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Sprint Cup
CUP: NASCAR Hall, Speedway Linking Efforts
Charlotte Motor Speedway and the NASCAR Hall of Fame seek fans...
The NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte North Carolina. (Photo: GETTY Images)
They are two leviathans of motorsports separated by only 18 miles.
Charlotte Motor Speedway, having planted its flag in the soil of the Charlotte, NC area a half-century ago, has the history. The NASCAR Hall of Fame, the new kid on the block, has the shine, it being so new you want to walk delicately on its bright new surfaces.
In some ways, they are wrestling for the same dollar, and it is one that is harder to grab.
In the go-go 1990s, when NASCAR was described by national publications as the fastest growing sport in America and track sellouts were the norm, the idea of discount tickets and special two-for-one promotions would have been considered a little wacky. Now track presidents are practically standing on street corners begging people to come in and sit a spell.
CMS, one of the best run tracks on the circuit and one that has consistently been fan-oriented, also has felt the pinch, its huge grandstands clearly illustrating the economic climate with each vacant seat.
Despite its glittering new palace of a home and outstanding critical reviews, the NASCAR hall’s attendance numbers also have lagged behind the hopes of organizers. It’s very unlikely, barring floods of visitors during Charlotte race festivities next week and over the holiday season, that the hall will come close to meeting its first-year attendance target of 800,000.
It is not surprising, then, that, instead of attempting to tear the same dollar bill in half while competing for it, the hall and CMS have linked hands in an attempt to float all boats.
Fans are in town for the race next week – steer them downtown to the hall. Fans from four states away are in town to see the hall – put them at the track, too, or at least get them in the contact sphere of the speedway so that they might schedule a race visit during a possible return to the hall.
The fan experience ties together the two entities – one in the heart of Charlotte’s vibrant downtown, the other in the growing suburbs to the northeast. Speedway Motorsports chairman Bruton Smith once proposed a monorail that would carry fans from downtown to the speedway and back. That hasn’t happened – and probably won’t, but officials at both places want fans to think of the other when they visit.
“People come to Charlotte for different reasons,” said hall executive director Winston Kelley. “Some come to see the race, and the hall is something they’d also like to do. Others come to see the hall, and they’d like to go see the speedway. How can we take advantage of that synergy?
“It’s all just at the start as far as fleshing out ideas about what makes sense. What are some of the things we can do in May? May is such a big month all the way around. Some of the ideas have come together in the past couple of weeks, and some we’ve been working on since before we opened.”
At the speedway, fans can buy ticket packages that include admission to the hall. There are tour tickets that include racing, hall gazing and trips to NASCAR shops in the Charlotte area.
And this Sunday, the hall is offering discount admission – $10 instead of $19.99 – and is kicking in a voucher for $10 off a race ticket at CMS, a promotion that coincides with next weekend’s racing at the track.
Additionally, members of the 2011 Hall of Fame class, which will be chosen Wednesday, are scheduled to serve as grand marshals for Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 at the track.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Bank of America is a key sponsor at the track and the hall.
“We’re working very well together,” said CMS president Marcus Smith. “We’re both in it for the race fans. What’s good for race fans can be good for both the speedway and the hall of fame.”
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
Charlotte Motor Speedway, having planted its flag in the soil of the Charlotte, NC area a half-century ago, has the history. The NASCAR Hall of Fame, the new kid on the block, has the shine, it being so new you want to walk delicately on its bright new surfaces.
In some ways, they are wrestling for the same dollar, and it is one that is harder to grab.
In the go-go 1990s, when NASCAR was described by national publications as the fastest growing sport in America and track sellouts were the norm, the idea of discount tickets and special two-for-one promotions would have been considered a little wacky. Now track presidents are practically standing on street corners begging people to come in and sit a spell.
CMS, one of the best run tracks on the circuit and one that has consistently been fan-oriented, also has felt the pinch, its huge grandstands clearly illustrating the economic climate with each vacant seat.
Despite its glittering new palace of a home and outstanding critical reviews, the NASCAR hall’s attendance numbers also have lagged behind the hopes of organizers. It’s very unlikely, barring floods of visitors during Charlotte race festivities next week and over the holiday season, that the hall will come close to meeting its first-year attendance target of 800,000.
It is not surprising, then, that, instead of attempting to tear the same dollar bill in half while competing for it, the hall and CMS have linked hands in an attempt to float all boats.
Fans are in town for the race next week – steer them downtown to the hall. Fans from four states away are in town to see the hall – put them at the track, too, or at least get them in the contact sphere of the speedway so that they might schedule a race visit during a possible return to the hall.
The fan experience ties together the two entities – one in the heart of Charlotte’s vibrant downtown, the other in the growing suburbs to the northeast. Speedway Motorsports chairman Bruton Smith once proposed a monorail that would carry fans from downtown to the speedway and back. That hasn’t happened – and probably won’t, but officials at both places want fans to think of the other when they visit.
“People come to Charlotte for different reasons,” said hall executive director Winston Kelley. “Some come to see the race, and the hall is something they’d also like to do. Others come to see the hall, and they’d like to go see the speedway. How can we take advantage of that synergy?
“It’s all just at the start as far as fleshing out ideas about what makes sense. What are some of the things we can do in May? May is such a big month all the way around. Some of the ideas have come together in the past couple of weeks, and some we’ve been working on since before we opened.”
At the speedway, fans can buy ticket packages that include admission to the hall. There are tour tickets that include racing, hall gazing and trips to NASCAR shops in the Charlotte area.
And this Sunday, the hall is offering discount admission – $10 instead of $19.99 – and is kicking in a voucher for $10 off a race ticket at CMS, a promotion that coincides with next weekend’s racing at the track.
Additionally, members of the 2011 Hall of Fame class, which will be chosen Wednesday, are scheduled to serve as grand marshals for Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 at the track.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Bank of America is a key sponsor at the track and the hall.
“We’re working very well together,” said CMS president Marcus Smith. “We’re both in it for the race fans. What’s good for race fans can be good for both the speedway and the hall of fame.”
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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