The Scoop
NASCAR REMAINS ALIVE AND WELL
Posted on: Sunday March 19, 2023
The NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix Raceway March 12 was a sellout.
I must provide full disclosure as an avid short track racing advocate, fan and to a degree a journalist and author.
This scribe has been one to lament in recent years that NASCAR continues to get things wrong, the new chase format is silly, the product is boring, so on and so forth. I’ll admit I’ve jumped on that bandwagon on occasion.
But I have admittedly changed my tune following my maiden voyage to Phoenix Raceway as my wife Kim and I built in a pair of visits to the track during a March vacation to Arizona.
On Saturday thanks to David Deprey and JD Motorsports we received VIP passes into the infield/garage area for the Xfinity race and on Sunday we were simply fans in the stands for the Cup race.
Keep in mind the last Cup race I have attended in person was the 1981 Daytona 500. I was in sixth grade at the time and the great Dale Earnhardt held the door for me at a porta-potty in the infield. Yes, times have changed and those drivers were very accessible back in 1981. (Another item of full disclosure is I did not receive any media credentials, nor did I request any for these two races.)
While I cannot vouch for any other track that hosts NASCAR events, I can tell you Phoenix is most certainly doing things the right way. Ample signage leading to the track and directing folks was prevalent everywhere.
The place seemed to be fully staffed everywhere you turned with smiling faces, readily willing to help a fan.
The Xfinity race may have looked like it had some holes in the grandstands Saturday and it did. But don’t be fooled by that. The “Fan Zone” experiences Phoenix served up pack quite a few more people inside that place than you can imagine.
The “Lug Nut Legacy” experience was one of many hands on displays for fans at Phoenix Raceway.
And outside the track there are several dozen souvenir trailers and many types of hands-on activities/experiences for fans to engage in. Let’s be honest – the days of the actual race itself being the sole entertainment source on race day are long gone. They have been for a while now.
And that line of thinking also spills over into the short track scene. That old school, hardcore race fan base has evaporated in the past ten to fifteen years at both the NASCAR and the short track levels. And at Phoenix, it was very apparent that NASCAR and the management of Phoenix Raceway most certainly understand that.
The Cup race on Sunday was a sellout and me being a novice at attending a big-league NASCAR event in person – I grossly underestimated Phoenix traffic to get the track. And as such we arrived a tad later than I had anticipated. We got to our seats just in time for the command to start your engines.
In the jam-packed grandstand, I saw fans everywhere sporting hats and t shirts of their favorite drivers – both past and present. Overall, it was a fun experience. One the wife and I enjoyed so much we plan on making Phoenix an annual visit for the spring race. We even heard a familiar voice over the p.a. as Wisconsin’s own Dean Strom worked the mic.
The track was all cashless, which can be considered a downer. I’m all about using cash wherever and whenever possible. But I understand why that practice was implemented. But honestly between that and a little traffic to deal with getting to the Cup race Sunday, the pros far outweighed the cons at Phoenix.
It was truly a carnival-like atmosphere outside the track with concession vendors serving up pretty much anything a hungry race fan was craving. The Phoenix experience was an eye-opener for me that NASCAR is far from dead. From what I saw down at Phoenix my mind was changed completely as to the NASCAR “naysayers” saying the sport is dead.
Sure, NASCAR’s not perfect and they’ve always got some things they can work upon improving. I was against stage racing.
My wife Kim and I were so impressed with Phoenix Raceway we plan to return in 2024.
But in all honesty, I used that little break to run the restroom and grab some goodies from concession vendors.
If you’re one of those short track diehards to who thinks that NASCAR is dead – pay a visit to Phoenix. I’m pretty confident your experience there will change your mind.