Daytona Int'l Speedway Building Interactive Area To Lure Fans

Daytona International Speedway Hopes Fan Area Will Help Sell Tickets Along Superstretch

A "new interactive fan area featuring a go-kart track, Ferris wheel, kids play area and other attractions at Daytona International Speedway is intended to help sell tickets along the area known as the Superstretch," according to Jim Witters of the Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL. Also included in the "136,000-square-foot project is a fan hospitality area called the Speed Trackside Tavern." DIS Manager of Media Relations Andrew Booth said that in order to "make room for the project along Turn 3, workers are eliminating about 12,000 seats along the Superstretch, leaving about 45,000 available." DIS President Robin Braig said that admission to the fan area "will be included in the $55 grandstand tickets along the back stretch." The area "will be open only on Daytona 500 day." Braig said that for "four or five years, track officials pondered ways to make the Superstretch area more fan-friendly." Witters notes work is "scheduled for completion before" the Feb. 14 Daytona 500. The area "will be open from 7 a.m. until after the race" (Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL, 10/22).

MONTOYA MANIA: In Miami, Adam Beasley noted Homestead-Miami Speedway is "offering a special" for the November 22 Sprint Cup Ford 400 called The Montoya Mania package. For $142 (a nod to Montoya driving the No. 42 Dodge), fans "will get a ticket to the race, a souvenir commemorating the event and a chance to meet Montoya just a few hours before the race." Of the $142 price, $42 "will go to Formula Smiles," which "tries to use sports to improve the quality of life for the underprivileged" in Montoya's home country of Colombia. An "added twist" is that "every time Montoya finishes in the top 10 of a Sprint Cup race, the price will be knocked down to $84" (MIAMI HERALD, 10/21).