New additions to the track, like larger garages for teams, were a hit at Saturday's Toyota Owners 400getty images
This weekend's NASCAR races at Richmond Raceway "marked a new beginning" for the track, as years of attendance declines were "finally reversed, with everything breaking Richmond's way," according to Michael Phillips of the RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH. The crowd for Saturday night's Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Owners 400, while "not full, looked significantly better than it did last spring." Media members estimated attendance was "at 42,500." Meanwhile, new additions as part of the track's remodeling "were a hit as well, from the Climax Corner party deck to the new, larger garages for teams." Richmond Raceway President Dennis Bickmeier said, "We got our swagger back a little bit. That project really sparked some momentum, but I feel like everyone's really upbeat. Swagger is the word I keep coming back to" (RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH, 4/22).
TURNING BACK THE CLOCK: In DC, Liz Clarke wrote at the height of NASCAR's popularity, fans turned Richmond into the "biggest sporting spectacle in Virginia, packing the grandstands 110,000 strong." The race Saturday night "represented the next step in track officials' ongoing, multipronged effort to woo fans back." Track officials "moved their marquee circuit's springtime race back to Saturday night, abandoning a two-year stretch in which it was held Sunday afternoon, in hopes of capturing the vibe of their fall race under the lights." Richmond Raceway in July "changed the track's name, dropping 'International' to send a message via the rebranded Richmond Raceway of pride in the venue's legacy and its long-standing roots in the state." This weekend, it unveiled the Climax Corner party deck, the "product of a naming-rights deal with Virginia-based Climax Spirits." Its "chief appeal to the 21-and-older crowd, along with the opportunity to buy alcohol, was to watch the action from bar stools at a bargain price of $25 a ticket." Richmond Raceway also "got an assist from the weather" on Saturday. But there were still "empty seats at the dramatically downsized track, which now seats about 60,000" after the '16 removal of the backstretch grandstands (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 4/21).
