Michigan International Speedway's largest market is also the area hardest hit by the ongoing economic recession. Eighteen percent of fans attending a NASCAR event on the big 2-mile oval come from metropolitan Detroit -- a region that holds the highest home foreclosure rate in the nation, and whose workforce has been battered by the closing or idling of automobile production plants. Those factors will surely be reflected this weekend in the size of the crowd descending on the Irish Hills.

In that regard, track president Roger Curtis is a realist. He knows he won't set any attendance records Sunday at his 132,000-seat speedway located 72 miles west of the Motor City. But he's also hopeful.

"We aren't going to be sold out. We haven't been for the last couple of years," Curtis said. "You are going to see some empty seats. But we're still going to have around 100,000 people. In the 50th worst economy in the nation, that is amazing."

Hard economic times are nothing new in Michigan; Curtis said his track has been feeling the effects of the looming downturn since 2004 or '05, well before it was officially classified as a recession and its impact began to be noticed in other areas. That experience has given Michigan officials something of an opportunity to diversify its fan base, so it's not quite as reliant on people from metro Detroit who may be more concerned with meeting house payments or finding work.

Detroit is still by far the track's largest single market. But Curtis said 60 percent of Michigan's fans now come from out of state, with the track having seen growth in places like Chicago, Columbus and Cleveland. But the facility's most impressive gains may be across the border in Canada, which two years ago accounted for just 3 percent of the track's fan base. Now, Curtis said, Canadians comprise 17 percent of all spectators at a Michigan NASCAR race. It's a huge jump, made more impressive by the fact that Michigan International Speedway didn't spend any money advertising and promoting in Canada until this year.

So, if there's a surprisingly good crowd on display Sunday at Michigan, thank the Canadians. "Please, don't chastise us when we have a flyover for the Canadian anthem or for flying their flag," Curtis said.

Michigan is also using other tactics to try and combat current economic trends. The track has done promotional work in some urban Detroit communities where the facility traditionally has a low profile, if people are even aware of it at all. Carfax, sponsor of the track's Nationwide Series race, recently extended its deal with the speedway and is helping to sell tickets through its outlets. The speedway has also reduced prices, cutting general admission tickets for the Turn 3 and 4 grandstands -- typically the toughest to fill -- to $40, and lowering some reserved, upper-row tickets from $110 to $95. Like many tracks, Michigan has also implemented a payment plan.

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And despite the recession, Curtis said the track has no plans to scrimp on planned infrastructure improvements. Parent company International Speedway Corp. has poured millions into the facility in recent years to upgrade such things as sound systems, seating areas and signage.

"I think we have this major responsibility to take care of those folks that are there," Curtis said. "They're making sacrifices, they're making tough decisions to come out and still support NASCAR and enjoy the entertainment value that we provide. To say we're going to pull back on investments, or we're not going to do something in guest services or things like that because, oh, there's 30,000 or 40,000 of you that aren't here, that would be crazy. You can't take the fans for granted when things are good. We most certainly can't take that for granted now."

What kind of crowd will Michigan draw Sunday? Last year's spring event saw about 35,000 empty seats, according to reports. Since then, two domestic automobile manufacturers have declared bankruptcy, the recession has deepened in the upper Midwest, and large swaths of empty seats have been seen at NASCAR events from California to Dover. Even immensely popular places like Bristol and Richmond, places that sold out for decades, have struggled to fill up.

But Curtis believes that if Michigan can just hold on until the economy improves, the track will emerge much stronger thanks to the gains it has made in markets outside of its traditional home base of Detroit.

"When the economy does turn around and you start to get back some of those fans who are struggling and can't make it to the track, and we've already got that core built up of new folks who've never been, I'd like to think we're going to be in pretty good shape," he said. "I don't want to say for sure, you don't want to take anything for granted. But I hope there's light at the end of the tunnel here."