NASCAR will no longer provide attendance estimate: NASCAR will end its policy of providing estimated attendance figures in its race reports this season. Spokesman Kerry Tharp said tracks still will have the option of providing crowd estimates, but it will be their prerogative. "NASCAR's race reports generally becomes a box score for the media, and box scores from sporting events do not generally provide estimates," Tharp said. Of the 23 tracks that play host to races in NASCAR's premier series, 21 are owned by publicly traded companies such as International Speedway Corp. and Speedway Motorsports Inc. Officials with those tracks have said they don't provide attendance figures because they don't want to provide earnings guidance.(USA Today)(2-17-2013)
ISC reduces seats: ISC began significantly decreasing the number of seats in 2010, when it cut capacity at several tracks. The most significant drop came at Phoenix, which saw its capacity shrink from 67,000 to 55,000. Daytona remains ISC’s biggest track at 147,000 grandstand seats and has not seen a significant seat change in the last two years while the remainder of the Cup facilities have had a combined decrease of 15 percent. Next is Talladega at 109,000 (down from 143,000 two years ago), followed by Richmond at 91,000 (down from 110,000 two years ago), Michigan at 84,000 (was 129,000), Auto Club (Calif.) Speedway at 84,000 (was 95,000), Kansas at 74,000 (was 80,000), Chicagoland at 69,000 (was 73,000), Darlington at 60,000 (was 61,000), Homestead at 57,000 (was 63,000), Martinsville at 55,000 (was 63,000) Phoenix at 55,000 and Watkins Glen at 33,000 (was 35,000).(in part from SceneDaily)(1-31-2012)
| Race Track, Location, Lap Distance, Year Opened | Permanent Seating (reported by track) | 2012 Announced Attendance 1st race 2nd race | 2011 Announced Attendance 1st race 2nd race | 2010 Announced Attendance 1st race 2nd race | 2009 Announced Attendance 1st race 2nd race | 2008 Announced Attendance 1st race 2nd race | 2007 Announced Attendance 1st race 2nd race | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Motor Speedway Hampton, GA 1.54 miles 1960 |
99,000 was 124,000 |
90,300 | 29,700 (G)(H11) | 85,000 93,200 |
94,400 111,300 |
100,000 80,000 |
105,000 100,000 |
|
| Auto Club Speedway Fontana, CA 2 miles 1997 |
84,000 [was 95,000] | 90,000 | 88,000 (F) | 72,000 70,000 |
78,000 70,000 |
25,000(a) 71,000 70,000 |
87,000 85,000 |
|
| Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol, TN 0.533-mile 1961 |
158,000 | 102,000 145,000 |
120,000 156,000 |
138,000 155,000 |
160,000 160,000 |
160,000 160,000 |
160,000 160,000 |
|
| Charlotte Motor Speedway Concord, NC 1.5 miles 1960 |
146,000 was 156,000 |
132,000 (all-star) 140,000 100,000 |
125,000 (all-star) 145,000 105,000 |
125,000 (all-star) 140,000 103,000 |
145,000 (all-star) 100,000 (A) 160,000 105,000 |
147,000 (all-star) 160,000 160,000 |
145,000(all-star) 175,000 165,000 |
|
| Chicagoland Speedway Joliet, IL 1.5 miles 2001 |
69,000 [was 73,000] | 65,000 | 42,000 (I11) | 67,500 | 70,000 | 80,000 | 80,000 | |
| Darlington Raceway Darlington, SC 1.366 miles 1950 |
60,000 [was 61,000] | 63,000 | 61,000 | 67,000 | 72,000 | 75,000 | 70,000(b) 75,000 |
|
| Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, FL 2.5 miles 1959 |
147,000 [was 159,000] | 140,000 (A12) 115,000 82,000 (Shootout) |
180,000 115,000 80,000 (Shootout) |
175,000 115,000 85,000 (Shootout) |
180,000 115,000 80,000 (Shootout) |
190,000 125,000 ? (Shootout) |
185,000 150,000 ? (Shootout) |
|
| Dover International Speedway Dover, DE 1 mile 1969 |
133,000 | 85,000 85,000 |
82,000 83,000 |
88,000 88,000 |
100,000 110,000 |
133,000 133,000 |
90,000 145,000(a) 137,000 |
|
| Homestead-Miami Speedway Homestead, FL 1.5 miles 1995 |
57,000 [was 63,000] | 76,000 | 73,000 | 67,000 | 70,000 | 80,000 | 80,000 | |
| Indianapolis Motor Speedway Indianapolis, IN 2.5 miles 1909 |
257,325 | 125,000 | 138,000 | 140,000 | 180,000 | 240,000 | 270,000 | |
| Kansas Speedway Kansas City, KS 1.5 miles 2001 |
72,000 [was 80,000] | 75,000 78,000 |
80,000 82,000 |
100,000 | 100,000 | 100,000 | 110,000 | |
| Kentucky Speedway Sparta, KY 1.5 miles 2011 |
117,000 | 105,000 | 107,000 | |||||
| Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas, NV 1.5 miles 1996 |
131,000 | 150,000 | 152,000 | 150,000 | 140,000 | 153,000 | 156,000 | |
| Martinsville Speedway Martinsville, VA 0.526-mile 1947 |
55,000 [was 63,000] | 63,000 60,000 |
60,000 62,000 |
40,000 (E) 58,000 56,000 |
63,000 64,000 |
63,000 64,000 |
66,500 66,500 |
|
| Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, MI 2 miles 1968 |
84,000 [was 108,000 thru 2011] |
82,000 83,000 |
88,000 81,000 |
95,000 105,000 |
90,000 103,000 |
115,000 125,000 |
145,000 40,000 145,000(a) |
|
| New Hampshire Motor Speedway Loudon, NH 1.058 miles 1990 |
96,000 | 95,000 98,000 |
95,000 95,000 |
91,000 95,000 |
101,000 101,000 |
101,000 101,000 |
101,000 101,000 |
|
| Phoenix International Raceway Avondale, AZ 1 mile 1964 |
55,000 [was 76,812] | 76,000 87,000 |
75,000 85,000 |
70,000 75,000 |
80,000 90,000 |
100,000 100,000 |
105,000 105,000 |
|
| Pocono Raceway Long Pond, PA 2.5 miles 1968 |
70,000 | 100,000 85,000 |
90,000 85,000 |
105,000 100,000 |
105,000 80,000 (B) 105,000 |
105,000 100,000 |
105,000 130,000 |
|
| Richmond International Raceway Richmond, VA 0.750-mile 1946 |
91,000 was 110,000 |
88,000 89,000 |
90,000 88,000 |
93,000 95,000 |
110,000 108,000 |
112,000 110,000 |
112,079(b) 100,000 112,079 |
|
| Sonoma* Sonoma, CA 1.99 mile 1968 |
47,000 | 91,000 | 93,000 | 90,000 | 93,500 | 100,000 | 102,000 | |
| Talladega Superspeedway Talladega, AL 2.66 miles 1969 |
109,000 was 143,000 |
108,500 88,000 |
115,000 105,000 |
123,500 110,000 |
142,000 127,500 |
156,000 145,000 |
160,000 155,000 |
|
| Texas Motor Speedway Fort Worth, TX 1.5 miles 1997 |
138,122 | 159,000 146,000 |
168,400 151,000 |
92,200 (D) 156,000 |
176,300 167,000 |
190,000 165,000 |
191,000 183,500 |
|
| Watkins Glen International* Watkins Glen, NY 2.45 miles 1948 |
33,000 [was 35,000] | 90,000 | 85,000 (G11) | 90,000 | 80,000 (C) 85,000 |
87,000 | 90,000 | |
| Tracks No Longer Used for Sprint Cup races |
||||||||
| North Carolina Speedway Rockingham, NC 1.017 miles 1965 |
60,000 | x; | x | x | x | x | x | |
(A) = Charlotte Motor Speedway in May 2009 was postponed from Sunday, May 24th to Monday May 25th.
Estimated crowd of 100,000 on Monday, original crowd estimated at 160,000 on Sunday
(B) = Pocono in August 2009 was postponed from Sunday, Aug 2nd to Monday Aug 3rd.
Estimated crowd of 80,000 on Monday, original crowd estimated at 105,000 on Sunday
(C) = Watkins Glen in August 2009 was postponed from Sunday, Aug 9th to Monday Aug 10th.
Estimated crowd of 85,000 on Monday, original crowd estimated at 90,000 on Sunday
(D) = Texas in April 2010 was postponed from Sunday, April 18 to Monday April 19th.
Estimated crowd of 92,200 on Monday
(E) = Martinsville in March 2010 was postponed from Sunday, March 28th to Monday March 29th.
Estimated crowd of 40,000 on Monday, original crowd estimated at 58,000 on Sunday
(F) = Auto Club Speedway and will have one Sprint Cup Series race in 2011 and beyond, instead of two; Kansas gets a 2nd race
(G) = Atlanta Motor Speedway and will have one Sprint Cup Series race in 2011 and beyond, instead of two, Kentucky gets a race
(G11) = Watkins Glen in August 2011 was postponed from Sunday, August 14 to Monday August 15th.
Estimated crowd of 85,000 on Monday
(H11) = Atlanta in September 2011 was postponed from Sunday, September 4 to Tuesday September 6 due to Troical Storm Lee.
Estimated crowd of 29,700 on Tuesday and 87,600 on Sunday
(I11) = Chicago in September 2011 was postponed from Sunday, September 18 to Monday September 19 due to rain.
Estimated crowd of 42,000 on Monday and 72,000 on Sunday
(A12) = Daytona in February 2012 was postponed from Sunday, February 26 to Monday, February 27 due to rain.
Estimated crowd of 140,000 on Monday and 180,000 on Sunday
Notes: Including seats in luxury suites and excluding infield admission, temporary seats, general admission, and drag way and dirt track seats.
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