Conversation: Robin Braig

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Daytona International Speedway president Robin Braig took a giant step toward completing his first year at the helm of the "World Center of Racing" after last weekend's Pepsi 400 was over.

Braig has now marshaled the flagship venue of International Speedway Corporation, which wholly or partially owns 13 major speedways operating across the country.

But the Pepsi 400 was a landmark event for Braig and his speedway, so he was only too happy to sit down in its aftermath with NASCAR.com's Dave Rodman, to discuss Fans First!, flying hoods and plans for Speedweeks 2004.

Q: How would you assess, overall, how your first Pepsi 400 weekend went?

	Robin Braig

Robin Braig: I think we hit a home run in terms of our staff, operationally, and the entertainment value that our race guests had. The weather held out for us, the attendance was excellent and it was a good show on the track.

The combination of the three of those was something that any track president looks forward to.

Q: With Daytona being known for big packs racing and a more uncertain finish, does Greg Biffle's surprising victory prove again there's a reason why they run the races?

Robin Braig: We're excited to have Greg Biffle as our champion. While we love the DEI cars running strong at Daytona, it's always fun to have some different in Victory Lane and it adds a special element that he's a rookie. It's good for the sport, good for the track and good for our promotion of the event.

Q: Speaking of Dale Earnhardt Incorporated, you've got an element you didn't expect to have in DAYTONA USA, in Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Winn-Dixie 250-winning Busch car. How has that gone over with the fans?

Pepsi 400  •  Race recap  •  Results  •  Standings  •  Lap by Lap  •  Video Highlights

Robin Braig: It's a wonderful addition to DAYTONA USA. After the race I went up to DEI's executive vice president, Ty Norris and asked him what his plans were for the car. He said Dale Jr. was done with it, period.

I asked him if we could have it for DUSA and he was like, "Let me check with Dale Jr." He came back to me within the hour and said that all they needed was the motor out of it. I stayed there through "spec" (inspection) -- it took a little while for him to get through tech. I was there a couple hours and they were working hard on that car.

It was nice for Dale Jr. to give us that car. We've got it for a month, and maybe more, since they have no plans for it. It became a real important addition to DAYTONA USA, with that great paint scheme that had a great win. It continues the Earnhardt tradition of winning cars at DAYTONA USA and it joins his father's No. 3 Goodwrench Service car that's also there.

Q: Any twists you might be planning down the road to expand on pre-race for any of your events?

Robin Braig: It's interesting that the Armed Forces have become a very important part of NASCAR. They all have become sponsors, whether it's on a car or at a track. We met with various people with the Armed Forces and each of them has new ideas for pre-race entertainment, flyovers and interactive areas.

The Army had an outstanding display out in our Fan Walk. I think we'll let them get on down the road with the second half of their season and you can rest assured that the 46th running of the Daytona 500 will have a real military piece to it, as the Pepsi 400 always will.

Q: The Fan Walk is a relatively new venue at the speedway, located to the east of the tunnel entrance. Has it continued to expand and what are your plans for it?

Robin Braig: The Fan Walk is about 11 acres and it's sold out. We don't have enough room down there already (so) we're looking for more room for expansion. Clearly, this track was built 50 years ago and today, you wouldn't box yourself in with the airport, the Interstate and International Speedway Boulevard, so our expansion becomes more and more difficult for our Fan Walk, given those parameters.

But we think that even before the Daytona 500 we'll be able to find more room for even more interactive displays, because the demand is certainly there from all the NASCAR sponsors. It gives our guests who want to come to the track early a lot to do. There is also part of our Souvenir Row down there, with numerous merchandise vendors on site, so I think we have a total of 30-50 displays.

Q: You had a goal to empty the stadium and the grounds within three hours after the Pepsi 400. How did that work out?

Robin Braig: We beat our goal. Our traffic was flowing going out. But our ingress was excellent. Any time you have a night event, the fans come in at different times throughout the day, which is an added benefit to night racing -- you don't have major traffic problems on your ingress.

The only thing that adds stress to our ingress plan is fireworks. The fans don't leave with 20 laps to go and they don't leave immediately after the race. They actually all leave after the fireworks and that adds a lot of stress to your egress.

We came in well under our three-hour goal. We had no major incidents on any of our roads. Fans understood it was going to be dark (but) we had plenty of light towers and our tram and bus systems worked well. We couldn't be more pleased how it went and that rates a big "thank you" to the Volusia County Sheriff's Department, the State Troopers, Daytona Beach Police Department and of course, our own staff.

Q: With a nearly packed stadium and the heat that you always have in July, overall how would you rate the race fans' experience, based on the feedback you've received?

Robin Braig: I think the fans' experience right now was a 9.5, but we're shooting to be a 10. We had some hiccups that we're just starting to evaluate. We're determining if we met all the goals of our Fans First! program. We'll sit down for a download session in the next day or so with all the staff and we encourage all our fans to log on to 1800pitshop.com or call us at 1-800-PITSHOP because we want to hear how their experience was.

Q: As part of the Fans First! initiative you had meetings last week with fans that had traveled a great distance to come to the events. Were there any eye-openers there?

Robin Braig: They were brutally honest with us and that's what we were asking for. I think one of the big concerns is our bathrooms, especially our women's bathrooms. We need more, more attendants and better service.

We had a wonderful family with us in those sessions that addressed our disabled issues. Incidentally, they even got caught up in one of our shortfalls in handicapped transportation, later in the day. We found that we probably don't have enough handicapped carts.

Actually, the one they were waiting on had a mechanical failure and unfortunately it took some time while they were at a tram stop to get back to them. They were kind enough to work with us, and since then we've followed up twice with them and they've been nice enough to advise us in what we could do.

We never left their side and they were in their seats in time and were still able to enjoy the race. They've actually become kind of a "mystery shopper" for us, looking at things and giving us feedback. That's become an extension of our communication with our race guests and now those people have become friends of ours and we'll continue to try to improve our Fans First! program every year.

Q: How did the weekend go from the Americrown standpoint?

Robin Braig: Americrown also hit the ball out of the park. Their numbers were excellent and their service was excellent. Of the complaints, or opportunities, I guess is what we like to call them that are coming in, very few are related to Americrown on the food and beverage side.

Our hospitality village for our fans' and corporations' entertainment went smoothly; though I guess we did have some issues with registration that wasn't related to Americrown. Overall, we were able to keep everybody fed and hydrated.

Q: How did the weekend go at DAYTONA USA, with the new Toyota Thunder simulator debuting?

Robin Braig: I think we're all looking forward to Toyota's entrance into the sport and DAYTONA USA is glad to be out front with Toyota. Our Toyota Tundra exhibit was exciting and we had lines there all day while we moved people through quickly.

DAYTONA USA, in addition to being air-conditioned, is a neat place to hang out. Our attendance was up and our track tours were up and clearly our merchandise sales were up. We had a great lineup of drivers, crew chiefs and people related to the sport for our fan forums in DAYTONA USA and that's something that will continue, as Speedweeks get closer.

Q: For at least the fourth time since 1988 a major piece of debris sailed into the stands -- three hoods and windshield. Operationally, is there anything you can do?

Robin Braig: I went to Halifax Medical Center Sunday morning and the individual who was struck had been released after spending the night there under observation. I talked with her and she's returned home with her husband and is doing well. We'll continue to stay in touch with her and make sure she gets fully recovered.

We immediately met with NASCAR after the race. Obviously there are some concerns with Robby Gordon being involved in an incident earlier in the race. NASCAR is doing a full investigation and I'm waiting until after they file that report, because we don't comment on our individual safety features of the track. We meet all NASCAR's requirements and stand behind those.