attendance not a problem at dega

hidesert cowboy

hidesert cowboy

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so looking at the stands, they looked way more full than any recent tracks we have seen. Why does this track have so many more fans at it than others?
 
I've been wondering the same thing. Is it the party atmosphere? Is it the pack racing? Is it the wrecks? Is that just die hard nascar country?
 
They've made Spring Dega into a party event bigger than the sport itself. It draws more people from the atlanta area than AMS itself. Plus, let's not kid ourselves, when the average person pictures NASCAR they think of pack racing and big wrecks at Dega, not martinsville. I think almost all other tracks could learn from their example.
 
Advance ticket sales were down but the walk up crowd could have been great. If I had to guess they were probably between -2 to 2% from last year.
 
Alabama, it's where I was born and raised. So here's my take. 1, did hard NASCAR country. We don't have a professional sports franchise here, closest thing is Alabama football. 2, tradition, this state loved the Earnhardts, and they love this state. 3, it's a huge party, plus the event draws from Atlanta, Birmingham, Huntsville, Montgomery not to mention all the small rural towns. 4, the big one. Ain't nothing like a 100 plus thousand rednecks, swilling hooch in the warm Alabama sunshine waiting on a 20 car pile up. It only takes about a couple million bucks in carnage to entertain us. My people.
 
mack said:
Alabama, it's where I was born and raised. So here's my take. 1...We don't have a professional sports franchise here, closest thing is Alabama football...
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that's about as close as you can get!!!:D

seriously though, great reply. I can't imagine fans not showing up at Talladega. of course I thought the same thing about Bristol several years ago...
 
Big party atmosphere that will be around no matter what the racing is like and the racing there is sexier to a broader audience anyways. More anticipation of an old school pack race may have helped a slight bit.

@rowdy3 posted this in the attendance thread.

 
mack said:
Alabama, it's where I was born and raised. So here's my take. 1, did hard NASCAR country. We don't have a professional sports franchise here, closest thing is Alabama football. 2, tradition, this state loved the Earnhardts, and they love this state. 3, it's a huge party, plus the event draws from Atlanta, Birmingham, Huntsville, Montgomery not to mention all the small rural towns. 4, the big one. Ain't nothing like a 100 plus thousand rednecks, swilling hooch in the warm Alabama sunshine waiting on a 20 car pile up. It only takes about a couple million bucks in carnage to entertain us. My people.
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You have a lot of good points but also don't forget that a lot of the hard core partiers that come just for the party atmosphere never make it to the stands The fans that fill the stands are there for the race. Some fans want to see the big one but I think a lot of fans just like to see the raw speed and the edge of your seat racing that the super speedways produce...I know that is what draws me. I enjoy short track racing also but it doesn't bring chills down my spine like Daytona and Talladega does. I will never have to flip a coin to decide between Talladega or Bristol.
 
I was there yesterday. I also attended both of the Cup Series races there last year, and yesterday definitely seemed more full than either one of them. That could have just been because I was sitting closer to the start-finish line yesterday. How did it look on TV? Did it seem more full than in recent years? I can say as a matter of fact there were far more people in the stands *after* the race (during the burn out and victory interview) than I've ever seen, but that might have been just because of who won.
 
It looked pretty full from certain angles. But the overhead shots showed some gap areas and how people weren't as crammed in as other shots appeared to show. But it's easily the best crowd of the season except for the Daytona 500.
 
Jeff Turner said:
I was there yesterday. I also attended both of the Cup Series races there last year, and yesterday definitely seemed more full than either one of them. That could have just been because I was sitting closer to the start-finish line yesterday. How did it look on TV? Did it seem more full than in recent years? I can say as a matter of fact there were far more people in the stands *after* the race (during the burn out and victory interview) than I've ever seen, but that might have been just because of who won.
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it looked like watching nascar in 2004, The stands looked full, so much so that it was actually shocking to see. someone said 190k?!?! holy crap, I don't think any race anywhere in the united states will draw that kind of crowd. Maybe dega is on to something that other tracks need to look at. We poked fun at bristol with a 30 something k crowd. something is either very wrong of very right. I thought the racing was throw back too. it just seemed like 2004 again for some reason, other people feel the same it seems like.
 
hidesert cowboy said:
it looked like watching nascar in 2004, The stands looked full, so much so that it was actually shocking to see. someone said 190k?!?! holy crap, I don't think any race anywhere in the united states will draw that kind of crowd. Maybe dega is on to something that other tracks need to look at. We poked fun at bristol with a 30 something k crowd. something is either very wrong of very right. I thought the racing was throw back too. it just seemed like 2004 again for some reason, other people feel the same it seems like.
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The 190k figure was the total for the entire 3-day weekend. (Capacity for a single race at Dega now is only about 80k). The track manager said that was up slightly over the same race last year. Seemed like more than a slight increase to me.
 
Maybe being the 50th anniversary might have helped, plus I hear the infield there is THE party spot in all of NASCAR.
 
Ol Smokie said:
Maybe being the 50th anniversary might have helped, plus I hear the infield there is THE party spot in all of NASCAR.
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Yes they did play up that 50th anniversary thing a good bit. And that infield transformation project they are working on seems incredible. It will be up and running in the Fall and I'm excited to see that. Will definitely be getting the passes for that, in addition to my grandstand seats.
 
Wonder how many were there for ARCA, they could use a crowd better than what appears to be maybe 2K to 7K at most Cup weekend races.

If 10-12,000 showed up on Friday that's good.
 
hidesert cowboy said:
it looked like watching nascar in 2004, The stands looked full, so much so that it was actually shocking to see. someone said 190k?!?! holy crap, I don't think any race anywhere in the united states will draw that kind of crowd. Maybe dega is on to something that other tracks need to look at. We poked fun at bristol with a 30 something k crowd. something is either very wrong of very right. I thought the racing was throw back too. it just seemed like 2004 again for some reason, other people feel the same it seems like.
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The Indianapolis 500 will still draw 200k plus on race day. Somewhere between 200k and 300k...they claim it was near 350-400k back in the 90s before the IRL/cart split but who knows.
 
mack said:
t 4, the big one. Ain't nothing like a 100 plus thousand rednecks, swilling hooch in the warm Alabama sunshine waiting on a 20 car pile up. It only takes about a couple million bucks in carnage to entertain us. My people.
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Don't care who you that's funny as hell!
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Nitro Dude said:
I think a lot of fans just like to see the raw speed and the edge of your seat racing that the super speedways produce
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:booya: This is me when it comes to Dega.:punkrocke

I try and always make a point to be watching from my DVR after the race is going for one hour. This is the only track I do this for. Always a way better race than Daytona.
 
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