Daytona 500 2000 - Daytona quite a site from any viewpoint

Daytona quite a site from any viewpoint
by Ron Buck, ESPN.com

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- What's the best seat in the house? It all depends on whom you ask -- and if you have an RV or not.


	Whether it's in the front grandstand, or in the infield, fans are close to the action at Daytona International Speedway.

As fans started arriving at Daytona International Speedway in droves Wednesday afternoon in preparation for the real racing Thursday, the lines at ticket windows grew, and infield spaces reserved for the fleet of recreational vehicles filled up. As always, nearly 200,000 fans will be in attendance for Sunday's Daytona 500. Opinions on the preferred place to view the action are as mixed as the T-shirts those fans will wear on race day.

One thing everyone agreed on was being in the speedway for the "Great American Race" is better than being outside the speedway on race day.

"I'm just tickled to be here," said Mike Maher of Pennsylvania, who'll be sitting in the Allison backstretch bleachers for Thursday's Twin 125s, Friday's Craftsman Truck race, the Busch race Saturday and the Daytona 500. "It's going to be a great week. I've been to every track from Watkins Glen to Phoenix, but this a dream come true. It's a once in a lifetime experience."

While the backstretch is nice, the place to be is in the front stretch grandstands. But even the 150,000 seats that stretch from Turn 4 all the way to Turn 1 have a hierarchy.

	“	The Winston Tower is the place to be. I've watched it from a lot of spots, but I finally got a chance to get (Winston) tickets to all the races this week. It's going to be great. ”
		— Roger Peterkin, who'll watch his 15th Daytona 500 on Sunday

The toughest ticket in the place is in the Winston Tower, a section of seats at the apex of the tri-oval and directly in front of the start/finish line. The 50-yard line of the speedway, so to speak. It took Roger Peterkin, a transplanted Floridian, 15 years to secure two Winston ducats.

"The Winston Tower is the place to be," Peterkin said. "I've watched it from a lot of spots, but I finally got a chance to get (Winston) tickets to all the races this week. It's going to be great."

If you can't get near the start/finish line, the Oldfield Tower coming off Turn 4, or the Lockhart Tower, which puts you on Turn 1, aren't bad places to be.

"I sat 10 rows from the bottom (in the Oldfield Tower) last year, and seeing them come off Turn 3 was the most exciting thing I've ever seen," said Charles Nowak of Buffalo. "I told my wife, 'You've gotta come down here and see this.' This year we're sitting down in Turn 2."

On the other side of the track, so to speak, is the land of RVs -- no, make that sea of RVs. Even these folks are broken into a class society.

The first wave of these fans hit the infield Tuesday night. Those who were setting up camp Wednesday were lucky enough to have secured reserve spots. The next wave rolls in Wednesday night. This group will fend for themselves, living for the next four days under squatter's rights rule.

But no matter how they came to own their small piece of the 400 acres of grass, they say watching the Daytona 500 from the top of their RV is the only way to go.

Bill Gatewood and his four cohorts were busy setting up a mini satellite dish, tent and barbecue area as the Winston Cup cars whizzed by their RV in a reserved spot just off Turn 4. Gatewood's gang had spent the past five years fighting for space over by Lake Lloyd in Turns 1 and 2. That was enough. In April, after last year's 500, Gatewood said he started the long process of getting a reserved spot for this year's Speedweek.

"It's a big party, but it's also more convenient. We can just climb up on top of the RV, set up the TV, watch the race and see anything we miss on the TV," Gatewood said. "It's a good view, though. We can see down to the (scoring) tower and most of the backstretch into Turns 3 and 4. There aren't many seats here that will give you a better view of the race."

Winston Tower or on top of an RV? It's a lot like Jeff Gordon or Dale Earnhardt. It all depends on your point of view.

Speaking of tickets ...
Still need one? Well, the Daytona 500 is like any other major sporting event. If you're willing to reach deep into your pocket, you can get a ticket.

While ticket scalping is illegal on the grounds of the speedway, a bold group of gentlemen was just outside the main gates hawking tickets for all four races. The going rate?

Weatherly Tower seats will cost you $140 for the Twin 125s -- about double face value. As for Sunday, the haggling starts at $200 and goes up depending on where you want to sit.

"Good money for good tickets," one scalper said. "It's not too crazy yet, but different days will cost you different prices. It depends on the action."

A bit of advice. Don't forget your ATM card if you still need a ticket.

"THEY SAID IT"
Ricky Rudd "On paper, it looks like we're in the better (Twin 125) to be in, but we'll rule that out. But once you think you're in a tough one, it ends up being an easy one and the easy one ends up being the tough one. We'll just take it as it comes." --Rudd starts on the pole for the second Twin 125.	Mark Martin "I haven't done anything to test that, there's no way to test that. But I've been driving 25 years and I know it's no problem. I just know. I'm strong as an ox." --Martin on whether his back will hold up for 500 miles.	Rusty Wallace "I've won everything out there except this particular race. I'd like to win the Daytona 500. I thought I had it won last year and thought I had it won in '98 also. We've got a good 'ol hot rod out there right now, she's running good and strong." --Wallace was quickest in Wednesday's practice at 194.104 mph.

Search for on