Thousands flock to Talladega, bringing millions in business

TALLADEGA, Ala. (WIAT) – Campers were able to set up in the infield of the Talladega Superspeedway infield on Wednesday. The racetrack estimates 125,000 people will be at the Cup Series race on Sunday. The Greater Talladega Area Chamber of Commerce estimates this weekend could bring in around $1.5 million.

“I have a restaurant right here in Talladega, and the racetrack fans, they come into Talladega to shop, to eat, just to get away from the track a little bit, so we do get quite an impact from the area,” Chamber of Commerce executive director Donnie Miller said. “We have events that will hopefully draw more people this way this weekend.”

Racing fans flock to Talladega every spring for the NASCAR race, many choosing to stay close to the action by camping in an RV.

“If you have a ticket to the race, it’s free,” said camper Sean Hudson.

Hudson has been coming to the NASCAR race at Talladega for the last 20 years, making the 15-hour drive down from Rochester, NY.

“Good friends and family, great time, great to get away,” Hudson said. “Camping’s great, and everyone has a good time.”

While some, like Hudson, have been coming for decades, others are making their first trip to Talladega. Scott Ballantyne made stop at the racetrack on his journey home to Canada.

“I just kept hearing about the tailgate parties and stuff like that; NASCAR always sounded like fun. I have never seen a race, not this quality,” Ballantyne said. “I’m on my way back home from Baja and figured, ‘I’m here for the race, let’s do it.’”

The Chamber of Commerce says because many people camp for race weekend, the hotels are not what brings in the most money for the area.

“The impact that we get is when they come in on Tuesday or Wednesday, our Piggly Wiggly, our Walmart, everything like that are covered up. People are loading up groceries or whatever they need for the weekend,” Miller said.

When it comes to budgeting for race weekend, many campers say it’s simple: you just make it happen.

“Just save,” said Cindy Ervin from Athens, Tennessee.

“Most of it’s just weekly expenses with groceries and everything, got to eat. So, a large part of it is just paying for the tickets and going through paying for the additionals,” said Matt Shoemaker, also from Athens.

The Chamber of Commerce wants to see more people check out the city beyond the racetrack.

“The thing about Talladega is it has a lot of hidden treasures. If you’re here for the whole week for the track, there’s a lot of things to do,” said Miller. “We have a lot of things people don’t know about in Talladega. You could go on our website and it’ll give you all the attractions and all the things that are going on in Talladega during race week.”

The Chamber of Commerce hopes to create an entertainment district in downtown Talladega.

“Talladega doesn’t have that much; we don’t have that much to offer now. We do have several, at least 10-11 restaurants that people can come in to eat at, but the thing is, we’ve got to find a way to get a lot more of them down this way,” Miller said. “77 is a four-lane road all the way from the track here, so we have the emphasis to try to grow this area a little bit more.”

You can find the Greater Talladega Area Chamber of Commerce at the link here.