John Ramsey wasn’t general manager at Pacific Raceways at the time, but clearly he learned from the Parking Debacle of 2002 – the Saturday afternoon that the facility and the NHRA were too good for their own good. He acted quickly this Saturday to make sure every fan driving through the gate – and he had a line of them – had a place to park for the Protect The Harvest Nationals at the suburban Seattle facility.

That August day 14 years ago, officials turned cars away – not fans, just vehicles – because of inadequate parking for the tremendous crowd their marketing had attracted. Once again, the marketing effort hit a home run, and the grandstands on both sides of the racetrack were crammed for the final day of qualifying.   

Today Ramsey, armed with a series of contingency plans, averted a 2002-like embarrassment, communicating constantly with police traffic-control officers and Pacific Raceways parking staff to accommodate everyone pulling into the gate.

“We’re getting everybody in. We’re squeezing ‘em in. We’re going to take every bit of real estate we have here to park cars,” a completely unflustered Ramsey said early Saturday afternoon. “Every spot that’s available we’re taking, whether it’s next to the dumpster or not. We’re basically using every piece of ground that we have to park cars. We’re going to get everybody in.”

Only half-jokingly, he said even the staging lanes wasn’t out of question: “That’ll be next. It’s a great problem to have.”

Ramsey said he believed several factors contributed to the gigantic audience – which was especially impressive this particular weekend. Seafair, Seattle’s aquafest that revolves around unlimited hydroplane races on Lake Washington, is in full swing and draws a huge crowd that is treated to the Blue Angels aerial performance. Moreover, the Seattle Mariners are expecting a packed house at Safeco Field downtown because they’re retiring the jersey of recent Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Ken Griffey Jr., who is bringing his plaque from Cooperstown, N.Y., for the fans to pose with for photos. The Olympic Games at Rio de Janeiro opened this weekend, as well.

“I think it’s a combination of a lot of things. We had a huge Goodguys show here a week ago Friday, and I think that just shows that if we do the right marketing and we get the place looking as nice as we can, people are going to come here,” Ramsey said. “And we’ve been working hard the last few years to make that happen. That, combined with the TV exposure that [the sport] is getting, we did more over-the-air advertising this year than we’ve done in the past. That’s all contributing. We’ve been doing live radio shows in the booth since yesterday, so that’s helping.”          

Track operator Jason Fiorito said he knew his staff wouldn’t have a repeat of the 2002 situation, because Ramsey “is on top of it. He sees it coming down the road. He didn’t wait for a potential problem to happen. He is a GM who absolutely pays attention to details.” Fiorito said Ramsey had plans for what to do when his available parking spaces dwindled to 500, then 300, and that he had three contingency plans in case all marked spaces were filled.