Talladega expecting smaller-than-normal crowd

Talladega Superspeedway likely will have a smaller crowd this weekend for its UAW-Ford 500 Nextel Cup race, International Speedway Corp. officials said Thursday.

"While we expect to draw a strong crowd for the weekend, advance ticket sales are trending behind [2006]," said ISC Chief Operating Officer John Saunders during a call with financial analysts Thursday.

High fuel prices impact Talladega sales because nearly 75 percent of the ticket holders come from out of state.

"We have significantly improved attendance for this year's event weekend as compared to 2005 and have retained a sizable percentage of the new event attendees from last year," Saunders said.