Thursday, November 8, 2007, 7:54 AM
One of several reasons those cookie cutter tracks have come into vogue is the fact they can fit more fans on the front straight, therefore more fans can see the pits, which, in theory, would make more fans want to come to the race. This is why Atlanta took a wonderful oval with two distinctly different turns and went to the two-bend front straight.
One of several reasons those cookie cutter tracks have come into vogue is the fact they can fit more fans on the front straight, therefore more fans can see the pits, which, in theory, would make more fans want to come to the race. This is why Atlanta took a wonderful oval with two distinctly different turns and went to the two-bend front straight.
Atlanta Past 
Atlanta Present 
Why do they do this? They have to put butts in the seats. Dovers sanctioning fees this year were over $5.0 million dollars per race (this included the purse). The track owners keep 65% of the gate with the rest going to NASCAR (this is on top of the sanctioning fees).
Seating capacity is 135,000 at Dover. So, 135,000 x $118.00 (just a guess) = $16.0 million x 65% = $10.0 million for the track. Subtract the $5.0 million sanctioning fee & purse and the track realizes a gross profit of only $5.0 million per race. This is a very loose look at the numbers and does NOT include the percentage of the television package that tracks receive. I know the Busch races earn the track 5.75% of the TV package and the last I heard, tracks received about 65% of the Nextel TV package, or about $6.19 million per race ($2.4 Billion x 65% = 1.56 Billion / 7 yrs = $223.0 mil / 36 races = $6.19 mil), but even with that, a track like Dover might gross around $22.0 million a year. But when you subtract operating and upkeep costs for that track over the course of a year, I suspect that number shrinks significantly.
Now take a track like Darlington. How does it survive? It doesn't have the room to expand beyond its current 65,000 seats (a railroad track on one side and a highway on another), so what can they do? How does a new track, knowing the costs, build any other kind of track? Martinsville survives because they can seat 91,000 while Bristol seats a whopping 160,000 fans!
Obviously these numbers are very basic. They don't include the income from sponsorships (although Pocono is famous for NOT selling the name of the race... for any amount), other income the tracks have for the rest of the year, ie; concerts, driving schools, vendors fees, parking fees etc., but are for a better view of why new tracks are the way they are.
It always comes down to dollars and cents in Nascar. A few more short tracks would be awesome, but what kind of seating can you have? What else can you do with the property during the rest of the year? You would hope that Nascar would cut a few tracks a break, just for the sake of tradition. But Nascar has proven that it talks out of both sides of its mouth.
Tradition or dollars...
who do you think is going to win?
Atlanta Present Why do they do this? They have to put butts in the seats. Dovers sanctioning fees this year were over $5.0 million dollars per race (this included the purse). The track owners keep 65% of the gate with the rest going to NASCAR (this is on top of the sanctioning fees).
Seating capacity is 135,000 at Dover. So, 135,000 x $118.00 (just a guess) = $16.0 million x 65% = $10.0 million for the track. Subtract the $5.0 million sanctioning fee & purse and the track realizes a gross profit of only $5.0 million per race. This is a very loose look at the numbers and does NOT include the percentage of the television package that tracks receive. I know the Busch races earn the track 5.75% of the TV package and the last I heard, tracks received about 65% of the Nextel TV package, or about $6.19 million per race ($2.4 Billion x 65% = 1.56 Billion / 7 yrs = $223.0 mil / 36 races = $6.19 mil), but even with that, a track like Dover might gross around $22.0 million a year. But when you subtract operating and upkeep costs for that track over the course of a year, I suspect that number shrinks significantly.
Now take a track like Darlington. How does it survive? It doesn't have the room to expand beyond its current 65,000 seats (a railroad track on one side and a highway on another), so what can they do? How does a new track, knowing the costs, build any other kind of track? Martinsville survives because they can seat 91,000 while Bristol seats a whopping 160,000 fans!
Obviously these numbers are very basic. They don't include the income from sponsorships (although Pocono is famous for NOT selling the name of the race... for any amount), other income the tracks have for the rest of the year, ie; concerts, driving schools, vendors fees, parking fees etc., but are for a better view of why new tracks are the way they are.
It always comes down to dollars and cents in Nascar. A few more short tracks would be awesome, but what kind of seating can you have? What else can you do with the property during the rest of the year? You would hope that Nascar would cut a few tracks a break, just for the sake of tradition. But Nascar has proven that it talks out of both sides of its mouth.
Tradition or dollars...
who do you think is going to win?
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