Daytona International Speedway Set For A Makeover

[Matt Albee]

Wow! That's quite a description from you regarding one of the finest racing facilities in America...

It would be if that's what I was talking about. But i think you'll see that the conversation trail would point toward NASCAR racing in general. You know, no crowds, barely enough cars to put on a race, etc.
Daytona one of the finest racing facilities in America huh? Great track, lot's of history, one of my favorite NASCAR tracks. But far from one of the finest in America. Even after the facelift happens.

[Matt Albee]

This press release has really gotten some laughs on the internet. And I received a heads up that a sports writer over in Daytona even made fun of it in print.

[Boneman]

"nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset" Charles Dickens

[ancrdave]

A new design for OSW is now in the works similar to what is being done at DIS... However, instead of "neighborhoods," the sections will be called "trailer parks."

[Matt Albee]

"nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset" Charles Dickens

" or for bad " afterthought from Charles Dickens

[luke81]

It would be if that's what I was talking about. But i think you'll see that the conversation trail would point toward NASCAR racing in general. You know, no crowds, barely enough cars to put on a race, etc.
Daytona one of the finest racing facilities in America huh? Great track, lot's of history, one of my favorite NASCAR tracks. But far from one of the finest in America. Even after the facelift happens.

There's not much anyone says that you like, is there? There are still larger crowds are nascar events than most any other sporting event in this country. Daytona could be less than half full and still have more people in attendance than 95% of football teams, and have more than any baseball, basketball, or hockey team. Show me another sport that draws over 100,000 people a dozen or so times each year. Every one of their events is televised nationwide, and in many other countries. Next, show me a major series that draws more cars. Let me check my list real quick....F1, Indycar, Rolex, ALMS, ARCA....nope. None of them are even close to 43 cars per race. I'm not sure if Brian France kicked your kitten once or what, but I think you're greatly exaggerating their demise.

[Matt Albee]

There's not much anyone says that you like, is there? There are still larger crowds are nascar events than most any other sporting event in this country. Daytona could be less than half full and still have more people in attendance than 95% of football teams, and have more than any baseball, basketball, or hockey team. Show me another sport that draws over 100,000 people a dozen or so times each year. Every one of their events is televised nationwide, and in many other countries. Next, show me a major series that draws more cars. Let me check my list real quick....F1, Indycar, Rolex, ALMS, ARCA....nope. None of them are even close to 43 cars per race. I'm not sure if Brian France kicked your kitten once or what, but I think you're greatly exaggerating their demise.

A major race series that draws more than 43 cars? NHRA for one. SCCA for another. And I think if you double check the numbers, you'll find that any Rolex weekend has far more than 43 cars on site.
Attendance? Well soccer ( outside the U.S. ) would easily be 100,000. So would a lot of F1 races.
Brian France would have trouble kicking anything, he can't even stay off of the sidewalks on his drive home. He'd look like that poor kid on Charley Brown.
I'd say the NASCAR demise is pretty self evident, i've just noticed the many, many empty seats, the good tickets still for sale on the day of the race, and the slow but steady removal of seating to better reflect demand. Or in the case of Dover, using huge sections of unoccupied grandstands for sponsor banners. Not to mention the slide in tv ratings from the old days.
Or do I owe NASCAR an apology.

[rhinoracing11]

The thing about Daytona is the parking...and the cost of...WHY WOULDENT THE CITY STOP THE Ill sell you this spot for 30.00 and Ill watch your car for you crap at the Home Debut Target etc etc.The race brings in millions to the city, so the guy like me has to park for 25 35 bucks are u kiddin me.I own this grass,want to park???50 bucks rrrrrr I mean really Disney is cheaper
Rob

[luke81]

A major race series that draws more than 43 cars? NHRA for one. SCCA for another. And I think if you double check the numbers, you'll find that any Rolex weekend has far more than 43 cars on site.
Attendance? Well soccer ( outside the U.S. ) would easily be 100,000. So would a lot of F1 races.
Brian France would have trouble kicking anything, he can't even stay off of the sidewalks on his drive home. He'd look like that poor kid on Charley Brown.
I'd say the NASCAR demise is pretty self evident, i've just noticed the many, many empty seats, the good tickets still for sale on the day of the race, and the slow but steady removal of seating to better reflect demand. Or in the case of Dover, using huge sections of unoccupied grandstands for sponsor banners. Not to mention the slide in tv ratings from the old days.
Or do I owe NASCAR an apology.

Are you even serious? Now comparing series with multiple classes? Come on man. Lets take Rolex for example, last weekend: They had 27 cars total, over all 3 classes. You're just making pointless, silly arguments.

[Benny The Mule]

The thing about Daytona is the parking...and the cost of...WHY WOULDENT THE CITY STOP THE Ill sell you this spot for 30.00 and Ill watch your car for you crap at the Home Debut Target etc etc.The race brings in millions to the city, so the guy like me has to park for 25 35 bucks are u kiddin me.I own this grass,want to park???50 bucks rrrrrr I mean really Disney is cheaper
Rob

Not me. I park in the free parking and ride the bus in with the rest of the white trash.

[Matt Albee]

Are you even serious? Now comparing series with multiple classes? Come on man. Lets take Rolex for example, last weekend: They had 27 cars total, over all 3 classes. You're just making pointless, silly arguments.

Sorry, sorry. I read your post and thought it said show me another major series that has more than 43 cars. My fault. Oh wait, that's exactly what your post said.
I don't believe I've ever seen just 27 cars in the Daytona 24 hour. Not even at the end of the Daytona 24 hour.
Speaking of silly pointless arguments, the car count isn't the reason NASCAR is on a steep downhill slide, it's merely a symptom. The much more worrying factor is the lack of fans in the stands and on the tube. They can't even manage to get customers into the hall of fame in Charlotte. The word is they'll move the hall of fame to Daytona after the makeover. Probably where it should have been built to begin with.

[luke81]

Ok, last post on this because I'm the only one using facts. You're just grouchy.
If you don't believe me that last weekend's Rolex event had 27 cars TOTAL look it up. The Daytona24 is a special animal obviously, and they had 57 cars. Not counting the 24 Rolex has only topped 30 cars entered at one race, and again that's across 3 very different classes. That's like comparing that series to Cup, Nationwide, and Truck combined.
As for TV, read the ratings. Fox's ratings were actually pretty great this year. Better than any other sport, and actually second best overall programming among men 18-54. Not bad for something that is generally too long and sort of boring really. And on the attendance, they're still putting more people in the stands that any other event in the nation. There are empty stands because these tracks went crazy adding stands that they never had the butts to fill them. Yeah, tracks appeared full on TV 15 years ago. There were 1/3 the amount of seats then, if that.

[Matt Albee]

Ok, last post on this because I'm the only one using facts. You're just grouchy.
If you don't believe me that last weekend's Rolex event had 27 cars TOTAL look it up. The Daytona24 is a special animal obviously, and they had 57 cars. Not counting the 24 Rolex has only topped 30 cars entered at one race, and again that's across 3 very different classes. That's like comparing that series to Cup, Nationwide, and Truck combined.
As for TV, read the ratings. Fox's ratings were actually pretty great this year. Better than any other sport, and actually second best overall programming among men 18-54. Not bad for something that is generally too long and sort of boring really. And on the attendance, they're still putting more people in the stands that any other event in the nation. There are empty stands because these tracks went crazy adding stands that they never had the butts to fill them. Yeah, tracks appeared full on TV 15 years ago. There were 1/3 the amount of seats then, if that.

You're quitting just as it gets interesting? Darn. Well i'll continue on a bit. The Daytona 24 is no more " special animal " than the 12 hours of Sebring, and there are far more cars in that race than 43.
As for attendance figures, i'd be very surprised if there were anywhere near 100,000 people at Daytona or any NASCAR race in this decade. I've seen the published figures, but I've also seen the empty grandstands. Mind you, that doesn't make me smile. Just the opposite in fact. I always loved NASCAR racing, but's it's become a very sad imitation of the real thing. And to go back to the reason for this thread, the overblown, pompous, out of touch, marketing types and NFL wannabes that run it are directly responsible.
And lastly, no one but you thinks the tv ratings for NASCAR are anything like good. Higher than two or three years ago? Maybe, but that's a long way from good.

[Frasson118]

There is no longer a way to compare attendance figures.... Nascar has officially quit announcing attendance figures. No way to compare (or to embarrass them) by having FACTS about the decline they've been going through.

Only the tracks themselves, and the IRS know for sure.... and I've LONG suspected that the IRS doesn't get the whole truth. There's an awful lot of cash transactions going on, with nothing but a roll of ticket stubs to account for it. All they have to do is 'lose' a single roll from a single day of Infield Parking fees to rake in a boatload of un-accounted for cash.

Either way, they either save themselves embarrassment, or get to play shell games with a bunch of cash green money.

Once again, Nascar isn't having to hold the brown end of the plunger.

[luke81]

Just the opposite in fact. I always loved NASCAR racing, but's it's become a very sad imitation of the real thing. And to go back to the reason for this thread, the overblown, pompous, out of touch, marketing types and NFL wannabes that run it are directly responsible.
And lastly, no one but you thinks the tv ratings for NASCAR are anything like good. Higher than two or three years ago? Maybe, but that's a long way from good.

Last one, for real....I agree with the first part of that. The on-track product is stale and boring most weeks. And I totally agree that it's way too much of an overblown marketing exercise than it is sport anymore. I see it like this: It costs an incredibly crazy amount to field a cup team, so teams need to seek sponsors, BIG sponsors. Companies that pay out big money want their car up front. To make sure almost every car has at least a chance to get to the front they basically dumb down the racing to a spec car package which has lead to a ton of boring races. Totally with you there on all of that.
And as for the ratings, I didn't invent the numbers I just read them. There's no situation where being the number 2 program in the most important demographic should be called doing poorly.