Dover Int'l Speedway on Friday announced that on top of the elimination of more than 17,000 seats in Turns 2 and 3 at the track, another 10,000 "will be gone from Turn 3 by spring," according to Carron Phillips of the Wilmington NEWS JOURNAL. When the project is completed, the track's capacity "will be approximately 85,000." Last September, the capacity was 113,000. Track President & CEO Michael Tatoian said that Turns 2 and 3 "were the least desirable seats, so ticket sales were down in that area." The structure in Turn 2 "is already gone, and half of the project in Turn 3 is completed." The lower seats "have been removed in that area, and an architectural firm out of Detroit is working with Dover officials to come up with ideas to fill the space." Tatoian said that numerous ideas "have been put on the table, like making the space a hospitality area, or a place for fans to have fun in the shade." Officials are hoping that construction "will be completed" by the spring '16 NASCAR race weekend. Meanwhile, replacing the 15-foot-high fence "with a new one 21 feet high was first on the list" of improvements Tatoian wanted to make. The original had been up since the track opened in '68. He added, "We just felt from the competitors and fans perspective, it was an upgrade that we felt was necessary. It's not so much enhancing the fan experience, but our priority always is safety for both our customers as well as competitors" (Wilmington NEWS JOURNAL, 5/30). USA TODAY's Jeff Gluck noted Dover's grandstands removal "continues a trend across NASCAR, which has seen seating cut in many Sprint Cup Series venues as the sport adjusts to new realities of economics and fan interest" (USATODAY.com, 5/29).
