I have booked rooms for my wife and myself again this year. We stay at a Best Western usually, and most are great. California Street has a lot of hotels, a friend always stays there . lots of restaurants nearby and he usually has no reservations.
The weather has only been bad once,rained out a few years back. the track has NO shade to speak of. some for the car show behind the stands but the trees are to short to help spectators. I usually wear shorts because to anyone from the east it is great weather.
I would say the fall hot rod reunion is more like Bowling Green. March Meet seems more like a race. maybe teams have new parts and enthusiasm? A lot less nostalgic but still a great place to meet people I only read about as a kid.
The swap meets usually great. Last fall there were at least 3 Donovans and a ton of other stuff for sale. Bring cash because what you want will likely be there.
One more thing, the track is north of Bakersfield about 20 miles or so . A car is