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“The price of jet fuel has gone down pretty dramatically. “We had more planes during the Rolex (24 at Daytona) than I’ve seen before,” he said. Still, air traffic during Speedweeks contributes significantly in terms of revenue to the airport, Cooke said, and so far it’s been a good year. “We had the recession in 2008 and the attendance was not as strong.” “There is an uptick during race week but not so much in the last few years,” he said, noting that 2007 saw 400 aircrafts. However, it’s a weak number compared to 2007. Steve Cooke, the airport’s director of business development, said he expects to park 200 to 300 planes on property this year, costing about $1,000 a day. Sheltair is one of three fixed-base operators at the airport that offer aeronautical services such as fueling, parking and maintenance. The Daytona Rising makeover consists of revamping the track’s frontstretch grandstands to include wider, more comfortable seats and other amenities. “We’re looking at next year to be the best year we’ve had in a while,” he said. But it won’t be until 2016, the year the Speedway’s $400 million renovation is completed, when Weese hopes to get 200 aircrafts. Weese expects to receive 150 aircrafts this year during Speedweeks, up from 120 planes last year when bad weather hindered traffic. Weese said politicians and celebrities attending the race will also use his terminal, in which he’ll roll out a red carpet and have bodyguards escort them. “We probably get as many aircrafts in just a few days than we do in an entire month.”Īnd it’s not just NASCAR teams who are traveling in style. “This is our Super Bowl in a way,” said Arvin Weese, general manager for Sheltair Daytona.
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Sheltair Aviation, which leases around 20 acres from the airport, typically sees 800 aircraft movements during Speedweeks - the busiest time of the year. RCR was one of several NASCAR teams, fans and sponsors flying in and out of a private terminal at Daytona Beach International Airport. “Then we’re coming back Saturday morning and stay overnight for the (Daytona) 500 on Sunday.”
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“To be with our families,” said Brian Bottlemy, a rear tire changer for RCR. Once that night’s Budweiser Dual qualifying race was over, many of them would be back on that plane to Concord, North Carolina. The members of NASCAR team Richard Childress Racing had no time to waste. One by one, about 40 men dressed in matching black jackets hopped off a private jet Thursday afternoon and headed straight toward the waiting shuttles, ready to transfer them to Daytona International Speedway.