Are NASCAR Fans Making Use of Timeshare Vacation Property?

With NASCAR enthusiasts now one of the fastest growing sports fan bases in the country, more timeshare owners see potential to use their timeshare vacation property themselves or rent it to other fans during the big races.

Who is staying in your Texas timeshare to watch NASCAR’s Samsung 500 on Sunday at the Texas Motor Speedway? Who is scheduled in your Arizona timeshare to see the Subway Fresh Fit 500 next week, or in your Alabama timeshare the week after that for the Aaron’s 499?

NASCAR is one of the fastest growing spectator sports in the US and their fans are some of the most loyal. But have you ever tried to get a hotel or motel room within a 150-mile radius of Talladega, Alabama on a race weekend? It can’t be done, and the same is true for accommodations in many of the cities that host NASCAR events.

So if you follow the races or know someone who does, don’t overlook timeshare rentals or timeshare exchanges for your lodging. While many big names in corporate America spend a lot of money to promote themselves to NASCAR fans, hotels (other than Holiday Inn) and timeshare companies have not been known for paying to advertise their logos on the uniforms and cars of NASCAR drivers. But I predict this may be changing. You see, women (already comprising some 40 percent of race fans) are the fastest growing segment of the NASCAR fan base. And while camping in the infield or the parking lot may have been acceptable when NASCAR was primarily a guy’s sport, as racing becomes more and more of a shared family pastime, look for hoteliers and timeshare companies to start paying attention to this expanding market.

Earlier this spring, Super 8 ® Motels, part of Wyndham Worldwide Resorts and timeshares, announced that they have signed an agreement with Petty Enterprises to become the official lodging partner and associate sponsor of the Number 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge that Bobby Labonte drives. You may have already noticed the Super 8 logo on Labonte’s car and his uniform this season.

To help you coordinate your timeshare vacation schedule with the upcoming NASCAR season, here is a list of the official events scheduled in 2007:

• April 15 2007 Samsung 500 Texas Motor Speedway
• April 21 2007 Subway Fresh Fit 500 Phoenix International Raceway
• April 29 2007 Aaron’s 499 Talladega Superspeedway
• May 05 2007 Crown Royal Presents Jim Stewart 400 Richmond Int. Raceway
• May 12 2007 Dodge Avenger 500 Darlington Raceway
• May 19 2007 Nextel All-Star Challenge Lowe’s Motor Speedway
• May 27 2007 Coca-Cola 600 Lowe’s Motor Speedway
• June 03 2007 Dover 400 Dover International Speedway
• June 10 2007 Pocono 500 Pocono Raceway
• June 17 2007 Citizens Bank 400 Michigan International Speedway
• June 24 2007 Toyota/SaveMart 350 Infineon Raceway
• July 01 2007 Lenox Industrial Tools 300 New Hampshire International Speedway
• July 07 2007 Pepsi 400 Daytona International Speedway
• July 15 2007 USG Sheetrock 400 Chicagoland Speedway
• July 29 2007 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard Indianapolis Motor Speedway
• August 05 2007 Pennsylvania 500 Pocono Raceway
• August 12 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup at the Glen; Watkins Glen International
• August 19 2007 3M Performance 400 Michigan International Speedway
• August 25 2007 Sharpie 500 Bristol Motor Speedway
• September 02 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series 500 California Speedway
• September 08 2007 Chevy Rock & Roll 400 Richmond International Raceway
• September 16 2007 Sylvania 300 New Hampshire International Speedway
• September 23 2007 Dover 400 Dover International Speedway
• September 30 2007 Kansas 400 Kansas Speedway
• October 07 2007 UAW-Ford 500 Talladega Superspeedway
• October 13 2007 Bank of America 500 Lowe’s Motor Speedway
• October 21 2007 Subway 500 Martinsville Speedway
• October 28 2007 Georgia 500 Atlanta Motor Speedway
• October 04 2007 Dickies 500 Texas Motor Speedway
• November 11 2007 Checker Auto Parts 500 Pennzoil Phoenix International Raceway
• November 18 2007 Ford 400 Homestead-Miami Speedway