Infineon Garage Pass

[BradCA1]

I was planning on taking my wife and 2 daughters to the track next Friday for practice. Garage passes are $10 and the track tells me that even though my kids are 2 and 4, I can still buy Garage Passes for them and they can be in the paddock with us (which is crucial because my 4 yr old has her heart set on getting pictures with Helio and Danica).

My question is, did anyone go last year with a Garage Pass? How was the experience? Are you able to walk around the paddock and around the transporters where the cars are worked on in between sessions? How visible/accessible are the drivers?

I had some great experiences as a kid myself (which made me a fan for life of the sport) at Laguna Seca in the 80s and 90s being able to see the cars up close and get autographs/pictures from essentially every driver there (except for Rick Mears, we could never track him down!) I'm envisioning a similar setup here and am hopeful for that so my wife (not really a fan) and girls (potential fans!) can have a great experience similar to what I had as a kid.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

[Civic]

When I went in 2006 I didn't need a garage pass to get autographs/pics. The autograph session was held behind the grandstands in the shaded walkway area. That's probably the easiest way to get pics since it's hard to tell when drivers are coming/going in the garage area. On the other hand, you probably only have one chance to take a pic since there will be a lot of fans waiting for their turn and the yellow jackets like to keep the lines moving.