Bristol race to be a sellout

Bristol was a sellout for 55 straight races

Bristol Motor Speedway, which once boasted a streak of 55 consecutive sell-outs for its NASCAR Cup races, may be ready to embark on another run of full stadiums beginning later this month.
“We’re going to be close," Jerry Caldwell, general manager of BMS, said Wednesday. “That’s our goal. We’ll see how this last push goes.

“… Either way, it’s going to be very close and a huge crowd."

The popular track, located just a few miles from the Tennessee/Virginia state line, seats approximately 150,500 in the grandstands, with an additional 9,700 seats in the suites. Until the 2010 season, announced crowds of 160,000 for its two annual Cup races had been the norm.

An estimated crowd of 138,000 turned out for last year’s spring event, however, bringing the sell-out streak to a halt, while the announced attendance for the August race was 155,000.

This year’s spring race was down considerably, and official estimates put the crowd at 120,000.

“Ticket sales are good," Caldwell said. “We’re very encouraged. We’re probably going to announce soon a couple of sections are selling out … everything is filling up nicely.

“Everybody has been working harder probably than we’ve ever worked, to do things for the race fans. But the one thing we are always careful to do, and we try to reiterate to all of our fans, is we’re not going to slash our ticket prices and try to undercut our loyal race fans. All these promotions and initiatives that we’ve been launching are incremental and added values that we offer to any race fan that’s purchased tickets."