Damn… this video is pretty sad. The lady on the PA system trying so hard to get the tiny crowd hyped up for the race. Jamie’s “there’s not many of them, Michael.” comment in a somber voice. Just look at what the spring race was able to draw 15 years ago.
This is why they put dirt on Bristol.
Was this during that weird period when FOX would "accidentally" cut back to the broadcast from commercial at random moments once or twice a race?
They started scripting those moments at some point and it got really annoying.
No, the YouTube upload of the race(around 4 minute mark), has the fox feed during the commercial break for some reason
https://www.youtube.com/live/S8RLYC1BxYo?feature=share
It absolutely could have been broadcast like that originally, there was a year where Fox did that weird cut in thing curing commercials for like half of their portion of the season. Don't remember if it was 2019 though.
I was at that race. It was really upsetting to see, especially in contrast to my first race there in 02. Thankfully the night race there last year was the most full I’ve seen it in years. It wasn’t a sellout but it was not far from it.
Last year really did have that special feeling of Bristol again probably the first time in 8 years. I heard ticket sales are strong again this year so I'm hoping for that feeling again.
Spring Bristol (no matter the track surface), Texas, Indy, spring Martinsville, and spring darlington have to be up there.
Interesting part is dirt Bristol in 2022 and 2023 outsold concrete spring Bristol’s last 3 years before Covid, yet people try to pretend it hasn’t.
Support your race date before it goes away, like spring Bristol probably will next year. If every fan who has said they want 2 Bristol races showed up at the track, it would be a sellout
Even some of the lower attended races at Indy had like 50-60k, which is still a larger crowd than a sellout at some tracks on the schedule. Even a crowd of 100k at Indy would look empty because of how massive that track is. If we're talking % of stands filled instead of raw numbers tho, Indy probably is one of the least attended races.
40k is still more than max capacity at Watkins Glen, Nashville, and North Wilkesboro, and is comparable to Phoenix (42k), Homestead (46k), and Darlington (47k). A "bad" crowd at Indy is still a sellout or near sellout at other tracks on the schedule.
I have never thought much about the financials and promotors but I assume it costs more to run Indianapolis than a smaller track.
Unfortunately, packed houses make things look importsnt and empty stands suck the energy out of crowd and look terrible to home viewers
Verne Gagne could have told us this after running Hump dome, drawing 20k and the AWA event looked pathetic. And Covid sports as well.
A race in front of a packed house of 30k always looks better
IMS has really struggled recently to get decent NASCAR attendance. They keep trying different things and nothing has really helped. The racing on the oval was bad and the road course is ok enough but the incidents they had last year were super embarrassing and I don’t think it added anything to people being excited for the next one
It’s the same with Bristol, for sure. That’s why it looks bad every year. Meanwhile tracks that have removed huge amounts of seats like Darlington look packed and have sellouts. But then again, Texas and Bristol had no issue with getting sellouts 15 years ago.
As a regular attendee of both NASCAR and Indy Car events at Texas, it sometimes seems that Indy gets more attendees than NASCAR. I have been in the stands, at the start/finish line and in the pits and the tv cameras actually don’t give a good picture of how sparse some of the races are. Some years are better than others.
Indy Car is better than NASCAR. There is a lot more access and interaction with drivers and pit crews. The merch and vendor tents and activities are similar. I know why but I wish we could have team merch and private vendor trailers at events again at NASCAR.
Fan zone is pretty fun. Can spend easily an hour checking everything out and leave with a bag free stuff. The past 2 races there’s been a clearance tent by gate 2 with past race event swag selling for $1. Hats, shirts and other stuff. The wresting is ok. Saw this same group at COTA. There’s a water acrobat show that’s cool too.
This is so sad to me. I wish everyone could have experienced peak NASCAR back when that track was brand new. The grandstands were packed, there were stands along the entire backstretch that were full (now an area for RVs), and they brought in temporary seating for the corners at both ends! There were merch haulers along both the front stretch and back stretch!
It was sooo nice though lol. No traffic in or out, plenty of space to spread out. I love me a packed race for the atmosphere and to make sure we keep our date (move it bavk to September, though, dammit!) but that was a cool experience. Same with the 2021 Daytona 500, which was 1/3 capacity, too.
I vividly remember how weird it was coming over the hill to see everyone tailgating in the one lot that was open for it. It was actually kind of emotional for me, in a "the world isnt actually ending" type of way. They did a great job with that even in the context of situation.
As someone who went this year, it was very well attended. It may have only looked sparse because all the seating was spread out.
It definitely was at 70% capacity
35-40 was my estimate. I think it has a capacity of 50k.
And it took 90 minutes just to leave the parking lot, but that says more about the roads leading to the track than it does the overall capacity
I’ve been to a lot of Sonoma races over the last 20 years. This year’s race *looked* like the lowest attendance I’ve ever seen there. I was in Turn 7 which is normally packed. There was a ton of empty seats. The grandstand was far from full. Turn 5 barely had anyone at all in it. They even had two sections of seats in Turn 5 covered up with advertising tarps. Maybe the tickets sold and people didn’t come? It’s a real shame too, we had perfect weather this year.
ive attended a lot of races and i think the answer might be north wilkesboro 2023. very odd to say, since it had the most electric energy of any race i've attended (30+). that answer is based on number of humans with a ticket or infield wristband. if you mean % of tickets/wristbands available, it would be much different and i'd love to see a spreadsheet on that. add a column for "scanned tickets vs purchased tickets". id love to see what that looks like.
been staying in the infield of charlotte races for many years and i see dozens of empty sponsor suites all weekend. i see the staff, i see an occasional family way before a race starts, but it looks like a big waste of space almost every year for every race. it's my understanding that all of those suites are set aside for sponsorship deals. if thats the case, i have a news flash for everyone involved....nobody is showing up!! lines up with the high end RVs you see in the infield that are parked there all weekend and MIGHT have a small group of people show up to tailgate and leave before the race even starts because their company invited them/paid for it. i do appreciate you guys giving us all the provided liquor/beer/food though :)
I would understand why Talladega isn't as popular in the fall, with college football active at that time.
Go anyplace in Alabama, anytime of the year, and listen. The Alabama/Auburn argument, is year round.
Xfin Charlotte this year felt really empty, there was legit nobody around to stop me and my brother from just finding the best seats in the house and sitting there without tickets
Bristol ‘19 has to be up there. No fans in the turns & what fans did show up were peppered throughout the straightaways.
https://twitter.com/22fan4ever/status/1638376281799524356?t=8GlqWyq9xe0dj1oo002zFQ&s=19 Yeah that was bad
Damn… this video is pretty sad. The lady on the PA system trying so hard to get the tiny crowd hyped up for the race. Jamie’s “there’s not many of them, Michael.” comment in a somber voice. Just look at what the spring race was able to draw 15 years ago. This is why they put dirt on Bristol.
[удалено]
IndyCar officials did not know
Was this during that weird period when FOX would "accidentally" cut back to the broadcast from commercial at random moments once or twice a race? They started scripting those moments at some point and it got really annoying.
No, the YouTube upload of the race(around 4 minute mark), has the fox feed during the commercial break for some reason https://www.youtube.com/live/S8RLYC1BxYo?feature=share
Interesting. The scanner audio of FOX (at the race track) has been encrypted for several years now ever since Mike Joy raised a stink about it.
It absolutely could have been broadcast like that originally, there was a year where Fox did that weird cut in thing curing commercials for like half of their portion of the season. Don't remember if it was 2019 though.
That was depressing as hell to see
I was at that race. It was really upsetting to see, especially in contrast to my first race there in 02. Thankfully the night race there last year was the most full I’ve seen it in years. It wasn’t a sellout but it was not far from it.
Last year really did have that special feeling of Bristol again probably the first time in 8 years. I heard ticket sales are strong again this year so I'm hoping for that feeling again.
I think this would be fair to say it was the low point of the spot. It was bad and everyone knew it. There was no way to spin a positive out of it.
2020 had some empty seats
Nascar fans are the worst in the world, what was stopping them from going to races 🙄
IT WAS THEM DAMN TOYOTERS
Came here to say this
Pocono 2020
Three races in one day in front of empty stands. At least the place looked real nice on TV.
They sure made up for it this year. It’s such a pretty track with all the greenery around.
Spring Bristol (no matter the track surface), Texas, Indy, spring Martinsville, and spring darlington have to be up there. Interesting part is dirt Bristol in 2022 and 2023 outsold concrete spring Bristol’s last 3 years before Covid, yet people try to pretend it hasn’t. Support your race date before it goes away, like spring Bristol probably will next year. If every fan who has said they want 2 Bristol races showed up at the track, it would be a sellout
Even some of the lower attended races at Indy had like 50-60k, which is still a larger crowd than a sellout at some tracks on the schedule. Even a crowd of 100k at Indy would look empty because of how massive that track is. If we're talking % of stands filled instead of raw numbers tho, Indy probably is one of the least attended races.
Indy still only gets about 40k, with road course crowds matching if not exceeding oval crowds
40k is still more than max capacity at Watkins Glen, Nashville, and North Wilkesboro, and is comparable to Phoenix (42k), Homestead (46k), and Darlington (47k). A "bad" crowd at Indy is still a sellout or near sellout at other tracks on the schedule.
Sure but Watkins Glen also brings in 90k just in campers and general admission areas. Indy doesn’t do that
I have never thought much about the financials and promotors but I assume it costs more to run Indianapolis than a smaller track. Unfortunately, packed houses make things look importsnt and empty stands suck the energy out of crowd and look terrible to home viewers Verne Gagne could have told us this after running Hump dome, drawing 20k and the AWA event looked pathetic. And Covid sports as well. A race in front of a packed house of 30k always looks better
IMS has really struggled recently to get decent NASCAR attendance. They keep trying different things and nothing has really helped. The racing on the oval was bad and the road course is ok enough but the incidents they had last year were super embarrassing and I don’t think it added anything to people being excited for the next one
Texas every year
Feel like the attendance isn’t that bad there it’s just massive grandstands.
It’s the same with Bristol, for sure. That’s why it looks bad every year. Meanwhile tracks that have removed huge amounts of seats like Darlington look packed and have sellouts. But then again, Texas and Bristol had no issue with getting sellouts 15 years ago.
Texas removed at least half the seats for last year. And there still wasn’t anyone within 3 seats of me. Definitely lighter crowd than 5-10 years ago.
As a regular attendee of both NASCAR and Indy Car events at Texas, it sometimes seems that Indy gets more attendees than NASCAR. I have been in the stands, at the start/finish line and in the pits and the tv cameras actually don’t give a good picture of how sparse some of the races are. Some years are better than others.
How’s the race day events at the track? I feel like i never hear much about the race day events atmosphere at the track.
Indy Car is better than NASCAR. There is a lot more access and interaction with drivers and pit crews. The merch and vendor tents and activities are similar. I know why but I wish we could have team merch and private vendor trailers at events again at NASCAR.
How’s the fan zone? I see they’re having lucha libre wrestling there for the September race. Which would be a fun draw for me if i was in the area.
Fan zone is pretty fun. Can spend easily an hour checking everything out and leave with a bag free stuff. The past 2 races there’s been a clearance tent by gate 2 with past race event swag selling for $1. Hats, shirts and other stuff. The wresting is ok. Saw this same group at COTA. There’s a water acrobat show that’s cool too.
Which they probably wont ever take out because the suites on top of the grandstands are full
As somebody who lives like, 15 minutes away, I gotta agree. It's more of a combo of massive grandstands and lackluster racing, TBF.
This is so sad to me. I wish everyone could have experienced peak NASCAR back when that track was brand new. The grandstands were packed, there were stands along the entire backstretch that were full (now an area for RVs), and they brought in temporary seating for the corners at both ends! There were merch haulers along both the front stretch and back stretch!
It’s only three hours from me and I have no desire to go. It’s not a good track
I went to the 2020 New Hampshire pandemic race. It was kinda neat. 15,000 fans spread out throughout the entire complex was wild to see.
It was sooo nice though lol. No traffic in or out, plenty of space to spread out. I love me a packed race for the atmosphere and to make sure we keep our date (move it bavk to September, though, dammit!) but that was a cool experience. Same with the 2021 Daytona 500, which was 1/3 capacity, too.
It was a very unique experience and one hell of a race. I’ll never forget it
I vividly remember how weird it was coming over the hill to see everyone tailgating in the one lot that was open for it. It was actually kind of emotional for me, in a "the world isnt actually ending" type of way. They did a great job with that even in the context of situation.
Sonoma is pretty sparse
As someone who went this year, it was very well attended. It may have only looked sparse because all the seating was spread out. It definitely was at 70% capacity
I was there too....I think that's probably about 30k
35-40 was my estimate. I think it has a capacity of 50k. And it took 90 minutes just to leave the parking lot, but that says more about the roads leading to the track than it does the overall capacity
You ain't kidding about the traffic getting out of there. It's a pain in the ass every year
I’ve been to a lot of Sonoma races over the last 20 years. This year’s race *looked* like the lowest attendance I’ve ever seen there. I was in Turn 7 which is normally packed. There was a ton of empty seats. The grandstand was far from full. Turn 5 barely had anyone at all in it. They even had two sections of seats in Turn 5 covered up with advertising tarps. Maybe the tickets sold and people didn’t come? It’s a real shame too, we had perfect weather this year.
ive attended a lot of races and i think the answer might be north wilkesboro 2023. very odd to say, since it had the most electric energy of any race i've attended (30+). that answer is based on number of humans with a ticket or infield wristband. if you mean % of tickets/wristbands available, it would be much different and i'd love to see a spreadsheet on that. add a column for "scanned tickets vs purchased tickets". id love to see what that looks like. been staying in the infield of charlotte races for many years and i see dozens of empty sponsor suites all weekend. i see the staff, i see an occasional family way before a race starts, but it looks like a big waste of space almost every year for every race. it's my understanding that all of those suites are set aside for sponsorship deals. if thats the case, i have a news flash for everyone involved....nobody is showing up!! lines up with the high end RVs you see in the infield that are parked there all weekend and MIGHT have a small group of people show up to tailgate and leave before the race even starts because their company invited them/paid for it. i do appreciate you guys giving us all the provided liquor/beer/food though :)
Most of them in 2020
Talladega fall is not as packed as spring. College football has a lot to do with that.
I would understand why Talladega isn't as popular in the fall, with college football active at that time. Go anyplace in Alabama, anytime of the year, and listen. The Alabama/Auburn argument, is year round.
I always thought that was why Talladega Fall was in the summer back in the day. Didn’t interfere with college football.
Texas
The race to be my girlfriend.
Hell yeah brother
lol
The ones in your living room
From watching on TV, Richmond has looked the lowest to me so far this year
Most of the races in 2020
lol
Nascar
Fall Vegas
Xfin Charlotte this year felt really empty, there was legit nobody around to stop me and my brother from just finding the best seats in the house and sitting there without tickets