TALLADEGA — The jury looks like it is still out among the folks set up in Talladega Superspeedway’s West Campgrounds when it comes to deciding if they liked moving the date of the Amp Energy 500 to Halloween weekend.

Mike Marksberry said he and his group, who came down from Northern Kentucky, thought the move from early October was a good call, as he grilled up some bacon and eggs for Friday morning breakfast.

“It’s a little cooler. I don’t know if it’s going to be as crowded or not, which is a good thing,” Marksberry said. “This is our eighth year down here.”

Marksberry said cooler weather meant lower costs for running the air conditioner. Most of the people in his group are retired, so the date of the race was not a big concern anyway.

It looked like the group was ready to participate in some Halloween high jinks, though, when one in the group brought out a gorilla mask and claimed to have a full costume to go with it inside the camper.

Gary and Janet Curtis, from Electra in North Texas, were into the Halloween spirit and were in the process of turning their campsite into a mock graveyard Friday morning. It was complete with tombstones and skeletons and other spooky props.

“They advertised for people to dress up their campsites, but so far no one is doing it. But we enjoy it, and it’s OK since it’s Halloween,” Gary Curtis said.

Curtis said he was looking forward to nightfall because he believed the lights he was about to set up would raise the fright factor of his campsite to an even higher degree.

Larry and Judy Williamson from Orrville, which is outside of Selma, said they were missing their beloved Auburn Tigers take on the Ole Miss Rebels today, but they did not want to miss the race.

They recognized that any date in the fall will probably interfere with football, though. “You’ve got to make choices. I don’t know if it’s more apt to rain now than in early October, but in a normal year I think it would be more apt to rain now than earlier. The weather may be an issue, but we’re going to be here regardless,” Larry Williamson said.

The Williamsons are dedicated race fans who have been coming for more than 20 years and off and on before that, including the first NASCAR race at Talladega.