Texas speedway hopes to lure Final Four fans

FORT WORTH, Texas — Common sense apparently isn’t something NASCAR is interested in using when it comes to scheduling races. There’s no explanation why one of Texas Motor Speedway’s two biggest weekends is taking place with the Final Four coming to town.

“They were completely inflexible, which was completely disappointing,” track president Eddie Gossage said. “Nobody wins in those kinds of things, and I don’t know why they were completely inflexible.”

Gossage said that simply switching dates with another track isn’t as easy as it may seem, as a particular track might have a festival or other local events tied to those weekends. Still, a mega-event such as the Final Four should have been an exception to alter plans.

But since common sense didn’t prevail, Gossage and TMS are embracing the Final Four and dubbing this the “ultimate” sports weekend. Gossage said ticket sales are about what they usually are at this point and, because the Final Four is largely a corporate event, the track has sold multiple suites and blocks of seats to companies that have employees and clients in town.

Tickets to the Final Four, meanwhile, shape up to be the toughest tickets in recent years, with an all-session trip going for $1,185, according to SeatGeek.

TMS has partnered with PrimeSport to sell an all-inclusive package with tickets to the Final Four games on Saturday and Monday, and the Duck Commander 500 on Sunday.

Gossage also hopes to see a change in walk-up sales. Races rarely do well during day-of sales, Gossage said, because most fans purchase tickets more than six months in advance.

If that trend were to change, it seems like this would be the year. Fans from Florida, Wisconsin, Connecticut and Kentucky will be flooding the area and could be intrigued to take in a race between the semifinals and championship game.