Bristol Trip To-Do Lists

Ah the racin’ rituals have begun. The message boards are hummin’, the Twitter universe is aflutter and Facebook friends far and near are gettin’ Bristol race ready.

Yep, hard to believe it, but it’s almost Bristol time. It’s a lot of fun keeping up with all that race fans are doing to get ready for their respective trek to the home of “The World’s Fastest Half-Mile.”

Just in the last couple of days I’ve read posts about fans “airing out” their campers, shopping for new scanners, updating their race wear so they’re in tune with their driver’s new sponsor colors and even entering the directions to Bristol in their GPS in search of that ultimate route to the hills of east Tennessee.

Which brings me to the point of this post… What does your Bristol prep involve? Seems for a lot of fans it’s a multi-day, or even multi-week process.

No doubt there’s a lot to check off your list before you head our way. Let us know what you do, before you’re Bristol bound.

You Really Do Belong At Bristol

It’s always interesting to talk with race fans; more specifically, Bristol fans. As Sr. Director of Fan Relations, I get the privilege of doing it on a daily basis. So does Jeff Byrd, our President and General Manager, who publishes his desktop phone number and e-mail address in every newsletter. So do all of our customer service representatives in the ticket office.  Heck, all of us here at Bristol enjoy talking with our fans.

Conversations are numerous and include various topics. But practically every conversation, be it by e-mail, phone or face-to-face, is woven with a common thread. Invariably somewhere along the way, the fans tell us two things in one way or another: 1) Bristol is more than just a race and 2) I feel like I belong at Bristol.

Obviously we think Bristol is more than just a race, or a race track as well. Around the halls here in the O. Bruton Smith Building, we call it “the Bristol experience.”  And of course we think fans belong here as well. The whole “belong” thing is certainly an intended double entendre.

We think fans “belong” here and we want them to buy tickets to our races. But more importantly, “you belong at Bristol” translates into the sense of belonging our fans feel after a trip to these northeast Tennessee mountains.

And so is the basis for our latest television spot promoting the March 19-21 Food City 500 race weekend. This spot was forged out of the stories we’ve heard, the relationships we’ve built and everything that truly is, the Bristol Experience.

By the way, my name is Ben Trout and as I said earlier, I’m the Sr. Director of Fan Relations here at BMS. I invite you to stop in and say hello when you come to Bristol. My office is on the first floor of the O. Bruton Smith Building. Also, feel free to give me a call (423.989.6954) or shoot me an e-mail. We love to hear your comments and suggestions.

I’m also one of the gang behind the scenes of our Facebook and Twitter pages. So if you’re into the social media thing, friend us and follow us – we provide quite a bit of insider info through those channels.

But most of all, remember… You Belong At Bristol!