Daytona’s Chitwood Says 500 Attendance Was Up “Significantly”

Chitwood happy with 500 attendance

Daytona Int'l Speedway saw an attendance uptick for yesterday's Daytona 500 over last year, with the 300 and 400 level of seats in the new frontstretch grandstand effectively selling out, according to track President Joie Chitwood III. The track is in the middle of its $400M Daytona Rising renovation, with completion scheduled for next year. Chitwood, who during the early portion of yesterday’s race walked the concourses encompassing the 40,000 new frontstretch seats that are already installed, said the race “was not sold out, but we were up significantly over last year."

Chitwood: “That’s a big deal for us – especially moving into next year, when everything is going to be done. I was pleased with the backstretch, which is usually not the best location to be at a race. But I actually thought the crowd was respectable back there. And if you look at the frontstretch, I think we sold almost every seat." He added the track stopped selling infield fan-zone passes on Saturday after reaching capacity, notable because demand for them usually reaches its height on Sundays. ISC stopped releasing attendance figures in '12 for all of its properties. Adam Stern, Staff Writer SportsBusinessDaily.com