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Anyone with a family can tell you that as family numbers increase disposable income decreases. Unfortunately prices on the whole do not. Neverso more than now have families had to be careful with what they spend their money on, and one of the first things to be hit are vacations and families events. With so much pressure on the wallets of the average Americans is NASCAR doing anything to help? We take a look at how and why NASCAR may still be an affordable as well as a great day for all the family in the article below when we discuss the free ticket for kids options NASCAR introduced a few years ago.
NASCAR Racetracks offer free tickets for kids 12 years and under for the Truck and Xfinity races. There are also heavily discounted tickets for Cup series races that start at 10 dollars, and some tracks even offer discounts for teenagers up to 19 as well as group and family ticket price reductions.
In the article below we take a look at why these offers were introduced, what they hope to achieve and most importantly how you can get hold of these free and discounted NASCAR tickets for kids.
When did Free Kids tickets Start Happening
The Idea of Free tickets for Kids at NASCAR races was announced in the middle of the 2016 NASCAR Season, and came into place for the start of the 2017 NASCAR Season. There was a recognition that viewership and attendances were on a downward trajectory, since showing signs of leveling off – if not reversing ( can check out out our NASCAR Average attendances article here if you want) and NASCAR felt, correctly so, a need to bring in new fans for the future.
NASCAR tickets can be expensive if you plan on bringing the whole family and the dropping of the price to nothing for Truck and Xfinity is a great incentive to turn an occasional indulgence into something more regular, if not attending then viewing on TV.
The price on race days to just (starting at) 10 dollars for children under 12 is another great incentive that judging by the levelling and slight increase in viewers and attendances in the last few years is starting to pay dividends.
What is the Age limit for free NASCAR tickets for kids.
Currently the age limit for free and discounted NASCAR Tickets for kids is set at 12 and under ( you can check on the NASCAR site if this changes) So teenagers, unfortunately do not get the discount, although tracks may have their own pricing or family NASCAR ticket offers depending on the race as well.
this means that children aged 12 and under can watch NASCAR Truck and Xfinity racing for free, and if families want to attend a Cup Series race, usually on the SUnday of the race Weekend, the prices for Kids start as low as just 10 dollars.
Considering the price for NASCAR tickets can be as high as 45, with an average of 95 dollars or so, and go up to 400 plus dollars for premium experiences and seats this is a potentially a huge money saver for families. Just not those with teenagers yet!
That said a quick check of your local tracks website will often find offers for teenagers. We checked ( at the time) the next NASCAR race which was at Bristol Raceway
( facts here) and there were offers for children under 12, and for teenagers. None for adults unfortunately! There pricing structure ( just as a rough guide) was as follows.
| Age | NASCAR ticket Price |
| 12 and Under | 10 Dollars |
| Teenagers (13-19) | 30 Dollars |
| Adult | 60 Dollars |
So while we can’t guarantee that there will be teenager discounts at every track it is clear that is is worth checking out to see. Your dollars are always better off in your pocket than someone else’s!
Can Kids get free tickets to all NASCAR Races
As We mentioned above the Free tickets are limited, usually, to the NASCAR Truck and Xfinity race days, although popular they are less so than the Cup Series and NASCAR being a business with a lot of over heads does need to make some money!
So Truck and and Xfinity racing is free for kids and children to watch, but there are huge price reductions on cup series race days for kids as well. As we mentioned tickets can start as low as 10 dollars, although these are unlikely to be track side (though again when we checked at bristol the adult price was 135 dollars trackside and the kids price was STILL only 10 dollars….) they still offer a hefty discount on adult prices and make the decision to make a family day out of a NASCAR race easier for many Americans.
How much are The Cup Series races for Kids?
While the support races of Truck and Xfinity (although the similarity, speed and competition really makes them standalone events) are free for kids under 12, the Cup series is often better attended and there is a cost even for under 12 year olds for these.
That cost, for most races, is just 10 dollars per child. Now this is the starting price and it is possible the closer to the action ( read more expensive the ticket) that it might change and go up, though it will still have a discount.
We checked at the next two races when writing this article which were the night race at Bristol in September 22, and the Race at the Texas Motor Speedway again in September 22. these are Playoff races, one is the end of the round of 16, and both are traditionally well attended.
As we mentioned above Bristol charged 10 dollars even for premium seats, and Texas charged 10 dollars for full weekend tickets for children and 99 dollars for adults.
So 10 dollars tickets for children are available even this close to raceday. However, as with all in demand events the earlier you can get the tickets the more options will be open to you.
How to get the Free Tickets
for the majority of NASCAR races each track manages its ticket sales, or gives it over to ticket master to do so. So buying these tickets is the same process as buying regular tickets you just have to select ticket type and seat when you are booking.
Make sure you pull down the ticket type menu and it will give the pricing options available to you. Depending on the track / race these will be adult, kids, and sometimes family and teenager.
Just remember of you have an old looking 12 year old, or a 25 year old looking teenager to take some ID to avoid any annoyances at the gate when you go in.
You can go to the ticket office in the stadium ( would STRONGLY advise before not on race day to avoid any disappointments) as well to purchase and most NASCAR race tracks will accept digital as well as printed or hard tickets on their gates. However, as a souvenir it is quite nice to have the paper copies if you are able and have time
Why Did NASCAR Introduce Free Tickets For Kids?
While it is nice to think that NASCAR did this for purely altruistic reasons and wanted to help the American family when times are tough this is not entirely true. Although we do think this is a part, a large part, of the reasoning behind offering free NASCAR tickets for kids.
So niceties aside what does NASCAR get from giving away seats at its races?
The answer is more what it hopes it will get from this. NASCAR attendances, and perhaps more importantly viewer numbers, as mentioned in the article linked earlier were showing decline, although perhaps not the death knells that media would have us believe, and there had to be some adjustments, changes and adaptations to the 70 year old sport.
To attract a larger audience NASCAR has introduced stage racing, Moved more races away from cookie cutter 1.5 mile oval tracks to Road Circuits, held races like the class at the coliseum to bring other states into the mix and most recently, at the time of writing, announced racing on a street circuit in Chicago in the 2023 season.
And, as you now know they made it free for Children to attend NASCAR races, the truck and Xfinity season at least, and heavily discounted the price for children at NASCAR Cup races on top of that.
The aim of all of these is to bring new, and clearly, younger fans into the sport and hope they stick with it when they get older, therefore giving some of there paychecks to a Sunday race, perhaps later with families of their own.
NASCAR can be accused of a lot of things, and invariably is, however standing still – at least in the last few years is certainly not one of them.
We have a selection of articles on NASCAR tickets and what to take to a NASCAR race including ear protection and more in the list below.
- Why are NASCAR Tickets so Expensive
- How much are NASCAR tickets
- Can you take children to a NASCAR race
- BEst Ear protection for NASCAR races
- What coolers can you take to a NASCAR Race
Conclusion
It is free for kids to attend NASCAR Races, if these races are either the Truck or Xfinity Series usually run on the Friday and Saturdays of a Race weekend. However, even for the Cup Series Childrens prices have been greatly reduced and prices for kids start from as little as 10 dollars, according to our research, across all seats.
While childrens prices are for 12 years old and under children many tracks continue to offer discounts for teenagers up to 19 years old and the push to attract younger fans into NASCAR continues at a pace that rivals the Racing cars themselves!
