John Chapman herds a half dozen painted cows into his dusty pickup truck and leaves Omaha for Indianapolis.

        The bovines, 18-inch black-and-white holsteins, are along for the ride. Hardly anyone considers them legitimate auto-racing fans.

Race fans get a good view of the track over the camper parking area. (Kentucky Speedway photos) | ZOOM |

        Heck, they aren't even legitimate cows.

        But they are part of the culture of professional racing spectating nonetheless. Wooden, lifeless and far too two-dimensional, they repeatedly become the focus of a series of parties, when fans gather on grassy fields to celebrate upcoming engine roar at a nearby track — and its peripheral activity.

        The scene was the Indianapolis 500, where thousands of race fans — and friends who pretend to be race fans — gathered on the infamous “Coke lot” (owned by Coca-Cola) just west of the track in Speedway, Ind.

        Expect the scene to be the same, albeit a bit tamer, for this weekend's NASCAR Busch race at Kentucky Speedway, now in its third year at Sparta.

        Speedway operations manager Andy Vertrees expects 8,000 to 10,000 to stay in the 2,500 camping sites at the race track this year.

        “It's become a city in itself,” he says.
       

Camping part of racing

        Camping has become an integral part of the auto-racing scene. Locals and out-of-towners find it a convenient and affordable way to turn a single race event into a long-weekend celebration . . . and one weekend celebration into a series of them.

        Camping is so important to car racing that designers now put campers into concept drawings for new tracks. Kentucky Speedway, the newest and most seductive of regional race facilities, was built with a stretch of front-row parking spots for upper-crust fans willing to pay $200 to park their comfortable motor homes. It is the first track in the Midwest to include such a component.

A group of race fans enjoy RV camping at the Kentucky Speedway | ZOOM |

        Racing fans are serious about drivers, much like rock music fans are with touring stars.

        “Walk through any campground and look at the flags,” suggests Mr. Vertrees. “You can tell the tracks where they've been.” And you can quickly identify their favorite competitors.

        “NASCAR is everywhere” in the campsites, says Gary Heflin, owner of Courtesy Chevrolet in Oakley. who lets his family enjoy the Speedway from the comfort of their personal motor home — with a view of the backstretch. They have rented the same spot since the track opened in 2000.

        “Everybody has flags with their favorite drivers, American flags, NASCAR flags, Budweiser and Goodwrench chairs . . . It's just amazing the stuff people paint up to look like NASCAR,” he says.

        “It's kind of turned into a mini-neighborhood. There's a store there where you can buy supplies . . . You see the same people there all the time.”

        Spaces in “the neighborhood” are rented by the season, mostly to owners of motor coaches, some for travel trailers.

        On race days, lawn chairs are arranged on a ridge overlooking the track, and, “If my mother gets tired, she can go in the coach, and she's at home,” says Mr. Heflin.

Race fans display flags for their favorite drivers. | ZOOM |

        The scene can be much more boisterous in the free section where there is no noise curfew. Mr. Heflin visited that area once.

        “They carried on pretty much all night,” he says. “They had a good time . . . I can't begrudge anybody having a good time.”

        In addition to better parking spots, race track owners now accommodate campers with restrooms and showers, security patrols and controls, shuttles to an Indiana casino and even weekend religious services.

        “We call what we are doing a ministry of hanging out,” says the Rev. Ron Lashley, chaplain at Kentucky Speedway. “We're dealing with a different group of people here.”

        As part of Kentucky Raceway Ministries — interdenominational but primarily Baptist — he and area ministers deliver Saturday or Sunday morning chapel services under a tent and distribute breakfasts and beverages. Typically, 40 to 70 families attend.

        “We'll have a brief sermon geared more to racing, perhaps,” he says. “Occasionally, we'll bring a driver in to share testimony.”

        Before the races, ministers hold prayer services in the pits for racing team members and track employees.

        Throughout the weekend, volunteers organize and supervise activities for children.
       

Indy crowd revels

        In back lots, revelers don't have to know a lot about auto racing. But sometimes it helps.

CAMPSITE AMENITIES

There's more to camping than pitching a tent, and there's more to providing a campground than laying perpendicular chalk lines across the grass.     As many as 8,000 to 10,000 people stay on site, says Andy Vertrees, director of operations at Kentucky Speedway, Sparta.     The number could grow this year, thanks to the growing popularity of racing and a new policy restricting campsites to 20 by 50 feet.     With that many people living in close quarters, hygiene can become crucial.     For $6, you can take a shower and borrow a towel.     The speedway provides dump stations for campers and motor homes, and waste-management workers sell fresh water and empty camper waste tanks door-to-door.

FINDING A SITE

For campers, and motor-home owners who like to pretend they're camping at the Kentucky Speedway, the facility offers:    • 100 backstretch spaces, where RV owners buy season passes to watch the action from the comforts of motor homes; booked for the season.     • 300 reserved RV spaces, outside the first and second turns; $200 each.     • 2,000 free camping spots a mile away (with shuttle service to the track); available first-come, first-served.

WHAT TO LEAVE AT HOME

Bring your party hat and your munchies and maybe some beer to share with friends at a camping site outside the speedway (Kentucky Speedway does not allow spectators to bring in beer).     If you're headed for one of the camping areas that accompany auto racing at Kentucky Speedway, Sparta, don't bring:     • Deadly weapons, laser lights or fireworks     • Motorcycles, scooters, mopeds or all-terrain vehicles     • More than one dog per recreational vehicle (RV)     • More than 10 people per parking spot in the private RV zone

        Joe Willing, who yearly organizes an Indianapolis camping event for about 20 friends, insists on a Saturday afternoon “rookie orientation” before the big race.

        “They must know the names of at least five drivers in the race,” he says.

        Beyond that, the test has more to do with the camaraderie than the race.

        “They have to be able to chug a beer in 2 minutes. And they have to stand on top of an RV.”

        “We're big racing fans,” says John Mack, of Detroit, who supervised setup at an oversized camp site for 25 young men and women a little farther from the Indy's spectator stands.

        There is much to do. Members of the group have built and brought a wood-platform bowling alley with pins at both ends and a football that substitutes for bowling balls. There is a hexagonal plywood bar with a thatched roof and stools. There is a plastic inflatable couch, which seems to be popular with other campers, too. There is a 10-foot-tall beer-drinking machine, which apparently arrives at the same verdict consistently, despite its complicated operation. Drink more beer.

        The novelties draw camper neighbors by the dozens.

        “It's fun at first” to be the hot spot in the campground, Mr. Mack says. “But after the first night, it kind of gets old. By the second day, we're asking people to go to their own camps.”

        For newcomers, the race track camp scene can be exciting.

        “It's kind of exciting to enjoy the crowd and the festivities,” says Kim Powell, an Indianapolis resident who was attending her first Indy 500 . . . and loving it.

        “Everybody says after the first time, you're hooked.”

        “There's lots of partying,” says her friend, Stephanie Holland, Appleton, Wis.

        “After Christmas and New Year's are over, I start counting the days (to Memorial Day weekend),” says Ms. Holland's' companion, Matt Larson. “The race (Indianapolis 500) is the next big thing . . . I've been coming for seven years.

        “If there's one weekend a year when I have too much fun, it's this,” says Mr. Larson.

        The atmosphere was relaxed and adult oriented.

        “Gone to look for new women,” read a felt-tipped message on an erasable white board outside a trailer door.

        “After people start drinking, you'll see women pulling their tops up all over the place,” says Mr. Larson.
       

Saying so long

        With deadlines looming, we left before dark. But not before noting barely dressed mannequins, replicas of bears and — look — another holstein cow.

        “I think one of them strayed,” suggested Brandon Partridge of Joliet, Ill.

        Used 9-by-12 carpets covered sod under camper canopies. Sailboat masts marked the spots for a couple of camp sites. One featured a disco “ball room” with a dance floor.

        Back at the cow farm, a fence with a checkerboard paint job contained the cattle that hadn't escaped.

        “My brother is a garbage collector,” says Mr. Chapman. “So he saves stuff all year for the race.”

        One wouldn't want to put off decorating until the last minute.

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