Bristol Motor Speedway is NASCAR’s electric cathedral, a half-mile coliseum where the Night Race’s thunder has drawn sellout crowds for decades, 55 straight from 1982 to 2010. But lately, the buzz isn’t just about the racing; it’s about the price to get in. NASCAR tickets have been creeping up, with the average Cup Series seat now hitting around $215, a big jump from the $120 days when you could snag cheaper spots for $30 to $60 at smaller tracks.

Sure, premium seats could always run up to $1,800 for the best views, but the rising costs of even mid-range tickets are hitting fans hard. Add in parking, concessions, and travel, and a Bristol weekend feels more like a luxury splurge than the working-class party it used to be.

Compare that to the NFL, where fans are shelling out way more, an

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