California Speedway Looks To Record First Sellout Since ’04

California Speedway Nearing Sellout For Sunday’s Auto Club 500

California Speedway President Gillian Zucker said that if “demand stays on pace,” ticket sales for Sunday’s NASCAR Nextel Cup Auto Club 500 will “surpass the 2006 total,” according to Nate Ryan of USA TODAY. Zucker: “Ticket sales are good. We’re trending ahead.” She indicated that driver Juan Pablo Montoya could “deliver an attendance jolt,” as about 20% of area fans are Hispanic. Ryan notes Montoya on Thursday “led a garage tour in his native tongue for several Spanish media outlets.” Zucker said that the speedway has “tracked an increase in calls to its Spanish ticket line since running more advertisements on Spanish radio stations and adding a NASCAR 101 in Spanish to its website.” The track, which has spent $10M on improvements in the last year, has not sold out since a second race was added in ’04, but Zucker “bristles at the suggestion California Speedway risks losing a race soon if it can’t begin selling out.”

OSCAR THE GROUCH: Meanwhile, the “biggest challenge” to selling tickets to the race is the Academy Awards, which will also be held Sunday. Despite “built-in buzz” from the Daytona 500, it is “tough to attract attention in a Southern California market obsessed with the entertainment industry.” Zucker: “If you could select any date, you’d try to avoid conflict with an event that draws national and international attention.” Zucker said she would like to have races in April and September because “it’s beautiful weather and they’re in a position far enough apart that you have an opportunity to develop distinct marketing plans” (USA TODAY, 2/23).