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CHARLOTTE – Though the NASCAR All-star Race and Coca-Cola 600 are weeks away, some fans are already arriving at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte for the May races.

For the next two and a half weeks, Wisconsin resident Neil Van Der Jagt plans to live in his RV outside the speedway. As a retired accountant, he said his life is NASCAR.

“It’s just something that gets into your blood and it’s hard to get it out of, and you just continue coming and enjoying and really liking the races,” he said.

Speedway officials expect 8,000 RVs to fill the lots in the coming days, which will bring between 2,000 and 30,000 people and a surge to the economy.

“Those people decide to shop here,” Scott Cooper of Lowe’s Motor Speedway said. “They go visit the area team shops. They buy merchandise. They go to the area restaurants. They really invest in their NASCAR experience and their trip to Charlotte.”

Lowe’s Motor Speedway officials said the race weeks in May and October generate $350 million annually for the Charlotte region.