BROOKLYN, MI –– As Logan Brown moved through an infield road at Michigan International Speedway, he kicked up dirt with his boots, adjusted a flamingo pool floaty around his waist and finished the last drops of a Busch Light.
“It’s like a family reunion, man,” said Brown, 23, of Traverse City. “Three years ago, I was a rookie and now I’m not, so it’s f----n’ hype.”
While attendance for NASCAR races at MIS isn’t what it used to be, the infield at MIS has sold out for three consecutive seasons.
“Everybody around here is pretty nice. Probably the bars (are my favorite), and then the race I guess,” Brown said. “Going to the infield from the outpost is a whole new f----n’ world. It’s just different.”
Logan Brown, 23 of Traverse City, holds a near-empty Busch Light as he wanders the infield before the ARCA Menards Series Henry Ford Health 200 at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com
A few steps down the path, Tim Sayer, 32 of Manhattan, Illinois, was serving up drinks for free under a giant canopy bar.
His sign read, “Shenanigan’s.”
“We started this in 2018 and it was a little pop-up tent,” Sayer said. “We grew and grew and people kept coming. So we just, hospitality, you know? Everything is free, we don’t charge for anything. We give out drinks, hang out, drinks, T-shirts, whatever. We just love the NASCAR fans.”
Sayer said the infield feels like family –– which is exactly how it started.
“Our grandfather started this in the ‘70s,” Sayer said.
And their grandfather, Bruce, passed it on to his son, Mike Johnson, 67.
“I’ve been here 52 years in a row, except for COVID,” Johnson said. “I was 15 years old (the) first time I came here. It’s just something about it. You get hooked. I’ve been in the same spot for 35 years or something like that and every year it’s a reunion with the people around you.
“It started with my dad and he passed away and we just kept going. we have no plans on stopping.”
Shenanigan’s Bar in the infield after-hours, following the ARCA Menards Series Henry Ford Health 200 at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com
Johnson gives credit to Sayer for turning Shenanigan’s into what it is. Nowadays, most nights he’s asleep when the real party starts.
“People that don’t do it, don’t understand it,” Johnson said. “‘So you park in the grass for four days what do you do?’ You can do as little as you want as much as you want. I used to drink like a fish, but now I’m older. It’s all good, there’s nothing boring about it. I get up in the morning and make breakfast for everybody.”
As the races go throughout the day, fans staying in the infield climb up and down from their buses, travel back and forth between the grandstands and have a great time doing it.
Often — but not always or expected — they’ll have a beer in their hands and a kiddie pool set up to cool off.
Campers setups vary from RVs worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to camp sites with tents.
Campers will break off into various events throughout the space inside the 2-mile, D-shaped oval.
On Friday, Aug. 16, hundreds of fans went to watch Sunset Blvd. perform in the middle of the infield.
Sunset Blvd. performs to a crowd of hundreds in the infield after-hours, following the ARCA Menards Series Henry Ford Health 200 at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com
Others hit the (mini) race track.
Terry Brummell, of Ottawa, Canada, races cars with Dave Lefebvre, of Roseville, in the infield after-hours, following the ARCA Menards Series Henry Ford Health 200 at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com
Other top options Friday evening? Family campfires with s’mores, early bedtimes or partying.
John Bishop, 30, of Warren, opted for a Super Mario Smash Bros. Tournament with his friends. The winner got to take home a trophy that stood tall in their tent.
“Me and my buddy, Brian, we’re big NASCAR guys and it just kind of turned into something — like all-the-guys-from-high-school-getting-back-together kind of deal,” Bishop said. “It’s NASCAR, but it’s also the one time a year all the guys will be together.”
The group plays games together online throughout the year and coordinates the MIS weekend on Discord — who’s making breakfast, who’s making dinner, who’s bringing supplies, etc.
Each year, their campsite is getting better, Bishop said.
“We literally just got trash cans this year,” Bishop said.
John Bishop, 30, and his friends have a Super Mario Smash Bros. Tournament in the infield after-hours, following the ARCA Menards Series Henry Ford Health 200 at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. Bishop said he looks forward to race weekend because he knows it is the one time a year he and his buddies all get together.Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com
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