How to Homegate for NASCAR Races
NASCAR announced that it will be resuming races on May 17.
That’s two months and two days since the last NASCAR was suppose to be run but was canceled.
When NASCAR resumes on May 17, they won’t have fans in the stands.
And that’s sad, but at least we can throw a NASCAR homegate.
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What’s a Homegate?
It’s like a tailgate, but at home.
You can have all the fun of the tailgate, but from your own home. No braving crowds of strangers that will breathe on you or spill stuff on you. You don’t have to wait in line for the bathroom or to get a refill.
If your RV is parked at your house, you can even pull it out to enjoy the full tailgate experience.
Or just get all your fun tailgating stuff out, crank up the grill and the tunes, and enjoy a fun day with your family and maybe some neighbors (if your stay at home order has been lifted, of course).
Tips for NASCAR Homegating
The homegate is all about having fun while you enjoy the racing experience. But you don’t need to sit there all alone (not that there’s anything wrong with that). You can throw a big party and have everyone join in the fun.
Get the NASCAR Race on TV
First things first, you are going to want to be able to watch the race.
The good news is that the Sunday races (May 17 and May 24) are both on FOX, which is a major broadcast channel. You should be able to pick FOX up with a decent HD antenna in most areas of the country.
However, the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday races are on FS1, which means you’ll need a cable, satellite, or streaming package that has FS1.
SlingTV has FS1 on the Blue package at $35/month.
See Also: How To Stream Live Sporting Events in the RV
Take The NASCAR Homegate Outside
If the weather forecast in your area is going to be nice, then you should plan on taking the NASCAR homegate outside. Make it feel more like you are at the race and just taking a break from the top of the RV and catching a few minutes on the TV.
You’ll need to take the TV with you!
To protect your television, get a MyTCase – it’s a protective carrying case for up to a 43 inch television!
The front cover transforms into a sun shield so you don’t have to worry about glare! The swing out feet also help to provide stability, great in case you have dogs or kids running around. Or you get a bit tipsy!
The MyTCase is also great if you need to take along an (extra) outside TV for your RV tailgate!
See the Full Review of the MyTCase: Protect Your Tailgate TV with the MyTCase
Setup Your NASCAR Homegate Like You Would a Tailgate
You’ve got your TV and you know you can get the race. Now, to have the full NASCAR homegating experience, you’ll want to set up the homegate just like you would a RV tailgate.
Let’s start a checklist, shall we?
- Seating for everyone
- Table to serve food and drinks
- Table top decorations
- Food and Drinks for Everyone
- Race Entertainment
- Outdoor Shade
Seating for Your Homegate
If you are going to hang out inside, then you probably have a large sofa and maybe even a recliner to get comfortable on.
But if you are going to have some friends over, then you’ll also want to bring in some additional seating, because a lot of people don’t want to get down on the ground.
You can bring in your tailgate chairs.
If you need some more, then I suggest that you try the GCI Outdoor Freestyle Rockers.
The Freestyle Rockers are really comfortable to sit in and I love the rocking action. They also fold up nicely for storage in the RV basement bays. I have two of them and they are awesome! I highly recommend them since the Costco Tailgate Chairs aren’t out in most places yet.
Obviously, if you are going to have your homegate outside, these GCI Outdoor Freestyle Rockers come highly recommended! They are really nice to have out by the camp fire.
Serving Table for Food and Drink
Every good tailgate needs a table to serve up all the yummy tailgate food.
This eight foot folding tailgate table with a cool NASCAR design will serve up your meal quite well.
It’ll also double as a nice beer pong or flip cup table, just saying!
But when you aren’t using it, this 8 foot table folds down to a two foot square that’s about six inches tall. Which makes it pretty awesome for storing in your RV or garage.
All Purpose Tailgate Tables
If you want a more all-purpose table, you can’t go wrong with one of the folding six feet tables by Cosco. Because they fold flat, they are great for storing in the RV basement, even that weird short bay over the propane and generator in my Class A gas RV.
Once you have your table, you need to start decorating it. Because we need to do this in style, right?
First, let’s start with the base and work our way up.
You can get a pretty decent table cloth for the table, but because I spend so much of my time outside in the elements, I like these fitted spandex tablecloths.
It can be easy to go way overboard on the checkered flag decorations, so I like to keep the tablecloth solid. Because we are going with NASCAR themed homegate, I’d probably stick with the black because it won’t show drips and spills like a white tablecloth would.
Bonus: you can use this table and table cloth at other homegates and tailgates!
Decorating for the NASCAR Homegate
While I like to limit how much checkered stuff I use (so as to not overwhelm the senses) we can still use some checkered flag items: let’s add a checkered flag banner in front of the table. You can even get checkered flag plates, napkins, and cups.
If you want something other than a checkered flag, then you can get these banners that say Start Your Engines which will look nice either above or in front of your serving table. Or on a wall in your den or man cave where you’ll be watching the race.
More NASCAR Themed Decor Touches
Once you’ve got the table setup, you might want to get some special NASCAR themed decor around the house or the outside. And all of these NASCAR decor touches will also look great at your next NASCAR RV tailgate, when we can get back to tailgating in the infield.
You need a little side table to hold your drinks and snacks or that big old plate of food during the race. So get this NASCAR Logo Round Table that will fold up and store easily.
Something like this Tire Bowl Snack Bowl would be great for the main serving table or even sitting on a side table in your den.
Another cute item for your den or man cave for a NASCAR homegate would be these silicone drink coasters shaped like floor mats.
Don’t Forget the NASCAR Flags
Whether you are flying the flags above your RV or from the front porch, don’t forget to add a NASCAR flag to your decor!
You can also get this “We Live to Race” Garden Flag.
Food for the NASCAR Homegate
Every good party is going to have some awesome food. But what to serve at your NASCAR Homegate?
Truly, the choice is yours!
You can do something like throw some hamburgers or steaks on the grill or have a Low Country Boil.
Perhaps a fix your own nacho bar or fajita night would work quite well for a homegate.
For more ideas, head on over to All the Tailgating Food and Recipes Things, the recipe section here at RV Tailgate Life.
NASCAR Homegating Entertainment
A NASCAR race is pretty long. A lot of people can’t sit and watch an entire NASCAR race on television.
That’s where the homegate entertainment comes in!
An obvious solution is to bring out your cornhole set or “wooden tumble tower” game (you know, those games that look like a giant game of Jenga).
Your homegate is also a great time to pull out the Infinity Beer Pong setup. You can have the lights going and still be close enough to keep an eye on the race.
Don’t Forget the Shade!
If you are providing outdoor entertainment like cornhole or beer pong, then you’ll also want to pop up your pop-up tent (see what I did there? Yeah, I’m corny sometimes!)
I love these solid color tailgating pop-up tents. You can wind the checkered flag banner through the supports for a little racing spirit.
Enjoy the Race at your NASCAR Homegate
While we can’t be in Darlington or Charlotte for these first NASCAR races, we can still enjoy and tailgate like we were there!
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