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By Greg Engle,Editor, Cup Scene Daily
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Not even Paris Hilton could help this time.

(Michael Buckner/Getty Images)

On the Wednesday prior to last Sunday’s race at California Speedway, the track held a glitzy only in Hollywood style party. Jeff Gordon, sporting a three-day growth of beard that’s considered chic among Hollywood’s elite, was doing doughnuts in the parking lot in a Corvette with singer Rihanna in the passenger seat.

Track president Gillian Zucker hired a company that normally stages events such as movie premieres and the Emmy’s to stage the affair, complete with an honest to goodness red carpet. Zucker was hoping to raise awareness among the locals; create a ‘buzz’ as marketers are so fond of saying. ‘Hundreds’ of Hollywood ‘A’ list celebs rubbed elbows with NASCAR’s elite. Juan Pablo Montoya, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin joined Gordon.

Even the ‘A’ list celebrity queen Paris Hilton showed up. Never one to allow the spotlight to shine anywhere else, Hilton made a grand entrance flirted with Hamlin and got her picture taken every time she moved. One memorable photo shows Hilton and a visibly uncomfortable NASCAR president Mike Helton.

Despite the ‘buzz’ however California Speedway had more empty seats this year than last. By some counts, unofficial of course, 20,000 of the 92,000 seats were empty Sunday night. Of course a lot of that had to do with the fact that those empty seats that were hot enough to fry an egg on.

I was in Southern California a few weeks ago. I left Central Florida with temps in the mid-90’s and humidity over 80 percent. When I got to Santa Monica the temperature was a mild mid-70’s with almost non-existent humidity; this was in July. And no I didn’t want to leave.

Southern California is a great part of the country, and a market that NASCAR needs to be in. They just don’t need to be there on Labor Day. What people don’t realize unless they’ve been there is that California Speedway is actually an hour away from Los Angeles in San Bernardino County. No cool Pacific breezes here. This is an honest to goodness desert not all that far from Death Valley.

Not exactly a locale that people living in LA want to travel to during a time of the year when it’s well known by all the locals that temperatures could be in the triple digits.

--(Cont'd From Front Page)-- California can work, if it’s staged at the right time of the year. Of course there are those old school NASCAR fans that laugh at the empty seats and say it’s because the evil NASCAR took away their scared Southern 500 at Darlington. But heading back to the Lady in Black on Labor Day, returning their second date isn’t the answer. Darlington was given a Mother’s Day weekend race, dressed up in lights, and promptly sold out. The single date for Darlington works for everyone involved and will keep that track open for many years to come.

Fans who do brave the heat to visit California Speedway are treated to an experience few venues can match in NASCAR. Zucker and her staff provide amenities found nowhere else on the circuit and in the last few years, the racing has actually improved. California native Jimmie Johnson’s storybook finish Sunday certainly made a splash. An enjoyable event for the fans; at least those in the air conditioned suites and for TV viewers on the east coast who happened to still be awake past midnight.

For California Speedway, it’s all about timing. Races earlier in the day, later in the year when the weather is more agreeable might see fewer empty seats and allow viewers on the east coast to actually watch the entire race on something other than their TiVo.

California can work for NASCAR. Who knows, with a later date, maybe even Paris Hilton will show up, as a guest of Mike Helton of course.

If you or your outlet is interested please email him at greg@cupscene.com

NOTE: I'm a one man show, not supported by anyone. If you wish to donate to help offset expense, it would be appreciated:

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