FONTANA >> The infield of the Auto Club Speedway during race weekend hosts some 1,900 recreational vehicles, more than 10,000 people, almost as many bicycles, makeshift bars and lounging areas, as well as outdoor cooking paraphernalia of all imaginable shapes and sizes.
Eclectic doesn’t begin to describe the assortment of roosting areas on recreational vehicle rooftops, the odd assortment of flags flying above campsites, and games being played in campsite “yards.”
“Let’s have a party,” said Brandon “Brando” VanScoy of La Mirada, who operates an improvised bar with two kinds of beers for adults and a choice of three non-alcoholic fruit drinks for kids — all free for anyone who stops by during the Auto Club 400 race weekend.
The RVs began to load in and claim their spots in the infield Thursday morning, and campers stay throughout the whole weekend. The NASCAR XFINITY NXS 300 race takes place on Saturday, and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Auto Club 400 is on Sunday.
• Photos: NASCAR fans camp out in the infield at Auto Club Speedway
In the infield, the beanbag toss might be one of the more popular games of skill, but some bring their own artificial grass “carpeting” to hone putting and chip shot skills.
Non-mechanized transportation modes include bicycles trending towards bright neon shades, some with thin tires, but many more with wide, very fat and fatter still treads.
There are tricycles, some with side-by-side seats, and there was even one self-propelled thickly padded lounge chair.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of professional race car driving on the site of the former Kaiser Steel Mill near Fontana.
And for the avid race fans of the Fernie and Lillian Guzman family of Fontana, the historic site has a very special meaning.
Lillian Guzman said her father worked on a Fontana pig farm on land that became the steel mill. He then became a crane operator at the steel mill.
And the family of Fontana natives hasn’t missed a race since the speedway opened, she said.
Neil Reynolds, Jr., 18, of Rancho Cucamonga came into the world going to the speedway, and he hasn’t missed a race since his birth.
“It’s something we look forward to every year,” he said.
Coincidentally, his kindergarten teacher and her husband have an RV campsite across from Reynolds’ parents.
Kelly Langlois, Reynolds’ former teacher, keeps in contact with some of her old friends from elementary school in Alta Loma, who come down for race weekends from their central California dairy farm.
Kyle Richardson, 30, from San Jose, is keeping a family tradition going by including his wife Kendra, and their less than 3-year-old son down to the Auto Club Speedway.
“I would rate it eight out of 10 for race tracks in the country,” said Richardson, who lives and breathes NASCAR.
“It is definitely one of the better places to camp (nationally), he said.
Why not give it a perfect 10?
“The fans aren’t as knowledgable about NASCAR as they are in the Southeast,” he said.
None of that matters to Keith Uehlein, of Venice Beach, one of the founders of the “Booze Brigade.”
“This is a weekend where everything in the world is perfect,” he said. The group, comprised mostly of residents from West Los Angeles and nearby communities, hosts a pig roast on Saturday night — a free event where all are welcome, he said.
“This is a time for love, fun, happiness, equality and racing,” said Uehlein, an electrical foreman.
Although many people bring huge supplies of food and drink, business was brisk at the 5,000-square-foot Vons and Albertsons store in the track’s infield area.
Beer is a top seller, but the store also does a brisk business in non-alcoholic drinks, snacks and meats, including those custom-cut by a butcher, said Dwane Beckham, who is a district meat department supervisor of the Albertsons and Vons food chain.
A visit to the store on Friday afternoon by Cindy Guzman, 30, was “seeing what they had” and buying ice cream for immediate consumption. Guzman is the daughter of Fernie and Lillian Guzman.
At about 8 p.m. Friday, live music was to start, although some of the campers said informal musical groups would also be entertaining the infield campers throughout the night.
