More than 150,000 people attended the inaugural year of Indianapolis Motor Speedway's "Lights at the Brickyard" holiday lights show, a source said, a sign that the effort could turn into a valuable new annual revenue stream for the track. IMS' lights show -- which several other tracks, including SMI-owned Charlotte Motor Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway have similar versions of -- started in mid-November and ran through Dec. 31. The idea for tracks is to leverage their sprawling venues to find a new revenue stream during late fall and early winter, when tracks are typically dormant for the offseason. Depending on how many people were in a vehicle, it cost $20-100 to attend IMS' show, which featured more than 2 million lights along a 1.7 mile course split between the track's road course and oval. IMS President Doug Boles called it a "truly special experience for us." Boles: "The large crowds and smiling faces that greeted us every night surpassed our expectations." The lights show is one of a host of new events that IMS has or plans to put on, including the Red Bull Air Race and the LPGA Indy Women in Tech Championship to be held on IMS' golf course.
