The Daytona 500 is a Reflection of American Society: Part 4 – The Fans

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For more than sixty years, race fans have worshiped every Sunday at the altar known as NASCAR. The sport, which currently competes almost weekly from February until November, regularly attracts tens of thousands of fans to the track, combined with millions of others who watch the sport from the comfort of their homes.

 

Over the past several years, however, attendance at the track has begun to diminish. This has been a subject of debate for everyone from professional prognosticators to casual observers, and has caused some changes to the historic facilities on the circuit.

 

Tracks such as Daytona and Charlotte have reduced their grandstand capacity. Other tracks have simply covered the unsold seats with advertising banners. Others still have tried to reposition the race fans so that it looks better on television!

 

Race fans are, on a whole, a very loyal bunch. They support the products that sponsor their favorite, and even not so favorite teams. Some fans are still strong believers in the win on Sunday, sell on Monday concept, and wouldn’t dream of driving a car that wasn’t represented in the garage area.

 

Personally, I have seen the rise and fall in popularity of auto racing over the past couple decades. I have been to races where most of the spectators had received free tickets, and others where it was almost impossible to buy a ticket anywhere. Motorsports are generally a good indicator of the economy, and if that still holds true. things are getting better.

 

Recent events have had almost record crowds. The Daytona 500 was a  virtual sell-out, with more than 10,000 hot passes given out. That, paired with the nearly full superstretch and the reduced capacity frontstretch, made for good television. The next week, however, Atlanta Motor Speedway looked to be a near ghost town, with many tickets still available even as the green flag flew on Sunday.

 

As this recovery has been more regional than those in the past, perhaps Florida is doing better than other states. Another possibility is that the relative closeness of Atlanta to Daytona resulted in some fans choosing to travel south instead of supporting their local track. Whatever the reason, NASCAR still has some work to do.

 

As we become much more of a digital culture, the question is whether or not stock car racing can survive. If we all start becoming mere passengers in our self driving cars, will their even be a need for racing at all? These questions, and many more, will soon need to be answered. Hopefully the sport we all know and love will find it’s place in the ever-changing world. It will be interesting!

Be sure to read part 1 of the series, discussing the track; part 2, talking about the teams, and part three, where we discuss the drivers.

Adam Sinclair
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