TALLADEGA COUNTY — Twice a year, thousands of people descend on the fields between Talladega and Lincoln to indulge in up to a week’s worth of beer and music-filled camping, partying and camaraderie. And there are some races in there, too.Many fans will either set up tents or haul trailers to the campgrounds for the week, but others chose to roll a little bit more luxuriously, in large recreational vehicles with all, or at least several, of the amenities of home.
Dickie Glenn of Hartselle and Larry Montgomery of Vincent have been coming to the races in Talladega for as long as there have been races in Talladega.
“I was here for the first race in 1969, but I left because of the boycott,” Montgomery said. “I’ve stayed for every one since 1970.”
Glenn has been a regular spectator since the ‘70s as well. He purchased a 2000 Challenger new and has been camping in it since.
“We’ve got a satellite dish on it so we can watch the Braves, but I haven’t really done much else with it,” he said.
“It’s just a nice chance to go relax, drink a few beers, and get on the road. And we’re big dirt track fans, too, so that’s another reason to come here,” Glenn added.
“I’ve actually quit going there,” Montgomery said, pointing at the track, “and started going over there,” pointing toward the nearby dirt track.
Montgomery also owns an RV, which he and Glenn took to Daytona in February for a week of dirt racing there.
David and Sabrina Dylan, a pair of “Lil E” fans from Jayess, Miss., are newer to the RV camping experience.
“We just bought this and took it to Daytona for the first time,” Dylan said. “We used to have a travel trailer we took up here, and we stayed in a motel in Daytona. We like to take the whole week. So this is our first time in the RV here.”
The Dylans arrived in a 1991 Pace Arrow after he had done a fair amount of work on it himself.
“Anytime you have a 17-year-old vehicle, there are going to be some issues, but mostly what I had to do was cosmetic stuff. I cleaned it up, fixed the awning, replaced the tires, the water pump and the valves and got everything charged up, but I haven’t really added anything on to it. But it’s nice not to have to haul my motorcycle behind the truck.”
Another common occurrence around the campground is groups of campers from all over the country that meet up here exclusively.
One such group, consisting of members from Alabama, Tennessee and Michigan, among other places, has been meeting up in the north campground for the past four or five years, although several members of the group are 17- or 18-year veterans.
This particular group was getting ready to kick off the week with a crawfish boil Tuesday night, and there was much ribbing back and forth between the Junior fans (most notably Emily Nix of Decatur) and, well, everybody else.
“It’s nothing but good,” Nix said. “It’s the best race, and we’ve obviously got the best looking women, too. I come down here with one or two friends, and I meet a friend of mine who’s in the Air Force’s dad, and a bunch of other friends. My friend can’t be here, but I want to make sure we represent the armed forces, too.”
The boil is taking place in front of a brand new RV recently purchased by Bobby and Susi Dively of Birmingham.
A large contingent from Monroe, La., inadvertently discovered another advantage to rolling into town in a large vehicle.
They arrived Monday, the day before the campgrounds officially opened on Tuesday, so they ended up sleeping in the vehicle in a Wal-Mart parking lot Monday night.
This particular group is making its second sojourn to Talladega. Hugh Howard, the official owner of the 2000 Alegro bus they traveled in, said he works in sales, so he uses it for work, too.
“It’s a party,” Howard said simply. “I’m not even really all that big a race fan. I’m here for the fun and the really sweet atmosphere.”
“The race is my favorite,” Dusty Hubanks said. “Football doesn’t have .... on NASCAR. Not enough of my kind of people. And where else does free parking actually mean free parking,” he asked rhetorically.
T.R. Bunn of Pell City is another veteran fan who has evolved into the RV gradually through the years.
“I’ve been coming to the races since the day they opened,” he said. “You can’t beat fast cars, cold beer and good looking women. But when I first started coming, we’d just park near the south entrance and walk in. I once broke a go-kart half in two trying to get it in there. Then for a while after that we had a bus in the infield, but we’ve been camping out here for the last five or six years, I guess. I quit coming to the races for four or five years, I guess, but then my grandson started getting into it, and now I won’t miss one.”
Talladega, Bunn added, “is the best, most hospitable track there is, and I’ve been to most of them. We went to Indy not too long ago, and I know I’ll never go back. Even the law enforcement people are firm, but they’re also fair and nice.”
Ronny Barlow of Arkansas regularly meets up with a group of about 35 people from at least five states every year. “I’ve been coming here since ‘87, and Billy over there has been coming here since 1979. We started out in tents, then graduated to a popup and then started renting a trailer. Now, we’re finally rich enough for one of these things.”
“Actually, we started out in lawn chairs,” Billy Hopp said. “So we’ve progressed to the point where we have bathrooms and showers, and that makes a big difference. It used to be you had to go down to the little spigot, splash some cold water on yourself, and that was it.”
“It gives you some creature comforts,” Hopp’s wife, Carol, said.
The Hopps actually live in their RV full time, as do Roger and Donna Brockaway, who have a Texas mailing address and Montana license plates.
“We’ve been doing this full-time since 2005,” he said. “We follow the NASCAR circuit during the season, so far we’ve been to Michigan, Darlington, Charlotte and obviously Talladega. We haven’t been to Bristol or Martinsville yet, but we’ll get there.”
For a couple living in close quarters full time, the couple splits their NASCAR loyalty: she’s a Tony Stewart fan, while he pulls for Jeff Gordon.
“He got an autographed Jeff Gordon jacket in Texas,” she said. “But for me, it all goes back to Richard Petty.”
The Brockaways also purchased their RV as is, with only minor repairs and cleanup to the outside.
