Although the negative fan reaction to Jeff Gordon's victory in the Nextel 499 at the Talladega Superspeedway may not have presented the face most people would like to associate with Talladega, as a whole the consensus seemed to be that the weekend went well."It was really a great weekend. We had four good days, and the weather cooperated, although I am disappointed in how the fans behaved at the end of Sunday's race," speedway general manager Rick Humphrey said.
Humphrey added that he had not seen any solid numbers, but said the Associated Press was estimating Sunday's crowd at 155,000. "We had a really great crowd Saturday as well," he said. "I don't know that we set any records, but I would have to say this has been one of the best races I've seen since I've been here."
Talladega County Chief Deputy Jimmy Kilgore said the Sheriff's Department made "about 80 arrests" total during the weekend. "For the most part, the fans were very well behaved. Although they didn't seem to like Gordon winning very much."
No one was charged with throwing anything on to the track Sunday, but various arrests were made for disorderly conduct, minor domestic arguments, public intoxication, public lewdness and driving under the influence. "We also arrested a couple of people for carrying pistols without a permit," Kilgore said.
Lincoln Police Chief Dennis Surrett said it was a “typical race weekend” for his officers.
“We had five DUI arrests, and others for various charges, marijuana, drug paraphernalia and methamphetamines,” he said.
The department was kept busy responding to fender-benders, about 12 in all, Surrett said.
“There were no arrests for public intoxication or disorderly conduct. For the most part, the crowd was well behaved. Most of the incidents were contained at the race track,” he said.
The Alabama State Trooper Post in Jacksonville, which covers all of Talladega County, reported no accidents with injury in its jurisdiction Sunday. The dispatcher on duty Monday afternoon said she did not have access to reports from Friday and Saturday, however.
