CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A sea of empty seats turned the massive Bristol Motor Speedway into a ghost town this past weekend.

• Journalists at the race said somewhere between 35,000 and 40,000 people were in attendance, well short of the seating capacity of 146,000
• The Charlotte Motor Speedway recently took out 41,000 seats
• WFNZ Wilson and Parcell co-host Josh Parcell said the Charlotte Motor Speedway should maintain its popularity because of its location

Photos from the Food City 500 drew attention for the lack of fans. Journalists at the race said somewhere between 35,000 and 40,000 people were in attendance, well short of the seating capacity of 146,000.

Jenna Fryer covers NASCAR for the Associated Press. She was in Bristol this past weekend and said part of the reason the speedway looked so empty was the seating configuration because tickets weren't sold at the grandstands and the turns.

But she said the fan turn out is dropping because hotels around venues often overcharge, tickets are too expensive and facilities are too big.

“Tracks got greedy, they expanded, they added too many seats, they can't sustain it,” Fryer said.

The Charlotte Motor Speedway recently took out 41,000 seats.

Fryer said it's something other tracks have done and it's not necessarily a bad thing.

She said NASCAR still turns out tens of thousands of people which higher than many other sports.

WFNZ Wilson and Parcell co-host Josh Parcell said the Charlotte Motor Speedway should maintain its popularity because of its location.

"Charlotte is basically the home of NASCAR," Parcell said. "You have a built in audience here that is probably going to be sustainable longer than other places."