Friday, March 5, 2004 | 9:56 a.m.
Thousands of race fans were already in top spectating form Thursday at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, taking part in a pre-race tradition that for some is as much a part of going to a NASCAR race as watching Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the main track.
"It's like a five-day tailgate party down here," Debbie Clark, 45, of Overgaard, Ariz., said outside her family's and friends' motor homes on the speedway infield.
The gates opened at noon Wednesday, and by Thursday afternoon race track officials estimated at least 90 percent of the 6,000 spaces in and around the speedway for motor homes, campers and trailers were filled.
And while the main event is unquestionably the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race on Sunday, for many fans the days spent at the track waiting for the race are just as much a part of the overall experience.
"It's the friendships, the camaraderie, the kicking back, the cocktails," Ronda Oscar, 47, of Dolan Springs, Ariz., said while sipping a drink on the infield outside her motor home.
But Oscar also said there really is nothing like seeing the race in person.
"The whole ground just rumbles and shakes," she said.
Clark's daughter, Jaimie, 16, said she looks forward to the Las Vegas race all year.
"I love it. I'm a NASCAR junkie. It's just the whole race and the cars rumbling and the whole atmosphere," she said.
Landen White, 24, of Oklahoma City, Okla., said his four days at the speedway are his vacation.
"It's a camping experience. It's good people. Everybody helps each other," said White, an Air Force aircraft mechanic.
White's friend Todd Manwill, 34, of Cedar City, Utah, said the weekend of partying and relaxing leading up to the race reminds him of the Grateful Dead concerts of the past.
"Except it's not marijuana like with the Grateful Dead. Here it's the alcohol," Manwill said.
White and Manwill were expecting about 50 friends to join them at the track in a total of six motor homes or trailers all near each other on the speedway infield.
About 1,000 motor homes and trailers crowded the infield, and another 5,000 spaces are available outside the speedway oval, but few spaces were left Thursday afternoon.
American flags, NASCAR flags and flags for favorite drivers such as Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin flew from poles atop many of the motor homes. Jets coming and going from nearby Nellis Air Force Base drowned out all other noise often as the early arrivals mingled with their friends, family, and new neighbors for the next few days.
Those early arrivals are just some of the 300,000 race fans speedway spokesman Jeff Motley said are expected there through the end of the weekend. As many as 145,000 people are expected for the Sunday race, and close to 100,000 are expected for the Sam's Town 300 NASCAR Busch Series race on Saturday, he said.
"The race is the cornerstone, but all around it, it's a happening. It's almost like a circus coming to town," Motley said.
In fact, some said that if the four to five days of relaxing and the party-like atmosphere at the track aren't part of what draws someone to the event, that person might be better off staying home.
"If you're just going to watch the race, you can see it better from home," said Marshall Payne, 57, of American Falls, Idaho. "It's the whole experience, the trip down here and everybody's just super people."
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