attendance up 10% at Mid-Year Mark Heading Into Tonight’s Brumos Porsche 250
With tonight’s Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona marking the beginning of the second half of the 2007 racing season, event attendance to date at Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve races is up an average of 10%, Grand-Am officials announced today.
The increased-attendance announcement follows last week’s news that television ratings, households and viewership on SPEED for Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series races are also up so far in 2007. Tonight’s Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona starts at 8 p.m. ET and can be seen live on SPEED.
“From a strong, season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona to the highly successful EMCO Gears Classic at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course one race ago, we have seen solid growth in both our on-site and at-home audiences for the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series so far in 2007,” said Grand-Am President Roger Edmondson. “We have no doubts that both jumps are due to the great racing on the track that our competitors continue to deliver at each and every event. Grand-Am has become synonymous with great racing and our fans are responding.”
Although the majority of Grand-Am promoters do not release actual attendance numbers, several significant percentage increases in admissions have been reported. Seven of the year’s first eight races have held steady or posted double-digit percentage increases at the gate. Among the highlights are jumps at the Rolex 24 (11%), Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City (10%), the Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway (10%), the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen (26%) and the VIR 400 at Virginia International Raceway (33%).
The numbers do not include April’s Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series weekend at Iowa Speedway that drew a substantial crowd to the first ever road-course event at the new facility. Even more race fans are expected to head to the new Iowa track next weekend where the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series will make its debut July 13 – 14. That race will be followed one week later by the Porsche 250 presented by Bradley Arant at Baber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala., where last year’s record event attendance number is expected to be broken.
The Grand American Road Racing Association, which operates and sanctions the Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve and the KONI Challenge Series, is the premier road racing organization in North America. The 15-race 2007 Rolex Series schedule and the 12-race KONI Challenge Series calendar delivered professional sports car racing to key markets throughout North America in addition to being televised in the United States and Canada on SPEED and distributed globally through ESPN International. With title sponsorship support from Rolex Watch USA and presenting sponsorship from Crown Royal Special Reserve, the Rolex Series showcases emerging and legendary drivers from around the globe and thoroughbred racing machines from the industry's leading constructors and the world's top automobile manufacturers. Learn more about Grand-Am at grand-am.com.
