Posted: January-19-2010 at 8:18am | IP Logged

After a year's worth of sagging attendance, Charlotte Motor Speedway announced several initiatives on January 18th during a stop on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Media Tour designed to bring fans back to the track.　

Perhaps the biggest adjustment will be a section of wider, more comfortable seats. The track announced plans to remove the original, narrow metal seats from the upper rows of the frontstretch grandstands, replacing them with fold-down plastic ones which are 25% wider and feature armrests for added comfort.

The track will not be stuck with a warehouse of antiquated seats, however.　 Fans who purchase season tickets in one of the affected sections (the upper rows of the Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors Towers) will receive the old seats to keep or display as they see fit.　 There will also be a personalized bronze plaque installed on their new seats for the duration of the season.　

The track also has added incentives to join the Victory Lane Club of season ticket holders for all three Sprint Cup events. Those who make the purchase will be entitled to a number of special events throughout the year at a value of over $1500, which includes a personalized CMS hard card, VIP parking, discounts on race tickets and souvenirs from the gift shop, and a six-month trial membership to The Speedway Club.　 The Speedway also offers a payment plan in which fans can purchase tickets and pay over time interest-free.

About 100 Victory Lane Club members were also given an up-close look at the Sprint Cup Media Tour, which is sponsored by CMS, when they were invited to join the media for the press conference announcing the upgrades and a subsequent press conference held by Joe Gibbs Racing.　 Afterwards, the fans were treated to a signed copy of Joe Gibbs’ book, Game Plan for Life, as well as laps around the 1.5-mile speedway itself in a Toyota pace car driven by none other than the Joe Gibbs Racing drivers themselves.　 Sprint Cup drivers Danny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, and Joey Logano were joined by JGR’s development drivers in taking the fans for an on-track experience they'll never forget.

CMS also took their fans' opinions on race start times to heart, and responded by moving the NASCAR Nationwide Series Tech Net Auto Service 300, which runs on May 29 as a companion event to the Coca-Cola 600, to an afternoon start time of 2:30 EDT.　 The race was previously a night race, but according to the speedway ticketholders had asked for a race with a more family-friendly start time.　 "This will make the race even more convenient for fans of all ages, as well as hundreds of Boys and Girl Scouts who make this race an annual outing," said Speedway president Marcus Smith.　 The race also sports a new name (it was formerly the Carquest Auto Parts 300), though Tech Net service facilities are still under the Carquest banner.

(from www.FrontStretch.com)