Your Guide to Buying NASCAR Tickets
There is little in this world more American than visiting a racetrack to watch a National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) event on a warm summer day.
NASCAR was born out of a combination of a desire to set land speed records on Daytona Beach in the 1920s and 1930s and bootlegging whiskey in cars to be as fast as possible to evade the police.
Cars were eventually raced for prize, profit and pride, though no one then could have imagined the dominant force in motorsport that stock car racing would become today.
Where to Buy NASCAR Tickets
The easiest way to buy tickets for a NASCAR event is to go to the official site of the series and click the ticketing link.
This will take you to a page with all the different race weekends in order of date and a simple click on the buy tickets link sends you to the appropriate page to find the tickets online you are searching for. This is also a good way of finding out about other events – perhaps an IndyCar race or a smaller series.
Outside of this main ticketing hub there are still plenty of options on the resale market. The usual suspects in terms of online sites are all present, with the likes of StubHub, VividSeats and TicketMaster offering seats at prices that will fluctuate based on supply and demand.
As always with the resale sites, make sure to do your homework regarding purchase protection – especially if it is an expensive ticket – and be aware of any additional fees that will be tacked on for using the service.
A seemingly cheaper ticket can balloon up in price when handling and admin fees are all taken into the equation.
Outside of these hubs, local marketplaces are also a decent shot when it comes to finding tickets. Look at the likes of Facebook Marketplace and Craig’s List, but also be aware of your safety and make transactions with sellers from these forums in a public place if possible.
We would suggest avoiding scalpers at the venue on the day as you really have no way of controlling the price and location at the racetrack of those tickets.
Cost of NASCAR Tickets
One of the great things about NASCAR tickets is that they are generally inexpensive – at the base level at least – compared to tickets at other major sporting events.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway seats over 250,000 people (with the capacity pushed to 400,000 if the infield is open) and that is just one of a dozen or so tracks that can seat more than 70,000 people.
Tickets for NASCAR Cup Series races – the marquee race series NASCAR governs — are usually able to be found in the $50 to $80 range.
If you love to watch racing and want to see some of the next generation of talent before they hit the big-time, then the Xfinity Series tickets are a step below in the $25 to $60 range and the truck series tickets start out at an even cheaper price point than that.
Tickets are basically whatever you want to pay at higher levels. You can easily spend $750 to $1,000 for a ticket at Daytona for the entire race weekend, including on-site camping. Set your budget and go from there.
Must-Visit Racetracks
There are so many historic, new and fun tracks on the NASCAR calendar that it is hard to pick a handful of must-see raceways.
Daytona is worth a visit, as this is the track that started it all. Darlington is the track that is the most difficult and complex to drive, and Bristol (at night) is a half-mile cage fight of an event where the roar is deafening and the racing intense.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway are also worth a mention for their place in the sport's history and the sheer speed that both tracks produce.
How to Resell Tickets
The best – and safest – way to resell NASCAR tickets is through one of the ticket aggregator sites mentioned above. These will allow you to move your tickets to the buyer electronically with minimum fuss. Usually, they have some sort of payment protection for the seller in case the buyer complains.
Selling through a marketplace site is fine too, but the protections are not there if the buyer were to claim that the tickets did not work, which is a situation that could get ugly.
All in all, a day – or ideally a weekend – at the race track is a fun way to spend your time. Consider booking a hotel and watching the different series races (if budget allows) to make the most of the event and create memories that will stay with you and your family for life.