Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

California Speedway officials estimated the one-day attendance for Sunday’s AMA Superbike event at their facility to be “over 20,000.”

Speedway Public Relations Director Dennis Bickmeier said the Speedway doesn’t give official attendance figures, but said Sunday’s attendance was “for sure over 20,000.”

While the main grandstand on the front straight looked relatively empty, the pit lane hospitality suites, pit-lane sky boxes and the infield grandstands were packed, according to Bickmeier.

“Did you see that new grandstand (by infield turn nine)? It was packed, and all of the infield grandstands were full,” said Bickmeier.

The newly-erected, 6500-seat grandstand Bickmeier referred to will now be a permanent fixture at the expense of space normally used to park recreational vehicles during oval race events. The grandstands were trucked out to California from Nazareth Speedway, a one-mile oval track in eastern Pennsylvania also owned by International Speedway Corporation (ISC), the owners of California Speedway.

Bickmeier also pointed out that the capacity of the Speedway’s parking lots gave a good indication of the fan attendance.

You can read one fan’s perspective on the Yamaha Superbike Challenge on California Speedway’s website at www.californiaspeedway.com.

Because most race venues choose not to announce attendance figures, it’s difficult to rank the two-year-old AMA event at California Speedway with other stops on the AMA Superbike circuit, however, one estimate puts Fontana ahead of the Pike’s Peak event, equal to if not ahead of the Brainerd race weekend and not far off the attendance at Virginia International Raceway.

The events at Road Atlanta, Sears Point, Road America, Mid-Ohio, Daytona and Laguna Seca are the most popular AMA Superbike events in terms of attracting spectators.