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After the traffic debacle surrounding NASCAR's Kentucky Cup debut, the question is will Kentucky welcome NASCAR back?
A sellout crowd of 107,000 for NASCAR's Kentucky 400 debut, and Brad Keselowski (2) had some hot iron. But the traffic mess outside Kentucky Speedway was a bigger story than the stock car racing traffic here on the asphalt (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
By Mike Mulhern
mikemulhern.net
That's simply disrespectful.
The loyal Kentuckians, who have supported Kentucky Speedway for more than 10 years, patiently waiting for the NASCAR politics of getting a Cup date to be played out, deserved better. They deserved a lot better.
Bottom line simple:
NASCAR and the people who run this stock car tour gave this sport a huge black eye here Saturday, with that incredible traffic mess that marred the sport's Sprint Cup debut in this new market.
Thousands of fans with tickets – dearly paid for in this economy -- apparently couldn't even get in the track for the Quaker State 400. And many of them Twittered madly. Track owner Bruton Smith estimated as many as 20,000 might not have made it (though that might have been on the high side).
Thousands more had to endure hours and hours of traffic delays, both into and out of the track.
What really hurts is that many of these fans were relatively new to the sport…and some families with kids….
The debris is on Twitter for all to read.
This was to be a shining hour for this sport. A new market, with new fans, new potential sponsors. And a market that seems filled with solid, bedrock NASCAR fans.
Alas, it may have been all but thrown away. Repairing the damage may take a while.
This debacle was on par with the 2008 Brickyard 400, in terms of negative impact on fans. And Indianapolis is still struggling to recover from the fallout and disenchantment from that mess.
The debate now is whether this traffic morass was the worst in NASCAR history: 110,000 or so fans stuck bumper to bumper on the highway, coming into and then out of the track that local businessman Jerry Carroll built back in 1998-2000, on some very pretty countryside, some 40 miles south of Cincinnati, rolling hills just above the broad Ohio River.
These people deserved better than what they got.
The men running Kentucky Speedway, as well as the traffic patrols working the highways, were simply overwhelmed and unable to deal with a crowd they've known for nearly a year would be coming here this weekend.
Parking lots were inadequate.
Traffic control….well, to be blunt, there was little effective traffic control as Saturday afternoon rolled toward the 730 pm ET start.
Panic? Yes, probably more than a little panic. At one point the track just ran out of parking spots….and officials began trying to park people anywhere they could, even down in the NASCAR garages, where big tour buses, out of their element, further bogged down post-race traffic in a cascading fiasco.
And after it was all over, no apologies. Just a couple of weak statements issued promising that things would be better next year.
No apologies?
Inexcusable.
Not even a promise to 'make good' for those who were unable to use their tickets?
Where was NASCAR president Mike Helton, upon whose shoulders some of the blame must fall?
Where were track owners Bruton and Marcus Smith, upon whose shoulders some of the blame must also fall?
Where was this track's general manager, Mark Simendinger?
As the many fans filed out of this track to deal with the traffic madness in the deep dark of a warm Kentucky night, there was, even more than anger at it all, a sense of shock and disbelief.
The sport will be savaged over this, to be sure.
And this isn't just a Kentucky story, or just a North Carolina story, or just a Florida story. This is a bad deal which will reverberate.
Traffic jams come and go. But when something goes so badly awry, somebody needs to stand up and say 'We're sorry. We'll do better.' Instead of stealing away silently into the night.
The only man here stepping to the plate to do that was Jimmie Johnson.
Where was everybody else?
Solutions here are obvious. This is not rocket science.
-- More parking lots, better laid out parking lots, and a better parking plan, most obviously.
Why not something simple: when you buy a ticket, you also buy a numbered parking spot, with clear directions?
-- A better Interstate interchange. That's up to the governor to fix.
-- A nice, wide ring-road, a 'Talladega Blvd,' to provide better access to the track.
-- At least two infield tunnels, each with three access lanes.
-- Better pre-race preparations, and some Plan Bs.
-- And a willingness to stand up and 'fess up when something goes wrong.
A little humility, a simple apology, would go a long way.
So as Sunday morning dawned in the Bluegrass state, and anger subsided into plain ol' weariness, there was another emotion to deal with – the sadness of it all: These fans, these loyal Kentucky fans, deserved better.
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Perfect...can't add a single
Perfect...can't add a single thing except for my complete agreement.
No one seems to remember that
No one seems to remember that this is not the first inaugural traffic jam. In 1994 we were in Indianapolis for the inaugural Brickyard 400. We also had tickets to the Busch race at IRP. After sitting on a bus for nearly an hour without moving, four of us hardcore race fans walked more than two miles to the track, crossing a field and climbing over a fence to get into the facility. We missed the first 15 laps of the race, but the rest of our group that remained on the bus did not arrive until the midway point of the race. (There was a time between our arrival and the arrival of the rest of our group -- all Ford dealers -- when we seriously wondered how we were going to get back to our hotel. This was before everyone had cell phones, so we had no way to communicate with the rest of the people who were on the bus. We started to think the bus was not going to make it to the track, and we were going to be stranded!) As word of the traffic nightmare began to emerge on Twitter yesterday, I turned to my husband and said, "Remember the time . . ." Obviously, a Busch race was not as big a deal as a Cup race, but it was still a situation in which race officials totally underestimated their ability to handle the number of fans who were there.
That's a horrible situation,
That's a horrible situation, but why do you blame everything onto NASCAR? This fiasco is 100% Bruton Smiths fault and lays on his shoulders. What you've just proven is that as NASCAR had said for years, KY was not ready for a race, atleast the speedway was not ready. Bruton moved one of his races here from another track, but failed to do the necessary planning needed. His personal greed screwed all these people.
Nascar has a huge part in
Nascar has a huge part in these problems. Nascars case against Kentucky speedway getting a cup race was based in part on lack of ability to move traffic in and out. Nascar should have demanded changes be made before allowing a date to be moved to Kentucky. I went to Kentucky for my first and last race.
I sat in this parking lot on
I sat in this parking lot on 71 for 2 hours as we snaked into this race track and for them to say there wasnt enough parking--well is true in some sense and in another sense there was no signs pointing to where there was ample parking. We parked probably a mile walk from the track--relatively close compared to others and the field, aka parking lot, was only a 1/4 full. From the road it looked to be full but all you had to do was drive into it to see that it was only 4 row full with plenty of room for many many others. There were no signs or parking attendants pointing to this parking or how to enter it--you had to figure it out on your own. This amongst many other problems at this track will keep me from going back.
Something does not add up, it
Something does not add up, it is being reported that 15-20,000 fans were turned away. If the stands were full were the tickets oversold or just infield tickets. Does not add up.
I have been going to NASCAR
I have been going to NASCAR races since 1955 and one thing you learn is you get to the track 5 to 6 hours before the race starts. people who think they are going to drive up 30 minutes before the race starts and get in like you do at a baseball game are in for a big surprise
I'm sorry to bring this to
I'm sorry to bring this to you Mr. Mulhern, but I wouldn't consider the fans in the area new to NASCAR. This is market is pretty strong as is indicated by the television ratings.
Yes, there were problems but ya know what? No one died from sitting in there care. There was no horrific wreck maiming people by a car plowing through a crowd. You missed a CAR RACE! PERSPECTIVE people! It's not like someone was killing your family member and you couldn't get there in time to stop it. Geeze. Yes, we sat forever. Yes we paid a lot for tickets. Yes, we were some of the ones that chose to just stop the madness after reaching the 57 exit - race was half over, hadn't attempted to find parking, were hungry and Kyle had a big lead. Nah, let's go eat and watch it on TV. (BTW there was plenty of parking if you didn't think you had to park on the speedway grounds.) KY State Police sitting in their cars not directing traffic? Seriously? We'll likely go next year. Those saying they are staying home only ensure less traffic and our getting better seats...lol I'm amazed at the over the top attitudes of people who didn't get what they wanted when they wanted it. I'm more embarrassed by that than I am our track's issues.
We were there for all three
We were there for all three races. We knew the congestion would be a nightmare after the truck race.
Get off the traffic kick. The traffic was not the problem. The traffic was caused by a totally inadequate, disorganized, and practically non-existent parking staff.
It took us an hour to escape the parking lot after the truck race, which hardly anyone attended. We left with fifty laps to go in the Nationwide race, and left at the halfway point in the cup race.
On Sunday, we got there around noon, just as the traffic started to back up. Only one line of traffic from rte 35 to the east of the track and one line from rte 1039 from the west of the track was being admitted for parking.
We parked in a grassy field adjacent to turn one of the track. Cars were piling in without any parking staff to direct us. We ended up in the southwest corner of the lot where a service road intersected the track access road. No one could park in front of us to block our escape.
Some folks in a single vehicle took up space with their canopies, beanbag horseshoe games, cooking paraphernalia, lawn chairs, beach chairs, chaise lounges, etc. that could have easily accomodated three cars. Cars were parked with huge gaps between them, not lined up and in some cases blocking others into their spots.
Not a single official, track employee, police officer, or other made any effort to control the parking. It was a mess caused by the owner and management of the track.
Loudon NH has a single two lane road that provides access to that track. They seat close to a hundred thousand fans, and have no such traffic disasters.
I-71 is a convenient scapegoat to deflect blame from those responsible.
If that wasn't bad enough, the racing was lousy. We won't go back.
Hey, besides no apology worth
Hey, besides no apology worth a damn, how about them blowing off the people, the "fans", that drove, or flew, a hell of a lot of miles? The ones that paid for the meals to get there and the motel or hotel prices on the way for a place to stay. The ones that burned up all the vacation time they had for the year and spent many hundreds of dollars of their income so that there isn’t any more left to do it again? The people that paid the price and couldn’t even get to the track because the promoter, Bruton Smith, and the sanctioning organization, NASCAR, screwed up and don’t give a damn? These are the same holy hypocrites that claim the “fan” is their best friend yet won’t give a refund, only let them use the crap ticket later when many of them CAN’T use the ticket later. You know how much it costs NASCAR or Bruton Smith to let the fan use those tickets at a later date? ZERO! Why do the "fans" have to pay for NASCAR's blatant mistakes?
Millionaires can’t afford to give refunds, no matter how much they hose the little guy, can they? It's time for a CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT.
_________
grady speer from nespresso france
hey, i feel your pain, and
hey, i feel your pain, and your anger. i was stuck in that miserable traffic too, and spent my good hard dollars to cover that race. i find bruton smith's response to the kentucky debacle unacceptable.
FROM THE KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
FROM THE KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY WEBSITE:
Kentucky Speedway Apologizes for Event Traffic7/10/2011
SPARTA, Ky. - Statement from Kentucky Speedway General Manager Mark Simendinger regarding yesterday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series "Quaker State 400" traffic :
"Kentucky Speedway apologizes for the traffic conditions surrounding the ‘Quaker State 400.’ We’re committed to working with NASCAR, state and local officials and traffic experts to assure that this never happens again. The details of these improvements will be announced over time as they are formulated.
“We also recognize the traffic problems resulted in some fans not being able to attend the ‘Quaker State 400.’ We are gathering information on this and will announce a policy for these affected fans within seven days.
“Our ‘Quaker State 400’ ticket holders are invited to share their experiences with us through fans@kentuckyspeedway.com. We thank all our fans for giving the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series such a great welcome to our venue.”
Bruton Smith will try and
Bruton Smith will try and blame this (as he has so far) on "Traffic" Issues, traffic issues refer to what happens before you get to speedway grounds. When you either don't have enough parking or can't manage to use the parking you have, the ENTIRE blame for this initially has to fall to THEIR internal issues. If I was the Governor of Kentucky I'd be busy explaining how this was Bruton's own damn fault (unless he's counting on a huge contribution from Bruton in the future). Bruton has no right to ask the citizen's of Kentucky to spend one penny to fix this fiasco until Bruton own's up that the track was the reason people missed the race. Traffic might have been better with better roads, but missing the race was because when people DID get there they had no where to park, or no direction to find a spot.
Sorry to double post, wanted
Sorry to double post, wanted to mention one other point I left out.
NASCAR just showed last week with moving the Busch Race from IRP to IMS (without care to IRP) that races (as they said in their comments) are annual agreements with no guarantee of renewal. Maybe NASCAR (and ISC) feel it's time to press Bruton to move KY to LVMS where he could make more money but is holding out to pressure NASCAR into gifting Las Vegas an additional race. As far as I know SMI is a public corporation these days and stockholders have a right to return on investment. A second race at LVMS would have made money and been a bright spot for NASCAR, as we've seen KY was an embarassment to NASCAR, SMI and undeservedly the state of Kentucky.
As of now this is totally SMI
As of now this is totally SMI and the state of Kentucky’s fault they should have never even asked Nascar for a race at a facility that could not handle it. If it happens again next year the blame should totally be on Nascar. Also no way will this be fixed by next year so Nascar should pull the date now and move the race somewhere else until it is guaranteed to not happen again
Hey, besides no apology worth
Hey, besides no apology worth a damn, how about them blowing off the people, the "fans", that drove, or flew, a hell of a lot of miles? The ones that paid for the meals to get there and the motel or hotel prices on the way for a place to stay. The ones that burned up all the vacation time they had for the year and spent many hundreds of dollars of their income so that there isn’t any more left to do it again? The people that paid the price and couldn’t even get to the track because the promoter, Bruton Smith, and the sanctioning organization, NASCAR, screwed up and don’t give a damn? These are the same holy hypocrites that claim the “fan” is their best friend yet won’t give a refund, only let them use the crap ticket later when many of them CAN’T use the ticket later. You know how much it costs NASCAR or Bruton Smith to let the fan use those tickets at a later date? ZERO! Why do the "fans" have to pay for NASCAR's blatant mistakes?
Millionaires can’t afford to give refunds, no matter how much they hose the little guy, can they? It's time for a CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT.
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