So far, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series appears to be winning the battle.
“I think you could say (NASCAR) has spoken out of both sides of its mouth on this issue for years because they do speak of the importance of the grass-roots level of racing and that is without question what the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series is,” said Chris Powell, general manager of Las Vegas Motor Speedway. “It is where, after all, the guy who is leading the points in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series today (Las Vegas native Kyle Busch) cut his racing teeth.”
Irwindale Speedway is one of those NASCAR-sanctioned tracks that attempts to serve two masters. In addition to running its weekly racing card Saturday night, the track televised the Sprint Cup all-star race on a 20-by-27-foot screen in the infield.
“This will be the third year that we’ve done it and we’ve seen steady growth. Have we filled the place? No, but we’ve seen a steady increase as far as attendance in the two previous years that we’ve done it — to the point where we think it has paid off for us.”
Powell said that for two seasons, he even refused to race on the same nights as NASCAR’s premier series but found that played havoc with the schedule and forced competitors to race virtually every weekend in the heat of summer.
He now instead offers more family-oriented promotions (such as a petting zoo and pony rides Saturday nights) and a $1 food and drink menu to make an evening at the track more affordable.
But it wasn’t the petting zoo or the pony rides or even the $1 food and drink items that attracted McKearn and his 6-year-old daughter, Heather, to The Bullring on Saturday.
“It’s much better live, ” he said, “and, to be honest with you, short-track racing is a whole lot less boring than some of those long NASCAR races. ”
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