Picture-perfect weather combined with a pre-race concert by Steven Tyler and Jeff Gordon’s last race on the high banks led to the largest crowd at Bristol Motor Speedway since 2008. While a capacity crowd was often taken for granted during the days of 55 straight sellouts from 1992-2008, it’s actually quite a feat to fill the world’s eighth largest sports stadium in one of the smallest markets which NASCAR races. Jerry Caldwell, BMS Executive Vice President and General Manager, credited the speedway’s team of employees for helping to make it the huge turnout, estimated over 150,000 strong, a reality. “It’s a massive crowd here and we’re really excited about it,” Caldwell said. “The team worked so hard for so many months. They’ve put everything we’ve got into all of this from Steven Tyler to (famed boxing announcer) Michael Buffer (who did driver introductions) to the 43 greatest drivers in the world.”(Johnson City Press)(8-23-2015)
