Texas Axing Backstretch Seating, Building World's Largest HD Video Screen

Texas Motor Speedway will usher in a new era in 2014 with the arrival of the world's largest HD video board by closing the backstretch seating so all ticket holders can benefit from the new amenity as well as offering the lowest-priced individual frontstretch ticket for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in speedway history. 

Texas Motor Speedway will offer select individual seating on the frontstretch for $30 to both the Texas 500 (Sunday, April 6) and AAA Texas 500 (Sunday, Nov. 2), the best price point for a NASCAR Sprint Cup event since the speedway opened in 1997. The previous low was $40 in the inaugural year and the 2014 pricing offers a 38 percent savings from the lowest individual frontstretch ticket of $49 available this past season. 

The price point also will become the most economical for all Sprint Cup race seating as the backstretch grandstand will be closed for those races beginning in 2014. The section offered 1,000 seats in the first two rows for Sprint Cup races at $20 and the remaining 8,955 seats at $40. The section was not being utilized at the present time for any other annual major races (IndyCar Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series) with the exception of the Sprint Cup Series events. 

The move, which reduces the overall grandstand seating capacity to 112,552, will allow all fans with seats the opportunity to enjoy the world's largest video board beginning with its debut at the Texas 500 NASCAR doubleheader weekend.   

"If we're building the world's largest high-definition video board, why would we want any of our fans having their backs to such a tremendous fan amenity?" Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage said. "It is going to be the biggest and best fan enhancement in the history of the speedway and we want to ensure that all of our fans enjoy this spectacular addition. And for those fans that enjoyed the economical seating on the backstretch, we are now providing the lowest-priced Sprint Cup frontstretch race ticket in our history to help accommodate their budgets while giving them a much better vantage point of all the action."  

The video board, nicknamed "Big Hoss TV," will be constructed by Panasonic directly behind those backstretch grandstands, standing 12 stories high and providing 20,633 square feet of high-definition television for race goers. During race weekends, the video board will feature live race coverage, leaderboard information, driver and race statistics, instant replays, interactive entertainment and more to enhance the overall fan experience. 

Individual tickets, including the $30 seating, for April's Texas 500 will go on sale Feb. 14. Tickets for November's AAA Texas 500 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race will go on sale at a later date following the June 7 Firestone 600 IndyCar Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.