“The Great American Race” is just around the corner, and the hype is slowly setting in. It is once a year that fans get to witness the “Super Bowl of Stock Racing” and many of them pay some good money upfront to witness it in person. The hype and the sold-out crowds are what make the race so iconic. 2025 celebrates a historic milestone for NASCAR and the Daytona 500, but Jeremy Mayfield has his own theories.

Controversial NASCAR veteran Jeremy Mayfield recently made some bold claims about NASCAR’s underhanded tactics to fool the public watching on TV about race attendance. Did his claim stick its landing? After Jeff Gluck’s latest post on X, it looks like it has not.

Daytona 500’s legacy and a decade of NASCAR sellouts

Daytona 500 has so far held its position as NASCAR’s crown jewel event, and rightfully so. The 67th Daytona 500 is set to take place just one week after the Superbowl, on the 16th of February, and the hype has been refreshing to see for sure. The main event has been ‘sold out’ for the tenth straight year. As of now the grandstand seats and the camping area have been completely booked as per Daytona 500’s official announcement. NASCAR insider Jeff Gluck posted on X, saying, “The Daytona 500 has sold out for the 10th straight year (all grandstand seats and camping). Track says there are “limited upgrades and premium packages are still available.”

As far as the premium VIP stand packages are concerned, NASCAR Insider Jeff Gluck reported that there still seem to be a few spots left. But guessing by the nature of such events, those premium seats will most probably be reserved for celebrity entities and last-minute entries of important personnel. With that said, NASCAR and Daytona 500 have announced that they will be returning for the track’s 68th run on February, 15th 2026.

While the sell-out streak is without a doubt an impressive feat, it is worth mentioning that Daytona’s seating capacity has been slashed over the years. Back in 2015, NASCAR removed the backstretch of the grandstands, all of this under the garb of the “Daytona Rising Project”. This project aimed to improve the stadium infrastructure while reducing the overall seating capacity.

A good chunk of the front-stretch seating was also removed to make way for new amenities and premium grandstand VIP seating. While all this was done in the name of the renovation project in 2013, some people felt NASCAR did this to hide the fact that their attendance has been lowering over the last few seasons and the downsizing was necessary to make the ‘sold-out’ feat achievable again.

The overall idea in 2013 to slash the seats from 146,000 to 101,000 might be looking good on paper for them as they can again boast the “sold-out” milestone once again, but there are a few critics like Jeremy Mayfield who argue that smaller capacity does not paint the full picture.

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NASCAR filling seats or filling the illusion?

Recently, NASCAR Veteran Jeremy Mayfield did an interview with Chase Holden, in which he had many things to say about NASCAR. One that had gone viral was his bold claim of NASCAR creating an illusion of packed grandstands to make themselves look relevant on TV. “They’re not covering up their stands with beer signs and everything else… Just because they don’t have the fans there just to make it look like it’s full,” Mayfield said in the context of NASCAR’s attempt to make the event look jam-packed with paint jobs and commercial banners.

In the same interview, the host Chase Holden also dropped his 2 cents: “The seats are literally colored in a way now to where it looks like there’s people,”. To which Mayfield nodded in agreement, implying that it was all about the illusion.

This conversation had unpacked lots of unknowns that NASCAR had been doing behind the scenes. Mayfield and Holden’s claim that NASCAR creates an illusion of a packed audience is still to be verified. Despite these claims, Daytona’s sellout milestone this year has completely debunked the false accusations by Mayfield. It proves that certain races remain untouchable in their ability to draw fans.

The prestige of the Daytona 500, coupled with NASCAR’s efforts to improve the fan experience with amenities like wider seats, better views, and premium hospitality, has kept this event firmly at the center of motorsports culture. The sellout streak not only highlights the strength of NASCAR’s flagship race but also serves as a testament to its continued relevance in the world of sports.