Pelican Parts Forums - Sebring 2018 Thread

So last night was the first 12 hr race for me. This is a very old race track, some of it is newer, but most things are just as they were when Paul Newman and Steve McQueen were racing.

Camping
From what I gathered turn 9 and turn 10 are the party camp sites. As a camper, I think I'd want to be near, but not in that area. Power, yes. I did not see any showers???
However, I'd like to try the camping thing.

Parking
For regular parking, you can park free and walk in from the grounds. This is what I did and I got lucky being close to the main gate. You can purchase a parking sticker for general parking inside, or get a camping permit. If you park outside, just make sure you grab a blue passout ticket. There is someone there doing passouts all day near the gift shop.

Porsche area
If you're a PCA member you can purchase a parking pass and bring your P-car to their section for parking inside the raceway. That also allows you to use their bleachers. However, if you only watch from one area you'll miss quite a lot. It was very dusty this year, everything had a coat of it. For that reason I'd leave the P-car at home.

Above the PIT
The elevated viewing area above the pit is limited to passes with 5+ printed on them. I was there a few weeks ago for the P-car day, just watching, and it was a good vantage point, but it is a straight away so everything moves by very quick. The suites are located in the center of the elevated section, but I've not yet seen them.

Free bleachers
There is one set of free bleachers on the east side, but any area is limited in what you can actually see even elevated because the track is flat all the way around.

Track viewing
It is almost impossible to see the track without some elevation man-made or on one of the burms (no shade) created to see over top of the Jersey barriers. But there is one exception to this. Just before, on, and after turn 10 you can see very well (North West). Most of the campers on the track edge erected scaffolding to see the race.

Weather
It was clear with low humidity, but still very hot in the middle of the day, and there is really no shade to get out of the sun, but when you found shade it was fine. When the sun went down it was too chilly without a light jacket.

Water
There are no water fountains anywhere. You can buy $4 water bottles and there is a vending machine in the paddock with $1 water. and you can bring in your own. On the midway, the Ford owners area let us hang out with free shade, snacks, and bottled water. Supposedly, you just show them a Ford key fob, or insurance on your phone, but I was able to charm my way in. There's plenty of carni-food and a couple of pubs.

Getting around
Golf carts are the way to get around, but walking is doable. The free tram is slow and crowded. If walking, watch out for golf carts and paddock runners. You can't hear them with all the race noise and they run through foot traffic to get from the pit to the paddock. Not a very safe practice IMO.

Podium
After the race, the drivers are shortly at the podium, and much faster than you can get there. You really need to be there before the race ends to see the drivers.