Richmond Raceway’s Toyota Spring Race Weekend Tops 2018 Hotel Occupancy Rates

Richmond Raceway’s (Richmond) spring NASCAR weekend spawned the most robust hotel occupancy in the Richmond-Petersburg area during 2018, according to research conducted by Smith Travel Research and provided to VCU on behalf of Richmond Region Tourism.

Saturday, April 21 saw a 92.4% occupancy rate for hotels in the region, the highest single night of the year, which represented $2,341,933 in hotel and motel room sales. The Friday night NASCAR race drove a 90.8% occupancy rate, the year’s fourth highest, with the September 21 race in the fall pushing occupancy rates to 91.2%, the third highest for 2018.

During the Toyota Spring Race Weekend at Richmond in April, the greater Richmond region also played host to the 2018 national collegiate dodgeball championships as well as national martial arts and fencing tournaments, all of which made hotel rooms hard to come by.

“Sports tourism continues to drive a steady flow of guests to the Richmond area throughout the year,” said Jack Berry, president and CEO of Richmond Region Tourism. “Year in and year out, our spring and fall NASCAR races bring visitors to the region, which increases quality of life and supports career opportunities for everyone in our community.”

“Richmond Raceway continues to be one of the key drivers for economic impact in the greater Richmond region,” said Dennis Bickmeier, President of Richmond Raceway. “Along with the over 200 live events we annually host at the Richmond Raceway Complex, we work collectively to support the growth of tourism with Richmond Region Tourism. We are proud to be part of a sports community that places a major emphasis on quality sports tourism events, venues and experiences for our residents and out of town visitors.”

The region’s second (91.6%) and fifth (88.6%) highest occupancy rates were October 6 and October 5, respectively, during an Amway conference at the Richmond Coliseum and the annual State Fair of Virginia.  

A combination of business, vocational and sporting events also produced nights where close to nine in 10 Richmond-area hotel rooms were occupied. High-occupancy weekends included:

  • June 16 (88.3%) for a women’s lacrosse tournament and the state championships of USA Softball.
  • June 8 (88.1%) and June 9 (87.6%) for Corrigan Sports Enterprise’s 2018 Summer Rumble, the Home School Convention of the Home Educators Association of Virginia and the 2018 Tough Mudder – Virginia Run.
  • May 12 (88.0%) for the spring recruiting event for the National Field Hockey Coaches Association, the Atlantic Coast Power League – AAU Bid Tournament and VCU’s commencement
  • October 20 (88.0%) for the annual conference of the Virginia Code Council and SwimRVA’s 2018 Swim Run Virginia.

Richmond Raceway 2019 NASCAR Season

The 2019 NASCAR season at Richmond returns “under the lights” for both race weekends hosting the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) at America’s Premier Short Track.

The Toyota Spring Race Weekend will bring NASCAR’s best to Richmond for the ToyotaCare 250 NXS Dash4Cash race and TOYOTA OWNERS 400 Monster Energy Series race on April 12-13.

Richmond’s Fall Playoff Race Weekend will start the NXS Playoffs with the Go Bowling 250 playoff race and host the second race of the Monster Energy Series Playoffs with the Federated Auto Parts 400 playoff race on Sept. 20-21.

Tickets for the Toyota Spring Race Weekend on April 12-13 and Fall Playoff Race Weekend on Sept. 20-21 are available for purchase in-person at the Richmond Ticket Office, via phone at 866-455-7223, or online at richmondraceway.com.

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Richmond Raceway PR