For the past year, SB Nation has ranked NASCAR drivers in regard to the number of Twitter followers they have. But have you ever wondered about the tracks?
Rankings: Which NASCAR Tracks Have The Most Twitter Followers?
We did. And as it turns out, there seems to be a connection between attendance and number of Twitter followers.
Tops in the ranking is Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which claims to be the largest sports venue in the world and has more tradition than any other track. And because it has two of the biggest races in the country (the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400), it’s not hard to believe that more people follow the track on Twitter than any other.
No. 2 is somewhat of a surprise, though: Las Vegas Motor Speedway. With only one race per year (albeit a well-attended one), Vegas is the only single-event track in the top 10.
Keeping with the attendance theme, Bristol (No. 3) isn’t a surprise, nor are Texas, Daytona and Talladega (nos. 4-6).
Conversely, some of the smaller tracks in terms of seating capacity and attendance find themselves at the bottom.
Single-race tracks like Kansas (which gets two events in 2011), Darlington and Chicagoland bring up the rear, along with tiny Martinsville, rookie Cup track Kentucky and poorly attended Fontana.
The attendance theory doesn’t explain everything, though. Richmond has two well-attended races and is also one of the most interactive tracks on Twitter. Yet its @RIRInsider account is only 12th in followers (behind Homestead).
That one is puzzling, as are a few others (Dover at No. 17?). Feel free to add your theories in the comments section below.
Here is the full list of Sprint Cup tracks on Twitter, ranked by number of followers:
1. Indianapolis Motor Speedway (@IMS): 9,647
2. Las Vegas Motor Speedway (@LVMotorSpeedway): 8,068
3. Bristol Motor Speedway (@BMSUpdates): 7,990
4. Texas Motor Speedway (@TXMotorSpeedway): 7,295
5. Daytona International Speedway (@DISUpdates): 6,718
6. Talladega Superspeedway (@TalladegaSuperS): 5,785
7. Michigan International Speedway (@MISpeedway): 5,738
8. Phoenix International Raceway (@PhoenixRaceway): 5,642
9. Charlotte Motor Speedway (@CLTMotorSpdwy): 5,287
10. New Hampshire Motor Speedway (@NHMotorSpeedway): 5,148
11. Homestead-Miami Speedway (@HomesteadMiami): 4,794
12. Richmond International Raceway (@RIRInsider): 4,771
13. Infineon Raceway (@InfineonRaceway): 4,427
14. Watkins Glen International (@WGI): 4,094
15. Pocono Raceway (@PoconoRaceway): 4,084
16. Atlanta Motor Speedway (@amsupdates): 4,019
17. Dover International Raceway (@MonsterMile): 4,004
18. Auto Club Speedway (@ACSUpdates): 3,759
19. Kentucky Speedway (@KYSpeedway): 3,401
20. Martinsville Speedway (@ms1947): 3,047
21. Chicagoland Speedway (@ChicagolndSpdwy): 2,919
22. Darlington Raceway (@TooToughToTame): 2,846
23. Kansas Speedway (@KansasSpeedway): 1,996
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