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By Leon, on September 2nd, 2010
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(aerial photo courtesy Google)
Few who saw Atlanta Motor Speedway in its infancy would recognize the track today. A majestic structure situated on 870 acres in Hampton, Ga., just 25 miles south of Atlanta, today’s Atlanta Motor Speedway is one of the country’s top sports, corporate, family and entertainment facilities.
But it’s a far cry from the structure planned in 1958 by Walker Jackson, Lloyd Smith, Garland Bagley, Ralph Sceiano and Ike Supporter. Before construction of the proposed superspeedway had been completed, insufficient funds forced four of the founders to abandon ship. Dr. Warren Gremmel, Bill Boyd, Jack Black and Art Lester joined Bagley in the venture and spent $1.8 million to get the facility ready.
Ready, in this case, was a relative term.
“The track wasn’t ready to be used,” recalled Furman Bisher, then sports editor of The Atlanta Journal and a long-time sports columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Some of the lower seats were so low fans
couldn’t see over the retaining wall. The only bathroom facility in the infield was a three-hole outhouse. There was mud all over. You talk about Mudville. Casey would have been right at home.”
When the 1.5-mile track, then called Atlanta International Raceway, finally made its debut on July 31, 1960, it became the seventh superspeedway, a paved facility of one mile or more, to play host to a Cup race. Only three of the original seven; Darlington Raceway, Daytona International Speedway and Lowe’s (then Charlotte) Motor Speedway are still in operation.
But the Atlanta track’s future was hazy in the 1960s and ’70s, when it suffered several financial setbacks. The track was reorganized under Chapter Ten bankruptcy proceedings in the 1970s and went through 
several general managers before settling down with Walt Nix, who served as general manager for much of the next two decades except for a brief period when NASCAR president Mike Helton was in charge.
Even through the financial difficulties, Atlanta had attracted the attention of key local figures and celebrities. While running for governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter, an avid race fan and former ticket vendor at the track in the ’60s, promised a barbecue dinner at the governor’s mansion if he won. He kept that promise, then improved on it by inviting the racing community to another cookout in 1978; this time at the White House.
Despite the great racing and national attention, Atlanta International Raceway was still a meager facility struggling to get by.
“It was just the Weaver Grandstand and wooden bleachers on the backstretch,” Former Atlanta Motor Speedway ticket manager Frances Goss recalled. “Fans would bring blankets and sit on the dirt bank.”
Bruton Smith changed all that when he purchased Atlanta International Raceway on October 23, 1990, and renamed the facility Atlanta Motor Speedway. A year later, the addition of the East Turn Grandstand expanded the seating capacity by 25,000, and the 30 suites that rimmed the top gave new meaning to the word “luxurious.”
Under Smith’s stewardship, Atlanta Motor Speedway not only has undergone massive expansion, but it has dramatically increased its menu, hosting everything from Busch Series, ARCA, Drag Racing and Indy car racing to dog shows, concerts and business conventions.
In 1994, Tara Place, the nine-story building that houses 46 luxury condominiums, Tara Ballroom, the speedway office complex and more luxury suites opened, as did the adjacent Tara Clubhouse and its accompanying swimming pool and tennis courts. A year later, the Earnhardt Grandstand opened, and in 1997, the great transformation was completed. The Champions Grandstand was added, and the total of luxury suites was increased to 137. When the Champions Grandstand was built, the start/finish line was moved from the west to the east side of the track, and two doglegs were added to the frontstretch to form a 1.54-mile quad-oval, which replaced the original oval. New media facilities, garages and countless fan support buildings were added to what has become a modern motorsports palace.
In October, 2006 Atlanta Motor Speedway added another Grandstand, the Winners Grandstand, offering fans a great view of the frontstretch and pit road. A Trackside Terrace Luxury RV Camping area replaced the aged Weaver Grandstands as well.
Sitting atop the Winners Grandstand is a public suite called Club One. Limited to just 1,000 occupants, the exclusive club offers a climate controlled vue of the entire track as well as a rooftop sight and sound observation deck.
“Bruton told me before he ever bought the track, ‘I’d like to see what could be done with this place,’” Goss recalled. “He’s made it. I never would have believed Atlanta Motor Speedway would look like it does today.” (AMS PR)
For those of you who fail to understand the connection with the name Tara Place, Tara Ballroom, Tara Clubhouse, and the Atlanta Motor Speedway, I will explain. Margaret Mitchell wrote “Gone With The Wind” in 1936. Tara was the name of the plantation where Scarlett O’Hara lived, and was located in Clayton County Georgia. The race track sits just over the Clayton County line in Henry County Georgia, in the town of Hampton.
I looked it up so that you wouldn’t have to!
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
By Leon, on September 1st, 2010
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(photo courtesy John Sommers II)
This view from RacinToday.com writer Larry Woody:
“There’s no question that Kyle Busch is currently the hottest thing on four wheels.
His recent Bristol Triple – three wins in three days in NASCAR’s three touring series – was an amazing feat, especially on a treacherous track like Bristol.
Kyle is a gifted young racer, tough, talented and temperamental.
But let’s not get carried away.
After Busch followed his Bristol sweep with a truck win at Chicagoland, someone tallied his career win total and compared it to Richard Petty’s record of 200. They suggested that Busch was racking up victories on a Petty-like pace.
Baloney.
Petty’s 200 victories all came in NASCAR’s top series. No second- and third-tier wins.
Busch has 17 wins this season but only three in the Cup Series. Career-wise he has a total of 19 Cup victories.
Granted, 19 Cup wins is nothing to sneeze at, especially considering that they’ve come in less than six full seasons, and that Busch a mere lad of 25.
But its way too early to coronate Busch among the all-time greats. And to compare his win total in all three series to Petty’s record is preposterous.
If someone wants to count ALL racing victories, then Dick Trickle might be at the top of the heap. Trickle once estimated that he’d won approximately 1,200 races in all divisions. Busch’s numbers don’t look quiet so impressive when matched against Trickle’s.
Again, this is not to denigrate Busch’s accomplishments. But his truck wins belong in the truck record book, his Nationwide wins in the Nationwide record book and his Cup wins in the Cup record book.”
WOMR strongly disagrees with the viewpoint of Larry Woody!
All 20 of Kyle Busch’s Camping World Truck victories have come from his affiliation with smaller race teams, Billy Ballew Racing and/or from his newly organized race Kyle Busch Motorsports. Neither are associated with “The Big Four” race teams of the Sprint Cup series, that being Joe Gibbs Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Rouch-Fenway Racing, or Richard Childress Racing. So it is not a David vs Goliath in this series.
However in the Nationwide series, things are somewhat different. In this series there are ties to “The Big Four” race teams in the Sprint Cup Level. It is, after all, the training grounds, the AAA league of NASCAR racing, so you would expect some affiliations to exist. But that still does not discount the fact that Kyle Busch has dominated that series in races which he has participated!
As a side note, when JGR has put another driver into their Nationwide #18 Z-Line Toyota, the results are not even closely resembling the results from Kyle Busch! Other drivers have not won a single Nationwide race in that race car! Need WOMR say anymore?
Need WOMR say anymore other than Kyle’s Sprint Cup wins speak for themselves? He will extract everything out a race car that he can, in order to try to win the race! you can not ask any more from a race car driver than that. Needless to say, there is an element of intelligence that must also accompany that desire to win races, whick comes with experience! “The Shrub” appears to have gained that knowledge finally!
Love him or loathe him, his racing skills ranks up with some of the greatest in the history of NASCAR! Nevertheless, his personal traits, and the way he personifies himself on the race track, indicates that he has never progressed any further socially than maybe a 13 year old, at best!
To say that Kyle Busch is a very polarizing individual is a vast understatement!
What are your thoughts on Kyle and his amazing stats that he has amassed at the age of only 25? Do you think that Kyle can endure as the “Bad Boy of NASCAR”, or will he have to settle down? Do you think that Kyle will continue to gather stats that will bypass “The King Richard Petty”?
Is the 2010 Sprint cup championship in his future?
These questions are worth pondering. Your views are warmly welcomed!
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
By Leon, on August 30th, 2010
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(Tony George at the IMS pogoda)
The cat is out of the bag. Robin Miller, who writes for the Indianapolis Star and is a contributor on Dave Depain’s TV program Wind Tunnel, has reported that Tony George has submitted a bid to purchase the Indy Racing League/IndyCar Series. The IndyCar Series is presently owned by Hulman and Company, of which Tony George was formally the CEO. Hulman and Company are also the owners of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and many other products including “Clabber Girl” baking powder. For those who may not be aware, Tony George is the grandson of the late Tony Hulman who bought IMS from Eddie Rickenbacker after WWII.
For those of you who do not remember the “hair-brained” idea that Mr. George came up with beginning in 1996, let me refresh your memory. George announced in 1994 that beginning in 1996 he was going to start the Indy Racing League. The premise for this new sanctioning body was “to keep the cost lower for the car owners” by having one type of chassis and two engines. The engine selection was either an Oldsmobile Aurora or a Acura Infinity, both had a tendency to “grenade”!
George’s plan was for the IRL to race solely on ovals. He also develped the 28-5 plan for the 1996 Indy 500. That plan established 28 slots at the 1996 Indy 500 for his IRL competitors, and 8 slots for the non-IRL competitors.
That idea went over like a turd in a punch bowl!
With that grenade thrown by Tony George, the division in US open wheel racing began a long and downward spiral that was to last for more than a decade. The end results was CART, the sanctioning body for open wheel racing, filed for bankruptcy in 2008 and merged with the IndyCar Series, additionally, as a direct results of this ill conceived idea, the attendance has been down at most all open wheel racing venues over the past 16 years!
However, the scuttle butt is that the IRL board is not entertaining the idea of selling the IRL to Tony George. Their idea is to let the new team of directors try to iron out the IndyCar Series deficiencies, and try to promote the sport back to a healthy status. After all, Tony George had 15 years in control and really couldn’t make it work prosperously, so why would they want to return him to the throne of control?
What is your view on Tony George trying to purchase the IndyCar Series?
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
By Leon, on August 29th, 2010
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(photo courtesy Jason Smith/Getty Images)
To all “the Said Heads” in the racing world, the lovable Boris Said has finally logged his first NASCAR victory! Said has won on many, many road race venues throughout North America, however, he has never logged a NASCAR victory prior to The Napa 200 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.
Over the past 10 plus years it has been Boris Said who has taken it upon himself to tutor most all of the notable NASCAR drivers in “road racing 101″. Most all the current Sprint Cup and Nationwide drivers have been students of Boris Said, at one time or another, and have heaped praises upon Said for helping them to acquire some additional road racing skills.
Nevertheless, Boris has struggled over the years to try to compete at the Sprint Cup and Nationwide level due to sponsorship issues. A few times Said’s attempts to make “the big show” have been spectacular, only to be thwarted by “the weather gods”
Very late in the race, Boris Said took the lead on a green-white-checkered restart, lost the lead briefly on the final lap, regained it on the final turn and held off two other top road racers to win Sunday’s Nationwide Series race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. From turn #14 to the start/finish line it was a pure drag race between the Roush-Yates Ford horsepower and the Earhnardt-Childress Chevy horsepower. Said and the Roush-Yates horsepower won by .012 seconds!
Said’s .012-second margin of victory was the closest ever on a road course in the Nationwide Series, the fifth closest overall in series history and the closest since 1998 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
It was Said’s first victory in the series, which includes 22 starts but spans parts of nine seasons. “I’ve been trying so long and this race is so tough,” Said, looking as much exhausted as happy, said. “It was good racing. It was clean racing.”
Here is the unofficial results of the Napa 200 at Montreal.
What was your view of one of the most exciting road races in recent memory?
Just remember, “Who said?”
BORIS SAID!
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
By Leon, on August 29th, 2010
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(photo courtesy Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)
After finishing second to Kyle Busch last week in Bristol, Clint Bowyer referred to Busch as that “little turd”. After Kyle’s win in the Camping World Truck race at Chicagoland Speedway, the EnjoyIllinois.com 225, Bowyer may have to rephrase his reference to that “Big Turd”!
Coming off . . . → Read More: Kyle Runs Victories To Four In A Row
By Leon, on August 27th, 2010
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(photo courtesy Jason Smith/Getty Images)
When a driver has a race car that he knows can win the race, and for some reason, be it bad luck or circumstances beyond his control, he fails to close the deal, FRUSTRATION is all that is left of his emotions. Well last Saturday night several . . . → Read More: Bristol Got Shuffled Out In Some Locales
By Leon, on August 26th, 2010
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(photo courtesy Todd Warshaw)
Every sport needs a villain, and ol Kyle Busch seems to relish in the fact that his is NASCAR’s resident villain. WOMR will concede that Kyle is the most exciting racer on the NASCAR circuit, one of the most childish drivers, one of the most aggressive drivers, one . . . → Read More: Does Busch Really Love Being The Villian?
By Leon, on August 25th, 2010
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(photo courtesy Leon Hammack)
Wal-Mart’s potential move into NASCAR has led the retail giant deep into negotiations with Hendrick Motorsports over sponsorship of Jeff Gordon’s Hendrick Motorsports #24 Chevrolet next season.
There continues to be several moving parts to the Wal-Mart discussions with Hendrick and NASCAR, which began in the spring and . . . → Read More: Wal-Mart And Jeff Gordon
By Leon, on August 24th, 2010
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(photo courtesy Ray Turner usatoday)
Two weeks ago while staying at an RV park in Knoxville, Iowa for the Knoxville Nationals Sprint Cars event, quite to my surprise, my neighbors two RV’s down were none other than Ray Evernham and his new wife, Erin Crocker. I only got to speak to Ray . . . → Read More: Ray Evernham’s Next Move
By Leon, on August 22nd, 2010
Share (photo courtesy nascar.com)
Kyle Busch, driving the Joe Gibbs Racing #18 Doublemint Toyota etched his name into the NASCAR record books this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. He is the first driver to ever win all three NASCAR events at one race track in the same weekend.
Kyle’s Saturday night started out with . . . → Read More: Kyle Inks His Spot In The Record Books
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