Chicagoland Likely To Draw Its Smallest-Ever Sprint Cup Crowd

Chicagoland Likely Will Have Its Lowest Attendance At Sprint Cup Race Ever

Saturday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway is “likely to have its lowest attendance” since Cup races began at the track in ’01, according to Herb Gould of the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES. Seven of the first eight Cup races at the 75,000-capacity track were “virtual sellouts,” and the only non-sellout, in ’07, had “only a few thousand empty seats.” Chicagoland Speedway President Craig Rust said, “We won’t give exact numbers, but we’re down. I do not believe we will sell out, but you can get surprised. … Fans are waiting longer to make their purchases, given the economy.” Tickets range from $195-260 and are available as part of a Track Pack, which includes admission to Saturday’s Cup race, Friday’s Nationwide Series Dollar General 300, the August 28 Camping World Truck Series Chicagoland 250 and the August 29 IndyCar Peak Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy 300. Rust said that Chicagoland, “along with other tracks that sell only a bundled race ticket, will consider abandoning that approach for 2010.” Rust: “We need to do everything we can to get back to a sellout in 2010. The Track Pack provides a lot of value when you look at it. But that’s something that needs to be looked at.” The track will not “unbundle its tickets this week.” Rust: “That wouldn’t be fair to our fans that purchased their tickets early on. We’re going to keep that consistent” (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 7/8).