Sunday afternoon’s race delivered everything NASCAR fans say they want.
A thrilling day of side-by-side racing came down to the final laps, with several big-name drivers jockeying for a victory that ultimately went to Joey Logano.
The only thing missing was the crowd.
A race that drew a sold-out grandstand of 112,029 just a decade ago mustered perhaps a quarter of that during Sunday’s running. NASCAR doesn’t release attendance figures, but the venue, which has been trimmed to around 60,000 seats, was half-full at its peak and far emptier when Logano crossed the finish line.
“It’s 90 degrees and the coverage on TV is pretty excellent,” said Denny Hamlin, after the race.
Attendance issues aren’t just at RIR — many NASCAR tracks are battling declining attendance. But it’s a pressing concern for track president Dennis Bickmeier, who declared after the race that “everything’s on the table,” including a potential move back to night racing.
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“We had hard racing, we had battles for the lead — what you want in a race,” he said.
If good racing is enough to bring the crowds back, Sunday was as good a place as any to start.
The circuit’s biggest names, including Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson, all figured prominently in a wild finish where the pack was scrambled four times by cautions in the final 60 laps.
The new system of stages paid off as well, with bonus points at the 100 and 200-lap mark generating a flurry of action and maneuvering.
Even running the race in the daytime paid dividends, with a hot track allowing four-wide racing at times. Whether all of it resonated enough to generate ticket sales is a bigger issue.
Bickmeier added that he was encouraged by three years of sales growth in the track’s “Richmond Nation” season-ticket package, part of his team’s fan-friendly approach.
“You see glimmers of hope, and you build on that,” he said.
Hamlin took a long view, emphasizing that for hard-core race fans, being at the track doesn’t have the same appeal it has in the past.
“Viewing sports is different now than what it’s ever been,” he said. “People with smartphones are watching races and games in the back of their car going up the highway. You don’t have to attend these races anymore to get a good experience.
“We live in a different world now.”