LONG POND, Pa. — The exodus of RVs, campers, and trailers from Pocono Raceway near Long Pond is a sure sign that race weekend at the track was a good one.
Sunday was the raceway's busiest day in more than a decade.
"We had great crowds starting on Friday and Saturday, and of course, yesterday we had a sold-out grandstand. Sold out camping the largest crowd since 2010," said Ricky Durst, Pocono Raceway Senior Marketing Director.
Track officials note the good weather and lots of energy from the fans.
"The fan excitement. I mean, we heard it from our colleagues in the industry. We heard it from the drivers. everyone you could just sense how great the crowd was. How large the crowd was and how excited people were to be here," said Durst.
Officials at Pocono Raceway say they owe their success this weekend to improving the fan experience here at the track, "I think certainly this year that was highlighted by the new Paddock. Right. We talked about that early on, leading up to the race. Our goal was really to deliver more, better, make it easier for our fans, and that place was packed all weekend long, and it was special to see it come to life."
But While the fan experience gets them here, officials say successful weekends like this also come down to people loving and supporting the sport.
"We like to think that people find something special here at Pocono and they want to come here. On the NASCAR side, I think there's a great crop of young drivers that are exciting. NASCAR has been working on the car and the competition on the track. So between the fan experience and the competition on the track, I think it's a hot ticket," added Durst.
Raceway officials say they'll take the next couple of days to clean the raceway then it's the start of planning for next year's race weekend.
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