NASCAR isn’t just for rednecks anymore. While the vast majority of attendees are the blue collar fans who built the sport and account for most of its gate receipts, Richmond International Raceway has expanded its clientele by selling hospitality pavilions and luxury suites to the corporate crowd.

The track offers packages that can accommodate from eight people to several thousand, Matthew Becherer, senior vice president of marketing at RIR told Louis Llovio for an article in this morning’s Times-Dispatch.

An air-condition hospitality pavilion for 125 people can run up the tab to $8,500 -- catering not included. A table inside the Pit Stop Club can cost $2,500. Tickets for the Torque Club, which includes a buffet, a fully stocked bar and outdoor seating complete with wait staff, will cost you $1,750. But it does include all three RIR race weekends in a year.

Businesses say the steep bill is worth it, Llovio writes. Steve Cook, president of Northeastern Supply Inc. in Baltimore, played the host to about 200 clients yesterday in a hospitality pavilion. He bused them into Richmond from five states. 

"Our business is very mature, and there is a lot of competition,” says Cook of the plumbing, heating and ventilation materials business. “Our contractors have options. By doing this, we can build a relationship, so if there is a mistake and we mess up, they feel comfortable calling me."

Bacon's bottom line: I've only been to one NASCAR event -- that was 30 years ago at the Martinsville Speedway. You couldn't drag me back with wild horses -- or even a Monster Truck. I don't care what kind of food and drink you serve, you'd have to lobotomize me before I sat still for hours on end to watch people drive in monotonous circles. NASCAR is as boring as golf -- but a whole lot louder.