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Empty Tracks ..last Two Races (1 Viewer)

jpee

jpee

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I watched both the Winternationals, & Arizona Nationals, and on Sat. & Sunday of "BOTH" races the stands were about 1/2 full when the Fuel cars were running.. ??

I have NEVER seen the Winter Nats with such empty stands... I'm in NY and will be going to the Summernationals at Englishtown & HAVE been going for the last 20 years, & E Town always FILLS the stands...

It will be interesting to see what kind of crowed E Town gets this year... is it the racing... or is it the ****ty economy ??
 
I attended Pomona and that was the thinnest attendance and participation on the part of spectators, participants, and exhibitors I have ever seen.

The weather was fantastic on Thurs and Fri. The cars were awesome. The racing was excellent. The food was good. The girls were pretty.

I hypothesize that the consumer surplus is clearly gone but lower ticket prices would bring more paying customers to the properties.
 
If you thought the stands were "half empty" today in Phoenix, you need lasik. Not saying it was standing room only, but today was a good crowd.

Alan
 
I was at Firebird today with the family, and couldn't find a seat for the first nitro session, followed by being early at 800' for the second to make sure we could get 7 together... two deep on the walls, on both sides of the track.

12 and under for free yesterday and today- brought 5 kids out, 3 of which had never been to a Nat'l event before... Had a blast, got a face full of nitro with a front-row seat to a warm-up (every kid scattered within 30 seconds! :D)... Sleepy heads for the drive back to Tucson...

Great attendance today, along with fantastic weather.
 
It did look like the bleachers right at the starting line had alot of empty seats. Those people were out in the pits watching the S/ST, S/G and S/C cars refueling and cooling off their cars!:D
 
Did anyone check the size of the crowd at the roundy-round race last night?? Spotty at best. It was embarrassing...........
 
Registered member said:
I watched both the Winternationals, & Arizona Nationals, and on Sat. & Sunday of "BOTH" races the stands were about 1/2 full when the Fuel cars were running.. ??

I have NEVER seen the Winter Nats with such empty stands... I'm in NY and will be going to the Summernationals at Englishtown & HAVE been going for the last 20 years, & E Town always FILLS the stands...

It will be interesting to see what kind of crowed E Town gets this year... is it the racing... or is it the ****ty economy ??
Click to expand...

I don't know TBH. last year I went to RP for their US Diesel Truckin Nationals & Motorsports Spectacular and at 3pm alone (the jet cars & Monster Trucks didn't start until 7pm) it was PACKED, Top End Zone was Packed Too. It almost felt like the Nationals, and it's an event for Diesel Trucks (Plus the kids who like the Monster Trucks which BTW is RP's calling card).
 
Registered member said:
Did anyone check the size of the crowd at the roundy-round race last night?? Spotty at best. It was embarrassing...........
Click to expand...
That's not a good barometer Mitch. The amount of local fans that buy a ticket for the shootout race and the 500 is probably close to zero. Fans that travel a long way for the entire speedweek festivities is not typically very high. By Thursday (Duels), the crowds will have increased.

I don't think I would call that embarrasing ... how many people could afford to spend over 1 week in Daytona? Races are all seperate tickets (Shootout, Nationwide, Duels, 500, etc) plus 6-7 nights hotel and food / beverage for a week. YIKES !!!

What I would call embarrasing is the quality of the race last night ... bunch of ego maniacs pushing and shoving. How many cars were still running at the end of the 25 that started. Team owners spent a lot of money last night on sending race cars to the junk pile.
 
Registered member said:
It did look like the bleachers right at the starting line had alot of empty seats. Those people were out in the pits watching the S/ST, S/G and S/C cars refueling and cooling off their cars!:D
Click to expand...

I assumed the closest rows were the reserved seats 'cause a few rows over the stads were thick with fans. Looked like there was a separating rope line.

I don't know how many folks reserve seats (on a Friday or Saturday) but, wouldn't surprise me that the majority are "Walk-up buyers". :confused:
 
Registered member said:
I watched both the Winternationals, & Arizona Nationals, and on Sat. & Sunday of "BOTH" races the stands were about 1/2 full when the Fuel cars were running.. ??

I have NEVER seen the Winter Nats with such empty stands... I'm in NY and will be going to the Summernationals at Englishtown & HAVE been going for the last 20 years, & E Town always FILLS the stands...

It will be interesting to see what kind of crowed E Town gets this year... is it the racing... or is it the ****ty economy ??
Click to expand...

This sport has been dying for years, didn't you know that?
 
Registered member said:
If you thought the stands were "half empty" today in Phoenix, you need lasik. Not saying it was standing room only, but today was a good crowd.

Alan
Click to expand...

I agree, the stands looked full on the T.V., if the weather is good they usually get a good crowd at Firebird.

Rick
 
I'm not sure where you are seeing half empty stands at Firebird. After Saturday's big crowd, we spent 10 bucks per ticket to upgrade to reserved seats. Wound up with seats in second row at about 500'.
Side notes: We had no problems with people trying to occupy our seats and fans around us made a real effort to stay seated. Attitude of Firebird personnel, cleanliness and food service and selection were the best I have ever seen there. And . . . some really good racing!

Very enjoyable weekend.
 
Judging attendence by a TV broadcast is ignorant since ESPN doesnt want to be showing empty seats they will edit those shots out... Not saying that was the case here, but it is the case with TV production...

And I actually agree with Darr... Drag Racing is not just the Big Show!
 
I think the weather killed the Sunday Pomona crowd. I was surprised the race went off without any rain delays.
 
Looked like a good crowd today and the ESPN coverage seems better. No cat or scooter stories so far this season.
 
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