New Grandstand -- 2002

Walking through the pits Saturday morning the first thing that caught my eye was the gargantuan new grandstand.  The sheer size & scale of the thing floored me. 

This monstrous structure dominates the pit area.  The top row luxury skyboxes serve the corporate elite.  At the Wine Country Classic, the empty aluminum bench seating below reflects sunlight and heat, forming a blinding solar oven.  Not a problem with sellout NASCAR crowds covering every seat!  Everything at the now NASCAR-owned Sears Point is scaled towards tending to the hundreds of thousands of free-spending stock car fans who throng to NASCAR  events.  The overwhelming giantism of all this amazed this historic racing aficionado who remembers when Sears Point was new.
 
The familiar bridges that once crossed the course near Start/Finish are gone.  At enormous expense, NASCAR has replaced them with tunnels.  None of these changes and additions are bad.  How else could NASCAR handle the huge crowds that attend today's Winston Cup events?

Next:   New Hillside Seating -- 2002

Back to:   Sears Point 2002 -- Homepage