but what gets me though pay $110 for a ticket and leave early or in the case
of the people in front of us $550

One time, I bought a walk-in ticket at Atlanta.  I stood in the infield
listening to the cars, wishing I could actually see them.  You can’t see
much if you’re standing in the infield with all the things blocking your
vision.

"John McCoy" <igop…@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message

news:Xns94C4C44A4E003pogonewsguy@129.250.170.93…

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -

> "Tommy Wood" <tgw…@nospam.com> wrote in
> news:1076mhgq9ipim22@corp.supernews.com:

> > Infield Capacity approx. 53,000 per TMS website <<<Is this high?
> > There are about 1000 camper spaces and it’s sold out, so that would be
> > about 4 persons per camper plus 13,000 walk-in tickets.  It’s probably
> > not exaggerated too much.  I’ve seen some buses with 10 people in
> > them, so it balances out with the couples  or threesomes in an RV.>>>

> 1000 campers @ 4 per works out to 4000 people, plus 13000 walkins
> gives 17000, not 53000.  I’m not sure if you meant 10000 camper
> spaces or 40 people per camper (neither of which sound reasonable),
> but either way there’s a problem here.

> John

> One time, I bought a walk-in ticket at Atlanta.  I stood in the
> infield listening to the cars, wishing I could actually see them.  You
> can’t see much if you’re standing in the infield with all the things
> blocking your vision.

I have always been under the impression that folk in the infield
don’t actually go to look at a cars.  At least, not the male
portion of the audience.

John

I’ve counted the number in the grandstands and I think TMS is counting all
the PAID admissions, meaning that all those Season Ticket Holders who don’t
go to the IRL or CTS races, get counted.

Sometimes at the other races, I’ll walk through the grandstands and count
the average number of people on a row and then do the math.  Generally, TMS
estimates it high by a factor of 1 1/2 to 2 (ie. 45,000 attend, but 90,000
paid).

Kind of deceptive, I think.  They ought to count the actual pass-thru at the
gate, not tickets sold.  Just my opinion.

The main difference, I think, is that everybody who buys a Cup ticket goes
to the race or sells it to somebody who goes to the race, so almost every
seat is full.

"Martin X. Moleski, SJ" <mole…@canisius.edu> wrote in message
news:te387019anoquvf9beov8gveefq5ndsfiv@4ax.com…

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -

> On Wed,  7 Apr 2004 06:44:56 CST, "Tommy Wood" <tgw…@nospam.com>
> wrote:

> > … Add it all up and I get about 123,540 + 53,000 + 33,600 + 6,600 +
13, 192 +
> >3,800 + 1,400 = 235,132.  OK, this might be high; sure, every suite might
> >not be full, etc., but it’s pretty close.  And, looking out at 650 acres
of
> >solid rows of cars means there are a lot of people there.

> >TMS advertises Total Estimated Capacity = 204,861 on their web site, but
> >that doesn’t include suites, speedway club, etc.

> >So, Poole is right, in a way, but he’s wrong in another way.  Sure,
there’s
> >grandstand seating for about 157,000, but there are condos, infield, and
> >suites to add
> >to the grandstand seating.

> Cool analysis, Tommy.

> Thanks for the facts and figures.

> Marty

> … Add it all up and I get about 123,540 + 53,000 + 33,600 + 6,600 + 13, 192 +
>3,800 + 1,400 = 235,132.  OK, this might be high; sure, every suite might
>not be full, etc., but it’s pretty close.  And, looking out at 650 acres of
>solid rows of cars means there are a lot of people there.
>TMS advertises Total Estimated Capacity = 204,861 on their web site, but
>that doesn’t include suites, speedway club, etc.
>So, Poole is right, in a way, but he’s wrong in another way.  Sure, there’s
>grandstand seating for about 157,000, but there are condos, infield, and
>suites to add
>to the grandstand seating.

Cool analysis, Tommy.

Thanks for the facts and figures.

                                Marty

> Infield Capacity approx. 53,000 per TMS website <<<Is this high?
> There are about 1000 camper spaces and it’s sold out, so that would be
> about 4 persons per camper plus 13,000 walk-in tickets.  It’s probably
> not exaggerated too much.  I’ve seen some buses with 10 people in
> them, so it balances out with the couples  or threesomes in an RV.>>>

1000 campers @ 4 per works out to 4000 people, plus 13000 walkins
gives 17000, not 53000.  I’m not sure if you meant 10000 camper
spaces or 40 people per camper (neither of which sound reasonable),
but either way there’s a problem here.

John

So, just for grins, let’s do the math.  —-  This is a long, boring post,
so if you’re an impatient soul, just go to the next post.

First of all, you might think I’m kidding, but I’ve been to five Cup races
at TMS and I’ve walked through the grandstands on Cup day.  THERE IS NOT ONE
SINGLE EMPTY SEAT!!!  I’ve checked.  Believe me, I’ve checked.  It’s the
most amazing thing you’ve ever seen.  OK, I haven’t walked all 98 sections
of the grandstand, but I have walked 10 or 15 sections and believe me, there
is not one empty seat, so let’s just calculate the grandstand capacity and
if it’s off by a few people, shoot me.

Front straightaway grandstand: (66 rows by 97 sections by 20 seats per row
minus turn 4 reconfiguration) = 128,040 minus 4500 = 123, 540   <<<turn 4
reconfiguration took about 15 rows away in about 15 sections x 20 seats per
row = >>>

Infield Capacity approx. 53,000 per TMS website <<<Is this high?  There are
about 1000 camper spaces and it’s sold out, so that would be about 4 persons
per camper plus 13,000 walk-in tickets.  It’s probably not exaggerated too
much.  I’ve seen some buses with 10 people in them, so it balances out with
the couples  or threesomes in an RV.>>>

Back straight grandstand = : 33,600 (60 sections x 28 rows x 20 seats per
row)

Speedway Club =  6600  (10 sections x 33 rows x 20 seats per row)

Luxury Suites: 194 with seating for 13,192  <<<You can bet these will be
full.  You pay for it, so wouldn’t you be crazy not to make sure the tickets
are used?>>>

Condos:  76 condos x 35 guests = 3,800

Office Suites:  Don’t know if they’re allocated spaces, so let’s assume
zero.

Temporary bleachers (called party zones, sponsored by various companies) =
1400    (35 rows x 40 seats per row = 1400)

Workers (concession and track workers) = <<<Do they count?  Well, the
concession workers do sneak over to watch the race when they’re not busy,
but just for grins, we won’t count them. >>>

Add it all up and I get about 123,540 + 53,000 + 33,600 + 6,600 + 13, 192 +
3,800 + 1,400 = 235,132.  OK, this might be high; sure, every suite might
not be full, etc., but it’s pretty close.  And, looking out at 650 acres of
solid rows of cars means there are a lot of people there.

TMS advertises Total Estimated Capacity = 204,861 on their web site, but
that doesn’t include suites, speedway club, etc.

So, Poole is right, in a way, but he’s wrong in another way.  Sure, there’s
grandstand seating for about 157,000, but there are condos, infield, and
suites to add
to the grandstand seating.

"Steve Scott" <ssco…@twcny.rr.com> wrote in message

news:4il270pn52cdo6npgeh16b28rn2smkrhhi@4ax.com…

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -

> On Sun,  4 Apr 2004 19:59:06 CST, "Tommy Wood" <tgw…@nospam.com>
> wrote:

> >If 210,000 show up for a bad race, I wonder how many will show up for a
good
> >race when the groove widens up?

> According to David Poole there’s only seating for about 157,000.  He
> said the media center was full but not that full.  :)

> —
> Sometimes I feel like a figment of my
> own imagination.

news:4il270pn52cdo6npgeh16b28rn2smkrhhi@4ax.com…

> According to David Poole there’s only seating for about 157,000.  He
> said the media center was full but not that full.  :)

seems like first race in 2000 i went down to TMS for the announcer mentioned
over 200,000 there total with the folks in the infield

> I couldn’t make out what happened in the caution-after-the caution.

> Someone did something bad on the restart.  The PRN guys said,
> "Cautions breed cautions," but they didn’t seem to have any
> coherent explanation of who hit whom when and why.

Everyone on the inside line checked up except the 25 car, who
got into the back of Wimmer pretty good ("lifted him" to use
the current lingo), which turned Wimmer sideways into the
outside line, which was moving right smartly by then, and
Mayfield had nowhere to go.  Stove in the right side of the
Cat car, and punched a hole in Mayfield’s radiator.

John

>> Someone did something bad on the restart.  The PRN guys said,
>> "Cautions breed cautions," but they didn’t seem to have any
>> coherent explanation of who hit whom when and why.
>Everyone on the inside line checked up except the 25 car, who
>got into the back of Wimmer pretty good ("lifted him" to use
>the current lingo), which turned Wimmer sideways into the
>outside line, which was moving right smartly by then, and
>Mayfield had nowhere to go.  Stove in the right side of the
>Cat car, and punched a hole in Mayfield’s radiator.

Thanks for the replay, John.

Tough break for everybody.  Big ripple effect behind
the incident and up front, too–KK could have used
the extra laps to run down Sadler.

                                Marty