Daytona crowd so small today
 

Did anyone else watch the clash today? I watched it for a bit. The crowd was jarringly small. It did not appear there were more than 5,000 there. This was an event that used to draw 50,000 plus. Amazing how far it has fallen

Re: Daytona crowd so small today
 

Poor product = poor crowd

No Earnhardt + Poor Product = Poor Crowd

Oh I know why the crowds have dropped. My own interest has cratered Over the last several years. It was just shocking to see how bad it was today. I literally think a big sprint week crowd would be comparable in numbers to it

Re: Daytona crowd so small today
 

Didn't notice because I won't watch.

I actually went yesterday, had never been to Daytona and hadn’t had a chance to go to Florida in Feb before.

Cheapest ticket was 55 bucks, which is absurd given all they were doing was running time trials and a 75 lap exhibition.

Even with the small crowd, it still took me 30 minutes in the ticket line as they had no specific lines for gen admission versus reserved seating.

When i got in there, most of the concessions hadn’t opened yet as apparently paying the staff for an extra couple of hours is off budget.

And of course if you saw the race, total snoozer.

I won’t be back, a decision that has been made by thousands of people before me by the looks of it.

Re: Daytona crowd so small today
 

It wasn't that long ago that Twin 125's or 150's on Thursdays were a big deal. They meant something. In each race you had 4,5 drivers that were trying to make the show. Now they all get in. Personally, I take no joy in what's happened to IndyCar and what's happening now in the steep decline of NASCAR but it's true that their loss is dirt racings gain. Our big events are going up, while theirs are dropping

Re: Daytona crowd so small today
 

My sentiments exactly. I haven't watched NASCRAP for at least 5 years.

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From interviews toward the end of the season, then interviews this week......Am I the only one that feels like I am watching people go to work at a job they do not enjoy?....Have they lost enthusiasm? Especially the older drivers, seems to me that they do not have the passion, do not enjoy, do not have the fire? Have the older drivers made to much money? I do not know, maybe it is just me? I just get the feeling that 50% of the driver population is doing us a favor by participating?

Seems the younger drivers with the smaller % based contracts have more enthusiasm?

Problem #1: Dale Jr. is gone.
Problem #2: Too expensive.
Problem #3: Too hot, this is why they race at night in July. Nobody is going to bear the heat to watch a nothing race.
Problem #3: There's no excitement anywhere around Daytona this year. There's no buzz about Nascar, nobody cares anymore. They have been SRO at Volusia Speedway the past 4 or so nights for the WoO cars. That's where everyone has been going. Met lots of people who came for the dirt track, haven't met a single person here for Nascar yet. Btw, when they announce a "sellout" for the 500, keep in mind each and every Nascar employee gets 4 free tickets, even the temps.And since they work race day, they won't be using them.

Re: Daytona crowd so small today
 

https://media.gettyimages.com/photos...vq6P0gjhy4KeM=

Packed house at the green flag. NASCAR is circling the drain and they have no idea how to fix it.

Re: Daytona crowd so small today
 

I watched it on the tv. We have 2 foot of snow on the ground an it is 15 degrees out side. Also watched the Arca last 3 laps crash festival. Some one post on here up when Bell or Rico makes it to the cup. Till then, in the summer time I will hit the local track to support the local racers.
I will spend way more time watching and following the Olympics the next few weeks then what ever nascar has going on down south.

I will probably never stop watching and following NASCAR with the likes of Larson, Bell and Briscoe competing. That being said I’ll never skip out on a Saturday or Sunday at the dirt track to watch either...

That's a typical stand up crowd anyway, no sit no show. Bob

I think it funny that at Kentucky speedway they have painted the grandstand seats so it will appear that they are packed

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Nobody goes home Thursday because, for their biggest race, they only drew 40 cars for 40 Daytona 500 slots. As late as 2002 they had 54 entries.

Same reason the seats here are multi colored. Works for tv

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It's all about the drivers. Have to keep the path to Indy and Daytona open for young local short track talent. This is first year in a long time (to my memory) that there isn't a USAC type guy getting his shot in the truck series

It's certainly not all gloom and doom, but only 40 cars for the 500 would be a concern

Re: Daytona crowd so small today
 

Its all about the drivers, thats the problem.
Most people that watch nascar have no idea nor do they care what usac or a nonwinged dirtcar is. They also have little to no idea who or where the drivers come from inless your named Danica or junior. Reality is catching up with Daytona, not only is it not the great american race its well on its way to obscurity. 99% of the folks watching the daytona race have no idea who Larson or Bell are nor do they care. The hardest way to get a nascar ride is thru talent especially short track dirt talent. Its a shame you have drivers out there because they are feel good stories or can be used to gather more female fans when for sure there are way better racers. You also have to be polished and molded to a corporate figure. I'd bet that Foyt would have a hard time securing a ride today, when bringing corporate sponsor packages and pretending to be something your not is more important then being a racer. There is literally zero anything, not race cars not the drivers that says anything but stale stand in line conform to our standards corporate greed when it comes to Nascar.
Even the supposedly bad boys of nascar are wusses, the busch's are real tough guys, lol.

I wouldn’t blame Larson for the lack of attendance, he’s not really been pushed by the powers that be certainly not to the extent that Chase Eliott has been.

NASCAR used to have 8-10 guys that had real passionate followings, including guys that dirt fans really liked. In the past years, that dwindled a lot, to the point where it was really only Dale Jr, Gordon and Stewart who had a ton of fans. Now they’re all gone and have been replaced with no names.

The fact that Jimmie Johnson, the Busch brothers and Joey Logano don’t have the followings of the former superstars doesn’t help.

Re: Daytona crowd so small today
 

And why did they have followings? because they weren't the statuesque corporate sponsor shill and said whats on their mind, did some controversial things etc. Used to be, Im a racer, You wanna put Purolator on the side of my car and give me some money to do so, Have at it. Now it's Give us a ton of money to put your name on the car and I'll do everything not to screw it up.

Smoke "I wouldn't put Goodyears on my tractor"
EPIC!

I actually liked the format better last year as you didn't have the hanging around at the back. Not for the restricted races though. they've been a joke since it started.

Now you have a sterile sport. Last weekend meant nothing Qualifying really has no bearing on the restricted races and there wasn't anyone to bump anyone out of eligibility. The dash race was for last years pole sitters and former winners and was for $$$ only

Thursday will have a good crowd and the 500 will be quite full, But you gotta consider they also removed over a third the capacity they had

Oh and Fox was quick to report they had a significant gain over last year for the dash. Probably because more stayed home :) .

Yeah, this is the first year in many that I see lots of hotels with vacancies. Just aren't many Nascar fans in town. This isn't the huge event it used to be.

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I think we all know speedweeks is expensive no matter what class of car you go to see compared to the same type of event somewhere else on the calendar.

But Daytona has way beyond priced themselves out of business. $70+ tickets for qualifying runs and 75 lap exhibition, probably the same or more starting price for duels and trucks, talked with my boss who is headed to the big track tomorrow and Xfinity is like $170, and the 500 is in the $200's.

Then you pay jacked up hotel prices and parking. It's out of hand ever since they re-did the facility. It's no wonder folks are skipping the big track for the beach and the short tracks where you have more value.

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We went to Daytona for Speedweeks 20+year in a row beginning in 1984 and luckily we have always had family in Daytona to stay with. Around 1997 we stopped going to the 500. Tickets were overpriced at that time so I can't imagine what they cost now. We cut back to attending just the twin qualifiers and the Saturday race at the big speedway and of course the dirt tracks. Around '01 or '02 we even stopped going to the qualifiers and just did the dirt races. Quality of entertainment, or lack thereof, and steeply escalating ticket prices curtailed our interest. In those days the hotels were more than doubling their regular room rates requiring 5 & 7 night minimum stays during Speedweeks. The best seats are now bundled in such a way as to eliminate the average fan and most definitely a family. It costs over $1000.00 up to just over $2900.00 just to camp at the track for 500 weekend. You combine all that with the fact that the people in the grandstands who do attend stand during the whole race, which has to be the stupidest thing we've ever witnessed (although it's gettin' almost as bad at The Little 500 these days).

At one time we looked forward going to Daytona in February like a 3rd grader looks forward to Christmas Eve. Haven't set foot on DIS property for close to 15 years and don't miss it at all. Whatever happens to NASCAR and the hotels and restaurants that gouged people for all those years is okay with me. They done did it to themselves.

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Daytona isn't the only race where tickets are over $200.00. When I renewed our 2 tickets for the 102nd running of the Indy 500 it cost me $459.00. And believe me, the spectator amenities at Indy can't be mentioned in the same breath as the new Daytona spectator experience. Our Indy tickets went up $80.00 apiece in just 2 years. It was called the "centennial price readjustment", or some such cockamamie thing and the State of Indiana hung a sizable tax on the tickets, as well. It was mainly an excuse to jack the hell out of the ticket prices in anticipation of a huge crowd for the 100th running. Daytona doesn't have the patent on gouging, by no means.

Ask Brian France how much money The State of Florida and Volusia county gave him for the Daytona Project. Betting it's a far cry more than Indy ever got from taxpayers.

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I thought I read it was Toyota who put up 400 million for Daytona Rising

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I agree with almost everyone (to some extent); but:

http://www.espn.com/jayski/cup/2018/...ght-tv-ratings

I think most indycar (other than the 500) - & every other series televised in America really - could only HOPE for a 1.35. So I guess some ticket buyers stayed home (which goes along with what many on here are saying, I know).

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I really don't know for sure if your evaluation is accurate or not. I suspect that there is a degree of truth but that has nothing to do with the fact that gouging is gouging regardless who is doing the gouging. I don't know all that much about the Indiana ticket tax that was levied on our Indy seats or who's getting their bread buttered, but on the surface it sure seems as if the state, to a some extent, is the one benefiting monetarily from the ticket tax, not the other way around. I'll gladly stand corrected if I'm off base.

I will say this, at one time we had tickets to 3 different NASCAR Cup venue's (Daytona, Michigan & later Chicagoland) and we never experienced ticket price increases like we did for Indy in the years leading up to the 100th running. Not at all carrying water for the NASCAR tracks, just stating facts. It's obvious we aren't forced to purchase tickets to any event but after 30 years of patiently waiting our turn to get into the seats we've always desired for the Indy 500 and then have them increase in price the year after we get them to the tune of nearly 45% in just 2 years is just a bit unsettling!!

More than likely, NASCAR doesn’t even care about attendance or concessions, in spite of them owning almost all tracks at which they race. Seems to me that tv revenue is king. Hence, the owners forming what amounts to a union in order to force NASCAR to share the tv wealth. Also, more races at night now to garner higher ratings.

Nascar has Volusia County by the balls. Its literally the only thing here to draw anything more than flies, so the government rolls out the red Carpet for them. The started this whole Daytona Rising before Toyota was even a huge player in Nascar, then out it on hold when the economy crapped out.

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Since much of our immediate family lives in Daytona Beach (actually Port Orange) we've spent more time there by far than anywhere except home in the Midwest.

That being the case we've spent a lot of time in DB and Florida as a whole and have a pretty good understanding of what it has to offer. Overall, there is as much of a tourist draw to DB as anywhere on the east side of the state, and that would include Miami and the Space Coast. Much of the tourist draw has no real connection to DIS when the motorcycle events and the beach is factored in.

Naturally Orlando is the epicenter of the Florida tourist attractions and there is a fair amount of spill over to DB. As a matter of fact, when you factor in Biketoberfest and Bike Week and Turkey Trot the tourist draw is somewhat more diversified than even Orlando and several of those events do not include DIS as their hub. The huge difference, obviously, is Orlando's tourist draw is 365 days a year as opposed to just 3 or 4 weeks a year as is the case with DB.

One thing is for sure, DB is much more of a tourist destination than Indianapolis.

The problem with the reliance on tv ratings is that the ratings have been going in the tank for a few years. When the next tv deal comes around the real squeeze will happen. Somewhere in mid 2000’s the focus of Nascar management shifted to turning into more of a tv show entertainment event vs a sport and in the process ran off a big chunk of their core audience.

Nobody really comes here for the beaches anymore. They're not that nice. Most go to Flagler. Bike week is huge, but the city is doing everything it can to squash it because it's not deemed "family friendly" Main St is a ghost town outside of Bike Week and the Friday and Saturday off Biketoberfest The turkey run is a shell of what it was. The boardwalk is dying.

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Are you sure you're not one of the developers that loves to tell the town what a dump it is and that they need a half dozen overpriced hotels and beach driving should be eliminated altogether so the hotels can lay claim to their own private piece of the beach? LOL! I would agree that the crooked Volusia County and DB politicians that have an ax to grind have not done the area justice but it's not all bad.

The Main Street Pier has been dead for a decade or more. Nothing new there. South of Dunlawton and Sun Glo is where the family area is and it's actually very nice down there. The lighthouse area is quite nice and the nearby southern part of the riverfront is also a very nice area. It's been a been a while since we've ventured up to Flagler but the last time we were there we didn't see anything to leave the DB area for, that's for sure.

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Agree with what your saying, but (I think I saw same convo somewhere else - maybe on this thread??? lol) Stewart friesen won a WoO race...I know thats not usac tho...

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nascar started worrying about political correctness.

This is nice:
http://autoweek.com/article/nascar/n...-11-bankruptcy

Re: Daytona crowd so small today
 

I think you're right

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NASCAR "politically correct"??? In what way?