If there’s one thing that the Auto Club Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina, does, it’s change. With the track switching from daylight savings time to standard time and back again, it takes a couple of days for the time change to fully set in and for everyone to get on the same page. During that time, the track is sometimes locked at night and it’s dark outside. Being locked at night is one of the challenges that drivers have to contend with—especially when the bright lights in the grandstands make it difficult to see the car in front of you. The solution? Use this guide to find out the routine for Auto Club Speedway to determine if and when the track is open at night and what time it usually opens and closes.
Daily Changes
Because of daylight savings time and the fact that the track switches between standard time and daylight savings time, days and nights at Auto Club Speedway are a bit of a crapshoot in terms of when exactly they fall under the open racing hours. As a driver, you simply have to accept that days and nights at Auto Club Speedway are not concrete and follow the schedule as best you can. If you want to make sure that you can actually show up and race at a specific time, be sure to check with the track’s website or call their hotline to learn the exact schedule for that day. Keep in mind that the following schedule is the absolute bare minimum—it can vary greatly from night to night and even from day to day based on the various time changes that daylight savings brings!
On the week of April 16th, 2020, the day after the North Carolina primary, Auto Club Speedway will be on daylight savings time. The track will close at 3 p.m. and reopen at 7 p.m. For the rest of the season, Auto Club Speedway will operate on standard time, closing at 3 p.m. and reopening at 7 p.m. The only exception is for the 2021 season, which will be the same as 2020. So, in other words, if you want to make sure to be able to race at Auto Club Speedway, be sure to check the daily changes before you begin planning your weekend schedule.
Daylight Savings Time
The first step to figuring out if a race at Auto Club Speedway is on or off is knowing if it’s during daylight savings or standard time. While it can be confusing, knowing whether or not to include a day in your schedule when racing at Auto Club Speedway is fairly straightforward. From a driver’s standpoint, you only need to know that if it’s during daylight savings time, the track will be open for more hours and the sun will rise later. That means that it’s an earlier start time and later finish time, resulting in more hours of racing—and possibly even a weekend race! Let’s take a look.
The days and times in which Auto Club Speedway is open throughout the year are determined by a number of factors, not least of which is daylight savings time. During the summer, daylight savings time results in the track being open an extra hour in the morning and night, while in the winter it causes the track to close an hour earlier in the day and night. Because of this, it can be difficult to plan a weekend race during the summer months as you never know if daylight savings time will kick in and give you another hour of racing or if the track will be locked due to darkness. For that reason, it’s better to plan your weekends during the winter months—either way, you’re guaranteed to experience some racing!
Although it can be difficult to plan a weekend race during the summer months, it’s not impossible. The key is to know when daylight savings time begins and ends so that you can ensure that you’re not wasting any time racing when the track is actually closed due to darkness. In the table below, you’ll find the summer and winter time changes for all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia. You can use this table to determine if and when daylight savings time begins and ends so that you can plan your racing accordingly.
As you can see, most of the states in the southeast are on daylight savings time, meaning that they will have an hour of additional sleep (or a day of additional leisure time). It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that getting an extra hour of sleep during the day is awesome, while being able to race at night is perfect for those who like to get their racing in!
Open Or Closed?
After you know if daylight savings time is applicable and when it begins and ends, you can determine if the track is open or closed. Checking the track’s website or calling their hotline will give you the best possible idea of whether or not to include a day in your schedule. Some tracks, like Atlanta Motor Speedway, will post open/closed times for their events—check their website to see if and when they’re open for business.
The good thing about having the best possible idea of whether or not to include a day in your schedule is that you can plan your travel and accommodation accordingly. If you know that the track is going to be open, you won’t need to worry about finding travel companions or a place to stay. Just make sure to get there in time for the race.
Is It Worth It?
This brings us to the biggest question of all: is it worth it to include a day on your schedule when you know that the track will be closed? There’s certainly an argument to be made that a day of rest is a day of rest and you should feel entitled to it. After all, you’ve been driving all year and racing is certainly an exhausting activity. For that reason, it might be smart not to bother traveling all that way only to find out that the track is closed—especially if it’s a long drive from where you live. In order to make this decision, it’s important to consider a number of things. One such thing is your schedule. With so many other options for racing in and around your area, why waste your time driving all the way there only to find out that the track is closed? It’s a valid question and it takes a bit of thinking to answer it. The truth is that you might not know until the very last minute that the track is actually going to be open. That is why it’s always a good idea to check the daily changes before you make a decision.
The Hour Of Scheduling
Now that you know the drill, it’s time to put it into practice. With the help of this guide and your smart phone, you’ll be able to figure out the exact opening and closing times for Auto Club Speedway any time you want. Knowing the exact time the track opens and closes is essential to being able to show up and race at any point during the day. It takes a little bit of research to find out what time the track opens and closes for the day and month that you want to race. Fortunately, with the help of technology and the internet, all you need is a few minutes to figure it out.
The good thing about having the time of day and month covered is that it allows you to look at other calendars to see what else is going on that weekend. Just because the track is closed on a certain day doesn’t mean that there aren’t any other racing events that you can participate in. Take the Grand Prix of Houston as an example. This is a one-day race that typically takes place on the third weekend of April. Like Auto Club Speedway, this race is also open during the day on Saturday and Sunday, but unlike ACS, this race has early bird admissions and is open for just a few hours. While this might not seem like a perfect fit for someone who wants to attend the Auto Club Speedway during the day, it can be a perfect fit for someone who wants to attend the Grand Prix of Houston at night!
Keep Your Eye On The Prize
Now that you’re armed with the knowledge necessary to figure out if and when the track is open, it’s time to put it into practice. Just remember that racing is a tough sport and it’s easy to get discouraged. There are a lot of people who enjoy racing but it takes a lot of dedication and hard work to become a professional. Even then, it can be difficult to make ends meet as a professional race car driver. The bottom line is that you have to keep your eyes on the prize and do what you need to do to make it to the top.
There are a lot of rewards that come with being a professional race car driver. One such reward is being able to choose your own hours and set your own priorities. Being your own boss and having complete control over your schedule is something that almost everyone can enjoy at the end of the day. Hopefully, this guide helped you figure out the opening and closing times for Auto Club Speedway so that you can decide if and when it’s worth it to include a day on your schedule.