DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (NewsNation) — For the eighth year in a row, the Daytona 500 — NASCAR‘s biggest event of the year — is sold out, and fans have already been camping out for days.
Die-hard race fans camping out ahead of the race on Sunday are paying for a spot close to the racetrack. The prices range according to accommodation.
“We found out that everything was sold out so we had to have the last tent site,” Derek Varner said. “It wouldn’t matter if this was a big pile of muck right here because it’s pretty cool down here.”
Derek and his son Gavin might just have their pup tent but to them, it’s a 5-star hotel.
However, Brian Tessitore made the move from tents to trailers and said he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“You have got to keep in mind everybody in the other sections at night … when they come here, they come to this section. We just have fun and that’s what it’s all about,” Brian said.
Then there’s the high life, the Lake Lloyd experience.
The water interior of the speedway offers waterfront views with top-of-the-line accommodations where motor homes become motor mansions.
“Being fortunate enough to be able to afford it is the first thing, and the next thing is that this is where I wanted to be and it was a goal that I wanted to achieve,” Craig Abbott said. “And I sold enough hamburgers to be able to get here.”
More than 160,000 race fans are expected to attend the race where the sport’s fastest drivers will whiz around the race track 200 times at dizzying speeds of up to 200 mph.
NASCAR marked its 75th anniversary this year, a year that will be marked with plenty of reflection on the industry’s memorable moments, greatest drivers and fantastic finishes.
It all kicks off on Sunday, where it all began, with another running of the “Great American Race.”
“We are at Daytona 500! What better place could you be?” fan Greg Everett said.
NewsNation’s Devan Markham and the Associated Press contributed to this report.