"Tim Shelton" <noemail1543 (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

From a USA Today online article:
"In weathering the recession, France said NASCAR was doing "better than most
sports." Sunday's race at Michigan appeared to draw a crowd of about
80,000-90,000 (the grandstand capacity is 132,000)."

My guess is the estimate of 80-90,000 is way high. The grandstands on the
back stretch were about 1/3 occupied and maybe 1/2 to 2/3 as you got closer
to the start/finish. Of course France continues to blame it all on the
recession and refuses to answer why TV viewership is down 11% in the first
10 races (and that's on top of an 8% drop last year). NASCAR has painted
themselves into a corner with IROC type cars that produce boring races and
no distinction between car manufacturers. Like many successful businesses
that go belly up they forgot what made them what they were.

"Electrician" <electrician (AT) xo (DOT) com> wrote

You have to be a little bit fair. They were most interested in safety and
they got safety. So you have the exact same cars going the exact same speed
on the exact same line and using the exact same pit strategy. That does
promote safety at the expense of interest. What used to be a hard fought
race is now just an extended happy hour.

I do not wish to be all negative and stuff but I am just calling it like I
see it.

The best days of NASCAR as a spectator sport were when Dale Earnhardt said
that he would apologize to his tires after they got him to the front. The
downfall of NASCAR began the first time the idea of "track position" was
taken seriously.

"Tim Shelton" <noemail1543 (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

It is not exactly a secret that big time professional auto racing is dying
as a spectator sport. When was the last time a car with a 4 bbl carb was
sold in the US? About 1975? When was the last time they ran the Baja 1000?
When was the last time they ran the Paris to Dakar race? How popular is WDC
Lewis Hamilton?

I ain't the prophet of gloom here but I gotta call them like I see them.

Not that it matters much in this context but they same could be said about
airliners. There was a certain romance to the DC 3 or DC 8 or Constellation
or even up to the 727. I do not see any writers getting all dewy-eyed over
some A-330. Times change.

"RickyBobby" <nascar42 (AT) cox (DOT) net> wrote

I don't disagree that NASCAR races are much more safe than they were even
just a few years ago and certainly substantially more so than 20 or 30 years
ago. But people don't go to races to see safe, they go to see excitement and
competition - neither of which NASCAR offers today. About the only
competition there is has already occured by the time the green flag drops -
who has the best car setup? And beyond that it comes down to pit stops and
which crew will make the biggest mistake. My original post was insulting to
IROC - it was actually more entertaining to watch than NASCAR - before it
went belly up that is.

"Electrician" <electrician (AT) xo (DOT) com> wrote

a different order. How insightful of you.

If capacity is 130,000 the My guestimate would be 40,000 or so, max
from what I saw on the blimp shots.

"DAVe" <smalleyster (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote

They still ran the race. When they start skipping races for lack of support
it is time to get worried.

DAVe wrote:

40k empty seats is a bit of a stretch, there were quite a few but not
near that many

"RickyBobby" <nascar42 (AT) cox (DOT) net> wrote

I guess that's because you're so damn knowledgeable about racing that you
have all the insights.

"Electrician" <electrician (AT) xo (DOT) com> wrote

Not really. I am just a wise guy sometimes.