Attendance up for "Super Weekend" at IMS, down for actual Brickyard 400 event

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Indianapolis Motor Speedway leaders were hoping this would be the year to bring attendance numbers back up for the Brickyard. They brought in more races to draw fans to the track all weekend.

Overall, IMS officials say crowds were up for the entire "Super Weekend" at IMS, but numbers show the actual Sunday Brickyard 400 event saw a smaller crowd than 2011.

NASCAR releases crowd estimates at all their events, but IMS doesn't release numbers.

According to NASCAR, 40,000 people were at IMS on Saturday.

NASCAR estimated 125,000 people were in attendance at the Brickyard 400 on Sunday. That Sunday crowd was down from the Brickyard 400 event in 2011, that brought in about 138,000 fans.

Officials say when you add in Saturday, this weekend at IMS brought in 165,000 people.

This year, organizers created what they called a "Super Weekend" in hopes of drawing in new and old fans. They added races: four races in three days on 1 track.

Jason Freeman of Bloomington says he’s come up to the track for seven years in a row, and says this year seemed to still have a thin crowd. “Sadly, there’s a lot of empty seats. Maybe this new format though will be a step in the right direction,” Freeman said. “As times goes on, fans come and go, but they need to do new things to keep it fresh and exciting… so this is a good start.”

“Attendance has been pretty good. We believe over the weekend, we’ll have more in attendance than last year,” said Doug Boles, with Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “What we’re really trying to do is establish an event with a lot of activity, to give people a reason to come and spend a day or two or three days,” he added.

This weekend has gone from drawing in about 200,000 fans in 1994 when the Brickyard first started, to an estimated 138,000 fans last year.

A poor economy and the cost of gas hasn't helped NASCAR lately, but they're using social media at the track, trying to create a new buzz about the “Super Weekend.”

John Long and his wife came up from North Carolina because they’d won tickets on Twitter.

“Been to a lot of races, but this is our first time in Indianapolis,” said John Long.

Boles said they’re optimistic for the future, and they’re hoping to do the race in a similar fashion next year, with a weekend-long schedule.

An otherwise “quiet” weekend at the Brickyard, Boles said medical numbers were much lower than anticipated. The 90 degree weather instead of the 100 degree weather Indy saw for the 500 probably plays a role in that.

Speedway police reported three arrests at the track Sunday.