“Every track has its own personality and history. When you run the same place too many times, the magic can lose a bit of its luster,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. shared recently about some NASCAR tracks. NASCAR acted accordingly for Richmond Raceway. In August 2024, the 0.75-mile short track lost one of its dates to make way for the sport’s visit to Mexico City. Standing in 2025, ahead of Richmond’s single date, the results of that decision look bright.

This weekend has been jam-packed with exciting NASCAR events in Richmond. From the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour’s Thursday entry to the Cup Series placing the cherry on the cake at the Cook Out 400, fans are pumped. This extra excitement lent Richmond a level of popularity unseen in 17 years.

NASCAR spills over for Richmond

Richmond Raceway has enjoyed two events in a season for many years. From 1959 to 2024, across multiple layouts and a surface that changed from dirt to asphalt, the Virginia short track has enjoyed two scheduled Cup Series events (lost one in 2020 due to the pandemic). So when NASCAR announced truncating its involvement in 2024, the decision met with mixed responses. Veterans like Dale Earnhardt Jr. or Jimmie Johnson were on board, emphasizing fan engagement. However, Denny Hamlin, a Virginia native who owns five Richmond victories, blamed fans. He said, “If the fans turned out here and we sold out every race, then there would be two races.”

Indeed, the last time there was a sellout of tickets for Richmond Raceway was back in 2008. Despite Denny Hamlin lamenting about the loss of one date, we are finally set to meet that 17-year-old record. With only one event in 2025 in Richmond, fans have lined up to enjoy the track in large numbers. Journalist Adam Stern updated the heartwarming news on X: “@RichmondRaceway is expected to announce a sellout for tomorrow night’s NASCAR Cup Series race, per people familiar, in what would be the first sellout at the venue since 2008.”

However, he also mentioned a caveat: “➡️ The track did have a larger capacity back in 2008.” Indeed, Richmond Raceway had a capacity of 112,029 seats for fans back in 2008. Comparatively, that capacity has gone down to under 50,000 for NASCAR fans. Nevertheless, they turned up in droves to witness the exciting festivities. Craig Lutz won the Racing Lovers 150 on Thursday, taking his 6th Modified Tour race victory in a 12-year career. What was even more jaw-dropping was Corey Heim dominating the Craftsman Truck Series field for the 7th time this season. He fended off fierce charges from defending race winner and Truck champion Ty Majeski to win the eero 250.

As the audience holds its breath for the Cook Out 400, the excitement can hardly be stopped! Fans expressed their opinions about this extra popularity in Richmond accordingly.

A mixed bag of responses to Richmond’s rejuvenation

Well, witnessing the Truck Series race was exhilarating. Corey Heim had only finished 5th in Richmond earlier, so witnessing him take on Ty Majeski left fans dazzled. The Tricon Garage championship contender drew immense crowds to Richmond Raceway on Friday. One fan testified to that on Reddit: “Just got back from there. Biggest crowd I’ve seen at a lower series race in Richmond in a long time. I actually had to wait in line for beer.” Now, the Cup Series race awaits. After Austin Dillon’s sensational yet controversial victory due to late-race bump-and-runs, fans cannot wait for what 2025 holds in store. The news of the sellout was heartwarming, as somebody wrote, “Crowd should be a sellout for tomorrow too which is great to see.”

However, others pointed out that NASCAR’s achievement in selling out seats is due to the reality. The truncated seat capacity and the reduction to one date in a season are the glaring reasons. Hence, it is not much of an achievement, as a fan wrote, “Easy to sell out when there’s like 35,000 seats and only 1 race a year now. Used to be they could sell out 130,000 seats twice a year.” Somebody else also drew the prominent parallel between 2008 and 2025. They provided the numbers: “In 2008, there were 112,079 seats. Can’t be more than 30,000 now…”

At the same time, Richmond’s resurging popularity further proves the success of NASCAR’s truncation plans. In stripping Richmond of one date, the fans are once again flocking to the racetrack to enjoy NASCAR in live action. This would certainly make Denny Hamlin happy, and a fan wrote, “Further proof that almost every track needs to go down to 1 date. Only a few tracks left on the schedule that deserve two still.”

Evidently, Richmond Raceway is drawing attention in 2025. Let us see how the sellout crowd of the Cup Series race enjoys on Saturday.