Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama and Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee have joined fellow NASCAR tracks Atlanta Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway in opening campgrounds for Hurricane Florence evacuees. Talladega isn’t charging campers for the service.
“We at Talladega Superspeedway are committed to helping our friends in the Carolinas and the surrounding states during this time of need,” Talladega Superspeedway Chairman Grant Lynch said in a statement released by the track Wednesday. “We hope to provide a sense of relief by offering a place to stay for no charge for evacuees during this time of adversity. Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone in the path of the storm.”
The track opened its facilities Thursday, 9 a.m. CDT. Its campgrounds outside Turn 1 of its race track include restrooms, hot shower facilities, and water hookups for campers and recreational vehicles.
Bristol Motor Speedway opened its camping facilities Tuesday, 1 p.m. EDT.
“Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with those in the path of Hurricane Florence,” a statement released by Bristol Motor Speedway read.
Both Bristol and Talladega opened a portion of their camping facilities in 2017 to assist evacuees of Hurricane Irma.
“We feel very blessed and very thankful for places like this. In times of disaster; it’s nice to see the patriotism, if you will, of people pulling together for their neighbors, people from out of state and all over praying for each other and emergency workers coming to the disaster area from other states,” Angie Lang of Jacksonville, North Carolina, who is already at a campsite at Bristol Motor Speedway, told the Johnson City Press. “It just speaks volumes to how wonderful our nation is. Especially in today’s time with a lot of people divided over certain issues, but when it comes to things like this, it really is heartwarming to see everybody pull together to help each other out.”
Bristol campers have access to water, electricity, and Wi-Fi.
Bristol Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway are Speedway Motorsports Inc. properties, while Talladega Superspeedway is owned by International Speedway Corporation. Both SMI and ISC combine to own most of the tracks that host races for NASCAR’s three national series: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and Camping World Truck Series.
Hurricane Florence is expected to make landfall sometime Friday. Mandatory evacuations have been issued for the South Carolina coast and the Outer Banks and central coast of North Carolina.