Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

That picture was taken pretty early in the evening. A lot were still out back near the concessions at that time. Also if the Sprints werent running it seemed like a mass exodus to get out of the stands before the support classes starting running. I can see where I am at and know for a fact more people sat around me during the night. I think it was close to 75 to 80 percent when everyone was actually sitting.

That pic was taken adout 7:30. Crowd never got any bigger. Only 2 sections look fairly full. I posted that pic on twitter. I was disappointed at how few fans were ther. The race was well promoted for weeks. I thought the NSL racing was real good. Don't know why the crowd was light. Cool weather, ticket price, tracks rep for long delays to rework track during the night, difficulty getting out after the races? Prob a little of all those things. If you are in a hurry to leave after a race at 34, especially the WoO show, park on the road leading to the track. Fastest way to get away by far.

I was one of the earlier cars to leave after the sprint feature. Most people couldnt see the 2 trains that came through within 10 mins of each other. ive never seen that kind of bad timing at Burlington before. Yes it is always a pain in the ass to get out of there but, those 2 trains made it wayyyyy worse. 

I thouhht it was a great show minus the 4 cylinders and wanna b midgets. I love USAC/POWRI midgets 

Ask any promoter they will tell you crowds look bigger when you are sitting in them than looking up from the pits. This is a nice facility. Just don't think they know how to prep the track for a big field of 410s. The races are usually good there if you don't mind the delays to rework the track. That seems to be pretty normal here. I think the NSL is doing a lot of good things.

I can tolerate the mods if I have to but those 4 cyl are just sad. That is why I went to the pits. I could watch the sprint car guys work on their cars while that junk was running.

Yup, I was in line when I heard the first one. Felt sick when I heard the 2nd comming.  Those really made a tough situation worse.

If you sent me a picture of the stands at noon there would likely be no one in them.

1. "Alcohol free" stands at 6:00 are not a good indication of the crowd.  The main portion of the grandstands were much more full than your photo-which shows the "alcohol-free" part of the stands.  (I use quotes because it is the name of these stands not an actual indication that they are indeed alcohol free)

2.  1/3 of the crowd hung out under or behind the stands until 7:30--about 1-1.5 hours after your picture.

3.  The reason people parked along the road?  The lot was completely full.  We pulled in at 6:00.  One car parked along the road and the lot was within 10-15 minutes of being full.  I would say by 6:15, there was no more room for parking. 

Please send me a photo during the actual racing of sprint cars.  Otherwise, I am sticking to "the grandstands were 75-80% full"-from my vantage point.    

Nobody has mentioned the fence redesign in turn 3... which is great... much better than the pieced together fence with not one, but two blunt ends... one of which split Brad Sweet's car in two last year!  Kudos to 34 Raceway for fixing that!  

I only watched on PPV, but from the camera angles they had (during the races) as well as during downtime, it was at best 50% full (they showed some camera angles where there were only 4-5 people in an entire row and many of hte lower rows had 0 people in them.  Could everyone have been down below standing in line buying concessions?  I suppose so, I wasn't there.

The main thing is for the future.  Did the track make $$ to where they would be willing to hold another one?  I'd guess yes, but depends on how many concessions they sold and what they charged the support cars and teams to get into the pit area.  If they didn't make $$, I'd say it's doubtful they would try to get them back again.

Did the event overall go smoothly?  I'd say yes, the injury in the stands created a very long intermission that was unforseen by anyone.  Take that away and the sprint feature was over by 10:30.  Don't understand the time limit for the 410 feature yet the mods took 5 tries to get their feature started....

Were the races good?  Yes, TMAC threatened to run away with it until he spun out by himself and good charges put on by Kaeding and others from the back.  Heats were blah, but they usually are at every track.  Good win for WJ and BC looks like he's getting the hang of having the "crutch" on top of the car.

A better way to judge would be to see what happens when the NSL returns to Burlington.  Will there be more people in the stands for the next one?  We won't know for a while.

oswald pretty much nailed it on why the crowd wasn't as large as expected. High priced tickets, reworking the track, getting home late, 4 bangers running. Actually the traffic jam getting out doesn't bother me because its to be expected due to the limited roads getting out.

Whatever happened to a show that runs thru without long breaks to sell hot dogs? Isn't that some of the reason for support classes so other classes can work on their cars during those events? Nothing more boring than sitting in the stands looking at an empty race track. Also what happened to track prep so it can go all night without being reworked?

Cue the "Don't like it stay the hell home." crowd. Don't worry, I did.

That pic shows all but a very small part of the stands down towards turn 4. I didn't try and get those in the pic cause they were empty. If you think it only shows the booze free part then you think all the stands are alcohol free. Pic was not taken at 6pm. Add 1/3 more for those under the stands and it still is not 80% full. Sorry if facts offend you. I am not bashing the show or the track. Thats just how it was. A lot of people missed a good sprint car show.

And I was really happy with the change to the trn 3 wall. Awesome improvement.

For 1.4 million you can buy that place. If anyone is interested.

There were definitely more people than the photo showed. It may not have been 80% but it was more than the photo shows. I can see the area where I sat wide open in this picture and it was mostly full later in the evening.

The stands filled up a bunch after you took that picture and you know it. 

How can you take a picture with no cars on the track and say that was how many people where there?

You caught me. There was never a time after the first cars rolled out for hot laps that there was never a car on the track.

I give up. The stands were over flowing with fans. They were standing 5 deep at the fences. Bet there were 10000 crammed into those 3800 seats. And another few thousand in line at the concesion stand. Whatever. I bet Amy wishes all those people you all saw really were there!

You know, I watch a lot of races on TV and wonder how they can afford to hold the event for the $$$ being paid out--cause it looks like the stands are empty from across the track.  Your picture paints and entirely different picture than the one I saw from the side of the stands.  I thought the crowd was very nice for a non-WOO event.  Did the track make money?  They better have made money--It was April 11th--you aren't going to get a crowd like that on most April 11th's.

So-to be fair, maybe those of us sitting on the side of the crowd are unreasonable to estimate a 75% crowd.  To be fair-maybe those of you who saw the crowd from the pits (or TV) and say the crowd sucked need to listen to those of us who were sitting amonst it.  The crowd was very nice, the concessions were full at all times and there was a massive line at the restrooms during every break.  The track and the promoter made money-rest assured.  If they didn't, I don't know what they had hoped for in early spring. 

Going off Bill W's photo (allbeit only having a small section of grandstand shown) during the 4-wide salute to the crowd, I'd say Oswald isn't far off, I'd guess 50% capacity if the other sections looked similar to the one in Bill W's photo (bottom rows had 0 people in them, and they weren't "packed in tight" in the upper rows either.

Hopefully the show made $$ for the track (which is what the goal is, if they make $$, they have more shows in the future).

stands look 40% full

You have to remember that the camera adds 1o pounds,.......so actually about 40% full.    Several friends in the Knox area mentioned the main reason they didn't go was the ticket price.   They and alot of people were under the impression of the NSL that there would be no sanctioning fees so the tickets could be priced reasonably and I believe I read some early stuff about keeping the tickets in the $15 to $20 range,

One of the main reasons I didn't go -- $40 minimum for tix for my son and I, $35 or more in gasoline to get there and home (and getting home around 1am or later), since they weren't offering pre-sale tickets, having to get there early to get seats where we wanted to sit, we'd be eating a meal on the road and again in the stands made that an easy $125 trip for me from Knoxville.  Why they weren't selling the reserved seating in advance made ZERO sense to me, but that's what I expect from my other experiences with Burlington.

If adult tickets would have been in the $15-20 range, it would have been a much harder decision to stay home.

Considering Knoxville is charging the same as their weekly shows as they are for the NSL, I look for them to have very good crowds as there is no added expense (even for the $5000 to win shows they have) for the fans over coming over for a weekly race.

Maybe Super Chuck looks at things a little different, but ticket prices aren't a deal breaker for a chance to see a good show.  Does Super Chuck prefer to pay $15?  Sure.  Does he stay home because it's $25?  Hell no.  The day he looks at ticket prices and decides to stay home is the day that Super Chuck buys a rocking chair and starts yelling at kids for walking on his lawn.

You had the innagural NSL event, LOADED field of talent, at a bad ass racetrack <3 hours from home?  And you stayed home? Wow. That just shows how spoiled us Knoxville fans are having such a great race track in our backyard.

Super Chuck and Mrs. Chuck found a sitter for the baby Chucks and rolled out.  Dropped 70 bones on pit passes and had a fantastic time and saw a pretty good race. Got back to the house at 2 AM and never regretted it for a second. 

Shout out to Tod and his crew for putting this deal together.  Super Chuck wishes the series nothing but the best of luck. One note that hasn't been publicized (but should be) was the fact that they brought in the traveling fire crew from Sioux Falls (Team Extreme?) for the event and it sounds like they will be at all of the NSL shows.  First class decision to protect your guys.

Super Chuck