February 2, 2003

As we all have heard, NASCAR is considering taking some tracks with two races during the season, and changing them to only one. Some tracks that have only one race in the season may get two.

As I have traveled from the east coast to the west, from the north border to the south, I’ve met many NASCAR fans. Through my traveling, I’ve found many fans are unable to afford the airfare, motel expenses, meals, rented cars, and memorabilia. It's not the ticket price that makes it so tough, it's the other expenses of going to a race when traveling a great distance.

For example, the nearest track for fans in North Dakota, South Dakota, or Minnesota is Chicago. From Fargo, North Dakota to Chicagoland is approximately 650 miles. With a seating capacity of 75,000, there’s a limited number of seats to cover a large geographic area. Compare this to fans in North Carolina where the furthest distance to travel to a race track is 325 miles.

Where as, on the west coast the tracks available is the Las Vegas Speedway in Nevada, California Speedway in Fontana, California, Infenoen Raceway in Sonoma California, and Phoenix Raceway in Arizona. The fans that are able to see a race at these tracks without a lot of expense outside of those states are, Utah, and New Mexico. So the fans that reside in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado would have much more expense going to a race as well.

Race fans living up north and in the north western states don't have much of a chance to see a NASCAR race in person unless they’re also able to spend the additional travel costs that could easily exceed $1,000 -- many hundreds of dollars more than a fan on the east coast would have to lay out. I, for one, hope to see more tracks being built, to the point where a track is available for ALL fans to see a race.

So, while NASCAR is deciding where to move race dates, I hope they are also thinking of ALL the fans in our country and what associated costs exist for many fans to see a race in person. This is a growing sport, and a sport that has traveled outside the east coast, so for all you fans that live up north, I hope NASCAR is thinking of you, as well.

Until next time...

You can contact Denise at: Insider Racing News