Talladega Superspeedway officials on Wednesday confirmed that the track "will see its seating capacity reduced to approximately 80,000 seats by next season," according to Jim Utter of the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. The "largest change will come from the recent demolition of the Allison Grandstands, a large swath of seats located on the backstretch of the 2.66-mile speedway which had a seating capacity this season of 18,000." Many of the track's frontstretch seats in recent seasons have "been tarped over while the speedway still sold tickets -- usually at lower price -- for the backstretch." The track's listed capacity as recently as '07 was 147,000 grandstand seats, while the listed capacity this season was 109,000. Talladega in the coming months "will make several additional improvements to the frontstretch, including better sightlines and upgrades to its Sprint Vision capabilities -- the portable giant TVs which provide closeups and replays to fans in attendance." The move is the "latest by several tracks to reduce capacity while also improving the fan experience for those in attendance" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 11/28).
CHARLOTTE FOLLOWING SUIT? SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL's Muret & Mickle reported Charlotte Motor Speedway "has discussed tearing down its backstretch grandstand, a move that would eliminate almost 40,000 seats and make it the latest in a series of NASCAR tracks to reduce capacity." Sources said that CMS President Marcus Smith has "talked about the idea of eliminating the Diamond Tower Terrace and funneling fans into the main grandstand, where they can see the facility's video board and pit road." The terrace, which "runs from Turn 2 to halfway down the backstretch, holds 37,000 spectators and 37 suites." The track has 140,000 total seats (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 11/25 issue).
