Not many people in the Grandstands at MS?

[Robin Plummer]

I noted that especially on the bends there were no one in the grandstands at the race at the weekend at MS. Why? no intrest in Champ Cars or do you think that the accidents in the past that have killed spectators have affected the gate?

[Dave S]

I've never been there, but have heard it stated elsewhere that MIS holds so many people that 60,000 looks empty. Also probably has something to do with overkill in the local market. Detroit wasn't long ago, & how many races are there within a relatively small area?

[KC]

The front grandstands were full and the end stads were more sparsely populated and I would imagine the back straight stands were closed off and not available for seating. I think the place seats over 130,000 and it was around 1/2 full.

[Crash Test]

So do we think when Detroit gets the flick, Michigan will go up?

[wallbanger]

Having been to Michigan when the place was sold-out (110,000 humanoids for the US 500 in 1996) my estimate of Sunday's 'crowd' is that it was about 1/4 capacity. People here in the States have said that upward of 60,000 were in attendance. I don't buy that.

In any case, no one ever expects those grandstands uptrack of the Main one and the one in Turn 1 to be used except when the NASCAR Good ol' Boys come to town...they fill the place like the Inaugural US 500 did. And that's another reason why it's tough to sell CART tickets there - cross-over fans, unfortunately, have to choose which series to spend the big bucks on!

[Liz]

Fontana was virtually empty on Friday and Saturday both, although they only charged $10 to get in. On race day we were not crowded the way we always are at the Molson Indy (in fact a lot of people who were at Fontana would have had to buy two seats at the Molson Indy to have room enough.)

Maybe street courses are just more popular than ovals.

[Jay]

I think that last statement has been proven.

Althogh I would note that most of the street races can be reached by public transit.

Is there a way to get to Michigan Speedway without a car? Or very many other ovals?

[Robin Plummer]

Your lucky you live in the US. A standing ticket not in any grandstands at the British Grand Prix is £90, £180 for a grandstand!. (sorry don't know the conversion to dollars!)

I cant wait for Rockingham Champ Car race in England next year hopefully the priceing structure will be like the US!!

[Liz]

Go to the ALMS races when they come to the UK - they only cost 10 GBP and the racing is awesome. Don Panoz has the right idea - racing for the fans. CART so far has kept us in mind as well.

Tony George (blast him) on the other hand, has already begun promoting "his" F1 race for the High Rollers with emphasis on the Paddock Club and other expensive frills that have nothing to do with racing.

It's a disease with them.

[Neil C]

Originally posted by Jay
Is there a way to get to Michigan Speedway without a car? Or very many other ovals?

Yes. Bus shuttles. Besides, 130,000 Nascar fans find a way to get to the track. Being on a subway route is not a factor in the success of these races.

Indy is in the middle of a suburb of Indianapolis. I've walked to the track from my hotel.

Many road circuits are just as remote as ovals. If people want to go, they will find a way to get there.

[bella]

neil c - would it be possible for a girl on her own to get there without being assaulted, and without a hirecar?
sometimes, it just ain't that simple....

[Liz]

It was quite easy to get to Fontana although I had to have someone drive me to the train station; there's a train that runs right to the Oval. It's actually much easier to get there by train (once you get to the station) than by car, as the parking lots are huge and the signage directing you to the ticket office is nonexistent - and once you get to the ticket office, the ticket agents don't know what the schedule is, and don't care either (although they were sweet and cute, they were pig-ignorant).

But the big problem at Fontana is that there is nothing to do once you get there - unless there's activity on the track, there's simply nothing else to do. The midway did not have much gear to sell, and there were no 'events' as there are in Toronto; there was no run-up to the race, i.e. nothing going on in the community prior to the race; and there was not much coverage in the papers. The track is isolated from the community at large and it's simply too hard to get there unless you are a really devoted fan.

As far as "if you want to get there you will get there", tell me how to get to Mosport without a car. It cannot be done. Since I can't drive anymore, I can't go there unless someone takes me. It's easier for me to get to Monza than to Mosport.

[AndrettiRULES]

MIS now holds 150,000 in the grandstands, and an extra 20,000 in the infield for the NASCAR races....but CART only pulls in about 50,000-60,000 for their races. These #'s are nearly equal with many very popular road races, are they not?! (I could be mislead on that one) but because of the large amt. of stands for the NASCAR races it appears as if the place is empty when CART goes there.

I was in the infield all weekend and have to comment that the place was very empty (infield), but there were still a lot of people there, you just have to realize the size of the track!

IMO there were definitely more people there than last year, but they're still far short of what NASCAR can pull in.

FYI, I had an excellent view of Kurosawa's qualifying incident. It's amazing @ how loud the bang is when they make contact with concrete. Luckily he will be OK, although I was somewhat concerned when I saw the Medical Helicopter leaving the track in such a short amt. of time after the incident.

AR

[Liz]

Christian went off on a stretcher, is he okay? Until Brack and Gil get hold of him, anyway?

[AndrettiRULES]

I was unaware that Fittipaldi was taken away in a stretcher, his incident happened along the backstretch and he ended up at the beginning of Turn 3. I was in the Turn 4 infield area. The only thing I heard over the P.A. was that he was limping considerably but appeared to be OK.

After watching RPM2Night this evening, they didn't mention anything about him being hurt, only some bruises....but they said that he was a lucky man that his car did not go tumbling down the backstretch.

AR

[Crash Test]

I really dont get this "the track is a long way away from the centre of town" thing. Is it just me, or would the public want a race track right on their doorstep? would it b allowed? people would start to cry about the traffic and the noise, and would be generally unhappy with the whole situatiion.

I think that makes a day at the races all that more worthwile if you have to hike a fair way to get there...heck , if there was a track in my backyard it would probably be a case of "ooh wow, race car [sarcasm]"