Ask first, since some places have eliminated overnight stays, and others charge a fairly hefty fee. You don t want to find yourself scraping pennies out of the ashtray to pay your camping fee, then starting the weekend broke. As noted before, most race tracks are way out in the boonies. So if you re going to count on staying in a motel, you need to get reservations before you leave home. Ask the race promoter for a recommendation.
Racers regularly drive cross-country to get to an event.
If you work Friday and leave home in the evening, it s common to arrive in the middle of the night, or just as dawn is bursting the horizon, and you ll usually find the gates locked. Just pull to the side a little bit, and try to catch some sleep while you wait for someone to come and unlock the gate. Nobody will be surprised to find you there. If you want to enter, you have to sign. And you ll most likely have to sign another one somewhere else over the course of the weekend.