First wave of NASCAR fans arrive at Bristol Motor Speedway

BRISTOL, Tenn. – It’s a week before the main event at Bristol Motor Speedway, but the party is already underway.
By Friday afternoon, the free-spirited architects of “Jelloville” were in town to stake their prime camping spot and plot their proven race strategy.

According to the unofficial mayor Rick O’Conner, “Jelloville” consists of a community of NASCAR fans who love to mix their racing with a strong taste of frivolity.

O’Conner and his followers are not overly concerned with pressing issues such as the struggles of Dale Earnhardt Jr. or the volatile feud between Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski. For this group, the goal is fun.

“Bristol is about racing, partying and having a good time,” O’Conner said.

A resident of Pikeville, Ky., O’Conner brought along his wife, Angie and sons, Zac and Peyton, for a long-awaited BMS adventure centering on the Earhart campground.

Angie has the task of preparing hundreds of Jell-O shots for the residents of “Jelloville.” A favorite of college students, Jell-O shots typically consist of some sort of alcohol mixed with Jell-O. The concoction is cooled in ice cube trays and served in small paper cups.

“I made 500 shots for the last race,” Angie O’Conner said.

The denizens of “Jelloville” hail from states such as Montana, Alaska and Iowa and go by monikers such as “Kit Kat and “Yukon Don.”

O’Conner said that some of her fellow fans have been forced to delay their arrivals in Bristol due to the troubled national economy, but most should arrive by Friday.

“Some of us are fans of Dale [Earnhardt] Jr. and some are fans of Tony Stewart,” Angie O’Conner said. “We just like to watch them all race and wreck.”

And this party, which has endured bone-chilling cold, heavy rain, heat and floods, never ends. The O’Conners plan to attend all events at BMS this week, including the qualifying session and Food City Race Night on Friday and the Nationwide and NASCAR legends races on Saturday.

“This is more of a reunion for us since we only get to see each other a couple times a year,” Angie O’Conner said.

The family vibe is also a drawing card for Jack Maynard, a retired steel worker from the southern Ohio community of Wheelersburg. Maynard and his wife, Grace, arrived in Bristol Friday afternoon aboard a luxurious 40-foot American Tradition recreational vehicle.

“We’ve been coming to Bristol twice a year for 12 or 13 years,” Jack Maynard said. “We’ve got friends here, and we all get together to visit for a week before the race.”

Maynard said he enjoys the fellowship, but there’s another reason for his early arrival. The first-come, first-serve parking in campgrounds around BMS opened Sunday morning.

“I came to get the same parking place I’ve had for 10 years,” Maynard said. “It’s the first spot above the showerhouse facing the road.”

Bristol Motor Speedway attracts fans from 50 states and several foreign countries. Some come to support their favorite driver, some savor the close-quarters action on the .533-mile concrete track, and some are just following a family tradition.

For Maynard, the Bristol experience is a sentimental journey.

“I’ve been in racing all my life,” Maynard said. “My buddy Dale drove Sprint cars for 15 years at tracks all over the Midwest and I was his mechanic. After he got killed in a race, I stayed out of the sport for 15 years.”

Thanks to a conversation with his daughter, Maynard finally broke his self-imposed exile from motorsports to sample NASCAR racing in the mountains at Bristol Motor Speedway. He’s now a season-ticket holder.

“A lot of people come to see things get torn up, but I like to see the driver and his car persevere,” said Maynard, who also attends races at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “I enjoy performance.”
While her husband savors the unique nature of short-track racing, Grace remains in the motorhome with her two dogs, Skeeter and DB.

“I used to go the races, but it broke my heart when Dale got killed,” Maynard said. “I still enjoy the company at the track. We’ve got folks coming from everywhere that meet us down here.”

Kevin Dennis, another roaming resident of “Jelloville,” arrived at 9:30 Friday morning. Dennis, who has not even purchased a ticket for the March 21 Food City 500, is not among the group of fans who feel that BMS lost some of its rowdy appeal when the track underwent a resurfacing project two years ago. Since the project, which widened the racing groove, the number of crashes has declined dramatically.

“The racing here is different than it used to be but the track officials are addressing that,” said Dennis, in reference to the recent move to tighten the racing groove by extending the SAFER barriers around the speedway. “The main reason I come to Bristol is for the people. This is more of a family reunion than it is a race.”

And according to 14-year-old Peyton O’Conner, there’s no better place to enjoy a race than Bristol.

“This is fun,” O’Conner said.

agregory@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2544