How are the Penske Porsches doing?
I was right there for that. Should have photos of it going on in the background. I feel really bad for Magnus. Ran 3 races this year. Blew the motor early in the night at Daytona. Made it about 2/3 of the race in Watkins Glen before retiring with crash damage. Taken out on lap 1 at PLM.
I have to give some props to IMSA and Road Atlanta. The amount of fans was insane. With the exception of getting in and out of the track, the fan expereince wasn't impacted by the numbers at all. Not only did they sell out camping months ago, they sold out infield parking by Thursday. Pretty early Saturday all the free parking and onsite parking was full. People were parking miles away and walking in. They had to completely stop selling General Admission tickets. I didn't think it was possible for it to be at capacity. Crazy.
It might be a bigger party than sebring now.... I remember 2010-2011 when it really took off...and we were all like...uhhhh...where did all these people come from?
2018 was the first year I came. Each year has been a bigger crowd than the year before. This year was was WAY bigger than previous years.
The crowd is one reason why I don't go anymore; the higher prices, especially for parking, are another, though that didn't seem to hurt attendance. The improved TV coverage, including qualifying, allows me to watch from the comfort of home. I've been to Road Atlanta plenty of times over that last 28 years; if I never go back it will be fine.
The only place that the crowd size really bothered me was spectator hill because of the pop up tents. They need to ban those things. The majority of the time there was no one sitting under them. I have heard a lot of complaining about the time to get in and out of the track. I agree that it sucks, but at the same time any event you go to with that many people will be a cluster with everyone arriving and leaving at the same time. Funny thing is, if I had to pick only one event to go to each year it WOULD be Petit Le Mans. I love Road Atlanta and that event never fails to deliver for me. Need to start thinking about booking things for Daytona soon.
