Dover International Speedway’s annual holiday luncheon featured a special recognition for Sharon Garron, a longtime ticketing official who is retiring at the end of the year after 38 years with Dover Motorsports, Inc.
Garron began her work at the Monster Mile on Jan. 28, 1980 as an event experience specialist. Since then, Garron remained in ticketing and sales, advancing to ticket office supervisor, ticket operations manager and her current position of senior manager of ticketing logistics.
“We have a great team and I feel fortunate to have known and worked with them,” Garron said. “It has been a great run. It has been exciting to be a part of NASCAR and the growth of the track.”
Garron’s tenure coincided with an explosion of NASCAR popularity, resulting in 16 consecutive years of Dover grandstand expansion from 1986 through 2001.
“Dover International Speedway could not have managed the growth in attendance it enjoyed during the 1980s and 1990s without the meticulous organizational skills Sharon brought to the table,” said Dover Motorsports President and CEO Denis McGlynn. “We’re very grateful for her contributions to our success.”
The cap on that era was provided by Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s victory in the “MBNA Cal Ripken, Jr. 400,” the first NASCAR Cup Series race following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, in front of more than 135,000 fans.
“All the fans had flags waving and then Dale Jr. took his victory lap with a big American flag,” Garron said. “It was very moving.”
At the beginning of her tenure, Garron’s favorite NASCAR driver was Bobby Allison, a seven-time winner at the Monster Mile. Today, her driver loyalties begin with Chase Elliott, who won the “Gander Outdoors 400” Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Dover on Oct. 7.
NASCAR returns to the Monster Mile with two tripleheader weekends in 2019 on May 3-5 and Oct. 4-6 as the track celebrates its 50th anniversary. The Oct. 6 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff race will be the 100th NASCAR Cup Series race in the track’s history.
The May 3-5 NASCAR tripleheader weekend includes the “JEGS 200” NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race on Friday, May 3, the NASCAR Xfinity Series Dash 4 Cash race on Saturday, May 4 and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday, May 5.
The Oct. 4-6 NASCAR tripleheader weekend also includes the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race on Friday, Oct. 4, the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff race on Saturday, Oct. 5 and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff race on Sunday, Oct. 6.
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