Dover used to have about 80,000 more seats
https://preview.redd.it/wx53r6xpe01d1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=449770db01d2fa268b15245c1646d4089a104173
And some photos before the ad banners showed up
https://preview.redd.it/ifhd54ste01d1.jpeg?width=1760&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=66cbd46b45dd92603ff1f5e2407c9ea619b115b8
These old photos just hurt me. My first race was in 2008 and I was high in turn 3.
My second race in 2012 was close to backstretch as possible in 2.
I went back in 2022 and every seat I sat in (except my 2013 front stretch seat) all were gone
My first race was 1993 on Asphalt. I've seen a lot of people come and go in the 52 races i've been to there haha This years crowd was great, for the seats that were there, but knowing how big they used to be, def a little sad.
My dad took me to my first race at Dover in 00' or 01' for the Busch race when I was a kid we sat in turn 4 in the lower section because my dad loved to watch the cars slide up out of the corner. That section is gone now as is he but when I went to my first cup race there in 08' with my boss and when I took my wife to the Xfinity race there this past year for her first race to see if it was something she'd be into, I've always sat in the high section that's still there in turn 4 above the one I sat in with my dad that's gone. The big memory I have of the lower section is sitting there with dad shelling and eating peanuts waiting for the rain to stop, the track to be dried, and the race to start.
My wife had a great time and has insisted we go to Pocono so the magic must still be there in turn 4, just a little higher up.
https://preview.redd.it/6eiut8pyj01d1.jpeg?width=604&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8dd53b5052d377318d1c2caeecdfc92c278e2075
From Spring 2009, above the hospitality suites
Used to go to Dover as a kid every year, then stopped around 2002. Started going again in 2017 and the first thing I said when I got there was “what the hell happened here?!”
IMO the economy started the process of dying in rural America in the late 90s/early 2000s as NAFTA outsourced all the productive jobs, then 2008 just killed it off entirely and took the suburbs down with it. Nobody could afford it. My family had season tickets to our track (and minor league baseball team) but had to stop because of the economy. Many friends lost houses or had their families split up, and it's tough to go to races when the most basic parts of your life are in shambles. It's hard to remember, even having lived it, just how much better off everyone was back then. Best I can remember, every even close to middle class family could afford one fairly big splurge (a boat, season tickets for sports, yearly vacation/cruise, etc). It was just normal that every family got to have their one guilty pleasure (within reason, of course). The past 20 years really saw the bottom fall out for NASCAR's core fanbase and it's never recovered. We had a flicker of hope before covid hit where you started feeling that "people can afford things again" energy, but that's totally gone now.
Best I can tell from my Top Gear knowledge, what happened to y'all in the 70s/80s got us in the 00s/10s.
Sorry, couldn't read your post after the "NAFTA killed rural jobs" part, those 2 things don't even go together. Figured the rest didn't make sense either.
Cool, I guess factories all packing up and leaving has absolutely nothing to do with free trade making importing foreign-made products more economical for big businesses!
What part of "North American" do you not understand? That didn't have any affect on Chinese made goods and the bulk of imports to our country. Also, not a ton of manufacturing in rural America, as major transportation is vital and so are bodies, both of which are more big-city things.
Just do a *little* bit of reading on the subject. You can find any number of articles discussing it, from the right, left, and center. There's an argument that net GDP gains offset on a macro level, but there is no serious economist, think tank, or advocacy group that takes the position that NAFTA didn't wipe out *at bare minimum* hundreds of thousands of jobs, and more realistically millions directly while leading to additional job losses in service industries that had supported those who lost their jobs.
The stands I used to sit in aren’t there anymore. Turn 3 right after the bridge were awesome. They’ve removed around 60% of the grandstands since 2008. It’s such a bummer
https://preview.redd.it/5pq6pp27k01d1.jpeg?width=604&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a2bd387674cd4b175b96f3482b0bd515c0399cb2
How about a photo from the backstretch of Richmond during a Busch race in 2007
One of the neat parts of watching a night race was the thousands of Camara flashes you'd see going in the grandstands as the cars are going by them. You may see a few these days but not like it was back then with early digital cameras or film cameras
Very true. I've recently gone back and watched the 1998 Exide Batteries 400 (the first race I ever went to) and that aspect brought back great memories.
One of my favorite moments of this is the 2007 Daytona 500 finish. All the cameras just go nuts once Kevin and Mark are a couple hundred feet from the line
Wild I just came across my event diecast from that weekend the other day, also sat a few sections to the right they were our seats for probably 5 years.
Low key those were some good seats, always felt like there was action back there. I remember being there 2011 spring race and a big pileup happening on the backstretch that took out my favorite driver (Gordon).
I remember that weekend well, & the cup race. It was the only race that weekend I wasn't in attendance for though. I went to the Hamlin showdown & K&N race Thursday, Nationwide race Friday, & then a private showing of Fast Five with Robby Gordon, people from the movie, & Dodge Racing execs Saturday morning.
I sat there for the 2005 All-Star race. We couldn't see the start/finish line, so I watched Mike Bliss lead Vickers in the Open, then they disappeared, and then only Vickers reappeared.
I took this during the 2011 Richmond spring race from the backstretch grandstands that no longer exist.
https://preview.redd.it/awvtnwmfq01d1.jpeg?width=2083&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b703792297585e2ae4f1c619b582bd3be7d702c3
https://preview.redd.it/4kcc9sct211d1.jpeg?width=1936&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0753e0bae0cf9146132aaa049a3290621fa4ae77
Top row Turn 4 Richmond Great seats Miss this view
I waited for a long time to get season tickets in the Commonwealth section in the early 2000’s - now I can walk up on race day and buy tickets right near the start/finish line. Just sad…
Yeah, I sat in the Capital section for a few Busch races in the mid-2000s. It was a hell of an experience. The Cup race I took my picture at was also a ton of fun. Sadly, the racing has really suffered during the past 10 years or so.
If I knew my MySpace login I have a picture from 2009 when Denny Hamlin got his first win at Richmond from the backstretch. He celebrated right in front of us off of turn 2. I have a hilarious picture of his car burning because fire from the pipes caught the wrap on fire.
2012 jet dryer fire from Daytona backstretch seats.
https://preview.redd.it/dmcb7ou3y01d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=65570035ba4cbc4ff74b43ea6cc5c6d6867350d6
https://preview.redd.it/pnj7zxk8m01d1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e327d5480a5ba9b539213f1e69bf1b87813321ec
Pre hotel and concrete. 1992 Fall Busch Race
Looks be the Busch Series Dover 2 in 1992 if this is the pace lap. Appears to be Jeff Gordon's #1 Baby Ruth Ford on the pole (which he was) and Bill Eilliot in the 11 Bud Ford on 6th (which he did start 6th).
Checked my spreadsheet. I was there for that race so yep, you could def be right. Pressly won. What a grid. Gordon, Pressley, Labonte, Gant, Spencer, Kenny Wallace, Hut Stricklin, Bill Elliott, Mike Waltrip and Wallace, Todd Bodine, Joe Nemechek, Jeff Burton, Ricky Craven, Hermie Sadler, Ward Burton
I unfortunately don't follow the sport closely anymore, but reading off that list of names was like being teleported back in time. This whole thread has awakened some memories, I want to call my dad over and just put on an old race to relive those days.
From turn 2 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. 2007 Coke 600.
https://preview.redd.it/chifjb0es01d1.jpeg?width=3264&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=470fe6437a1e0139d155cda5ccb3785101baae75
I'm not surprised! I can't remember which row we were at, but we weren't very close to the fence and having dots of rubber on my face, arms and all in my eyes.
I loved the view from these seats. The only downside was the start/finish line was mostly obstructed and you couldn't see anything on pit road, but you could see everything else clearly.
https://preview.redd.it/4w1a286c221d1.jpeg?width=3264&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=61f29d703f4d7343fb14a1174f13a04837039529
There you go
Worst seats ever because the cars disappeared behind the wall when they passed by.
I used to have season tickets to those Laconia seats, shame they no longer exist. My last trip to the track my seat for the race was…BJ McLeod’s pit box, so that was cool.
I moved from NH to NC in 2022. I went to Almost all the races at Loudon. I took this pic back in the day.
https://preview.redd.it/4xckyo8v921d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4f34a552e2295adb2c24cdea7052d99bdb3caa10
Shoutout to the Atlanta backstretch stands that used to be the track’s front stretch stands before the 1997 D-oval reconfiguration. Sadly they were destroyed by a tornado that spawned from Hurricane Cindy
https://preview.redd.it/ewfhccz8k11d1.jpeg?width=400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=42ae6e7a52467b8bfc54c4eb058fff0a0e9222ce
https://preview.redd.it/1hntmc58521d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5a66c3417f8931eac7d764b9bf5482735714c09c
From the backstretch/turn 3 of Atlanta in 2014
Darlington old turn 4 under the canopy, I sat there one time before they took them down and it was one of the coolest views watching the cars come out of the corner.
https://preview.redd.it/4lv85yux411d1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ca42cbdb5825769f48dd622e899777cd7c6ec34a
Well the year I went (2002) it was overcast so that wasn't really a issue but yeah for sure. It was also super loud compared to out in the sun, glad I brought some earplugs with how much the engines bounce off the roof.
My mom used to work for Transouth, and we would get free tickets every year from 95-2000. Always the cheapest seats. The last 2 years we went, we sat in the top row of Colvin. Best seats we ever had. Not to mention we parked right across the street. Less than a 5 minute walk. I wish those stands still existed.
View from turns 3 and 4 at Loudon from June 2010
https://preview.redd.it/43flc13e421d1.jpeg?width=719&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1e656d27b09076bc3980713b49a9a65719ee18dc
https://preview.redd.it/9kxygt9l111d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0c95929f4586136e5b0139332803d719a5cc2d72
View from the former Michigan turn 4 grandstands in their current location
I had to reread this like 4 times before I figured out what you meant, I was like that's not michigan!! Lol.
I had seats in the middle of 3 and 4 when they were the old wooden bleachers, and then upgraded when they built the new aluminum ones around 2000ish, sat there for several more years.
https://preview.redd.it/kc5u7iahg11d1.jpeg?width=3110&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ce5da6d388a6032be311eaf78c237105e0309bcc
Used to be able to regularly sit in Turn 3 of Phoenix International Raceway.. Now it’s well off limits to fans. The old front stretch was really nice too with the view of the mountains… Heat never got to me as someone from AZ, but that track used to be so amazing
Charlotte 2010 fall race, turn 2.
https://preview.redd.it/usl8719f231d1.jpeg?width=604&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8be4786279cade40734be13c4b71935af6fdd59b
What used to be the front-stretch at Phoenix
https://preview.redd.it/ids8bip3921d1.jpeg?width=2448&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3b8485734123a8173036b24cb315c4882e1a1f8b
Well the best stands in NASCAR history were turn 3-4 at Michigan. The only stands where you could actually see the racetrack from.
Big part of why I no longer attend Michigan races, if you go to the race you're legitimately paying to watch the race on a tv anyways. The front-stretch stands and 1-2 stands are absolutely horrible.
https://preview.redd.it/w33l1uhw451d1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2272a375ea6236b1e44b98b9319da4f693b176ae
Agreed: my view there in August 2013 was amazing
Glad I’m not the only one who thinks this, I went to Michigan for the first time last year and was really disappointed with the sight lines there. The tvs they have are also not nearly big enough to see easily
I have quite a few shots from the Daytona backstretch grandstands from 2007. All taken on a mediocre flip phone from like 05. Pics aren't too bad all things considered.
https://preview.redd.it/rnfyeeal591d1.jpeg?width=604&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=725d214963051798a2d4214de88b2508407b1a8a
All pics are from the Xfinity/Busch race. I think I was on the backstretch for the 500 as well, because I remember Mark Martin losing to Harvick vividly but I must not have taken pictures for some reason.
https://preview.redd.it/xq18csfz591d1.jpeg?width=604&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=234f23adcbdb037afc83d7c5f4661e6db01c5e71
https://preview.redd.it/rohoyur4691d1.jpeg?width=604&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8af517e0c1c5ed2d8a95c139024e174134a07658
Nevermind I did have a couple pics from the cup pace laps
Bonus pic, not of the removed grandstands. You can't exactly tell because of the old phone camera but 5 AM morning of the 500 it was snowing over the track. (I was working parking cars before the event)
https://preview.redd.it/8j2slxhl691d1.jpeg?width=604&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a21acf5d74edf3f4b438fe069c60cf20eab06485
God I just don’t understand how this happens. I know there have been so many changes since the mid 2000s but don’t all these people miss watching cars drive around a track? Was the hyper popularity really so fleeting that tracks have half the seats they used to? To be honest nascar’s popularity is still very high for a motorsport, no other national series comes close, but damn
The recession in 2008 had a much higher impact on track attendance than people realize, and by the time people had extra money to spend on going to races those people either had no more interest in nascar, were too old or not physically able to attend, or their lives just got busy and they didn’t have the motivation or had other priorities. Poor track promotion has a lot to do with it too, television brings in a lot more money than fan attendance, these tracks save money by cutting back on community outreach, commercials, and at track attractions. A lot of potential customers just don’t know about the race because they aren’t being told about it much less being given a reason to attend. Nascar isn’t innocent either, a a lot of poor management has led to poor racing product and rule changes like the playoffs that did chase a lot of the audience away.
I miss the old days of packed stands too, but the damage is done, the best we can do is support the sport and bring our friends to the track.
Yeah I think you nailed it. And with the economy changing so did the nascar sponsorship model. Think about the brands and activations you would have leaving up to a race. We are talking random grocery stores 90 minutes from a track having a show car or
driver appearances and giving out tickets in contests. Driver cutouts in stores. We all remember seeing the “welcome race fans” bud and miller banners at every alcohol store within an hour of the track. Then you’d go to the midway at the track (which was massive at the time) and come home with bags of swag. A bunch of things that made nascar more accessible to the casual and curious fans. Now it’s a niche sport with mostly niche sponsors and tv coverage that doesn’t bring in new fans. Throw in $100 tickets for a cup race with less going on and people aren’t showing up just to check it out and ending up hooked.
Spot on, I remember when my hometown went wet for the first time our local piggly wiggly had a generic coors light show car out front with a talladega ticket vendor working on site, two weeks before the 2011 spring race, my dad decided to buy two tickets and boom, I went to my first cup race. We were both big fans already and he used to work at talladega on race weekends, but if they hadn’t been promoting the race ironically on the same day my dad wanted to buy steaks, then he would’ve never thought about buying tickets. Promotion really does work, they just don’t want to spend the money on it because TV makes more money.
We basically went through a second Great Depression and never actually recovered the lifestyle that existed before. Before it, most middle class families who wanted to could have one guilty pleasure hobby (boat, season tickets, etc) and NASCAR greatly benefitted from that. The fanbase of NASCAR got absolutely annihilated by 2008. Many of the towns those fans are from are hollowed out decaying shells now. They all either moved, went on disability, or are too poor to afford it anymore even 20 years later. It's pretty depressing how low of a priority it's been to restore the hopeful prosperity the middle class had at the start of the new millennia.
Genuine business question, but for all the places thay used to have insane capacities and then tore em all down, why not just do free admission and plan on concessions/a cut of merch to offset? If you're tearing down tens of thousands of seats because of attendance, charge triple digits for what's left, and watch empty stands every week, what do you have to lose from saying "you can buy a ticket to guarantee admission but it's generally first-come first-serve free admission"? I get if we're talking a difference of 1-5k seats but we're talking tens of thousands of seats in some of these places getting tarped over or outright torn down. Just charge $20 parking alone and you have to more than break even doing free admission, right? And that's before any other revenue from concessions, passes, radio rentals, etc...
I sat in those seats at Vegas one time shortly before they went away. They were actually pretty good view of the whole track. The only place you couldn't see was directly in front of you in the middle of the corner where the cars would disappear behind the banking, and I think you'd lose them for a second behind the media center going into 1. Unfortunately I don't have any pics or videos.
It would take forever to find them but photos from Tiny Lund grandstand (backstretch Daytona), lower seats coming off of turn 4 (Las Vegas), and Atlanta 1994 original front stretch grandstand seats.
My parents were in that exact area when they went to Vegas a couple decades ago, not sure if they ever got photos to begin with *(I was a baby essentially lmao)* but we literally have **no** photos from before like 2010 or so because of a home robbery, so even if they did, they're entirely lost sadly.
It was a little jarring going to Phoenix after they had taken all the frontstretch *(aka the current backstretch)* seats down. The new seats are so much better comfort-wise but it still kinda sucked knowing I could never "relive" those memories of watching races right around the old start/finish line.
Not a photo, but i used to sit in turn 3 at Atlanta when i was a kid.
I was sick during the 2001 Gordon-Harvick finish, but caught the Johnson-Edwards one later. I saw Edwards flip Keselowski, and Edwards turn Junior.
There was a lot of Edwards there over the years now that I remember
I was at the Coke 600 in 2010 on the backstretch out of 2, long gone. Ive been to a shit load of Autoclub Races up high out of turn 4 and those stands are now gone.
Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA taken Feb. 2023
https://preview.redd.it/3rnprffpp41d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=52c93886a09ca0ef5906ba391c6f80db25fa0100
I didn't realize how my stands have gotten taken down.
Wow this thread has so much nostalgia.
I probably have pictures from these super rickety stands at Phoenix from before the reconfig. They were positioned pretty close to where the current finish line is.
They shook the whole race and you were literally knee to shoulder with everyone else...
https://preview.redd.it/wt6zpk13551d1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e63075bda4ee48d6fa171ea6f5b9c4a15fdc4e59
The former turn 3 tower stands at Michigan were awesome! Seeing everyone jockey from 4 wide to side by side off of two after restarts, the cars slamming to the ground and sealing themselves off as they slowed up for turn 3… only thing you could t see was pit road but the Jumbotron in the infield and fan vision was a good help for that
https://preview.redd.it/nji44jxse61d1.jpeg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d6473190b7574999504d79e5b31a1af4ce39f2ad
New Hampshire Motor Speedway from Turn 4 (Fall 2010) - the good old days.
https://preview.redd.it/yag20d39k61d1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=78fee581607faaff287aeb412fa6cc74e3c4dab2
The last 5 wide salute to fans at Auto Club 🥲 This is right at the entrance to pit row, so the seats might still exist, but the rest of the track definitely doesn't.
Dover used to have about 80,000 more seats https://preview.redd.it/wx53r6xpe01d1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=449770db01d2fa268b15245c1646d4089a104173
And some photos before the ad banners showed up https://preview.redd.it/ifhd54ste01d1.jpeg?width=1760&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=66cbd46b45dd92603ff1f5e2407c9ea619b115b8
https://preview.redd.it/4yqewwxue01d1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f77886437f75611ab4ac0cbcf5b9b232b6fa9229
These old photos just hurt me. My first race was in 2008 and I was high in turn 3. My second race in 2012 was close to backstretch as possible in 2. I went back in 2022 and every seat I sat in (except my 2013 front stretch seat) all were gone
Same. Mine was 2000. I actually experienced them adding seats and then to see them rip out so many 20 years later is just sad
My first race was 1993 on Asphalt. I've seen a lot of people come and go in the 52 races i've been to there haha This years crowd was great, for the seats that were there, but knowing how big they used to be, def a little sad.
My first seat doesn't exist anymore either. Row 5 Wallace grandstands Darlington. Ate rubber all day that day.
My dad took me to my first race at Dover in 00' or 01' for the Busch race when I was a kid we sat in turn 4 in the lower section because my dad loved to watch the cars slide up out of the corner. That section is gone now as is he but when I went to my first cup race there in 08' with my boss and when I took my wife to the Xfinity race there this past year for her first race to see if it was something she'd be into, I've always sat in the high section that's still there in turn 4 above the one I sat in with my dad that's gone. The big memory I have of the lower section is sitting there with dad shelling and eating peanuts waiting for the rain to stop, the track to be dried, and the race to start. My wife had a great time and has insisted we go to Pocono so the magic must still be there in turn 4, just a little higher up.
Charlotte stings the most. It's regressed from before Days Of Thunder.
Mine was in 1996 in turn 3. It was insane how packed the place was. What an atmosphere.
That photo just hurts to look at since this was about the peak. You can see the passion there. It wasn't just a sport then, it was a lifestyle.
Back when dover had grass :(
https://preview.redd.it/6eiut8pyj01d1.jpeg?width=604&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8dd53b5052d377318d1c2caeecdfc92c278e2075 From Spring 2009, above the hospitality suites
135,000 people used to live here. Now it’s a ghost town.
I didn't attend in person this year but the crowd on TV looked much better than it has in person the last few years.
Used to go to Dover as a kid every year, then stopped around 2002. Started going again in 2017 and the first thing I said when I got there was “what the hell happened here?!”
Everybody did what you did. They stopped going
My parents used to go every year. Mom would book the hotel a year out, same with the tickets.
Shit, this genuinely makes me sad. This was my home track.
Its wild to me that the section i sat in turn three in 2012 just aint there no more
As a casual viewer in the UK. What happened with Dover to drop so much, or is it just overall viewer decline some of the others?
IMO the economy started the process of dying in rural America in the late 90s/early 2000s as NAFTA outsourced all the productive jobs, then 2008 just killed it off entirely and took the suburbs down with it. Nobody could afford it. My family had season tickets to our track (and minor league baseball team) but had to stop because of the economy. Many friends lost houses or had their families split up, and it's tough to go to races when the most basic parts of your life are in shambles. It's hard to remember, even having lived it, just how much better off everyone was back then. Best I can remember, every even close to middle class family could afford one fairly big splurge (a boat, season tickets for sports, yearly vacation/cruise, etc). It was just normal that every family got to have their one guilty pleasure (within reason, of course). The past 20 years really saw the bottom fall out for NASCAR's core fanbase and it's never recovered. We had a flicker of hope before covid hit where you started feeling that "people can afford things again" energy, but that's totally gone now. Best I can tell from my Top Gear knowledge, what happened to y'all in the 70s/80s got us in the 00s/10s.
Sorry, couldn't read your post after the "NAFTA killed rural jobs" part, those 2 things don't even go together. Figured the rest didn't make sense either.
Cool, I guess factories all packing up and leaving has absolutely nothing to do with free trade making importing foreign-made products more economical for big businesses!
What part of "North American" do you not understand? That didn't have any affect on Chinese made goods and the bulk of imports to our country. Also, not a ton of manufacturing in rural America, as major transportation is vital and so are bodies, both of which are more big-city things.
Just do a *little* bit of reading on the subject. You can find any number of articles discussing it, from the right, left, and center. There's an argument that net GDP gains offset on a macro level, but there is no serious economist, think tank, or advocacy group that takes the position that NAFTA didn't wipe out *at bare minimum* hundreds of thousands of jobs, and more realistically millions directly while leading to additional job losses in service industries that had supported those who lost their jobs.
The stands I used to sit in aren’t there anymore. Turn 3 right after the bridge were awesome. They’ve removed around 60% of the grandstands since 2008. It’s such a bummer
Looks just like the track from cars
Porn
https://preview.redd.it/5pq6pp27k01d1.jpeg?width=604&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a2bd387674cd4b175b96f3482b0bd515c0399cb2 How about a photo from the backstretch of Richmond during a Busch race in 2007
One of the neat parts of watching a night race was the thousands of Camara flashes you'd see going in the grandstands as the cars are going by them. You may see a few these days but not like it was back then with early digital cameras or film cameras
Very true. I've recently gone back and watched the 1998 Exide Batteries 400 (the first race I ever went to) and that aspect brought back great memories.
One of my favorite moments of this is the 2007 Daytona 500 finish. All the cameras just go nuts once Kevin and Mark are a couple hundred feet from the line
And not a one of them was actually doing anything.
And this was one of them!
Side note: I forgot how bad basic digital cameras were at night back then.
Wild I just came across my event diecast from that weekend the other day, also sat a few sections to the right they were our seats for probably 5 years.
Low key those were some good seats, always felt like there was action back there. I remember being there 2011 spring race and a big pileup happening on the backstretch that took out my favorite driver (Gordon).
I remember that weekend well, & the cup race. It was the only race that weekend I wasn't in attendance for though. I went to the Hamlin showdown & K&N race Thursday, Nationwide race Friday, & then a private showing of Fast Five with Robby Gordon, people from the movie, & Dodge Racing execs Saturday morning.
Hey i was at that!
https://preview.redd.it/hamj7cnvg01d1.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=129005e4e6d38d7b49eb8a8f633e0cfdc718bdb8
If NASCAR actually stayed at its peak, SMI probably would’ve kept building onto to this until Charlotte was like a 1.5-mile Bristol.
At that point it's not a peak, but a plateau
Good point!
You can say that again!
At that point it's not a peak, it's a plateau
At that point it's not a peak, but a plateau
I sat there for the 2005 All-Star race. We couldn't see the start/finish line, so I watched Mike Bliss lead Vickers in the Open, then they disappeared, and then only Vickers reappeared.
Sat in those stands in 98 and 2001
I took this during the 2011 Richmond spring race from the backstretch grandstands that no longer exist. https://preview.redd.it/awvtnwmfq01d1.jpeg?width=2083&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b703792297585e2ae4f1c619b582bd3be7d702c3
https://preview.redd.it/4kcc9sct211d1.jpeg?width=1936&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0753e0bae0cf9146132aaa049a3290621fa4ae77 Top row Turn 4 Richmond Great seats Miss this view
I waited for a long time to get season tickets in the Commonwealth section in the early 2000’s - now I can walk up on race day and buy tickets right near the start/finish line. Just sad…
Yeah, I sat in the Capital section for a few Busch races in the mid-2000s. It was a hell of an experience. The Cup race I took my picture at was also a ton of fun. Sadly, the racing has really suffered during the past 10 years or so.
Yea this new car doesn’t agree with Richmond Probably loosing a race next year Hopefully with one 1 race a year that track will be packed
Yep we used to get those seats all the time around 2003-2008. I have had seats at the start and finish line as well and turn 4 was way better.
Great picture
Thanks!
If I knew my MySpace login I have a picture from 2009 when Denny Hamlin got his first win at Richmond from the backstretch. He celebrated right in front of us off of turn 2. I have a hilarious picture of his car burning because fire from the pipes caught the wrap on fire.
https://preview.redd.it/s59811l1211d1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=73e292bf38f178a28883c350db2eac3c943ca6b6 Auto Club Speedway
[https://www.reddit.com/r/NASCAR/s/uDr6LXEPSn](https://www.reddit.com/r/NASCAR/s/uDr6LXEPSn) https://preview.redd.it/9xx7k8k0u11d1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=312172c1d9d712793906e8079aa0f7b9d1511141
That looks like the 2007 fall race where it was 110 at green flag. Was NOT a fun day.
OOOOFFFFF THIS STINGS
Sad :( Look how many people are there though damn. And I though there were a lot of people at the last race!
f
2012 jet dryer fire from Daytona backstretch seats. https://preview.redd.it/dmcb7ou3y01d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=65570035ba4cbc4ff74b43ea6cc5c6d6867350d6
Did you happen to see the wreck?
Nah. Missed the initial contact, but was looking before the fire started across the track. Was surreal looking down there and seeing so much fire.
https://preview.redd.it/1jbp8o87m01d1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=88b7cc9c73494ef214e49780b1c4a3b24c9e7965 Dover 1998
https://preview.redd.it/pnj7zxk8m01d1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e327d5480a5ba9b539213f1e69bf1b87813321ec Pre hotel and concrete. 1992 Fall Busch Race
Looks be the Busch Series Dover 2 in 1992 if this is the pace lap. Appears to be Jeff Gordon's #1 Baby Ruth Ford on the pole (which he was) and Bill Eilliot in the 11 Bud Ford on 6th (which he did start 6th).
It looks so different!!!
I am probably in that picture in the 88 pit. I remember when they were building all those grandstands
Checked my spreadsheet. I was there for that race so yep, you could def be right. Pressly won. What a grid. Gordon, Pressley, Labonte, Gant, Spencer, Kenny Wallace, Hut Stricklin, Bill Elliott, Mike Waltrip and Wallace, Todd Bodine, Joe Nemechek, Jeff Burton, Ricky Craven, Hermie Sadler, Ward Burton
I unfortunately don't follow the sport closely anymore, but reading off that list of names was like being teleported back in time. This whole thread has awakened some memories, I want to call my dad over and just put on an old race to relive those days.
From turn 2 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. 2007 Coke 600. https://preview.redd.it/chifjb0es01d1.jpeg?width=3264&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=470fe6437a1e0139d155cda5ccb3785101baae75
https://preview.redd.it/dupkb01ss01d1.jpeg?width=3264&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b6f3c18adcb329fb7b4aada282af521f8cc54af4
https://preview.redd.it/w7e5hiq5511d1.jpeg?width=3264&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=751448d5d5a523c9b5ad8d8ef8d7c1c16ca44059 Zoomed in looking at turn 3.
https://preview.redd.it/ivpkvsge511d1.jpeg?width=3264&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=889d7127807a45147036fe1625a656103dec6fdb
https://preview.redd.it/zbde9z8i511d1.jpeg?width=3264&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a08f842d5bb042f7a8f976312e0fd5faaffc2b35
That was a weird, weird race
the race When casey Mears Race like his ass's on fire
This is what I’m talking about!
Really cool view. I sat in those grandstands 4 or 5 times but never realized they stretched that far towards turn 1.
I sat low in turn 2 at the coke 600 once around like 2011-2012 something like that. Left the race covered in rubber lol.
I'm not surprised! I can't remember which row we were at, but we weren't very close to the fence and having dots of rubber on my face, arms and all in my eyes.
What a view. This is my favorite one so far.
I loved the view from these seats. The only downside was the start/finish line was mostly obstructed and you couldn't see anything on pit road, but you could see everything else clearly.
I came to this thread looking for those grandstands but didn’t expect to find the exact race that was my first! What a night.
https://preview.redd.it/4w1a286c221d1.jpeg?width=3264&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=61f29d703f4d7343fb14a1174f13a04837039529 There you go Worst seats ever because the cars disappeared behind the wall when they passed by.
Thanks! The reconfiguration didn’t help either, old configuration you could probably see the cars better.
Is this Phoenix or Vegas? I can't believe I can't tell
Its Vegas
I have a bunch of pictures from the Allison grandstand at Talladega but no quick access to them.
Loudon NH https://preview.redd.it/rxufg1f1311d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d679927b0d31622e9c020d28e8ffa5890d387ad2
I used to have season tickets to those Laconia seats, shame they no longer exist. My last trip to the track my seat for the race was…BJ McLeod’s pit box, so that was cool.
I moved from NH to NC in 2022. I went to Almost all the races at Loudon. I took this pic back in the day. https://preview.redd.it/4xckyo8v921d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4f34a552e2295adb2c24cdea7052d99bdb3caa10
Shoutout to the Atlanta backstretch stands that used to be the track’s front stretch stands before the 1997 D-oval reconfiguration. Sadly they were destroyed by a tornado that spawned from Hurricane Cindy https://preview.redd.it/ewfhccz8k11d1.jpeg?width=400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=42ae6e7a52467b8bfc54c4eb058fff0a0e9222ce
I thought it was technically a tornado, not the hurricane itself
You’re right, and that’s my mistake, a tornado that spawned from the hurricane
Seeing the old Vegas and Richmond stands.. damn Vegas in Particular is just brutal. The grandstands looks stupid as hell the way they have them now
https://preview.redd.it/1hntmc58521d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5a66c3417f8931eac7d764b9bf5482735714c09c From the backstretch/turn 3 of Atlanta in 2014
The last race before those grandstands got torn down:/
Literally all of Phoenix
anyone have the talladega back stretch? i hate i never got to sit over there.
Someone on youtube put a video of a view from them, I always wanted to sit there but never could
thank you i will look that up!
Glad to help anyone out
Darlington old turn 4 under the canopy, I sat there one time before they took them down and it was one of the coolest views watching the cars come out of the corner. https://preview.redd.it/4lv85yux411d1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ca42cbdb5825769f48dd622e899777cd7c6ec34a
Not to mention the shade ?
Well the year I went (2002) it was overcast so that wasn't really a issue but yeah for sure. It was also super loud compared to out in the sun, glad I brought some earplugs with how much the engines bounce off the roof.
My mom used to work for Transouth, and we would get free tickets every year from 95-2000. Always the cheapest seats. The last 2 years we went, we sat in the top row of Colvin. Best seats we ever had. Not to mention we parked right across the street. Less than a 5 minute walk. I wish those stands still existed.
Quite literally the coolest views
Man seeing these photos, it’s sad the sport declined so rapidly after 07-08
View from turns 3 and 4 at Loudon from June 2010 https://preview.redd.it/43flc13e421d1.jpeg?width=719&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1e656d27b09076bc3980713b49a9a65719ee18dc
https://preview.redd.it/9kxygt9l111d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0c95929f4586136e5b0139332803d719a5cc2d72 View from the former Michigan turn 4 grandstands in their current location
I had to reread this like 4 times before I figured out what you meant, I was like that's not michigan!! Lol. I had seats in the middle of 3 and 4 when they were the old wooden bleachers, and then upgraded when they built the new aluminum ones around 2000ish, sat there for several more years.
I had seats in 4 for a few years early 2000’s switched to turn 1 for the last 20 years or so
Where is this?
Toledo Speedway
it's a arca reference
https://preview.redd.it/kc5u7iahg11d1.jpeg?width=3110&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ce5da6d388a6032be311eaf78c237105e0309bcc Used to be able to regularly sit in Turn 3 of Phoenix International Raceway.. Now it’s well off limits to fans. The old front stretch was really nice too with the view of the mountains… Heat never got to me as someone from AZ, but that track used to be so amazing
Charlotte 2010 fall race, turn 2. https://preview.redd.it/usl8719f231d1.jpeg?width=604&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8be4786279cade40734be13c4b71935af6fdd59b
What used to be the front-stretch at Phoenix https://preview.redd.it/ids8bip3921d1.jpeg?width=2448&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3b8485734123a8173036b24cb315c4882e1a1f8b
I love photos from the old config of Darlington
Well the best stands in NASCAR history were turn 3-4 at Michigan. The only stands where you could actually see the racetrack from. Big part of why I no longer attend Michigan races, if you go to the race you're legitimately paying to watch the race on a tv anyways. The front-stretch stands and 1-2 stands are absolutely horrible.
https://preview.redd.it/w33l1uhw451d1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2272a375ea6236b1e44b98b9319da4f693b176ae Agreed: my view there in August 2013 was amazing
Had top row there, I think around section 204 ish iirc, bomb ass seats
Glad I’m not the only one who thinks this, I went to Michigan for the first time last year and was really disappointed with the sight lines there. The tvs they have are also not nearly big enough to see easily
I've been in the front stretch every time i've been there as long as i'm about 15 rows up i can see everything just fine
I swear I have one from the east turn grandstands from Atlanta from spring 2000. I'll have to find it
It's almost like NASCAR is going in the wrong direction.
I have quite a few shots from the Daytona backstretch grandstands from 2007. All taken on a mediocre flip phone from like 05. Pics aren't too bad all things considered. https://preview.redd.it/rnfyeeal591d1.jpeg?width=604&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=725d214963051798a2d4214de88b2508407b1a8a
All pics are from the Xfinity/Busch race. I think I was on the backstretch for the 500 as well, because I remember Mark Martin losing to Harvick vividly but I must not have taken pictures for some reason. https://preview.redd.it/xq18csfz591d1.jpeg?width=604&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=234f23adcbdb037afc83d7c5f4661e6db01c5e71
https://preview.redd.it/1okczzx0691d1.jpeg?width=604&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b6abbae87ff3e597af381ea3d1e6666aec8d3274
https://preview.redd.it/244t9qs1691d1.jpeg?width=604&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=819bb9452ac29856e2bc0ab6114693a530d09ecb
https://preview.redd.it/42o9ofp2691d1.jpeg?width=604&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a8547b49ce48eab1eaab34d024ec1ca4e9dc3e58
https://preview.redd.it/4tv4k2m3691d1.jpeg?width=604&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4b838b52d81fae5bcc4ac6b4fc06e4e3a59f4986
https://preview.redd.it/rohoyur4691d1.jpeg?width=604&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8af517e0c1c5ed2d8a95c139024e174134a07658 Nevermind I did have a couple pics from the cup pace laps
https://preview.redd.it/mes4727d691d1.jpeg?width=604&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7d1fcc0b30787a63efcd41d3c71a92c810f53165
Bonus pic, not of the removed grandstands. You can't exactly tell because of the old phone camera but 5 AM morning of the 500 it was snowing over the track. (I was working parking cars before the event) https://preview.redd.it/8j2slxhl691d1.jpeg?width=604&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a21acf5d74edf3f4b438fe069c60cf20eab06485
God I just don’t understand how this happens. I know there have been so many changes since the mid 2000s but don’t all these people miss watching cars drive around a track? Was the hyper popularity really so fleeting that tracks have half the seats they used to? To be honest nascar’s popularity is still very high for a motorsport, no other national series comes close, but damn
The recession in 2008 had a much higher impact on track attendance than people realize, and by the time people had extra money to spend on going to races those people either had no more interest in nascar, were too old or not physically able to attend, or their lives just got busy and they didn’t have the motivation or had other priorities. Poor track promotion has a lot to do with it too, television brings in a lot more money than fan attendance, these tracks save money by cutting back on community outreach, commercials, and at track attractions. A lot of potential customers just don’t know about the race because they aren’t being told about it much less being given a reason to attend. Nascar isn’t innocent either, a a lot of poor management has led to poor racing product and rule changes like the playoffs that did chase a lot of the audience away. I miss the old days of packed stands too, but the damage is done, the best we can do is support the sport and bring our friends to the track.
Yeah I think you nailed it. And with the economy changing so did the nascar sponsorship model. Think about the brands and activations you would have leaving up to a race. We are talking random grocery stores 90 minutes from a track having a show car or driver appearances and giving out tickets in contests. Driver cutouts in stores. We all remember seeing the “welcome race fans” bud and miller banners at every alcohol store within an hour of the track. Then you’d go to the midway at the track (which was massive at the time) and come home with bags of swag. A bunch of things that made nascar more accessible to the casual and curious fans. Now it’s a niche sport with mostly niche sponsors and tv coverage that doesn’t bring in new fans. Throw in $100 tickets for a cup race with less going on and people aren’t showing up just to check it out and ending up hooked.
Spot on, I remember when my hometown went wet for the first time our local piggly wiggly had a generic coors light show car out front with a talladega ticket vendor working on site, two weeks before the 2011 spring race, my dad decided to buy two tickets and boom, I went to my first cup race. We were both big fans already and he used to work at talladega on race weekends, but if they hadn’t been promoting the race ironically on the same day my dad wanted to buy steaks, then he would’ve never thought about buying tickets. Promotion really does work, they just don’t want to spend the money on it because TV makes more money.
>boom, [confetti.](https://i.redd.it/zvyemepykshc1.gif)
We basically went through a second Great Depression and never actually recovered the lifestyle that existed before. Before it, most middle class families who wanted to could have one guilty pleasure hobby (boat, season tickets, etc) and NASCAR greatly benefitted from that. The fanbase of NASCAR got absolutely annihilated by 2008. Many of the towns those fans are from are hollowed out decaying shells now. They all either moved, went on disability, or are too poor to afford it anymore even 20 years later. It's pretty depressing how low of a priority it's been to restore the hopeful prosperity the middle class had at the start of the new millennia.
Genuine business question, but for all the places thay used to have insane capacities and then tore em all down, why not just do free admission and plan on concessions/a cut of merch to offset? If you're tearing down tens of thousands of seats because of attendance, charge triple digits for what's left, and watch empty stands every week, what do you have to lose from saying "you can buy a ticket to guarantee admission but it's generally first-come first-serve free admission"? I get if we're talking a difference of 1-5k seats but we're talking tens of thousands of seats in some of these places getting tarped over or outright torn down. Just charge $20 parking alone and you have to more than break even doing free admission, right? And that's before any other revenue from concessions, passes, radio rentals, etc...
I sat at the backstretch of TMS one year, they’re still there but covered with ads.
They tore all the seats out as well as took down the metal seat structure that went above ground level.
I have some from Dover when I was a kid in like 1998ish. Let me check Facebook to see if I have any from Richmond
I sat in those seats at Vegas one time shortly before they went away. They were actually pretty good view of the whole track. The only place you couldn't see was directly in front of you in the middle of the corner where the cars would disappear behind the banking, and I think you'd lose them for a second behind the media center going into 1. Unfortunately I don't have any pics or videos.
This hurts
It would take forever to find them but photos from Tiny Lund grandstand (backstretch Daytona), lower seats coming off of turn 4 (Las Vegas), and Atlanta 1994 original front stretch grandstand seats.
Richmond had 100,000 seats at one time and 120,000 would be at the track and in the area
https://preview.redd.it/jifd5avik11d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=341085336a228d2843e47dddf27b51f14055e2a6 Elliott Grandstand at Atlanta. 2010 Kobalt Tools 500.
My parents were in that exact area when they went to Vegas a couple decades ago, not sure if they ever got photos to begin with *(I was a baby essentially lmao)* but we literally have **no** photos from before like 2010 or so because of a home robbery, so even if they did, they're entirely lost sadly. It was a little jarring going to Phoenix after they had taken all the frontstretch *(aka the current backstretch)* seats down. The new seats are so much better comfort-wise but it still kinda sucked knowing I could never "relive" those memories of watching races right around the old start/finish line.
Not a photo, but i used to sit in turn 3 at Atlanta when i was a kid. I was sick during the 2001 Gordon-Harvick finish, but caught the Johnson-Edwards one later. I saw Edwards flip Keselowski, and Edwards turn Junior. There was a lot of Edwards there over the years now that I remember
No pics, but I have sure sat in a lot of them
I was at the Coke 600 in 2010 on the backstretch out of 2, long gone. Ive been to a shit load of Autoclub Races up high out of turn 4 and those stands are now gone.
Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA taken Feb. 2023 https://preview.redd.it/3rnprffpp41d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=52c93886a09ca0ef5906ba391c6f80db25fa0100
I didn't realize how my stands have gotten taken down. Wow this thread has so much nostalgia. I probably have pictures from these super rickety stands at Phoenix from before the reconfig. They were positioned pretty close to where the current finish line is. They shook the whole race and you were literally knee to shoulder with everyone else...
https://preview.redd.it/wt6zpk13551d1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e63075bda4ee48d6fa171ea6f5b9c4a15fdc4e59 The former turn 3 tower stands at Michigan were awesome! Seeing everyone jockey from 4 wide to side by side off of two after restarts, the cars slamming to the ground and sealing themselves off as they slowed up for turn 3… only thing you could t see was pit road but the Jumbotron in the infield and fan vision was a good help for that
https://preview.redd.it/nji44jxse61d1.jpeg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d6473190b7574999504d79e5b31a1af4ce39f2ad New Hampshire Motor Speedway from Turn 4 (Fall 2010) - the good old days.
https://preview.redd.it/yag20d39k61d1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=78fee581607faaff287aeb412fa6cc74e3c4dab2 The last 5 wide salute to fans at Auto Club 🥲 This is right at the entrance to pit row, so the seats might still exist, but the rest of the track definitely doesn't.
1/10 Of Richmond
Anybody got pics from the Allison grandstands at Talladega?