This post, the third in a series, was written by Christie Hyde from AAA’s national office as she accompanies the winners of the 2010 Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills competition, students McKenzie Nordland and Jonathan Anderson of Valley City, N.D., as they travel to job shadow the Roush Fenway racing team.

The competition winners had three NASCAR events on the agenda and during most NASCAR race weekends, when events are in the same town they take place at the same racetrack. However, Indianapolis is unique. The premiere NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at the infamous Indianapolis Motor Speedway, while the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series hold events at O’Reilly Motorsports Park, located six miles away.

We began the racing weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (also known as the Brickyard) on Friday morning. This is a great time for fans to go to the track to get some classic Brickyard photos. While the NASCAR teams are taking their race cars through inspection, you can get some great photos near Victory Lane, the yard of bricks, in front of the iconic pagoda and along the pit lane without security guards limiting your access or hordes of other fans getting into your photos.

After snapping some of those memorable photos, we headed into the media center where the 2010 Auto Skills winners met legendary crew chief Larry McReynolds and conducted several interviews about Auto Skills and their job shadow experience with Roush Fenway Racing. From the fourth floor of the media center you can see the downtown Indianapolis skyline, which can be quite picturesque. There are several places along the track either in grandstands or the pagoda that can provide fans with that view.

After concluding interviews, it was off to O’Reilly Raceway Park for the remainder of the day. ORP has a 0.686-mile oval racetrack, a quarter-mile dragstrip and a 2.5-mile, 15-turn road course, making it a multipurpose racing facility. Unlike most NASCAR racetracks, ORP does not have garages in the infield for the teams to use while working on their race cars, so fans will seen race teams in the back parking lot working on their vehicles and taking them through inspection right out of the back of their race haulers. The Auto Skills national champs assisted the No. 16 Con-way Fright team as it moved equipment into the infield at ORP and readied its car for the next day’s race.

That evening, the trio from North Dakota had  official duties as Grand Marshals for that evening’s AAA Insurance 200 NASCAR Camping World Series race. They had the honor of giving the most famous words in motorsports to start the race, “Drivers, start your engines.” As Grand Marshals, they got to watch the race from one of ORP’s suites, but race fans have a variety of viewing options at track including reserved grandstand seats and grassy hills where they can bring their own blankets and chairs.

On Saturday, we returned to O’Reilly Raceway Park for the NASCAR Nationwide Series race, where the Auto Skills winners had a chance to serve as honorary pit crew members and sit on top of the team’s pit box during the race. They also had more one-on-one time with two-time Daytona 500-winning crew chief Larry McReynolds as he explained different race car setups and what adjustments teams would make for qualifying or the race.

On Sunday, we returned to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400. Whether you’re attending a race at the Brickyard or any other NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event, make sure you leave early and allow for plenty of time to get to the track. The Brickyard is located in a residential area of town, so traffic was quite heavy and slow moving as we made our way towards the track.

Because the track is surrounded by neighborhoods, you’ll find many homeowners selling spots on their lawns for race fans to park. No matter where you end up parking, be sure to wear comfortable shoes as you’re sure to be walking quite a ways. The Brickyard is a massive 2.5 mile oval that is large enough to have a lake and part of a golf course on the inside. Unlike many other NASCAR race tracks, there’s no where you can sit and see the entire track.

We sat in the paddock penthouse press box, a small section of covered seats along the front stretch that used to be reserved for media seating. One of the perks of these seats and many others at the Brickyard is that they are under cover. This can provide relief from the sun on a very hot day or the rain when bad weather rolls in.

We enjoyed watching Jamie McMurray take the checkered flag, perform the customary burnout right in front of our seats and then celebrate in Victory Lane just across from us.