empty seats @ bristol (1 Viewer)

[ramblerjay]

i'm not referring to the end of the program either. during first round of the top fuel and funny car elims, espn2 did several panoramic shots of the grandstands, and there seemed to be lots of empty seats. some of the sections near the start line seemed half full at best. can anyone there verify this?

i had always thought the best way to combat low car counts would be to increase ticket prices by 10 percent or so and give it right back to the racers (kinda like an airline fuel surcharge), but with crowds like that, seems the nhra has no capacity to do that.

personally, i wouldn't mind paying 10 or 15 extra dollars per day to watch. gas costs are rising, but if an extra hundred bucks to go to the drags once a year will put you in financial ruins, maybe you shouldn't be going in the first place....

 

[Paul]

I think the weather had something to do with the attendence today. During the show yesterday I thought the stands were packed.

 

[davey]

i'm not referring to the end of the program either. during first round of the top fuel and funny car elims, espn2 did several panoramic shots of the grandstands, and there seemed to be lots of empty seats. some of the sections near the start line seemed half full at best. can anyone there verify this?

i had always thought the best way to combat low car counts would be to increase ticket prices by 10 percent or so and give it right back to the racers (kinda like an airline fuel surcharge), but with crowds like that, seems the nhra has no capacity to do that.

personally, i wouldn't mind paying 10 or 15 extra dollars per day to watch. gas costs are rising, but if an extra hundred bucks to go to the drags once a year will put you in financial ruins, maybe you shouldn't be going in the first place....

Why would you want to line NHRA's pockets with any more money. Do you think they would give it to the racers? The purses have been the same for over ten years.

 

[megadeth]

I think the weather had something to do with the attendence today. During the show yesterday I thought the stands were packed.

Maybe but the economic times probably impacted it more!
It's funny how the qualifying show did so many interviews about the economical impact of this sport.
Maybe that was their way of justifying everything from the low car count to the low attendance.
Warren Johnsons interview in particular.

 

[Rumblebones]

Weather issues.

 

[PJ]

Weather would have come some poeple away on the first place and I believe that had already had one shower before first round so some who did show up could have been chased away by that.


I will not pay more to go. They have the cash now to put more money into the purses and don't my extra $10 would not go to help the that

 

[Travo]

also dont forget there is a lot more seating at bristol then most tracks. so when others look packed do to smaller stands bristol would look like no ones there. Lots of people that have been involed for a long time was talking about the great crowd.

Travo

 

[PJ]

I'm surprised NHRA hasn't had more tracks go to the mulit color painted seats. Some track in one of the other racing series did that because it doesn't look as empty on the camera that way

 

[ramblerjay]

if the nhra is sitting on a pile of cash and starts getting short fields, then shame on them. i don't know the finances of the association, but they'd be wise to help their drivers out with fuel costs. otherwise, no drivers equals no fans.

 

[murdock]

The crowd was kind of thin on Friday, pretty good on Saturday, and unbelievably sparse on Sunday.

Murdock.

 

[clwill]

Wonder if people expected it to be rained out when they saw the rain in the am, and the forecast for more of the same??

 

[StockersRock]

personally, i wouldn't mind paying 10 or 15 extra dollars per day to watch.

At an event that had no alcohol classes AND no Comp, they should be taking 10 to 15 dollars OFF the ticket! That's crap! I guess because of the rain situation this week, it worked out not having three classes there. But, I will never go to a national event missing three classes, especially for a full price.

 

[Jer]

they def dont need super gas there.

 

[Rajunz]

I was under the impression that those were reserved seats, that people weren't willing to shell out the extra $$$ for. Only because they were empty right at the begining near the tower, then the next section had considerably more people. Obviously not a packed house though.

 

[StockersRock]

they def dont need super gas there.

Well, that goes without saying...

 

[marlin]

Hey Murdock ..

You kept people away ...

 

[Nitrohaulic]

I drove nearly 300 miles to help crew on two nostalgia nitro funnies instead of driving 10 minutes to watch the big show. Easy choice for me.

Rain in Bristol?

 

[murdock]

Re: Hey Murdock ..

You kept people away ...

Ouch!!! And I even took a bath one night last week!!