An NFL Stadium for Racing

Nascar is about to have some huge renovations in their main racetrack. Joie Chitwood III recently said, “If you’re going to claim to be the ‘World Center of Racing’ or the Super Bowl of the sport, there’s an expectation that comes with that – big, grand, the best.” This is exactly what Joie has in mind to do and he recently has gotten the approval to renovate the ancient track. These renovations would make the track look more like an NFL Stadium and less like a racetrack.

Track President Joie Chitwood III really wants to increase the popularity of the sport or Nascar and more specifically, the Dayton International Speedway racetrack. The main entrance would include all of the pathways (escalators, elevators, stairs) to get the fans to their seats. The wow factor of the main entrance would be the towering glass and steel involved in the making of the front door. Joie really wants to create something that will make even non-Nascar fans want to go inside and admire the views. This is the part that I thought was brilliant. I have never been much of a Nascar guy and little things like this could cause more people to either start watching or actually go and watch the race in the arena.

Daytona was not satisfied with just a showy entrance and will also modify the seats and aisles. Nascar as well as fans did not like how it would take so much time for fans to make it to their seats due to the number of rows they would have to go up or aisles they would have to squeeze through. The new raceway would shorten the lengths of its rows from as many as 90 to 20 seats each. They would also shorten the number of rows from 40 to 20. Another great move from Nascar and Joie here. I think this is brilliant because once again it is just another thing that will make the fans happy. It will also give first time viewers a good first impression because they will not have to worry about not being able to find their seat.

Not only that but they are also hoping to add 11 “neighborhoods” where fans could get concessions, interact and use wireless or Wi-Fi. These neighborhoods would each be the size of football fields and would be easy to get to no matter where your seat is. When asked about this Chitwood said, “This is everything together that a fan wants. Get refreshments, talk to friends, tweet, do whatever. This is a space where you can do that.” I can’t tell you how many times I have gone to an Eagles or Phillies game and left thinking that their concessions could have been better. By making them this big and also Wi-Fi accessible, Chitwood and Nascar are really trying to maximize the experience a fan gets.

The centerpiece of this track would be the World Center of Racing. This is an open-air concourse in the middle of the grandstands that stretches for over 150 yards. This would be the key spot that they would want their first time attendees to enter first because not only would they learn about history of the stadium while looking at beautiful pictures. Then, finally, they will emerge onto the concourse where they will see the raceway for the first time. Once again they are really working on the first impression capability, which is just what Nascar needs because of the fact that it is not as popular as other sports.

Chitwood will not present this possible renovation until later on this year but he is very hopeful that ISC’s board will see what he sees. He states, “You would assume it would change (metal seating), but that’s why we have to go down this path of redevelopment. If we expect a sponsor, a customer, for presidents to come here, this property needs that kind of attention so that we can live up to that World Center of Racing name.” This really got me thinking because I really think now that a Nascar event would be a great place to take a potential sponsor or a customer of any kind, especially in an arena like this. That is because it is such a long event that you would get to fully have a long conversation with the potential sponsor or customer. All in all, I really hope these renovations are approved and started.

---

Lindrit Shkodra is originally from Diber, Macedonia but lives in Maple Shade, New Jersey. Lindrit commutes to Drexel University every morning. He is a freshman in the Sports Management program. Lindrit is currently the General Understudy of the Drexel Sports Management Student Union. On the weekends he works at the Wegmans in Mount Laurel and on the weekdays he interns with Ron Jaworski’s Celebrity Golf Challenge. Follow Lindrit on Twitter @LindritShkodra.

Connect with Lindrit Shkodra on LinkedIn.