The crowd in the Esses at Mid-Ohio during the Nationwide Children's Hospital 200.
I have so much that I want to tell you about NASCAR Nationwide Series' visit to Mid-Ohio, so I've decided to start a three-part "mini series" of blog posts.
Because I'm an aspiring Public Relations Representative, I was interested to learn some of the work that went into preparing for a first-time event, especially when that first-time event is as huge as a NASCAR event.
Mid-Ohio's Public Relations Representative, Jesse Ghiorzi, was kind enough to take time out of his busy (and I mean crazy busy) schedule to answer some questions for Racing Fuel. So, the first two posts of this mini series will be the Q&A with Jesse, giving you a behind-the-scenes look at the preparation for the Inaugural Nationwide Children's Hospital 200.
But first, here is a bit of the road course's history.
The History
As mentioned, Mid-Ohio is a road course located in Lexington, Ohio.
When the track first opened in 1962, it was a 2.4-mile course with 15 turns. Now, the track has two layouts: the original and the newer, 2.258-mile course with 13 turns.
The two most popular spots to watch the races are the Keyhole and the Esses, which you can find in the picture below.
A map of Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Photo retrieved from Wikipedia.
The Keyhole and the Esses are the most popular locations because of the "excitement" (or crashes) that goes on. During practice on Friday, I think I saw three cars land in China Beach.
The no. 73 landed in China Beach on Friday during practice at Mid-Ohio.
Some of the major racing organizations that race at Mid-Ohio are the American Le Mans Series, IndyCar, and most recently, NASCAR.
Q&A: Part 1
Racing Fuel: How does Mid-Ohio compare to the other road courses NASCAR visits?
Jesse Ghiorzi: We're one of three road courses on the NNS (NASCAR Nationwide Series) schedule. The others are Watkins Glen and Road America.
Road America and Mid-Ohio have "standalones," which means the NNS race is the top billing and the track doesn't have NSCS (NASCAR Sprint Cup Series).
All three tracks have long, storied histories and rank among the best traditional road courses in America.
The Glen is similar in length to Mid-Ohio but a bit more slanted on right turns, like a reverse oval.
Road America is significantly longer than Mid-Ohio, so green-white-checkers can really change the end of the race in terms of fuel mileage. The two tracks are comparable in elevation changes, each featuring a difference of 140+ from high point to low.
Mid-Ohio is more park-like than the other two road courses and has limited grandstand seating as fans fill up the track's natural viewing mounds.
RF: How did it feel to have NASCAR at Mid-Ohio for the first time?
JG: It was unreal. So much work went into this event over the last nine months since we secured the date and announced it in November 2012.
The racing was all we could ask for, especially on restarts.
Any time you put in work for an event and it's finally here, the feeling is a mix of relief, excitement, and nervousness. I was about 80% excited and 20% the other two!
RF: What kind of turnout were you expecting? Did it meet your expectations?
JG: The crowd was massive, loud, and gave the event an amazing atmosphere. Crowds were bigger than we expected.
Here is a tip for the PR expert. Get the car manufacturers to show up next year. The fans want to see Chevy and Ford. The NASCAR folks did an excellent job with very little fan activities (thanks for the driver autograph session).
ReplyDeleteThe autograph session was very nice. There were a lot more drivers there than I was expecting!
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