IRL draws record crowd at The Glen

The Indy Racing League race July 6 at Watkins Glen drew a 1.0 overnight TV rating, meaning 1 million households nationwide tuned in, according to Nielsen Media. That is the same rating as last year. This year’s race aired on ABC.

But attendance was the highest its been in the four years since the IRL began coming to the track, said several sources close to the series. IRL and track officials do not officially release race attendance. While it’s difficult to gauge attendance with literally thousands of campers and RVs littering the infield and perimeter of the track, sources on the ground at The Glen estimate it near 80,000.

The IRL’s race date at The Glen has bounced from fall to spring before settling on the July 4 weekend the last two years. Given this year’s success, track officials don’t expect a date change for 2009.