Despite Tough Economy, NASCAR Not Looking To Cut Schedule
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Petty Feels NASCAR Attendance
Likely To Take Hit With Down Economy |
NASCAR drivers and officials at Saturday's fourth annual Sound & Speed Fan Festival in Nashville said that they "don't think now is the time to cut back on the Sprint Cup schedule," according to Mike Organ of the Nashville TENNESSEAN. NASCAR has "gauged fans' opinions on the length of the season and found they like it the way it is." NASCAR Managing Dir of Corporate Communications Ramsey Poston said fans "don't want anyone messing with their season or their races. The avid fans love the length of the season, they love qualifying, they love the length of the races. Any move to start cutting that back then they are going to be very unhappy about it." Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.: "The season is long, but I'm never satisfied. If I'm not racing I'm ready to race. If I'm racing I want a week off." But GEM minority Owner Ray Evernham said, "The long season created opportunity, but the long season also raised costs. I think we're just trying to figure out how long the season needs to be. What's that sweet spot so that it doesn't burn out the fans, it doesn't burn out race teams and the money that you're spending is valuable? ... I believe this tough time in this economy will have a leveling effect on the sport" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 1/11). Driver Kyle Petty said, "The economy is going to make each race a local race. People are not going to be traveling from Oklahoma to Talladega. You are going to see people there from Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia who can drive over for the day and go home" (AP, 1/10).
TICKETS TO RIDE: Richmond Int'l Speedway will restructure ticket pricing for the Henrico Grandstand for the May 2 Sprint Cup race, and more than 18,000 tickets will be affected by the changes. Seats in the first five rows of the grandstand will be priced at $40 per ticket, while rows 6-15 will sell for $55 a ticket, down 50% and 25%, respectively, from the track's Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400 Sprint Cup event on May 3 last season (RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH, 1/10). Meanwhile, Texas Motor Speedway is offering $20 tickets for seats along the backstretch for the Sprint Cup Samsung 500 on April 5 and the Dickies 500 on November 8 (HAMPTONROADS.com, 1/11). Also, Auto Club Speedway for the Sprint Cup Auto Club 500 on February 22 has cut prices in the first five rows of its main grandstands from $55 to $35. Martinsville Speedway also announced ticket promotions for upcoming Cup races (L.A. TIMES, 1/10).
HOF STIMULATING JOB GROWTH: Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory said bringing the NASCAR HOF to the city will "solidify the base that NASCAR’s going to be present here for a long time, and thus that creates jobs.” McCrory added the city has the funds to build the HOF because “we have an income that we moved for that’s being paid for by the hotel industry. It’s not being paid out of our property taxes. It’s not being paid from road money or any police money. It’s being paid from the hotel/motel tax and it was that industry that said, ‘That will help us create jobs if you build this’” (“Flashpoint,” WCNC-NBC, 1/11).
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