Fontana tickets: selling well?

[cpthornman]

The broadcast has been on for about 25 minutes and they have yet to show the grandstands. Telling.

Maybe the'ye too busy showing the racing.

[Todd Gack]

While I don't think we are going to see a packed house tonight like they used to have in the late 90's for the Marlboro 500, I have to think the place will at least be over half full tonight. There's a lot of long time race fans in So Cal like me who are going to show up for the championship and because they haven't seen an IndyCar 500 miler at Fontana in 7 years.

Well, upon further review...

Pretty darned entertaining race though. You almost forget how good this sport can actually be, when you haven't seen a oval in several months.

"Special Ed" is a pretty good little driver, isn't he? Not bad for a USAC midpacker. If he can do it....

And feel good for Hunter-Reay. He was about done with AOW a few years ago. Thanks to that evil Tony George for keeping him around, when nobody else would hire him.

And Will Power? Another massive choke job. Can't describe it as anything less then that.

[cpthornman]

You almost forget how good this sport can actually be, when you haven't seen a oval in several months.

Because those twistys sure did suck.

[MoparsRule]

American race winner and an Ameri an Champion... That should satisfy some around here and put butts in the seats and eyes on the tube.

But then again it may not have been the right kind of Champion so maybe it won't make a difference for them.

[HUASOLANDIA]

We got numbers...

"............The partisan Fontana crowd, estimated at 25,000, ......"

Source: http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/artic...s-first-title/

[Spike]

That estimate is very generous.

While I don't think we are going to see a packed house tonight like they used to have in the late 90's for the Marlboro 500, I have to think the place will at least be over half full tonight.

Nowhere close to that.

Good race. Small crowd.

[Jakester]

Like it or not, I believe the realism is a 25K crows is a reasonable attendance. I'd also like to think that next year's crowd should be up from that...40K would be a realistic number to shoot for.

[Turn13]

You almost forget how good this sport can actually be...

I don't forget.

The whole point is the following ... TRY STUFF

You know what we tried that worked pretty well? Camp And Brew, and Viewing Parties.

We started with six people at the first viewing, and grew it into over a thousand in just a few years - and there were mostly new fans at them.

Of course, that was an amateur and unsupported effort, in both cases. And at one venue, one town, once a year. With the Split in full effect

But imagine what you could do with a little professionalism, sponsor activation, consistency and continuity in every town, every venue, every race.

[Scott200]

At the track the crowd seemed pretty light. It looked a lot worse when I saw it on TV after getting home. For sure it was a hot day, but I really thought they'd do better. A lot of folks missed a really good show last night.

Here a column in the Riverside Press Enterprise that talks about it:

http://blog.pe.com/gregg-patton/2012...u-stay-awhile/

[skypigeon]

They've got two years to find the right approach. Last night was a big fundamental step in the right direction: A good race.

[railroad]

Maybe the'ye too busy showing the racing.

Nope. Prerace. Any other excuses?

[Todd Gack]

Because those twistys sure did suck.

Several of them did.

And this sport has way, way too many slow speed, borefest road/street races. Watching 230 MPH race cars, trundle around on 100 MPH courses not built for race cars is not exactly the essence of high speed AOW. Not sellable and a bad TV product.

And America is telling us that, year-in and year-out.

[cpthornman]

Several of them did.

Which ones? I can only think of two. Belle Isle and Sonoma.

[HUASOLANDIA]

Curt Cavin´s Blog:


"I was told by someone I trust that there were 25,000 paid."

I think that number is good for the first race in Fontana in seven years.


Source: http://blogs.indystar.com/racingexpe...medium=twitter

[speedgeek]

Several of them did.

And this sport has way, way too many slow speed, borefest road/street races. Watching 230 MPH race cars, trundle around on 100 MPH courses not built for race cars is not exactly the essence of high speed AOW. Not sellable and a bad TV product.

And America is telling us that, year-in and year-out.

First, the series needs more good ovals, that's true (IMO).
Second, it's not a 230 mph car anymore. Needs to be.
Third, (and you did not say this here, I know) IC can't win the battle with NASCAR for droning around ovals for hours. That didn't work.

Finally, not sure what the story was this year, but in recent years when you compared network to network, R&S had higher ratings than ovals did (Indy is the exception, of course).

[HUASOLANDIA]

Dave Furst´s Twitter says it was a 34k

"leftovers: attendance-34k; KVRacing entertains HVM merger; Rubens needs $ for move to Honda/Schmidt; dry heat is a myth"

So, 25-34k. Not bad.

[carl s]

This year the crowds were dismal for the Route 66 Rendevous, although near normal in the evenings.
A lot of us are getting too old to get fried and then fried again in the sun.

President of the Speedway, Gillian Zucker is I'm sure distraught and after pushing so hard for this race had to miss it while recovering from brain surgery (non-mailgnant tumor).

Hopefully next year will see an improved Indycar presence in the area.
http://www.pe.com/photos/photos-spor...10#ssTop717131

And next year there should be an attempt to allign the Indycars with the 4 day Route 66 Rendevous with its 400K plus attendees.
http://blog.pe.com/cassie-macduff/20...66-rendezvous/

City of San Berdo filed bankruptcy and this event - Route 66 Rendevous-was in jeapordy but 'the faithful' quickly kicked in the monies that the SB Visitors Bureau no longer had at its disposal.

The City says the event normally hosts 500K fans over the 4 days.
http://www.sbsun.com/breakingnews/ci...spirit-culture

Next year it could be a good idea to try and integrate the Indycar Race into the Route 66 Rendevous in some way and take advantage of the exposure and share of the crowd that's already been harvested just a few miles from the Speedway.