Rolex 24 hours at Daytona .

[grandam]

Last year there was about 80,000 people.

[Lee Roy]

Anyone who thinks that fans sit in grandstands for a 24 hour endurance race needs their heads examined.

[cybersdorf]

Anyone who thinks that fans sit in grandstands for a 24 hour endurance race needs their heads examined.

Anyone who thinks they don't hasn't been to one. It is the pinnacle of motor racing, accept it.

[Lee Roy]

Anyone who thinks they don't hasn't been to one. It is the pinnacle of motor racing, accept it.

I've been to the 24 hours of Daytona. Everyone was in the infield.

[Jag_Warrior]

Are the grandstands restricted during the Rolex? Is there any kind of seating in the infield?

[grandam]

Yes the infield gets crowed and they won't let cars in. There's small grandstands in the infield to watch.People like to park their cars and rv's next to the fence. I was told that the speedway has sold between 50,000-55,000 tickets already.

[FormerFF]

Daytona 24 vs 12H of Sebring, which race has the largest crowd ?

Way more at Sebring. While the Speedway is a pretty big place, all the crowd at Daytona is in the infield. If you look at a track map, you'll see how big the infield is after you take away Lake Lloyd, the road course, the paddock and garage area, and now the RV parking areas, there's not that much left. Granted, it gets stuffed with cars, but I don't think the crowd's as big as most have been led to believe.

The other issue with watching a road race at Daytona is there is just not enough spectating area. There are a couple of small grandstands and not all that much fence along the course.

Of course, the best deal would be to go to both Sebring and Daytona, and report back which you liked better.

[FormerFF]

Here's the ticket link:
http://secure.racetickets.com//Dayto...&GatewayPass=y

Kind of a bummer they make you buy a 4 day ticket to get into the garage area, but at $80, it's a reasonable 4 day ticket. Four day ticket to Sebring is the same price.

[grandam]

You can get a garage pass for $35. It seems like every year more people are going to the rolex.

[FormerFF]

A couple of years ago, it was announced on Speed that the 24 hour race had set a new attendance record. Of course, they wouldn't say what that record was, so it remains a mystery.

Odd question: I've been watching it for years on TV, but I've never seen an overhead shot of Daytona for the 24 hour race. Does anyone else remember seeing one? At every other non-street race I've seen, I've always seen an overhead of the track, weather permitting.