Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 23, 1995 TAG: 9504250021
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The only place Martinsville comes up short is on its .526-mile oval. It's still nice and tidy. It still has restroom attendants, azaleas, free parking, and a staff that is gregarious and accommodating.
Little, the place no longer is.
A crowd of about 59,000 will watch today's Hanes 500. By next spring, or perhaps even by September's NASCAR Winston Cup return, the seating capacity will be 64,000.
Martinsville, despite having the shortest of the Winston Cup short tracks, reflects the growth and competition within NASCAR. It just does it to scale.
Not all of the racing takes place on the tracks. The speedway which was opened as a dirt oval in 1947 by H. Clay Earles intends to keep up with the Joneses in the sport. That means that more than fortunes will be rising at Martinsville.
The 5,000-seat addition will come above turn 2, where three private suites will be replaced with high-rise seating, then rebuilt as sky boxes. Eventually, by filling in with seats between turns 1 and 2 and elevating the press box, Martinsville could seat 79,000.
``I think we could easily go to 90,000 seats, maybe as many as 100,000,'' said track president Clay Campbell.
Does he think that's realistic?
``At this rate, with what we're experiencing now, I do,'' Campbell said.
Although pinned next to Norfolk Southern Railroad tracks on the east, the speedway has plenty of room for seating at the turns 3-4 and scoreboard end of the oval. And there would be more reason than increased competition for NASCAR events for Martinsville to keep expanding.
``In order for us to keep up with the [race] purses, we need more seats,'' Campbell said. ``Next year, our two Winston Cup races will have purses in excess of $1 million.''
For Sunday's race, the purse is a little more than $970,000. Last year, it was $200,000 less. Obviously, Martinsville must keep coming up with more than its trademark grandfather clocks that go to the victors.
It was only a decade ago that Martinsville had a capacity of about 40,000. Then, the sport took off like a Monte Carlo with no restrictor plate. Now, when the track announces the date when new high-rise seats with chairbacks and more legroom go on sale at $50 each, they're sold within a few days.
Martinsville also is one of five Winston Cup tracks that have stops on the inaugural NASCAR SuperTruck Series - tied into the Goody's 500 weekend in September. Ticket sales for that Winston Cup race already are 33 percent ahead of last year's Goody's sales.
The track has expanded wisely, however - never more than 5,000 seats at one time. Maybe that will change, but one thing that won't is what the fans come to see.
Other than asphalt and concrete, it's the same track ``Red'' Byron - no, the nickname didn't come from the dust that covered him - christened in 1947, the same one on which Richard Petty won 15 times.
``The track's not going to change,'' Campbell said. ``We can't change it. Besides, it provides for close racing and the fans are up close. They like that. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.''
Obviously, the spectators like what they see at Martinsville. In compiling information for the access-road expansion that is greeting visitors today, the speedway checked the ticket orders from the September 1994 Winston Cup race.
It became a nationwide search.
Only the Dakotas didn't have an order among the 48 contiguous states. Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, to no one's surprise, ranked at the top.
However, there also were 223 orders from Texas, 33 orders from California, 16 from Maine and even two from Washington.
Think about it. That last trip alone would be about a 5,000-lapper at Martinsville, where it's been proven again and again that if you build it, they will come.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB