Take a look at the chart I’ve put together at the bottom of this blog. Look closely at the amount of seats at each track. With seating that goes all the way around the track (Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee) or just a stretch between turn 4 and turn 1 (Auto Club Speedway in California), it’s still jammed packed with spectators and life long fans.
Throughout the year, I hear people compare the popularity of sporting evens more often than I hear people talk about what their favorite television show is. I do not claim to know the answer to which sport is more popular, but I will say that racing has more seating than any other sport.
Examples: Dallas Cowboys Stadium holds 80,000. The Rose Bowl holds 92,542. Lambeau Field holds 72,928. Madison Square Garden holds 19,763. The Staples Center holds 18,997. And my favorite….the largest hockey venue holds 21,273. That’s the LARGEST. I once heard someone say that hockey was the most popular sport. I laugh at that today, 18 years later.
The number of attending fans depends greatly on the number of seats, I know. Tell me. If Lambeau Field held 257,000+ fans like Indianapolis Motor Speedway does, would there really be 257,000+ fans attending? The stadium would have to be so big and wide, that the field would seem so small. Difficult to see from greater distances than 100 yards. Would more fans attend? I don’t tend to think they would, so I can say with confidence that I believe NASCAR (or racing in general) is a much more popular sport than any other. Several will disagree. That’s fine. That’s what will be so fun about this blog.
| Track | Length of Track | Permanent Seating |
| Atlanta Motor Speedway | 1.54 miles | 124,000 |
| Auto Club Speedway | 2 miles | 91,000 |
| Bristol Motor Speedway | .533 miles | 158,000 |
| Chicagoland Speedway | 1.5 miles | 75,000 |
| Darlington Raceway | 1.366 miles | 61,000 |
| Daytona International Speedway | 2.5 miles | 159,000 |
| Dover International Speedway | 1 mile | 133,000 |
| Homestead-Miami Speedway | 1.5 miles | 63,000 |
| Indianapolis Motor Speedway | 2.5 miles | 257,325 |
| Infineon Raceway | 1.99 miles | 47,000 |
| Kansas Speedway | 1.5 miles | 80,000 |
| Las Vegas Motor Speedway | 1.5 miles | 131,000 |
| Lowe’s Motor Speedway | 1.5 miles | 156,000 |
| Martinsville Speedway | .526 miles | 61,000 |
| Michigan International Speedway | 2 miles | 129,000 |
| New Hampshire Motor Speedway | 1.058 miles | 96,000 |
| Phoenix International Raceway | 1 mile | 76,812 |
| Pocono Raceway | 2.5 miles | 70,000 |
| Richmond International Raceway | .750 miles | 109,000 |
| Talladega Superspeedway | 2.66 miles | 143,000 |
| Texas Motor Speedway | 1.5 miles | 138,122 |
| Watkins Glen International | 2.45 miles | 35,000 |
