Gas prices have race fans rethinking trip to the track

Auto racing is the ultimate in gas-guzzling entertainment. But the prospect of paying $4 a gallon to get to the track has some fans reluctant to start their engines.

Ticket sales have slipped just as May, the biggest month in motorsports, approaches. So track promoters are shifting into high gear to keep the grandstands full, offering all-you-can-eat packages and staging rock concerts.


“This is a working man’s sport, no matter what picture some people try to paint,” said H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler, president of Lowe’s Motor Speedway outside Charlotte, N.C. “The people most affected by these obnoxious oil prices are the working man.”

About half the fans who attend the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race, set for May 25 at Wheeler’s track, drive from more than 250 miles away, many of them in RVs that can cost $300 or more to fill up.

Fans often camp out for several days at races, too, making a weekend at the track a much larger financial commitment than taking in a baseball game