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It's a good weekend to go racing
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Location: Blogs Running Wide Open |
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| Posted by: Joe VanHoose |
2/10/2007 9:08 PM |
Every February, the stars and cars of NASCAR invade Daytona International Speedway for the sport's biggest race, bringing with them legions of fans and national publicity. And that’s great.
Good for you, NASCAR. Your marketing powerhouse has made Speedweeks and the Daytona 500 the premier racing event in the country.
But there’s so much more happening in the world of stock car racing than just Speedweeks in Daytona. There’s Speedweeks in Barberville at Volusia Speedway Park, the World Series of Asphalt at New Smyrna Speedway, and the Winternationals at East Bay Raceway on the outskirts of Tampa. Hundreds of the best local and regional short track drivers will take their cars to the Florida circuits in the state’s biggest racing week.
This year, Ocala Speedway hosts its own event that it hopes will feed off the racing hotbed.
The Ocala Speedway presents its Pepsi Cola Winter National Blue-Grey Open Wheel Modifieds Championship Weekend Feb. 9-11. While the 11-word name reads like a marathon, the list of cars and drivers trying to qualify for the race reads just as long.
The race is attracting all the local favorites plus drivers from as far away as Ohio, Tennessee and Indiana. All in all, 35 entries are expected to vie for the 28-car field. That means some teams will have a long drive home, some longer than others.
The racing action starts Saturday at 6 p.m. with qualifying for the modifieds and feature racing for Ocala Speedway’s regular weekly divisions. The Blue-Grey 200 starts Sunday at 2 p.m.
If sprint car racing is your fancy, Citrus County Speedway is the place to be Saturday night. The TBARA Sprints visit the Inverness three-eighths-mile oval, accompanied by all of Citrus County Speedway’s regular divisions. The races start at 5:30 p.m.
It will be interesting to see what the total car counts are for the weekly divisions at the two tracks. Since enforcing the same rule package and racing different nights of the week last year, both speedways have gotten some of the largest crowds and fields of cars in the state every week. What used to be a bitter rivalry has turned into a partnership that’s beneficial for both tracks.
But this weekend drivers and fans will again have to choose which track to patronize, at least on Saturday night. With Daytona International Speedway hosting NASCAR’s Budweiser Shootout All Star Race Saturday night as well, both local tracks may suffer a little bit.
But Daytona has struggled itself to sell tickets this year, even to NASCAR’s biggest race, the Daytona 500 on Feb. 18. What used to be the hardest ticket to get in racing has now become more than attainable, with good tower tickets still available and several thousands of seats still up for grabs.
What’s the problem? The obvious answer would be expansion, but Daytona hasn’t built any new seats since 2002. So maybe it comes down to price. Tower seats to the Daytona 500 cost anywhere from $170 to $240 each, which is a lot more than any other race on the circuit.
For the cost of a premium ticket to the Daytona 500, a race fan could buy a premium ticket to another race, let’s say the Dodge Avenger 500 at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina, for $100, roughly $140 less. That’s enough money left over to pay for three tanks of gas, a meal or two, a Dale Earnhardt Jr. T-shirt, and a six-pack of beer.
Given the advances of the race’s television broadcast, the hassle of parking, the never-ending line of traffic and the threat of inclement weather, the Daytona 500 is not that special of race to go to anymore, especially for a couple hundred bucks.
Have the race fans had all they can stand? Will there be a late surge in ticket sales, or will the Daytona 500’s sell-out streak end in its 49th year?
That’s what it may take for a solution. Let’s just hope Daytona realizes the problem. |
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