races and the campground for more than 30 years.
He said it’s mellowed out a lot. People used to tear through a huge mud pit at the edge of the campsites in their trucks.
“This used to be a real hell-raising place,” he said.
Now, the mudpit is indented and dry like a lakebed. A few people were even camping in it.
The wet T-shirt contest still takes place, but this group likes tamer activities like lively discussions about politics by firelight.
“We’ve solved the world’s problems probably a hundred times last night,” said Gary Gullotta, 62.
They like wearing grungy clothes and not having to shower.
“No TV, no nothing. No grandkids, no job,” said Connie Ciccarone, 56.
The campground has about 150 water hookups, which designate official campsites. But most of the property is an informal tent-camping free-for-all, said Kristen Rabell, Jaycees board chairwoman.
“It’s random. We don’t count,” she said of the number of sites. She said the grounds have served as a Gatornationals crash pad for 40-plus years.
Racing fans come to the campground from as far away as Canada, she said. The Jaycees’ camping option is cheaper than staying at the track’s facilities, which only allow RVs.
The relaxed policy has led to a sprawling network of homes-away-from-home as campers turn whatever spot they choose into a weekend paradise. Visitors added flair with colorful electric lights, racing flags and strings of pennants. One site was decorated with an old, brittle Christmas tree adorned with beer bottles, Mardi Gras beads and a hubcap.
Lee Thompson from Hazelhurst, Ga., was camping with a block of about 20 people. When he has the money for tickets to the races, he goes, said 29-year-old Thompson, leaning on one elbow sprawled in a green pup tent. This year, he didn’t have the money to get onto the track, but he said the camping experience was enough in itself.
“A lot of drinkin’, eatin’ a lot of grilled food,” he said, adding that riding four-wheelers through the woods is a highlight, too. “It’s like a friend-family reunion. Every year, we try to bring more people.”
Laurie Sullivan, 50, and Earl Bass, 59, had just gotten into town Saturday afternoon. The couple from Bradenton was struggling to inflate an air mattress. They planned to visit the races the next day. But for now, it was campground time.
“That’s half the fun – relaxing, meeting people,” Sullivan said, taking a sip from her Bud Light can in a coozie. “Life is good today.”
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 3/17/2014 under the headline "Gatornationals draws beer-drinkin’, race-lovin’ crowd"]
Tony Schumacher races his U.S. Army Top Fuel dragster down the track Saturday during the 45th annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway. Gatornationals draws 100,000 spectators every year. Schumacher is a seven-time Top Fuel world champion.
