WOW what surprise the 24 Hours of Daytona turned out to be! The race had its beginning back in the 60’s. Every year lots of entries showed up with just a few fans in the stands. Most of the crowd was in the infield and were sporty car loyalists.
But this past Sunday there were lots of fans in the front grandstands in addition to a packed infield! NASCAR’s founder created this Endurance event to dovetail the huge race in LeMans, France. Little did the late Big Bill France think that it would take some 50 years to become popular! Also, talented driver/color analyst Sam Posey told me back in the 70’s, “The future of auto racing was on road courses. ” He was wrong then when NASCAR oval racing reigned supreme from the ’70’s to 2008!
What drew the fans in this year was the mix of drivers from many over 100 countries consisting of F1, Indy Car and Sports Cars. Also, the weather cooperated with the air temp in the 70’s.
The event is sanctioned by IMSA a road racing club born of NASCAR. With a hint that this race is starting to grow after long haul. The remaining France family consisting of Uncle Jim and niece Lisa France have some big decisions to make.
With the possibility of more fans making the trek to the 24 Hour of Daytona in 2025, the France Clan should move very carefully. Timing is key! No big rule changes like they did in the NASCAR Series. There should be a major media burst, starting next year of enormous proportions, keep the tickets reasonably priced and don’t make any major rule changes.
Using those simple factors, the crowd can grow year-to-year with the possibility that this event can become something like the big annual June race in Le Mans, France.
Bob Slater of Franklin, MA promoter of the upcoming World On wheels Showcase to be held at the Socios.com Field House adjacent to the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA is very busy. Featured will be cars, trucks, motorcycles, ATVs, RVs, UTVs and Campers. We expect that there will be some classic cars, custom cars and even race cars on display. It all goes on the upcoming weekend of March 22-24, 2024. There’s also free parking with and easy move in and out.
Some major sanctions in New England will be starting in mid-April with the SuperX at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA.
This year’s NASCAR Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway moves from a hot mid-July to a cooler mid-June.
Also, in late May and early June will see the NHRA National return to New England Dragway in Epping, NH. Which was washed out last year and the entrants were Rain Dated at the next track on the 2023 scheduled!
On July 8 of this year the AMA MotoX National will be in action at The Wick in Southwick, MA. That track is managed by the Pembroke, MA Johnson family.