FRANKFORT — Gov. Steve Beshear said Monday that traffic control Saturday for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at the Kentucky Speedway was "a tremendous success."

"We had great crowds, and we had great traffic control," Beshear said. "It was night and day compared to last year. Things went very, very well."

The state and the track came under fire last year after the Speedway's inaugural Sprint Cup race, which thousands of people missed because of traffic backups.

In the past year, the state and the track have spent about $11 million to improve traffic flow and parking at the track.

Traffic was lighter at this year's race in part because thousands of tickets went unsold.