Track operator plans no more broad cuts in NASCAR ticket prices

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NASCAR fans should not expect further cuts in ticket prices at many of the sport’s racetracks this year.

International Speedway Corp., which operates 13 tracks including Auto Club Speedway in Fontana and Daytona International Speedway, said Thursday that although the economy “remains fragile,” it’s generally keeping ticket prices at current levels.

ISC and other track operators substantially cut prices in the last two years as NASCAR’s popularity flattened and the poor economy helped produce swaths of empty seats at Fontana and other speedways. Currently, a ticket to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway on March 25 has dropped to as low as $35.

“The consumer, in our view, believes the economy and their financial situation are improving but remains cautious with their discretionary spending,” ISC President John R. Saunders said on a call with Wall Street analysts after the company released its fiscal 2011 financial results.

Even so, “we do not believe that further broad-based reductions in ticket prices would drive demand,” Saunders said. “We expect to maintain our current ticket-pricing strategies with any adjustments only in targeted areas within our grandstands.”

Saunders also said his company was “seeing solid demand” for the season-opening Daytona 500 on Feb. 26, “as well as Sprint Cup events at Phoenix [on March 4] and Auto Club [Speedway].”

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