The Daytona 500 is set for this Sunday at Florida's Daytona International Speedway. Considered the most important event on the Nascar calendar, the annual 500-mile race features entertainment and plenty of events surrounding the festivities. Overseeing the 500 and its official events is Robin Braig, president of the Daytona International Speedway. We chatted with him about marketing the event in the current economy, strategic brand partnerships, preparing for 250,000 attendees, and trying to make things a little different each year.
What’s new this year?
Our lower ticket prices. We feel the economy as much as anybody else, and we dropped our ticket pricing, unlike the NBA or NFL. On our front stretch, we have new seats with arm rests and chair backs. That doesn’t sound like it should be new, but the track is 50 years old, and we’re just now getting around to getting everything [you'd expect to see] in a state-of-the-art-type facility.
Have you seen a change in ticket sales due to the discount? Has the economy affected the race in other ways?
The phones are ringing much more since we’ve announced the $55 ticket. Like any American business, we’ve attempted to cut expenses more than we have in the past. We anticipate fewer people attending, so we’ll need fewer people to manage the event. On the other hand, we’ve taken this as an opportunity to have people attend that haven’t been able to afford it in the past. The pricing is better; we have free parking; the hotels in the area are charging less; we dropped some of our food and beverage prices; and we let you bring your own food into the facility. That combination is going to be positive for our race fans.
The race marks the culmination of DirecTV's Speedweeks, a 10-day festival of events. How are resources allocated across the entire event series?
The same team works on all of the events during DirecTV Speedweeks. On the day of the Daytona 500, Daytona International Speedway becomes the fourth largest city in the state of Florida. From the ushers in the grandstands to the parking attendants, I’ve got a great team that comes together to pull off the event. One of the major challenges is the weather, which is unpredictable and can affect so many areas during the event. It’s also one of the few things that you can’t control.
Tell us more about the race-day events.
Our fans come early to the race track, and they’re here for sometimes five to six hours before the race, so we’ve got to have things for them to do. We have two big concerts: Dierks Bentley for the Budweiser Shootout on February 7 and Keith Urban on race day.
For the after-parties, we have an experience for our guests to wind down after the race, let traffic clear out, and have music and great food, the post-race interviews, and an interactive motor sports attraction where you can watch an IMAX movie or drive a race simulator. The breakfast the next morning is a little bit different. We induct the winning Daytona 500 car into the attraction, we serve food, and the actual Daytona 500 winner is there to do a fan forum.
What are some of the unique challenges planning the Daytona 500?
Any time you have an event that deals with a quarter of a million people—and our airport becomes that busy—you’ve got to deal with parking, traffic, and weather. We have help from our medical staff, our security staff, the FBI, and Homeland Security to make sure we have no threats or issues with our security systems. Getting the people in, getting the race started, and keeping them safe are all part of the challenge.
Last year was the Daytona 500's 50th anniversary. Does that make for a hard act to follow with this year's event?
Every year we strive for improvement. The 50th running of the Daytona 500 set the bar high with the historic gathering of former Daytona 500 champions, the first-class entertainment with Brooks and Dunn, and a thrilling race. But the staff at Daytona International Speedway is geared to provide another first-class motorsports experience at this year’s event.
