William Hambly climbs inside his 26-foot camper/trailer, opens one of its brown cupboards and carefully pulls out several folded flags that he stores in clear plastic bags.
The flags feature the images and car numbers of such top NASCAR drivers as Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin.
"This is one of my favorites," Hambly says while unfurling one flag that features a stylized logo of legendary NASCAR driver Richard Petty and includes Petty's autograph in the upper right corner.
Hambly and his wife, Gini, have their flags hoisted at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, where they've parked their trailer on the infield for a four-day stay.
The Hamblys, a San Marcos couple whose marriage and love of NASCAR span 30 years, arrived Thursday for Sunday's Pepsi 500 race, the next event in stock-car racing's premier Sprint Cup Series.
They are among thousands of NASCAR fans who converge at the series' 36 races a year and prefer to stay in their RVs on the track infield instead of in hotels.
"It's a family thing," William Hambly said. "I wouldn't go to the races and sit in the stands all Sunday long with the kids. You're at your trailer, your home, your bathroom, all your food is there."
The camping contingent is a key part of NASCAR's culture. A sea of motor homes and campers parked tightly together can be seen at every track, many with high-perched flags or hand-made banners trumpeting the fans' favorite drivers.
"It's like living in a little city, there's just so much going on all the time," said Donald Gandy of Visalia, who has been taking his RV to Auto Club Speedway since the track, formerly California Speedway, opened in 1997.
The campers are a spectator group that considers itself among NASCAR's most loyal and one that track operators such as Auto Club Speedway nurture to help ensure their races turn a profit.
This weekend, for instance, the speedway plans to hold concerts, give away prizes and show a movie on its giant TV screens for the infield crowd. "RV guests are a huge part of what makes a race weekend special," said track President Gillian Zucker, whose facility has 1,900 infield camping spaces and 800 more outside the track.
For the Hamblys, camping at the races is like a mini-vacation. They've been taking their children -- Justin, now 25, and Beth, 20, along with other relatives and friends -- for years to NASCAR races, mainly in Phoenix and Fontana.
