If you were watching the race on TV Saturday night, it looked like Texas Motor Speedway had a really great crowd. In fact, the Speedway reported a crowd of 168,400. That’s nearly one and a half times the capacity of Cowboys Stadium. A heck of crowd – if it stood up to scrutiny.
The grandstands at Texas can hold 122,377. Total infield capacity is 53,000. So if the grandstands were completely full (which they weren’t) that means there would have had to have been 46,023 in the infield (which there wasn’t).
I think we all can agree that 168,400 is a little unbelievable and that Eddie Gossage and to be fair, most tracks, have a knack for fiction when it comes to attendance figures. Still I have to hand it to the track, to SMI, and even to ISC because they have been doing a fantastic job this season distributing crowds throughout the grandstands – whether on purpose or accidental.
Take this weekend – on TV the main and backstretch grandstands looked nearly full from end to end. The reality is, on the frontstretch there were holes here and there, especially down low, at the ends and up high under the suites. And the backstretch was spotty. The same was true at California and to a lesser extent at Martinsville.
A recent innovation for the tracks has been finding unutilized grandstands and covering them with sponsor signage – a new addition at California this year. Charlotte Motor Speedway used to have seating that extended up under the suites in the turn two grandstand – no more.
The truth is, I don’t think any of this is bad (other than the exaggeration of attendance numbers). Most of the tracks on the Cup circuit were ridiculously overbuilt – and tracks throughout have been tearing down grandstands in recent years. Even with smaller than capacity crowds, these tracks have attendance that far exceed their nearest sporting competitor on any given week.
The crowds have been better this season, and these moves lesson the story and issue of attendance. I think anything that gets people more focused on the racing and less focused on the periphery issues is an OK thing.
TheNASCARInsiders.com Follow the Insiders on Twitter or be a fan on Facebook!
While most of the talk this week centered around the Burton/Gordon scuffle, the 48 pit crew swap, and the championship battle, young Trevor Bayne’s Cup Series debut went almost unnoticed. Bayne was making his first ever Cup start driving the famous Wood Brothers #21, and he certainly did not disappoint.
Over the last few seasons, the Wood Brothers have only run a limited Cup schedule, choosing select races to compete in as they did in the past. Bill Elliott has gotten the bulk of those starts, and because of his status as a past champion, is often guaranteed in the race. For Bayne though, just making the field at Texas would be an accomplishment, as he would not have owners points to fall back on because of the 21′s limited schedule.
On Friday at Texas, Bayne passed his first test with flying colors, qualifying the #21 Fusion in the 28th position. His situation would be made difficult however, as the team was forced to start at the rear of the field because of a transmission swap following practice.
After starting at the back of the 43 car field, Bayne did everything you can ask a driver making his Cup debut to do; finish the race and bring the car home in one piece. The young driver from Tennessee hung around the top 25 all day and brought the 21 home in the 17th position, and on the lead lap no less. He was able to out run the likes of Carl Edwards, Kurt Busch, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
On the Nationwide Series side, Bayne remains in the seventh spot in the points standings, and is the second highest NNS only driver. Since moving to Roush Fenway Racing a few weeks ago, Bayne has four top 20 finishes and appears to be getting more comfortable in his new home as the weeks progress.
RFR has yet to announce what Bayne’s 2011 schedule will look like, but most of the signs point to at least a part-time Cup Series schedule, along with a slate of more NNS races. Whatever the case however, the future appears to be very bright for Bayne.
Filed under: David Ragan, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart, Chase for the Sprint Cup, NASCAR Fights, Sprint Cup, Joey Logano, NASCAR
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Filed under: Sam Hornish Jr., NASCAR Fans, Sprint Cup, NASCAR
Filed under: Kyle Busch, Chase for the Sprint Cup
What we saw on Sunday is why we continue to watch this sport. There were a record number of leaders, beating and banging, pit road missteps, triumphs, heartbreak, fights and fingers. That was a race I don’t think anyone will soon forget.
Don’t Mess with NASCAR
Kyle Busch learned this lesson Sunday. After getting spun early in the race, Busch was penalized for speeding on pit road. Angry about the penalty Kyle displayed his displeasure to the official assigned to their stall with a middle finger. After exiting pit road NASCAR again called Kyle down to serve a two lap penalty for his trangression.
The moral of the story? You may not like what NASCAR does, but don’t disrespect them. On a side note, I have to say the video from the incident was pretty entertaining. Kyle may not be your favorite driver, but you have to admit, he fills his role very well.
There’s a Fight on The Backstretch!
Of all the guys to get in a fight, those were probably the last two I would have named. Still, that was some emotion like we haven’t seen in a while.
As Jeff Gordon launched toward Jeff Burton all I could think was, “there’s a fight on the backstretch!” And there was.
The impetus for this fight may or may not have been accidental. Clearly some tempers flared prior to the incident, but Jeff Burton isn’t the kind of guy to end someone elses day and his own. Either way, that was entertaining.
The Pit Crew Change Heard Round the World
The #48 pit crew had a bad day… a very bad day. Add to their screw-ups on pit road the embarrassment of getting yanked off the job in the middle of the race in front of millions of people. I’d be willing to bet that was an uncomfortable flight home.
Unfortunately, this is a performance based business and if your driver is in the hunt for a championship, there is zero room for error. They learned that the hard way today. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are changes to that crew before next weekend.
Taking the Lead
Jimmie Johnson may have finally found a team as good as his. While Kevin Harvick continues his very consistent run, Denny Hamlin and his team are just that much better right now. Hamlin’s main obstacle is Gibbs’ spotty reliabilty. Hopefully, for his sake, it doesn’t bite him in his quest to bring Joe Gibbs his fourth championship.
The long and short of it is, we have got a heck of a points race headed into the final two weeks.
A Flying Brakepad?
To top off a very bizarre race, apparently a brake pad from one of the cars was somehow shot into the tempered glass window of Texas’ Speedway Club. Two people were injured, thankfully the injuries weren’t life threatening.
Please feel free to talk amongst yourselves about the weekend’s events.
Filed under: Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, NASCAR Fights, NASCAR
Filed under: Tony Stewart, Sprint Cup, Scott Speed, IRL, Indianapolis 500, NASCAR
If you got to watch the races on Monday from Texas you may have heard the TV guys talking about the drivers who had to do double duty. Guys like Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Greg Biffle, and others got out of their Cup rides and had to immediately jump into their Nationwide cars for another 300 miles. It can be a tough thing to do as it requires the drivers be in top shape, and have the ability to re-focus their minds after 500 grueling miles. But what the TV folks probably didn’t talk about a lot, was all the crew guys who did the same exact thing.
Just like there are drivers who run in multiple series, there are also quite a few crew members who work in multiple series. Usually it’s not a problem to do, because the races aren’t on the same day, but Monday was different.
Following the Cup race at Texas, crew guys had to pack up their pit box and then run to their Cup haulers to strip off their firesuits. They then had to head over to their NNS haulers to put firesuits back on and proceed back to pit road to set up their NNS pit box. Teams had about an hour to work with following the first race to get changed and set up their pit stalls for the nightcap.
One example of what I’m talking about is the Furniture Row pit crew. Those five guys pit Regan Smith’s car on Sunday, but on Saturday they work for KHI and service Kevin Harvick’s Nationwide car. Some more examples include three of the five guys that work on Kyle Busch’s Cup car. Both front guys and the rear changer also work on Kyle’s pit crew on Saturdays. And there are certainly others.
What this really means for these crew guys is being 100% focused. It means doing 10 pit stops during the Cup race, then getting a quick break, followed by four more pit stops in the Nationwide race. Oh yeah, and don’t screw it up.
Another group that did double duty on Monday that I wanted to point out was the spotters. The double header for the Cup guys running in the Nationwide race also meant twice the work for their spotters. They had to work for 500 miles, take a quick break, then get ready to work 300 more.
What really sucks about double duty though, is having to do it again a week later. With the way the forecast is shaping up for Talladega, it may be deja vu all over again.