Bob Pockrass: Two races at Martinsville? Let the debate begin
By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor
Monday, March 24, 2008
COMMENTARY
This weekend, the Sprint Cup Series heads to Martinsville, the shortest track on the circuit.
Of the tracks that have two races, Martinsville has the fewest seats (62,000) and is part of the Greensboro television market, which ranks 46th in the country. So when there’s talk of which tracks should be cut to one race, Martinsville will almost always have a spot in that discussion.
Martinsville is part of the history of NASCAR, and NASCAR already has abandoned many of the places that helped to put it on the map.
This is the traditional fan’s kind of place. The fans get a close look at the action with the seating configuration there and really get to see the beating and banging on the paper-clip configuration.
The fans also enjoy seeing the drivers manhandle their cars and pray that their brakes survive.
But that brings us to a key item in deciding whether Martinsville should keep both of its dates: Martinsville needs to sell out its races. As of Sunday, there were still good seats available for this weekend.
The race last October was nearly a sellout but not a complete one. Part of the blame has to go to the economy, with gas prices and everything. But with Martinsville’s unique configuration, the seats should be filled Sunday.
Then again, it is limited by location. Martinsville isn’t exactly a vacation destination. Hotels nearby are few. The traffic is about average for a Cup event.
Teams aren’t going to bring as many sponsors to Martinsville when they can bring them to races in bigger markets such as Texas and Phoenix coming up or in Charlotte, Atlanta or Texas in October.
Despite those challenges, of any track on the circuit, it would make sense that the one with the fewest seats must sell out to keep both of its events. It’s ridiculous to say that a race should be moved from Atlanta when it still draws more than Martinsville. Just because one track has thousands of empty seats, it shouldn’t be penalized for having more seats than a smaller track.
Another question about Martinsville is whether it should play host to a Chase race.
All tracks in the Chase should have lights, and Martinsville should bring in at least portable lighting for the October race in case there’s rain.
It would also make sense for Chase races to be run at the tracks with the greatest seating capacity, as long as there is a good mix of types of tracks in the final 10. With Martinsville as the only Chase short-track event, it would be hard to pull it – unless Bristol gets a spot in the Chase. That is a column for another day.
The track, like some others in the Chase, also needs to upgrade its facilities to handle the media crunch of a playoff event.
If Martinsville Speedway is so important for the sport, then International Speedway Corp., which owns it, needs to pour more money into it. It’s doing improvements right now to Chicagoland, Darlington and Watkins Glen – much needed improvements for tracks with just one race. Martinsville needs to be next to get some money.
And first on that list should be a way to fix the Turn 3 entrance to pit road, a potentially unsafe situation much like the backstretch opening at Las Vegas where Jeff Gordon crashed hard a few weeks ago.
The bottom line is that Martinsville’s spot in the sport with two Cup races will always be in jeopardy, especially if new tracks get built
in Denver or the Pacific Northwest.
The best the track can do is to consistently make improvements and hope for the best. And make sure there are no tickets left when the race goes green on Sunday.
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