Bristol Crowd (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter JB3
- Start date
Here's the grandstand at high noon on Sunday, just as the first pair were firing up. This was the best that the stands looked all weekend. My view never changed. We sat up on the hill behind the pits for every session.
Looks maybe Half-full there!
my friends call me Zappy
Nitro Member
Outstanding shot David. 
Absolutely correct.
Wow. What race were you at?
mw6789
Nitro Member
I am right there with you. If we dont get changes in the Nov elections and get some stuff done fast, we are in TROUBLE. Like you, I hope I am wrong.
Speed1288
Nitro Member
I am right there with you. If we dont get changes in the Nov elections and get some stuff done fast, we are in TROUBLE. Like you, I hope I am wrong.
I am right there with you. If we dont get changes in the Nov elections and get some stuff done fast, we are in TROUBLE. Like you, I hope I am wrong.
Jer
Nitro Member
Bristol,were you there sunday? Like i said pits seemed crowded.
http://i428.photobucket.com/albums/qq3/ddmurdock_photos/2010 Thunder Valley Nationals/P1030494.jpg
David's photo says it all. Oh well, I guess my idea of crowded is a little different.
.
Nitro Member
I wish this would happen at Sonoma(another Bruton track).
The ticket prices are the same, but it's 320' less nitro racing and they got rid of the alcohol classes. These two reasons are why I haven't been going up there.
Treeshaker
Nitro Member
This is the same type of negative crap that was said about Charlotte. Someone shows a picture where they can see empty seats and they beat it to death instead of looking at several pictures and using common sense to arrive at a fair evaluation of the number of spectators.
In the referenced picture it can be seen that there are one heck of a lot of seats, period. Suites on the top of the spectator stands and the red seats that have air conditioned hospitality behind. No one would be in there while nothing is going down the track, now would they? How many are in the tunnel and look at them lined up at the fence on both sides? Do you notice the large grandstand on the pit side? Could anybody be sitting there? Club members under the tents? How about the motor homes parked on top of the hill, would anybody dare stay there and view the event? And suites behind the starting line, I bet no one is in them either.
It wasn't a sell out by any means, but there were a lot of people there just the same. Maybe one of the experts here should enlarge the picture and actually count the number they can see then add a percentage for everyone in a cool or shady spot. I think you would be surprised at the count.
In the referenced picture it can be seen that there are one heck of a lot of seats, period. Suites on the top of the spectator stands and the red seats that have air conditioned hospitality behind. No one would be in there while nothing is going down the track, now would they? How many are in the tunnel and look at them lined up at the fence on both sides? Do you notice the large grandstand on the pit side? Could anybody be sitting there? Club members under the tents? How about the motor homes parked on top of the hill, would anybody dare stay there and view the event? And suites behind the starting line, I bet no one is in them either.
It wasn't a sell out by any means, but there were a lot of people there just the same. Maybe one of the experts here should enlarge the picture and actually count the number they can see then add a percentage for everyone in a cool or shady spot. I think you would be surprised at the count.
murdock
Nitro Member
Well, I've been to Bristol when you couldn't see an empty seat on the spectator's side of the track. I've also sat in a parking spot for over an hour on Friday night trying to get out of the track. No such problem this year. I was watching from the RV area and within an hour of the end of the program the parking lot was completely empty. I also paid attention to how many people were lined up along the fence. At best they were three deep, and that was only near the starting line. Two deep in many places and single deep down track. I would estimate that if you took everyone along the fence and put them in a seat in the grandstand, they may have taken 3 rows. That still would have left about 25 rows to fill. Not very many people in the Thunder Valley Club/Kenny Bernstein grandstand. Up on the hill behind the pits, at best, there were maybe 75 people. We had about 20 in our group, maybe another 20 or 25 in the group at the very top of the hill, and a few staying at their site with their RVs. I really tried to pay attention to how many people were there, and where they were during the race, as this discussion has come up for the past couple of years. The glass may, MAY have been half full, but not they way I saw it. And I have seen it when it was nearly full. The people just aren't there like they used to be, and I sure hope that turns around real soon.
I wish this would happen at Sonoma(another Bruton track).
The ticket prices are the same, but it's 320' less nitro racing and they got rid of the alcohol classes. These two reasons are why I haven't been going up there.
I went to the first Sonoma race after Bruton renovated it, and I thought it Sucked! Over 200' from the track Kills the momentum, never went back!
DragFan2
Nitro Member
Virgil, I agree with you that due to the hot weather, alot of people that weren't in the stands may have been staying out of the sun. David Merricks pic that shows the stands on the spectator side about 1/2 empty was supposedly right before first round of the fuel cars, but if they hadn't fired them up yet, then people who were staying cool somewhere or in the pits or grabbing a last minute bite would not be in their seats yet. I don't know about a lot of people, but 90+ degrees in the hot sun is not gonna sit well with too many people. It has been close to 90 degrees in Gainesville once or twice at the Gators in March and I can truthfully say it is really hard to handle that in March! The Gators had a lot of empty seats on the spectator side this year compared to years past, but there were still a ton of people there. It was 5-10 deep at the fence on the pit side.
It appears that David Merricks "was" one of those people that dared to stay on the top of the hill with his motorhome!
murdock
Nitro Member
This pretty well sums up why we hang out on the hill at Bristol. Kick back under the tent, feet up on the guard rail, nice, cool beverage of your choice, and some great folks all around us. Our RV site actually overlooks the sportsman pits, but it's just a short walk to where we set up for the race.
