There may be a more beautiful setting for a motel near a stop on the Sprint Cup circuit, but it's highly doubtful.

The Bay Side Inn sits mere feet from Lake Winnipesaukee in Alton Bay, N.H. -- Alton Bay is on the water, Alton is more toward "town" -- and they're all a quaint 30-minute drive or so from New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Founded by Jesse and Phyllis Rogers in the early 1950s, to this day, the gorgeous inn is owned and operated by their son, Stephen.

Stephen now lives on the grounds year-round, along with wife, Raquel, and their soon-to-be 15-year-old daughter, Ashley. They are lucky, lucky people, living in a setting so incredible.

"[The view] is always changing with the seasons," Stephen said. "The winter goes into a whole other program. It's like the winter wonderland thing. When the lake freezes and the snow's there and the sun hits things right, it's just like everything crystallizes.

"In the fall coming up, you get one of those mornings and the sun's up and the lake is just dead calm. There's not a ripple on the water. The reflection is a double mirror image with the colors. It's spectacular. It's very peaceful. You couldn't ask for a better back ard. I never get tired of looking at it, that's for sure."

When the Rogers family visits other places, they don't stay for long. Why should they?

"Going back to the city life, that's all fine and dandy," Stephen added. "But after being here [full time] since 1992, I go see family and friends, but I can only take a weekend ... and then I've got to get the hell out of there."

Bay Side Inn has changed with the times. There's now a big pavilion that's being offered for weddings and other events. Rooms now have flat-screen televisions. An older building is soon to be torn down in favor of resort residences that will be for sale and rent.

"This was built for the '50s and '60s, so we had to do lots of renovations," Stephen said. "There are weekends when there's nothing going on. These weekends, they can be filled. When things start to slow down in one area, you've got to get creative in another. That's what we're trying to do."

Once filled on race weekends by members of the media and sponsor representatives, it's now fans for the most part that fills the inn when NASCAR comes to town. Currently, all but one room is booked for this weekend's event at New Hampshire.

For those from out of town who are headed to the race track, the Bay Side Inn may not be the most convenient place to stay. It's out of the way, far from the hustle and bustle in and around Manchester and the race track itself. That's the worst thing anybody can say about the inn's location ... and the best.

"I can't say enough about NASCAR, because it does bring a hell of a boost to the state and to the locals like myself that are in the small businesses," Stephen said. "It definitely is a big help. That's what New Hampshire's all about, especially in the Lakes Region, is special events. What better place to go?"

For more information, visit www.bayside-inn.com.