February 3, 2014
UPDATE (2/4): Adding to the buzz surrounding the new season and hoping to attract more mainstream and teen audiences; rapper, business mogul, and car enthusiast 50 Cent has announced a partnership with the Swan Racing team. “Fiddy” has history within the NASCAR community (just look to his failed smooch with Erin Andrews on YouTube) and is expected to attend at least 4 races this season.
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UPDATE (1/24): Luke Bryan is in the process of a huge 2014 tour. His “My Kind of Night” tour has just under 50 dates from now until October and one of those dates now includes a pre-show for the Daytona 500 on February 23. The Daytona 500 is the first and biggest race of the NASCAR season and one of the biggest names in country will be kicking it off.
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Over the course of the tour, Luke Bryan tickets are some of the most expensive in each arena he’s playing, including a $947 average price for a show at Madison Square Garden. The average price for tickets over all of the tour dates is $289.41. Daytona 500 tickets have an average price of $255, which would give fans a performance and a race for less than the average of a regular Luke Bryan concert. Of course, the pre-race performance won’t be a full-length concert but it will be an added benefit for NASCAR’s biggest weekend.
Prices for the Daytona 500 have already been at a higher average price than they have been over the last five years and an added performance from Bryan certainly won’t hurt the price. Bryan’s stop in Daytona, Florida will come between concerts at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky on February 21 and the Fargodome in Fargo, North Dakota on the 28th.
Combining one of country’s biggest stars with the biggest event in racing is definitely a great way for NASCAR to boost ticket sales that were already impressive to begin with.
One of the biggest and most popular racing events is coming up in the middle of February. The Daytona 500 has been the opening race of the Sprint Cup series since 1982, which is almost like if the NFL opened the season with the Super Bowl. The weekend surrounding the Daytona 500, including qualifying, is regularly the biggest on NASCAR’s calendar. Because of this, Daytona 500 tickets are usually on the expensive side and some of the most expensive Nascar tickets all season long.
This year the average ticket price is $259.70, up slightly from the $251.58 average price last year. Both of those prices are greatly increased from the 2012 average price of $194.79, equalling a 25% price increase over two years. Although the average price is higher than 2013, the $73 get-in price for the race on February 23 is lower than last year’s starting price of $95.
Last year’s winner was Jimmie Johnson, who would go on to win the Sprint Cup Series at the end of the season. Johnson is one of 10 drivers who have won the Daytona 500 multiple times. With another win this year, Johnson could join Jeff Gordon and Dale Jarrett as three time winners. He would still have a long way to go to tie the record holder, Richard Petty, who won the race seven times.
Regardless of the winner, the Daytona 500 is always one of the most exciting races of the entire season. For those who get to watch it live, there is not a better race experience in person.
