BROOKLYN, Mich. (WOOD) — Campers from West Michigan are among the thousands rolling into Michigan International Speedway ahead of race weekend.
Sisters Julie and Marcy Hulst of Hudsonville arrived Tuesday and are staying through the weekend.
“We get in usually Wednesday or Thursday, and then we set up,” Julie Hulst said. “Then friends kind of trickle in over the next day or two, and then we start eating, drinking, playing games, listening to music and watching racing.”
Attending races in the Irish Hills has become a tradition for the sisters. They’ve been coming to the track for 20 years, including twice a year when the track had two dates on the NASCAR schedule. Two decades of camping at MIS has allowed them to move into what’s considered prime real estate: trackside spots along turns three and four.
Michigan is considered among some in the racing community to have one of the best infield atmospheres and a drive through the campgrounds on Thursday revealed a wide range of set-ups: elaborate table-top bars, full-size couches, and decks built on the top of old school buses. One of those buses, built by Justin Allyn and his friend Alex Bradner, was parked next to the Hulsts’ RV.
Allyn, Bradner and the Hulsts have become good friends through their camping trips at the track. Julie Hulst said friendships like that are what bring them back year after year.
“The people you meet, they’re from all over the place,” she said. “Canada and down South, we got friends from Georgia, so it’s just fun. It’s really the people you meet here become your really good friends.”
Twenty years of the same routine has also allowed them to iron out the kinks that come along with camping in a race track’s infield.
“We usually have an RV delivered so we don’t have to set it up,” Julie Hulst said. “Tents, awnings, games, coolers full of cold drinks. And you see a little everything.”
As for how to spend time between when they arrived and when cars hit the track, Marcy Hulst said they keep tend to keep their calendar open.
“Hanging out with our friends, waiting for some more friends to show up, (and) enjoying the nice weather so far,” she said.