Rain-delayed Samsung Mobile 500 draws tremendous crowd despite Monday start time
FORT WORTH, Texas (April 21, 2010) – The work week in the state of Texas got off to a sluggish start Monday as NASCAR fans showed their passion in support of the rain-delayed Samsung Mobile 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
Despite being run on a Monday – which traditionally leads to spotty and disappointing race crowds – the TMS Nation came out in full-force as media and NASCAR estimated the crowd at 92,200 for the Samsung Mobile 500. Although Texas Motor Speedway annually attracts a crowd in excess of 170,000 for this April event, the attendance for Monday’s race was tremendous considering it being run on a weekday and starting at 11 a.m. CT.
How impressive?
The Monday crowd would have been a sellout or near sellout in terms of seating capacity at nine speedways (Auto Club Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway and Pocono Raceway) that play host to NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. The total also would have been approximately 10,200 more than capacity at the new, and venerable, Cowboys Stadium.
“I have to thank the whole (number) 11 team, everyone at FedEx — all the employees, Sprint and the fans,” Samsung Mobile 500 race winner Denny Hamlin said after climbing out of his car in Victory Lane. “I’ve never seen so many fans on a Monday race like this. I can’t thank them enough. It’s just a great day for us.”
Jeff Gordon led a race-high 124 laps in the Samsung Mobile 500 to jump from fourth to the all-time leader for laps led at Texas Motor Speedway in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition. Gordon moved past Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart, respectively, pushing his career laps-led total to 581. Stewart, who led 74 laps in the Samsung Mobile 500, moved from third to second with 542.
Samsung Mobile 500 winner Denny Hamlin became the 16th different winner in 19 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at TMS. The only multiple winners are Carl Edwards (3) and Jeff Burton (2). Hamlin came from the second-furthest starting position in speedway history to capture a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Hamlin started 29th, two positions shy of equaling the record (31st) held by Matt Kenseth in the 2002 Samsung/RadioShack 500.
The Samsung Mobile 500 was the 400th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start for two-time series champion Tony Stewart, who won the pole but finished 31st.
The O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 tied the track record for fewest cautions (four) in NASCAR Nationwide Series competition.
Matt Kenseth, who entered the Samsung Mobile 500 weekend with the best career finishing average for Sprint Cup Series drivers at TMS (9.26), had his run of six consecutive top-10 finishes come to an end when he finished 20th. He had not finished 20th or worse at Texas Motor Speedway since taking 20th in 2001.
Up next at Texas Motor Speedway will be the IZOD IndyCar Series/NASCAR Camping World Truck Series doubleheader June 3-5. The race week will feature the WinStar World Casino 400 on Friday, June 4, and the Firestone 550k on Saturday, June 5, both of which are evening events.
