Despite a “LOVE” sign made of racing memorabilia and a bright mural visible from Laburnum Avenue, the Richmond Raceway complex is mostly quiet during the offseason — but it comes alive for a week each spring and August. That’s when the NASCAR Cup Series, the sport’s top competitive tier, rolls into town.
Thousands of fans bring recreational vehicles and tents to party in the parking lot; sponsors and vendors set up exhibits and merch for the midway-like Fan Zone; drivers’ teams fill the infield with haulers and yet more RVs; and the garages heat up as pit crews make final adjustments to the cars. Track leadership, headquartered in a nondescript building on the property, hosts block parties, concerts and dinners downtown in an effort to connect with fans and get to know the neighbors.
“It’s a big party,” says Ken Giles, a native Richmonder and longtime NASCAR fan. “Hopefully the weather’s nice and you can have, you know, ‘beverages,’ and a grill, and games — cornhole, football, lots of games — possibly a good cigar. … You have the opportunity to meet other people, talk to most everyone. And you see a little bit of everything.” He and his friends once had a portable toilet delivered to their tailgate, “which was quite interesting and convenient at the same time,” he says with a laugh.
The bustle reflects NASCAR’s attempts to rebuild and broaden its fan base. A privately owned company founded in 1948 by Bill France Sr., NASCAR holds its finances close, but many sources have reported that revenue and attendance began declining around 2007 following track and rule changes, car redesigns, the retirements of past stars, and the loss of many Fortune 500 sponsors during the 2008 financial crisis. Television viewership dropped from a record 19 million for the Cup championship in 2005, according to the industry site Jayski, to a low of 2.86 million across four channels in 2023, per Sports Media Watch.
As part of its recent revitalization campaign, NASCAR has worked with Netflix on a documentary about the 2023 season, “NASCAR: Full Speed,” to educate the public and draw on driver star power, doubled down on social media, and eyed global expansion. And in 2022, the company hired Lori Collier Waran as the first female president of Richmond Raceway.
Opened in 1946, Richmond’s 0.75-mile, D-shaped track in the Highland Park neighborhood debuted its Cup Series event in 1953 and has hosted additional NASCAR races each year since 1955. Owned by NASCAR and the International Speedway Corporation, the raceway has a capacity of 51,000 fans and hosts races two weekends each year. (Concerts and conventions are managed by Richmond Raceway Complex, a separate entity.) To Richmonders, the raceway may be acres of asphalt and the occasional traffic jam, but to NASCAR, it’s big business.
Richmond Raceway President Lori Waran and two young fans at the Infield FanGrounds (Photo by Rusty Jones/Nigel Kinrade Photography)
Native Daughter
Lori Waran is uniquely qualified to help NASCAR sculpt a new future for Richmond Raceway. Born and raised in Hanover County, she grew up going to the track with her grandfather in the late 1970s and early ’80s. “My grandparents actually lived a couple of blocks away from the racetrack, so I would come down to the racetrack as a little girl and help my grandfather park cars in the lot,” Waran says.
Building on that introduction to the sport, Waran says her husband, Jeff, taught her even more. When they met in 1995, she says, “he was a huge fan and had been to all the different tracks, and he really got me engaged with NASCAR in general.” She enjoyed watching televised races with Jeff’s family, who taught her about the drivers and teams, as well as attending races in person. “The passion, the culture and the sense of community were so incredible,” she says. “We would pack food for our tailgating for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And, if you were missing an item or needed a helping hand, the other fans around you were there to help.”
Despite that early exposure to racing, Waran’s path to the track presidency wasn’t straightforward. After beginning her career in Washington, D.C., she moved back to Richmond to work for Autotrader and then took over as the publisher of Style Weekly in 2006, tasked with creating “a new vision and focus” as well as growing readership, she says. Waran left Style after nearly 14 years for an opportunity with Virginia Business magazine. That’s where NASCAR found her in 2022.
“They were looking to do a very similar thing to what I had been doing in media,” she says. “[The company wanted] to retain [NASCAR’s] fans but also reach out and engage new fans at Richmond Raceway.”
Brandon Thompson, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based vice president of diversity and inclusion at NASCAR, has been involved with this initiative for more than a decade. “Over the past six to eight years, we’ve been a lot more strategic about the way we’re showing up in any market,” including brand outreach and its look and feel, he says. “As we have evolved in that way, you’ve seen us take some steps towards broadening our fan base.”
Driver Bubba Wallace of 23XI Racing hosted a block party at Richmond Raceway last year to bring Black fans to the track. (Photo courtesy Richmond Raceway/NASCAR)
Driving Change
Waran succeeded longtime Richmond track president Dennis Bickmeier in July 2022, just weeks before the track’s second race weekend of the year. She immediately set out to fulfill her mandate.
One of her priorities literally saw the light this year, when both Cup Series races were scheduled to run at night — something fans had clamored for, Waran says. Racing under the lights holds a certain allure, especially on short tracks including Richmond and Bristol Motor Speedway, where sparks stand out, paint schemes glow brighter and tempers are often shorter.
“You can see when they’re braking, the fire underneath their cars when they’re turning,” says Mariah Cianelli, a new fan who recently moved to Richmond from Blacksburg and attended her first night race in April. “I really enjoyed it. Everything was lit up, and you could see the colors a lot better.”
In addition, Giles says, “you can tailgate longer, which is nice. You don’t have to get to the track super early. Also, you can see the sunset over the racetrack, which is really cool.”
Another goal was making the track more welcoming to fans while strengthening the raceway’s ties to the community. Waran and Director of Event Marketing Tonie Stevens had the parking lot and Fan Zone blanketed with cheerful banners and had barbed wire removed from the property’s perimeter fence (Waran’s office sports a wreath made of the rusted wire). They also hired local talent to paint murals on the property and to create commemorative posters.
The first of those publicity posters was designed by Doug Orleski, of RVA Coffee Stain fame, in 2023. Hannah Tatum Norris of The Grass Spot created the 2024 edition, which includes elements of both Richmond and Henrico, the raceway’s “Everyone’s Track” motto, the James River and more. “It was fun to combine my free-flow style with all their cool new brand elements,” Tatum Norris says, referencing a new logo created by NASCAR’s internal branding team. “It was kind of just like meshing a few of my different worlds — the river, the skyline, my hippie-artsy kind of style and then their racetrack. I loved working with them.”
Finish Line Parties, another community initiative, kick off each race weekend. Held at locations around Richmond and open to the public, the parties are attended by NASCAR executives and staffers, and “drivers have been known to drop by,” Stevens says. “The intent is to make sure that we’re not just asking people to come to us but going to them. … We’re creating some fun and building a sense of community,” Waran says. The next Finish Line Party is Friday, Aug. 9, at Quirk Hotel Richmond; admission is free, and food and drinks are available for purchase.
A driver Q&A in the Fan Zone (Photo by Ben Earp/Harrelson Photography)
Filling the Grandstand
Waran has also worked with NASCAR to broaden the raceway’s fan base. “The mix of the audience and the multicultural diversity that I see — not just in Richmond but at nearly all tracks I’ve been to — that’s certainly changed from when I was coming earlier in my life with my husband,” she says.
Thompson says NASCAR “moved forward quite a bit” after the racial unrest in 2020 — notably, the Daytona Beach, Florida-based company banned the Confederate flag at its events and properties in June 2020, saying in a statement that the presence of the flag “runs contrary to our commitment to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all fans, our competitors and our industry” — but added in 2024 that the efforts to increase “Hispanic and Latin representation in the sport go all the way back to 2012.” As an example, NASCAR periodically schedules fan events for Daniel’s Amigos, the supporters of Mexican driver Daniel Suarez.
Similarly, for the past two years, Richmond Raceway has hosted Bubba’s Block Party, a traveling NASCAR event named for 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace, the lone Black full-time driver in the Cup Series. Intended to bring the community together and out to the racetrack, the free block parties feature racing simulators, Black-owned food trucks and, at the 2022 debut, a concert by hip-hop artist Wale. “We’re trying to reach out to multicultural audiences and different audiences in general via those types of events,” Waran says.
Fans check out the action. (Photo by Jay Paul)
In August, the raceway will host a new concept targeting young Black professionals dubbed Speed SZN. The invitation-only concept premiered earlier this year at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. “It gets people close to the action, so that’ll include garage tours, that’ll include meet-and-greets and those sorts of things, and obviously the chance to take in a race,” Thompson says.
Racing has historically been a male-dominated sport, but NASCAR has been working to change that image, too. Four women drivers — Hailie Deegan, Natalie Decker, Toni Breidinger and Jennifer Jo Cobb — have made starts in 2024, and Waran is meeting more female fans, as well. “It’s nice to see a lot more women, and especially young girls, interested in the sport, the drivers and asking how they can become involved,” she says. “I’ve seen a lot of momentum, a lot of passion and a lot of excitement around the sport [because] anyone can compete, it’s not specific to any gender.”
“It’s a really cool experience,” Cianelli says of race weekends. “It’s definitely worth going in person, just the feelings that you get from the smells and the sounds and just watching the cars go fast. You can feel it in your body when [the cars are] taking off, when they’re going around the track. It’s a very visceral experience you don’t really get from watching it on TV. That, for me, was what really made it click.”
Young women have also asked Waran about off-track pursuits at the company such as engineering, leadership, management and digital media — “all the things that we do really well at NASCAR, they want to be a part of it.”
The raceway engages with professional women through its Women Who Drive Richmond initiative, a partnership with the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Waran notes that the program has the additional benefit of bringing women to the track during the offseason. “When people feel comfortable coming to our track throughout the year, it just becomes habit, and they feel they want to go back,” she says.
It’s a theme she returns to often, mentioning the upcoming NASCAR Youth Series, which fields quarter-sized cars, and the On Track for Mental Health Track Walk with the Cameron K. Gallagher Foundation, as well as partnerships with Sports Backers and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Richmond. Richmond also offers the NASCAR Racing Experience, which lets fans drive stock cars around the track, and Track Laps, where visitors can take their own car around the oval.
“We really are trying in multiple directions to engage audiences,” Waran says, “whether it’s wellness, whether it’s multicultural, whether it’s youth. … We want to be able to give back as well as to connect with a lot of different areas of the community.”
The raceway’s success isn’t just good for NASCAR; it’s good for Richmond, say tourism officials. Katherine O’Donnell, president and CEO of Richmond Region Tourism and a 2024 Women Who Drive Richmond honoree, says, “Historically, NASCAR races have represented some of the highest hotel occupancy weekends in the region. We know the Richmond Raceway is a key driver for the growing economic impact of tourism. Sports tourism in the region is resilient and growing, and we expect interest in experiences like NASCAR to only grow.”
VCU students tailgate in the parking lot. (Photo by Earl Neikirk/Harrelson Photography)
In the Zone
At Richmond Raceway, the midway between the parking lot and the track has been reborn as the Fan Zone. It’s included with admission and home to driver Q&A sessions and photo or autograph opportunities, car displays and a fleet of merchandise trailers. Fans who buy an additional pass gain access to the Infield FanGrounds, where they can watch the teams working on their cars from a walkway lining the garages and snag autographs or selfies with the drivers. (See “The Race Day Experience” below.)
“We always try to attend the Fan Zone,” says fan Ken Giles, who often attends races with his sons. “There could be a driver or two that you can see or hear. And in some cases, you could actually, you know, go up to the table and shake their hand and get their autograph. … Especially compared to other sports or a concert, you just can’t get that close to the athlete or the performer. Not even close.”
Driver engagement is part of NASCAR’s effort to make the sport more accessible — and understandable — to new fans. In the same vein, longtime “NASCAR on Fox” announcer Mike Joy interacts with fans on social platform X, and recently retired drivers including Kevin Harvick are participating in television broadcasts to share the perspective of someone who has driven the current Cup Series car.
NASCAR also partnered with Netflix to create a documentary series chronicling the 2023 playoffs, “NASCAR: Full Speed,” which premiered in January 2024. The five-episode run followed several prominent drivers, including one of the youngest, 26-year-old William Byron; 2023 champion Ryan Blaney; and Chesterfield’s own Denny Hamlin, en route to the title race. Pairing footage of the postseason races and explanation of scoring with behind-the-scenes visits to the drivers’ homes and introductions to their families, histories and hobbies, “Full Speed” serviced the sport’s fanbase while also offering a primer on racing.
Motorsports journalist Jeff Gluck reported in The New York Times that “Full Speed” was among the top 10 U.S. shows on the Netflix charts and that NASCAR’s TV ratings were up substantially for the first six races of 2024. Even better, continues Gluck, “Nielsen data found 88% of first-week ‘Full Speed’ viewers did not watch last fall’s championship race. That means the vast majority of people who watched the Netflix show’s debut are potential new fans.”
“The Netflix docuseries really helped explain our sport to new fans and engage them,” Waran confirms. NASCAR data shows video views across NASCAR social media legacy platforms are up 98% over 2023, while four Cup Series events and one Xfinity Series event have announced sellouts this year. Thanks to sellouts in 2023, “this marks multiple years in a row of attendance growth,” according to data shared by Stevens. And despite a rainy Daytona 500, which drove TV ratings down, Fox finished its portion of the broadcast year in the black.
Back to the Track
When fans return to the raceway for the Craftsman Truck Series event on Aug. 10 and the NASCAR Cup Series race on Aug. 11, one of the drivers on the track will be defending Richmond race winner Chris Buescher of Prosper, Texas.
“Ultimately, we’ve been building some really good race cars that have certainly helped me be better [in Richmond last year] than I have been in the past,” Buescher says. “I’ve been able to work on fine-tuning speed versus just trying to find the baseline, and that’s led us to some good results and some fun days. I feel obligated to point out that Richmond was my least favorite track three years ago,” he adds, “but it is no longer even close to my least favorite, so something has definitely clicked.”
Enthusiastic fan attendance, successful community partnerships and new faces in the stands are evidence that things are clicking for Richmond Raceway, as well. The spring race was the No. 2 sport of the day on Fox (the men’s NCAA basketball tournament took first place), and viewership was up 44% over the 2023 event on other networks, according to data provided by Stevens.
“I’ve witnessed a lot of momentum in the sport in a great way,” Waran says. “I’ve witnessed the drivers really wanting to engage even more, and the teams wanting to engage more. I’ve witnessed people really being excited to come back to the track in Richmond, and that’s nice to hear. We want to make sure that we provide a great fan experience, and we work within the community, and the community really wants to partner with us. I’m really excited.”
Special thanks to Ryan Brown, Christina von Claparede-Crola and Adam Harrell for their contributions to this article.
The Race Day Experience
There’s much more to a day at the track than just the race. Both inside the gates and out in the Fan Zone, there’s plenty to do during NASCAR’s two visits to Richmond Raceway every year.
The experience begins before you even step foot on the grounds. Vendors set up along Laburnum Avenue to hawk memorabilia, collectibles and more to fans, such as obscure die-cast models and pieces of sheet metal from 30-year-old race cars.
Inside the gates, Richmond Raceway offers five RV areas and one tent campground that open the Tuesday before race weekend. Visiting fans, who come in from all 50 states as well as Canada, set up pop-up tents, tables, chairs, bars and even swimming pools, decorating with flags for their favorite drivers.
They’re there to socialize with friends and participate in events such as a welcome party, a Fan Zone festival and a campground concert. Over the weekend, local tailgaters fill the massive parking lot with additional grills and picnics. Drivers occasionally tour this impromptu fan village, and you’re welcome to walk through and say hello, too.
“People get really passionate about it,” fan Mariah Cianelli says. “There’s so many different people racing and so many different fans of those [drivers]. It creates a unique environment.”
The Fan Zone, or midway, stretches from the parking lot to the track gates and is free to attend. It’s a lively conglomeration of driver appearances, sponsor-associated tables and tents, fan activities, merchandise trailers and special displays from NASCAR and others — in 2022, the United States Air Force brought in an actual fighter jet.
Bubba Wallace with a fan (Photo courtesy Richmond Raceway/NASCAR)
“They had a few appearances, and it was cool to see the actual drivers signing stuff and talking to fans,” Cianelli says. “You can go to different booths and win prizes and get merch and all that, so leading up to the race, that’s all really fun.”
With eight concession booths and over a dozen food trucks on the property, Richmond Raceway offers plenty to eat. Options include traditional fair such as popcorn, nachos, burgers and chicken fingers, but also fish ’n’ chips and barbecue. Local food trucks and vendors, including La Milpa, Cobra Cabana and Jiji Frozen Custard, debuted at the March race; vendors for the August event had yet to be announced by press time.
An Infield FanGrounds Pass ($60-$70 per day) allows you to walk through a tunnel under the track and wander among the haulers, visit the garages while the teams are working on the cars and see them rolled out to Pit Road, take photos at Victory Lane and cheer on the drivers up close as they’re introduced. Fans can occasionally pick up collectible postcards or get autographs or selfies with drivers.
The aptly named Chaos Corner sits at Turn 4, where car contact and collisions are most likely to happen. The general admission section, open to fans ages 21 and over during Cup Series races, offers tiered standing space and drink rails ($25). “It’s not that crazy,” Cianelli reports, although the vibe is “very different” from the grandstand, where fans are seated.
For fans looking to go all out, the raceway has two premium club experiences. The Torque Club and the Victory Lane Club offer premier seats, drink and dining packages, and perks such as a pace car ride; tickets start at $800 and $1,200, respectively.
“You can just watch [a race] and have a good time, or you can know all the points systems and the rankings and who’s in what position” Cianelli says. “You can have your radio and your headphones on. There’s such a variety of what you can experience when you go.”
Photo courtesy Richmond Raceway/NASCAR
Know Before You Go
The most important thing to know about NASCAR is that races are insanely loud. You don’t want earplugs, you need them. Races average 100-130 decibels, according to NASCAR, a noise level much louder than the 85 dBA where hearing loss can happen, per the National Institutes for Health. Plan to take several pairs of disposable earplugs with the highest noise reduction rating you can find at the drugstore or, if you have them, reusable earplugs (especially those connected by a cable) or earmuffs designed for concerts or target practice.
Scanner headsets, available for rent starting at $47.95, allow fans to hear their favorite driver’s radio or to flip back and forth between competitors and understand the thinking behind their driving strategies.
Most guests sit in the grandstands, and even if you’ve paid for indoor seats on the club level, you’ll be outside visiting the Fan Zone and Infield FanGrounds for at least part of the day. Richmond historically has had good weather for races, but rain isn’t out of the question — the spring 2024 event experienced a slight rain delay. Depending on the forecast, pack rain gear and towels to wipe your seats or sunscreen and a hat.
You’re allowed to take your own (sealed) food and drinks — including alcohol — into the stands. Soft coolers and up to two bags are permitted. Seat cushions (which can be rented for $10), service animals, strollers and binoculars are also allowed. Prohibited items include weapons, glass containers and drones. (See the complete list at richmondraceway.com/policies.)
Finally, there really aren’t any bad seats at Richmond Raceway. If you’re up high, you have a better view of the action around the track. If you’re sitting farther down, you might feel the wind of the cars as they whip by or flecks of tire rubber that were kicked up from the track. It doesn’t get much closer than that.
This article has been updated since it first appeared in print.
