Las Vegas Motor Speedway “appears poised to ax more seats that were largely empty” at the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Kobalt 400 last week, according to Ron Kantowski of the LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL. Fans who sought to renew seats in the "lower grandstands fronting the Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt Terraces" were told they "could not purchase them” for ‘18. LVMS President Chris Powell said, “We are not prepared to sell tickets in those areas. ... A final decision hasn’t been made.” Kantowski notes a seating chart for '18 on the speedway’s website “shows the lower grandstands in front of the terraces grayed out.” With NASCAR attendance and TV ratings “in freefall, no fewer than 11 tracks have reduced seating capacity” since ‘07 -- some by as much as 40%. Seats at LVMS were “widened on the front straightaway before the sweeping grandstand between Turns 3 and 4 was shoveled under” in ‘15, reducing capacity to around 108,000. Attendance for last Sunday’s race was “estimated at 70,000.” Before attendance and TV ratings “began to decline, the Cup Series attracted crowds of 140,000 or more” to the LVMS and races “sold out by Christmas.” Powell said that a lot of money was "spent promoting this year’s race.” But there still were “significant pockets of empty seats in the sprawling grandstands” (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 3/20).
