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Cruise Control: Fan Rowdiness
At Talladega Examined |
Crowd control efforts at Talladega Int’l Speedway are examined in a front-page
piece by the WALL STREET JOURNAL’s Neal Boudette, who writes the speedway attracts
over 200,000 fans for its two NASCAR race weekends, most of whom “camp out for
the better part of a week” and “many are hard-drinking, hard-core fans who whoop
it up for days.” Talladega County Sheriff Department Chief Deputy Jimmy Kilgore:
“You get that many people together and naturally you’re going to have some who
get over-beveraged and get into trouble.” Boudette notes as many as 600 police
officers from all over Alabama, who “are deputized to keep order in Talladega
County,” “typically arrest 100 or so people” over the two race weekends. The track
even has a “holding facility” just outside Turn Three. NASCAR President Mike Helton,
who ran the track from ’87-93, said that “excessive partying is a ‘generic concern’
for the racing circuit.” Helton said, “We want people to come here and have a
good time. [But] it’s easy to cross the line.” Boudette notes NASCAR officials
are “intent on continuing the sport’s explosive growth by drawing in more families,”
and ISC “over the past several years ... has gone to great lengths to tone down
the atmosphere.” A free shower house, additional flush toilets, paved roads and
fenced-off areas have been added, and traffic has been limited. Also, infield
campsites now must be reserved. Additionally, there is a “play area for kids and
a climbing wall sponsored by the U.S. Army” in the camp area (
WALL
STREET JOURNAL, 5/17).
