I almost stayed home because the NASCAR site said all of the parking here at the stadium was not available and the only parking they showed was 3/4 of a mile away and it was $50.00. I was surprised to get parking really close to the gate for $35.00.
I think Harvick is trying to get out of driving at Daytona. Ya know, one car and all.
That shot from the infield looking out across the track is useless.
Fox gonna fox
I think so too. The colder track threw some of them off I think
Outstanding. I was completely and utterly wrong about my assumptions going in. Tony is fabulous!
On a related note, Truex qualifies 34th out of 36 in his TRD Camry.
They really should have opened the gates earlier and let fans watch the practice sessions. There is no way I would go back again for qualifying even if the tickets and parking was free. If I hadn't went early, I would not have gotten the awesome parking spot I got so it was worth getting there early. I got there at 9.00 am and there was already a lot of fans arriving but all you could do for about 4 hours is sit in the parking lot and kick back. Then after they opened the gate, you could sit in your seat for another 4 1/2 hours and look into the sun at the nice empty shady seats on the other side of the track that no one could go sit in. After you went in you could not leave and re-enter. They did have a small fan zone area, but I didn't see much excitement going on there. I will say the food stand did have a chicken strip, fries and a biscuit basket that was actually hot and tasted pretty good. But that and 2 cokes and some popcorn was just under $40.00 but I expected that and didn't mind the price because like I said it was pretty tasty. So, basically, I spent around $100.00 and 8 1/2 hours waiting for about 45 minutes to an hour of actual on track performance. I'm glad I went though, because the cars looked and sounded amazing, and I had never been inside of the coliseum, and I didn't realize just how much history that place has until they showed a video on the big screens. I was really excited about my parking spot after the qualifying was over because I was back to my car within about 5 minutes. Now I'm excited for the 6 hours of tv coverage I will see tomorrow from the comfort of my own chair.
I think if they are serious about making this stadium short track racing a success, they need to make it more fan friendly and allow fans to go watch the crews work on the cars at the haulers and watch practice. I think they could make it so much more fun for the fans and that would entice the fans to want to come back again the following year. That being said, everyone looked like they were having a good time. KDB got a lot of cheers when he took the number 1 spot.
I can only guess they didn't sell enough tickets to make it worth opening early, that the potential income wouldn't offset the operating costs. Or maybe they planned all along to not be open for practice.
I'm betting the side of the track you sat on was based 100% on the side you entered through. I'm guessing that side is the 'main' entrance, or closest to the most foot traffic, and that opening on the shady side would have required people to walk all the way around to the 'back' before entering. Strictly speculation; I've never been to the place and likely never will.
They never planned on letting anyone in before 1.00. You are correct about sitting on the side that you entered but you could have walked around to the other side after you entered but they would turn people around at about halfway. There were a lot of fans trying to go to the other side because the sun was so bright. I had really good Ray-Ban sunglasses on, but I kept getting up and going out to the shady area by the restrooms and snack bars because I was getting a headache from staring into the sun for so long. They did an outstanding job building the track though and it is a shame they have to tear it up after the race today.
I know that's why I woke up at 4.00 am even though the Fox tv coverage doesn't start until 11.00 am. I'm too excited to sleep.
I'll be watching and while I don't know how enthusiastic I'll be, I don't think the track itself will be a factor in my final judgement. I've sat on this opinion since the format was announced, but here we go:
I like it as well, if I had to nit pick I wish they had run it Saturday under the lights, I know it would be on late but hey, 1/4 mile bull ring has Saturday night written all over it,
I woke up at 530, been watching old Clashes. I’m pretty excited for today too.I know that's why I woke up at 4.00 am even though the Fox tv coverage doesn't start until 11.00 am. I'm too excited to sleep.
That's always been my question/worry. You get new fans to show up to this but not sure how many you'll retain after they go to a "normal" nascar weekendAnd if they do, is this format what they'll expect ( want?
