Fans Give High Marks To New Daytona Rising

Many seats not done yet

The "new and improved – and not yet finished – grandstands at Daytona International Speedway drew mostly rave reviews Saturday from spectators and race fans," who mentioned seats, cupholders and bathrooms as "the big winners," according to Dinah Voyles Pulver of the Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL.

Fan Jim Brown said of the project, which will be completed in time for January's IMSA Tudor United SportsCar Championship Rolex 24, "The concourse is huge." He added that while you are "waiting in the food line, 'there's so much space.'"

Brown: "They really did their homework." He called the seats in the grandstands "scary high," but said, "You can see everything."

Fan Kevin Murphy said, "They've definitely modernized it. It's more like going to a football stadium, like a modern football stadium" Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL.

The NEWS-JOURNAL's Voyles Pulver noted two sections of seats were available last weekend — "40,000 on the west end, 10,000 on the east side of the nearly-mile-long grandstand." The sports-venue industry "is paying attention to what's happening" at DIS. Track President Joie Chitwood III said that track execs have "given tours to folks from Indianapolis, and even Disney World has been over to look around." Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL

In Daytona Beach, Godwin Kelly writes because DIS is under construction, "the grandstands had an eerie apocalyptic look" this weekend for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Coke Zero 400. Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL.

In Orlando, George Diaz notes the middle of the grandstands "were under construction." Race control and TV broadcasters "were pushed out to temporary booths on the Turn 1 side of the new tower under construction" ORLANDO SENTINEL.

Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. said of the middle section of the grandstands missing thousands of seats, "My head exploded when I saw all those seats that weren’t there. I wasn’t ready for that. Guess this was a longer project than was I was led to believe, and when it is done, it will be an amazing, incredible thing. But for now it will be weird, especially right there at the flag stand, there is nothing. It will be odd, but I guess it’s what you pay to get to where we want to be and for Daytona to build the facility they want to build and to give the fans the experience they want. It is just going to take some time and we just have to get through this weekend. I am sure NBC is going to do some camera magic where you’ll never see it, but when I pulled in here, I couldn’t believe it." AP

ESPN.com's Bob Pockrass wrote under the header, "Daytona Makeover Looks Like A Good One." Ticket renewals for the '16 Daytona 500 are up 18%, "the biggest jump since the track's 50th anniversary" in '08. That "gives track officials the sense they have done something right with this project they hope attracts people to come for a true sporting event experience and not just the biggest stock car race of the season." It "should be awesome when finished" ESPN.com