Campground the place to be as fans arrive for raceway fun

Dressed in inflatable costumes, Richard and Denise Benevedes, right, from Clovis, with Alex Bernard and Sadey James, left, of Fresno, join friends Friday night to tour the 50 Acres campground at Sonoma Raceway. The southern Sonoma County track’s annual NASCAR visit is this weekend. Photos by Kent Porter — The Press Democrat

Above, Jamison Finch, Paisley Seguin and Mason Carr unpack their energy Friday at the 50 Acres campground at Sonoma Raceway. At left, Truckee resident Rob Collette helps his daughter Mary Ann, 13, fly a kite on an exceptionally windy day at the campground. To his left are Bentley Brown and Samuel Collette. For more photos from Sonoma Raceway, see pressdemocrat.com.

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For most race fans, “camping out at the track” probably brings to mind rows and rows of RVs arranged across the infields of NASCAR’s biggest venues.

But at Sonoma Raceway each June, the campers turn a giant, 50-acre lot across Highway 121 from the track into a mini city — just another sign of what makes NASCAR’s annual visit to the Sears Point road course unique.

On Friday night, as fans left the track following the General Tire 150 race won by Sam Corry, many made their way to the RVs and tents they’re calling home this weekend at “50 Acres.”

Things are a lot more subdued now then they used to be. Years ago, some longtime attendees said, campers would set up a full-service bar and hot tubs, and dirt bikes would roar around the camp.

Nowadays, no off-road vehicles are allowed, and there are only portable showers and bathrooms —no hot tubs. Yet that doesn’t stop the fun. Some campers romped around the grounds in inflatable costumes, games of cornhole were plentiful and someone even set up a dancing pole in the middle of a canopy tent. The campground draws race fans from all over and they’re allowed to stay until Monday, although some hit the road right after Sunday’s Cup series race concludes.