By LARRY EDENS
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Empty seats at a Bristol spring Cup race? It could happen. In ordinary economic times, that is unheard of. Unfortunately, these are not ordinary economic times.
Just days before the Food City 500, there are thousands of tickets still available for purchase at online ticket brokers, shopping websites, and even the Bristol Motor Speedway ticket office itself.
Nearly two weeks ago at Atlanta, an estimated 30,000 seats were vacant during the running of the Kobalt Tools 500.
Faced with the prospect of not having a capacity crowd and as a result of these trying economic times for consumers, the Bristol track and its corporate partners are doing what they can to help alleviate some of the financial burden borne by the race fans who will attend arguably the most popular NASCAR race on the circuit.
In February, a speedway press release announced that Ford is making tickets available to the general public on Ford Fan Friday, which features practice for both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide cars, as well as qualifying for the Food City 500, for only $5.
And, if spectators bring a specially-marked Pepsi can to the gate that day, they will receive free entry. Pepsi, the official soft drink at Bristol, will have a total of three million cans in circulation boasting the special offer.
In addition, on the following Saturday legendary racers David Pearson, Junior Johnson, Harry Gant, Cale Yarborough, and Rusty Wallace will compete in a 50-lap Saturday Night Special to be run after the completion of the Scotts Turf Builder 300 Nationwide Series race and a 100-lap UARA late-model event.
“We made a decision over the winter to take what we believe is the best fan experience in racing and make it even better,” said Jeff Byrd, president and general manager of Bristol.
“When we started talking about this, we wanted to take the Food City 500 weekend to another level. We believe having these celebrated drivers back on a track where they have all won in a stock car does that. Fans will get this to top off their evening for no added cost.”
Race fans are not the only ones who have been hurt by the failing economy. Race teams and tracks have had to re-evaluate their financial standing and some have cut their payroll in an effort to stay afloat this racing season.
Mergers between teams have taken place, including Petty Enterprises with Gillett-Evernham Motorsports and Dale Earnhardt Incorporated with Chip Ganassi Racing. That new partnership reduced its number of teams from seven before the merger to four.
Long-time car owner Johnson believes this current valley of the economic cycle will streamline the sport for the better.
“It will be tough for a year or two, but they’ll get through it,” Johnson said, who employed only 12 people during his tenure as a car owner. “A lot of guys will have to pull away from racing. Sometimes, (racing) needs a clean-up deal like this to get them back on target.”
According to Johnson, he was always good at securing sponsors even during tough economic times, but still didn’t over-extend when it came to spending money.
“If you didn’t have it, you didn’t do it. You had to be smart and work yourself into a groove to where you could afford to race,” said Johnson, who owned a van and truck with sleepers on it and drove his entire crew to every race, including Riverside in California.
“A lot of the other guys had to run on a lot less money than I had to run with them. This is going to be the same kind of deal- some guys will get the sponsors and other guys won’t. They’re going to have to run on a smaller scale.”
Gant quit racing in 1994 and at that time was one of only 14 people on the payroll. He doesn’t understand why race teams today employ so many people. He recently toured Richard Childress’s shop and was amazed at what he saw.
“It was a 20-acre complex with 30 Monte Carlos to start the next racing season. Over half of them were already painted and ready to go,” Gant said. “He employed 87 people at the time. We only had three race cars and couldn’t have competed with him.”
Even with lean or diminished budgets, Johnson and Gant more than held their own when it came to winning Cup races. Johnson won nearly 200 races combined as a driver and owner. Gant went to Victory Lane 18 times.
Johnson believes racing’s price tag is too high and has a simple solution to that.
“It costs $100,000 each to build a car and rent a motor. I know it’s a big sport, but it will eventually wear you down with that kind of price tag,” said Johnson.
“You don’t hire people to do everything for you. You do it yourself. If you can rent a motor for $100,000, you can build one for $20,000. You just have to do it yourself.”
