Darlington (SC) Raceway President Jim Hunter expected
the crowd for yesterday's Mall.com 400 to be 5-10% "short of
the capacity of about" 60,000, according to David Poole of
the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, who examined the empty seats early
in the 2000 Winston Cup season. Last weekend's Cracker
Barrel 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which holds about
130,000 after 37,000 seats were added in '97, drew an
estimated 80,000-85,000, and in February, the Dura
Lube/Kmart 400 drew an estimated 50,000, "well short of
capacity" at NC Speedway. Poole: "There are a number of
explanations, everything from oversaturation of the market
to not enough compelling racing to overaggressive expansion
to high ticket prices to bad weather." Hunter said, "I
think what the track owners and operators are going to have
to do now is ... go to work. And that includes us." SMI
President Humpy Wheeler added, "What we have done in the
past is we've priced some fans right out of here because
they can't afford it" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 3/19). In SC,
Bob Gillespie writes that attendance for yesterday's race
"was closer to capacity" than either the Cracker Barrel 500
or the Dura Luba/Kmart 400 (COLUMBIA STATE, 3/20).
EARLY SEASON SLUMP OR CRITICAL STAGE? In Richmond, Rea
McLeroy wrote that four weeks into the Winston Cup season,
NASCAR officials "find themselves facing a level of
criticism unseen in recent years from fans and the media.
Their rules, their philosophy and the very quality of their
sport have been called into question." But McLeroy added
that NASCAR officials "aren't admitting" a "perceived loss
of momentum," and they believe by the end of the 2000
season, "tracks will be selling out and the television
ratings climbing" (RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH, 3/19). In SC,
Gillespie wrote, "NASCAR has gotten rich, fat and, at times,
lazy. And that makes for dull viewing. Chances are NASCAR
will figure out a solution" (COLUMBIA STATE, 3/18).
SURVEYING DRIVERS ON FAVORITE MEDIA? In Winston-Salem,
Mike Mulhern reports that last fall, NASCAR "spent time
asking" drivers and crews about TV reporters and "which ones
they liked, which ones they didn't." Mulhern adds that
NASCAR officials are now asking drivers and team crews for
their "opinions about print media reporters and the stories
they're writing" (WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL, 3/20).
JARRETT'S APOLOGY: One week after his criticism of
"what he felt was an overly negative media" toward NASCAR,
Dale Jarrett apologized to fans on his official Web site.
Jarrett: "I did not mean to offend anyone with what I had to
say. I do realize that each of you have your own minds and
gather your own opinions, but we are all influenced by what
we see and read. If we are not, then our sponsors are
wasting their money" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 3/18).
FLAG A STATE ISSUE? NASCAR Senior VP Brian France,
asked whether NASCAR would take a position on the
Confederate flag above the SC Capitol: "We just put that as
more of a state issue and that's not something we think we
should be in the middle of. There's a lot of things when
you go into a different state you definitely don't like. We
can't get into every dispute between government and local
people and state" (ROANOKE TIMES, 3/18).
