Tuesday, January 09, 2001
Busch race is hot ticket
Lines form on first day; 5,000 sold
By Tom Groeschen
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Snow showers and sub-freezing temperatures failed to stop ticket buyers Monday at Kentucky Speedway offices, where lines snaked outside the door for NASCAR Busch race tickets.
It was the first day fans could buy single-event tickets for the speedway's 2001 schedule, headlined by a Busch race June 16. Busch is NASCAR's No. 2 tier behind Winston Cup, and several hundred people swarmed the speedway's new Fort Mitchell offices Monday.
“Hey Jerry,” one man yelled to speedway chairman Jerry Carroll. “Since I stood out in the cold, can't I get a hat?”
Bystanders laughed, but Carroll smiled and replied, “We'll get you a hat.” Within minutes, the man had a new Kentucky Speedway baseball cap.
The speedway sold an estimated 5,000 tickets Monday, counting online sales. That means that 20,000 tickets already have been sold for the Busch race, including a season ticket base of more than 15,000.
Carroll said a sellout (67,000) is probable for the Busch race, given the speedway drew better than 60,000 apiece for its NASCAR Truck and Indy Racing League events last year.
“Now people want to know if we'll get Winston Cup,” Carroll said. “I can tell you that we think we will, but we have to prove ourselves with the Busch race.”
IRL driver Sarah Fisher and ARCA season champion Frank Kimmel signed autographs for fans at Monday's event. Their series will race again at the speedway this year.
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Busch race is hot ticket