Adding fuel to fans' desire

Track offering big-ticket prizes

LOUDON, N.H. - In an innovative attempt to boost attendance in this challenging economic climate, officials at New Hampshire Motor Speedway yesterday unveiled their own economic stimulus package by offering to pay the mortgage or rent through the remainder of the year for a ticket-holder for the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 June 29.

Five finalists will be selected from its ticket-holder list, with the winner introduced during a prerace ceremony. To be eligible, though, contestants must be registered as ticket-holders by June 25.

In addition, track officials will give away $10,000 worth of free gas to 20 fans. The first $500 Sunoco gas card was awarded yesterday to Norman Brooks, 68, of Northfield. The rest of the winners will be chosen via blind draw.

"I'm talking about putting fans first, and that's one of the things our company [Speedway Motorsports Inc., which bought the track from Bob and Gary Bahre last November for $340 million] is known for," said NHMS executive vice president and general manager Jerry Gappens. "We recognize that we've got great support here and Bob Bahre and Gary have done a great job of building a fan base here. The renewal rates are very high, but I also recognize that there are challenges for some people that need to be met.

"We thought we'd come up with a fun program that would reward those people and also give an incentive for those people on the fence about buying tickets."

Although NHMS has recorded 26 consecutive sellouts, Gappens indicated that last year's Lenox wasn't declared a sellout until "10 days or a week out." Gappens said about 6,000 tickets are available for this year's race. "We're about almost 3 percent behind where we were last year," he said. "There's a lot of assumption that you're already sold out, but we don't automatically sell out with renewals."

Even with higher gas prices, Brooks indicated he planned on attending the race in his motor home, which costs nearly $200 to fill. "We love the racing here," he said.

Despite the recent decline in RVs at other tracks, Gappens expects NHMS to host 8,000, "which is pretty close to where we've been in the past," he said.

"Texas was off this weekend with their IRL race and Bristol was off in March with their NASCAR race," Gappens said. "The places I've been to, they've definitely seen a drop-off. But here, because I think of the limited hotel availability, it helps protect that a little bit. You like RVs because they come early, stay late, and they don't mix in with the race traffic."

Open-wheel opening?

Although it's been missing from the Granite State since 1998, Gappens suggested the distinctive note of IndyCar Series engines could fill the Laconia region once again, as early as next season. A native of Kokomo, Ind., Gappens last month "was truly able to go back home again to Indiana" after working 15 years at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C., for H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler and initiated a dialogue with IRL officials about bringing the IndyCar Series back to New Hampshire.

"Now that they've had unification, I think they've got some good momentum going in that series," said Gappens. "From what I understand, IndyCar racing on this track was exciting and fun, and we'd like to bring it back."

Gappens last weekend flew to Texas Motor Speedway to attend a meeting between IRL and Speedway Motorsports, Inc. officials. "We met them and they're working on their 2009 schedule and they're trying to pull that together within the next two weeks and we're looking to try and position ourselves in between our two [NASCAR Sprint] Cup dates [in June and September].

"We're looking at late July or the first week of August, and they're trying to find out if they can make that work," Gappens added.

Michael Vega can be reached at vega@globe.com.