“A Failure Waiting to Happen” – Racing Community Warns Kyle Larson Against High Limit Racing’s “Fan Fest” Pit Access

Kyle Larson recently spoke about what fans should look forward to in this year’s sprint car series, High Limit Racing. He named some of the drivers to look out for, like Rico Abreu, Brad Sweet, and Corey Day among a few. The former Cup Series champion also said had the series had an exciting schedule that would be appealing to fans. To improve the fan experience, the organizers decided to have something called ‘Fan Fest’ during the race weekend. While it did not sound like a bad idea initially, motorsports fans expressed their skepticism about it.

The 2024 edition of the competition will commence on February 12 with the Battle at the Bay at the East Bay Raceway Park. Speaking about the endeavor, High Limit Racing’s Chief Marketing and Events Officer, Kendra Jacobs, said that bringing the driver’s personalities out and improving the fan experience was one of their biggest goals.

She also said that High Limit Racing was looking to do something similar at other tracks as well. Kendra said, “Showcasing our drivers’ personalities and increasing fan engagement will continue to be priorities of ours. Fan Fest gives fans options on how they want to spend that purposeful break in the evening.

We look forward to offering it at more tracks and watching it evolve as the season continues. Reading the drivers’ playlists has been fun for all of us. I hope the fans enjoy it as much as we’ve enjoyed the build-up to it. The drivers have been thoughtful and are truly taking this chance to share who they are off-the-track with the fans,” she said as per High Limit Racing.

The concept of a Fan Fest was came up with as a means to bring fans closer to the sport. The idea is that there will be a period of around 20 to 30 minutes after qualifying and ahead of the heat races at the East Bay Raceway.

During this period, fans will be given access to pit road where they can see the teams at work and even interact with the drivers if they are lucky. It sounds quite appealing as a fan, but from a team’s perspective, it may not be the best idea to have so many people on pit road.

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However, the reaction from fans to this news has not been very positive. Several fans are skeptical about the organization of the Fan Fest. Most of them cannot get around the idea that they would be able to clear the pit road within the time specified.

Fans urge Kyle Larson to rethink plan of crowding pit road

Racing fans in the States are known to be vocal about their opinions and Kyle Larson got a first-hand taste of that after the Fan Fest news came out. Coming off of such a reaction, the Hendrick Motorsports star has to ensure that there is no chaos at the East Bay Speedway during fan interactions and prove his doubters wrong.

“Seems like a failure waiting to happen… but go ahead,” one user commented. Another fan said that all the Fan Fest would do is drag the event unnecessarily long, which would not be ideal for those residing on the East Coast. They also said that there was a chance someone could get hurt and implored Kyle Larson to rethink.

“I don’t see this being a good idea at all.  Gonna drag the show too long.  East coasters don’t need anything to draw out the late hour when on the West Coast, more importantly, someone’s gonna get hurt.  Please rethink this before it’s too late,” they commented.

There were a lot of concerns over the timing and organization as people were bewildered about how the organizers planned on clearing the pit road in 20 minutes. “Thought one of the ideas was to run a time managed show so features do not end so late. My opinion is open pit BAD idea. Curious how clearing everyone out after 20 minutes will smoothly happen,” one fan commented.

“You don’t have to try every idea that comes to you. Like others have stated just dragging the show out, and no way can you get it done in 20 minutes. It will be more of a 45 minute time warp,” quipped another.

There were concerns about the safety of fans as well. Someone who isn’t alert to a car coming out or going could be in the path of danger. “People are distracted enough in today’s day and age. And filling the pits with more people just isn’t a solid idea. It’s amazing how many people aren’t alert in the pits at a sprint car race. If you’re gonna do this make it before or after the racing is over,” they wrote.

Do you think Kyle Larson and his team are making a mistake by introducing the Fan Fest at the East Bay Speedway? Let us know in the comments below.

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