Daytona raising seating capacity near 150,000

Thursday, June 11, 1998 | 8:30 a.m.

Daytona International Speedway is about to get even bigger.

The speedway announced plans Monday to expand Winston Tower seating in time for the Daytona 500 in February, bringing grandstand capacity to at least 149,000.

Most of the 6,000 additional seats on the frontstretch will be sold as Daytona Club seats, which give those ticket-holders access to a hospitality area with closed-circuit television and catering.

Only 400 Daytona Club seats now exist.

"We've been consistently sold out with a waiting list," said John Graham, president of the speedway.

Daytona Club seats will cost between $1,500 and $1,700 for eight races over five days during Speedweeks.

The top six rows of seats beneath the tower will remain regular grandstand seats. Graham said the speedway might consider converting those seats into enclosed suites.

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DOMINO THEORY: It appears that Target-Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Alex Zanardi and Jimmy Vasser will determine what kind of turnover there will be next season in the CART FedEx Championship Series.

With Zanardi considering offers to return to Formula One and Vasser one of several candidates to take the place of retiring Bobby Rahal, the dominoes could begin falling soon.

If one or both leave the team that has become dominant in the CART series - with two straight PPG Cup championships - the car-hopping could be significant. If either or both stay, it could be a quiet offseason.

"I know I'll be driving a Champ car for somebody," Vasser said.

Formula One is particularly enticing to Zanardi because he would like to go back to his native Italy. Wife Daniella is expecting the couple's first child later this year.

"But I will not leave for just anything," Zanardi said. "I don't want to live with regrets."

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GOOD SHOW: Max Mosley, president of the FIA, doesn't like or agree with all the talk about Formula One being boring.

Even though Michael Schumacher managed a win Sunday in the Canadian Grand Prix, after the dominating Team McLaren cars of David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen went out with engine problems, it's still unusual for an F1 race to be much more than a very fast parade.

"It is obviously never ideal when one team succeeds in gaining a dominant position," Mosley said. "However, it is the essence of Formula One that a team should be able to attain that position.

"One has to recognize that McLaren did an outstanding job during the winter. Together with their tire company, they have put together an excellent package, and at the moment seem to have the best car."

It's the nature of the beast.

"In my view it would be entirely wrong to interfere with that achievement," he said.

Mosley said it's up to the other F1 teams, their designers and engineers, to catch McLaren.

Beyond the dominating McLaren cars, there is also the question of general competition, with few passes for positions during F1 races in recent years.

But that doesn't bother Mosley.

"Under these circumstances, the level of excitement depends on the view of the spectator, he said. "For example, you might regard basketball as a more exciting sport than soccer.

"While soccer offers only an occasional goal, in basketball it is normal to have at least 100 baskets in just one game. In motor racing, I happen to subscribe to the soccer preference.

"I enjoy the way it builds up, which makes it impossible to leave the room because you don't know whether a following driver will find a way past the one in front."

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CHIP OFF PETTY BLOCK: Adam Petty, the 17-year-old son of NASCAR Winston Cup star Kyle Petty, is paying his dues this season in the American Speedway Association.

The fourth-generation racer - following his great grandfather Lee, his grandfather Richard and his father - is learning his craft in his first season of professional racing.

He recently earned his first pole position at Orange County Speedway in Rougemont, N.C. That came only days after he graduated from Trinity (N.C.) High School, where his grandmother, Lynda Petty, is on the school board.