A Tour of the Fontana Nissan Race Trailer Part I

So often at the races people will stop by the trailer and ask all sorts of questions like "How do you get the car up there?" or "What's in there?" or "Is that a soft-serve ice cream machine in there?". Just kidding about the last one. Follow me on a brief tour of a very nice race trailer.

The Fontana Nissan Racing trailer was built by the fine folks at High Tech Performance Trailers in Ohio. It is set up to carry one or two cars on the upper deck, with the lower deck set up as a workshop/kitchen/lounge.

A lift gate is used to lift the cars from the ground to the upper deck where they are rolled into the trailer and secured. All sorts of other equipment such as the awning rafter poles, pit equipment, bodywork, etc. are stored here as well. At the track the lift gate is stored out and up high to get it out of the way and allow access to the rear door of the trailer. While traveling the lift gate folds up flat and forms the rear of the trailer.

As you enter the trailer from the awning side you will be in the work area. Stainless steel counter tops, under counter Lista cabinets, large cabinets for spare engine and transmission storage, and upper cabinets for small item storage are here.

This area is designed to carry the shock dyno. We do not currently carry a shock dyno but have seriously considered putting in a soft serve ice cream / margarita machine. We have measured and it will fit. I will keep you updated on that one.

Moving toward the rear of the trailer we come to the most important area, the kitchen! We have a large refrigerator and freezer, microwave, and Lista storage for utensils, pots and pans, BBQ tools, and a nice big pantry for food storage. We serve 3 meals a day out of this kitchen. A well fed team is a happy team!

Opposite the kitchen is the radio cabinet. Depending on the series we are running we may need as many as a dozen radio set-ups. Multiple electrical outlets make it easy to set up chargers for that many radios. Headsets are stored in the upper cabinet.

Next to the radio cabinet are the crew lockers. Everyone needs a place to stash their backpack, cell phone, jackets, hats etc while working at the track and these lockers get a lot of use! The large closets next to the crew area are for the race uniforms and storage for anything tall.

Going back to the front of the trailer, the drivers lounge is located up the stairs on the 5th wheel deck of the trailer. It is set up for drivers to change their clothes, store their drivers gear, and chill out. This area is also used by the engineers to look at data and in-car video of the sessions. Geek-speak can be a requirement up here sometimes.

When traveling the pit equipment such as tire carts, fuel rigs, the BBQ, etc are tied down to the floor tracks down the center isle. Fragile items such as the flat screen TV, vinyl plotter, etc. are stored on the floor of the drivers lounge.

Needless to say the entire trailer is fully air conditioned, has a rocking stereo system, and is a true shop-away-from-home for the team and drivers. Having a trailer like this enables the team to work at peak efficiency and to carry just about everything they will need to cover most situations.

Hope you enjoyed the tour. Next post will cover the outside awning and tile set up.

Melinda