No spectators were allowed in the turns for this weekend's races, which led to some shocking opticsGETTY IMAGES
Kyle Busch won the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway yesterday, but only an "estimated 38,000 fans showed up" to the track for a race described as an "artistic success," according to Allen Gregory of the BRISTOL HERALD COURIER. No spectators "were allowed in the turns" yesterday or for Saturday's Xfinity Series race, and that "sight of those empty sections compounded the rather shocking optics." However, attendance is "not just a BMS problem." Last week’s Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway also "featured a crowd in the 40,000 range." Empty seats and "lackluster television ratings have become the new normal in the sport over the past couple years." NASCAR "remains on a gradual decline into niche status" (BRISTOL HERALD COURIER, 4/8). In Bristol, Brian Woodson notes whether BMS "can get the following back it once had" was a "hot topic among numerous fans and on social media" following yesterday's race. While the Bristol night race in August will "undoubtedly draw more fans and interest, the spring race once drew at least six figures in attendance" (BRISTOL HERALD COURIER, 4/8). FORBES' Dave Caldwell writes when it "gets to the point where enough people don’t want to go to a race at Bristol that they have to shut half the seats, it is a sign that the decline in interest is virtually irreversible" (FORBES.com, 4/8).
