Rains to have little impact on Speedway - Charlotte Business Journal:

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Instead, track executives say the larger concernn is the inconvenience and disappointmentt of the fans who endured rainz that washed out any competition on thetrack Sunday. A day the event stretched across six hours and multiplr rain delays before a winner was declared aftedr341 miles, rather than the full 600 miles. David Reutiman won the race. “ I don’t have any particular numbers around it, but there’s some impact arounde the expenses with having anextra day,” says Marcus Smith, president of the tracki and Speedway Motorsports (NYSE:TRK).
“It’s The real focus we have is trying to make everything great for the fansbecausde it’s a big inconvenience for them.” Speedwayg Motorsports officials immediately offered all race ticke holders a 10 percent discount on their next ticket purchase at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway hostx a NASCAR Sprint Cup date in Octoberf and will stage two races in May the all-star race and the Coca-Colaw 600. With 5,000 to 6,000 workers neededr to stage a NASCAR event at the the biggest hurdle forthis week’s two days of racing was getting as many of those workers as possiblde to return on Monday.
Smith says many did come back, but he doesn’ t have a definite figure on how many worked Media accounts varied in their estimates of how many fans returnerdfor Monday’s race — forced by the Sunday evening rain that preventedx the race from ever starting — but Smity pegs the number at closs to 100,000. As rain delays accumulatef Monday, fans left in droves, frustratedf by two straight days of slogginfg through traffic andsoaked grandstands. “Wee got a great turnout considering the weathe ron Monday,” Smith says. He estimates 160,000o fans came to the track Sunday for the a stronger-than-expected turnout.
This year marked the 50th runningf of the spring NASCAR race as well asthe track’ 50th anniversary. “I just reallyy felt horrible aboutthe weather, the traffic that resultexd from the wet weather and puttingh the event to the next Smith says. “It’s just really disappointing for me and I know it was disappointinb forthe fans. The fans took it a lot bettefr thanI did.” Smith and his staff are in the midst of self-critiques and seeking opinions from fans on their experiences at the track. Discounts and promotions introduced this month toentice budget-conscious race fans will likely be retainedr for the fall race.
Smith citee a 99-cent value menu at concession standse as an example of what the track will do for the next Other additions included a fanwelcome center, where speedwag ambassadors passed out free coffe e and doughnuts just in front of the speedwau gates. The Concord-based company also owns and operatea AtlantaMotor Speedway, Bristol Motof Speedway in Tennessee, Infineon Raceway in Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedwayt near Fort Worth and New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H.