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Good topic, and both you guys are right. The crowds pre 500 weeks were outstanding and blessed by near perfect warm weather. Did see that Bubba's had a record high crowd for their Sat night Lucas Oil late model show. I went to New Smyrna Wed and Volusia Thur, and every year these local tracks have huge crowds, blessed by the out-of-town fans. I'm not sure how big the crowds were at Ocala for the USAC races, as I was not there. Friday truck race and Saturday ARCA / Exfinity attendance looked strong in Daytona as I scanned the stands.
But, I'm not sure where these local short tracks would get any race fans for post Daytona 500 races. Lucas did consider running post 500 week from an article I saw after East Bay closed. It would be a HUGE gamble to put up big race purses and expect local crowds to support them. Yesterday, Tuesday, I drove out of Daytona back to the Orlando airport. Two days after the 500, the town looks empty. Race fans are gone, campgrounds are empty, traffic is normal, and restaurants crowds are slim. Everyone is gone. I could be wrong, but having been to Daytona enough, I don't think there are enough local fans that would attend any short tracks after Speedweeks is over. It's like the headliner is gone, and so is everyone else. I know I had no desire to stay in Daytona after the 500 was run, except Monday in case it rained out.
Several years ago, I attended the March AAC basketball conference tournament in Orlando. I could not believe how few fans attended a major college basketball tournament, feeding into the NCAA March Madness. Everyone attending said the local fans didn't care about college basketball. Point being that all the attractions in FL certainly draw more crowds than weekly short track racing.
I see the next race scheduled for Bubba's was March 22nd. Maybe by that time there is interest once again for local racing. Maybe I'm wrong, but I can't see a local promoter putting up big race purses after the 500 is over, even with some streaming support.
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