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Topic Started: Jul 12 2014, 08:46 PM (58 Views)
Webster
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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...this is going to be a work-in-progress here...

The inaugural Sprint Cup race at Kentucky in 2011 ended up as a complete disaster. Not the race itself, but rather the fact that said race was overshadowed by the severe traffic issues that came up. This came down because:

(1)Speedway Motorsports, the track's owners, did not make any significant upgrades to the infrastructure in and around the track (beyond the increased capacity) in order to accommodate the sheer number of fans attending this race.
(2)Interstate 71, the nearby major highway of record in that part of Kentucky, became backed up eight hours before the green flag dropped. By 3:30 PM that afternoon, the highway was backed up for more than 15 miles to the north. By 6:00 PM, I-71 was backed up for up to 20 miles in both directions from the race track, and up to 10 miles on side roads.
(3)For an idea of how bad the traffic congestion was: Denny Hamlin got caught up in the mess, though he made it to the pre-race drivers meeting on time.
(4)For the record, even at 8:55 PM, halfway through the race, the highway was still backed up pretty heavily.
(5)At 9:30 PM, to alleviate problems, the traffic pattern was changed to outbound, and those still trying to get to the track were turned away. And some fans had already been turned away because of a lack of parking.
(6)Quoting the Wikipedia article, "Those who made it to the race were only reported having to wait half an hour or more to use the restroom due to a shortage of port-a-johns. Others reported shortages at the concession stands."
(7)As ESPN's NASCAR writer Terry Blount put it, "This should have been a great day for NASCAR, a new Cup event for the first time in 10 years and a sellout crowd at Kentucky Speedway. Instead, the entire day was a horrible black eye for the sport at a facility that was completely unprepared for an event of this size and stature. Traffic jams are normal for a Sprint Cup race. This was not a traffic jam. It was a traffic catastrophe."
(8)Blount's article also compares the fiasco to the traffic congestion that occurred at the inaugural Texas Motor Speedway race, though he points out that in that case, the traffic jams were exacerbated by thunderstorms that had flooded and rendered several of the grass parking lots unusable.
(9)Speedway Motorsports responded by announcing that any unscanned Kentucky race tickets would be valid for any of the six remaining Sprint Cup races to be held at Speedway's tracks, or the 2012 Quaker State 400. In addition to this exchange, unscanned tickets could be exchanged for an equal number of tickets to either the Truck race or the Indy Car race held at the track later in the year.
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