SORSN.com Special Coverage
Kobalt 500
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Michael Rose, Special Correspondent and VP of Brand Development and Marketing
SORSN.com covers it all. From local junior varsity sports to the travels around the world by our outdoors correspondent, Greg Jones, you can get it all here. At SORSN.com we believe in covering things that the fine folks residing off south Highway 58 find interesting. In our ongoing effort to provide the absolute best coverage of all things sports to our constituents, SORSN.com caught up with the good ole boys of NASCAR at the early spring stop at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS). NASCAR provides a great in person experience that just can’t be replicated by television (even on SORSN.com’s editor’s 84 inch high def flat screen). Some things such as a crisp October Tennessee football Saturday, a summer sunset on Watts Bar Lake or a Mike Hayes temper tantrum (seen here) just need to be experienced in person to gain the full perspective. NASCAR is one of those kind of things. Here is a rundown of the day that was March 7, 2010.
5AM departure from West Knoxville leads to a 7AM Chattanooga link up with lifetime NASCAR fan JR Rose. The track in Atlanta is actually located about 30 minutes south of Atlanta in Hampton. Sunday morning traffic was light for the capital of the south and arrival at the track by 10 AM. One great thing about AMS is that most parking around the track is owned by the track itself and is free. A great concept by AMS that I wished UT would follow, don’t gouge your patrons for parking.
10AM and the weather is still cool, but tailgating has already started for NASCAR fans. Atlanta is unique in that two sections of the track are surrounded and overlooked by RV parking. You basically pull your RV up, set up camp and can watch the race while grilling from the comfort of your campsite. It is really unique and quite neat and looks like it would be a good time, especially in a 200,000 dollar RV. JR Rose and I head toward the demo areas and the souvenir trailers. By far the biggest line for souvenirs is at the godaddy.com hauler. Could Danica be one of the most overhyped drivers in the history of NASCAR , possibly second only to Earnhard, Jr? I say yes, but obviously the marketing is working because godaddy.com apparel is everywhere. Nonetheless, SORSN.com decided to cash in on the phenom.
Second only to Danica apparel had to be Alabama football championship t shirts and hats. Honestly, where the heck were all of these Tide fans when the NCAA came calling a few years ago (a trend that likely will be repeated soon). One good thing about the hats is that they do hide the ever popular Bama Bang haircut.
11 AM and the traveling road show that is NASCAR starts to spring to life. Marketing give aways and photo ops abound at the vendor/sponsors area (not as much at this event as at Bristol in the fall however). JR and I scored, among other freebies, a NASCAR Sprint Cup hat and coozy, some cool US Air Force wing pendants, a NOS drink (awful), a Bristol shopping bag and an autograph from “official” NASCAR artist Sam Bass (for JRs collection). We also land the photos of the day with a guy advertising for new space age roof insulation products (soon to be distributed by Woody Brothers roofing we hear rumored)
and an interesting fan just kinda hanging out outside the Speed Channel set.
The guy said he was a Jeff Gordon fan, I didn’t ask why.
Into the track at around 12 and in seats in turn one by 12:30, Atlanta really is a nice racetrack. All the seats have a good view of the track, the facility is clean and it really presents itself well. Empty seats abound however as the economy has really hit NASCAR hard. JR Rose and I decided to rent a scanner and headphones at this race and it really does add a lot to the track experience. Being able to hear the drivers, crew chiefs and spotters converse during the race brings some good insight to the race, even if most of the conversations tend to be R rated. Also it was interesting to note the drivers that talk a lot on the radio (Earnhardt Jr, Montoya, Kyle Busch) as opposed to the drivers that talk little (Stewart, Martin, Elliott).
Around 1 pm and the green flag drops and we go racing. Atlanta is the fastest of the non restrictor plate tracks and Earnhart Junior set a NASCAR non restrictor Car of Tomorrow record of 192 mph on Friday to qualify for the pole. The cars really fly off the start at Atlanta, except the pole sitter Earnhart Jr. Little Es car sinks like it is pulling a boat anchor and starts its systematic march to the back of the field. About half the crowd moans and curses as it appears as if it is another bad day for Little E. It appears many Earnhart fans are finally starting to figure out what the rest of NASCAR fans and Teresa Earnhart have known for a while. Dale Jr just doesn’t have the knack for racing that his father had. Lap 4 and Robbie Gordon blows a tire and hits the wall. Robbie releases a string of profanities. Tires will be a recurring theme through the day as will cursing.
Kurt Busch, Casey Kahne (female favorite) and Juan Pablo Montoya establish themselves early on as the cars to beat. Those three cars are noticeably faster than the rest of the field. Atlanta is an interesting track as cars are running competitively three lines all around the track (bottom, center, top). Of early note Brad Keselowski and Carl Edward get together early which results in Edwards making heavy contact into the wall. This will be revisited later in the day. At the halfway point, Kahne leads. JR Rose and I ease up to some empty chair back section seats for the remainder of the day.
The lead see-saws through much of the day with Busch, Kahne and Montoya taking turns in front. If the race stays green Montoya probably wins. The race will not stay green. Keselowski is in the top 10 fighting for a good finish, while Carl Edwards is at the back of the field. Coming down the front stretch at 193 mph with just a handful of laps to go and Edwards decides that revenge is in order with a love tap to Keselowski. Instead of spinning safely through the grass, Keselowskis’ car gets sideways, then airborne and rolls down the front stretch. Luckily the car didn’t end up in the fence in turn one (right where JR Rose and I had been sitting earlier) and no one was injured, but the wreck was frightening to watch and could have been disastrous for the driver or for fans. Atlanta is not the place for fender rubbing (save that for Bristol) and NASCAR calls Edwards to the NASCAR hauler to tell him his day is done. Simply put from a fan that was sitting in turn one for much of the race, Edwards should be suspended for a week for that action.
After extensive cleanup, the race goes back to green with the first of the green white checkered flag attempts. Basically NASCAR has tried to make sure that fans get the chance to see green flag racing at the end of the races, instead of ending under caution. There are three attempts at three laps to finish under green flag conditions before a race can end. The first attempt comes undone when a massive pileup in turn 4 takes it toll on many cars. Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Brian Vickers and others are involved in the crash. The second attempt at Green/White/Checkers finish sees Busch drive away on the restart as Montoya spins the tires. The rest of the field never could catch up and Kurt Busch finishes going away with the win. Busch completes his victory lap in reverse.
6 pm and heading out the gate, traffic is not as bad as I had heard rumors. In downtown Atlanta by 8 pm. To finish out the day, JR Rose and I finish up with a stop at the world famous Varsity drive in near the Georgia Tech campus. A couple of world famous chili dogs and onion rings at the Varsity and we were back on the road. I must say they make great chili dogs and rings at the Varsity.
11:45 pm, back in West Knoxville after a long day. In summary, here are my recommendations:
–Don’t miss the demo area outside the track before the race at any NASCAR event. Never, ever miss this show.
–Atlanta is a nice track, with a lot of speed and three racing lines.
— If Danica ever actually finishes a Nationwide Cup race, NASCAR nation and ESPN race coverage may spontaneously combust.
–Carl Edwards should be suspended for actions Sunday. Shame on you Carl.
–NASCAR drivers cuss like sailors (or maybe sailors cuss like NASCAR drivers).
–The Varsity makes good chili dogs and onion rings. Stop at the Varsity if you are traveling through Atlanta, its right off the interstate near Georgia Tech.
–Sponsorship is waning at NASCAR. Like SORSN.com, NASCAR has felt the budget cutbacks from our sponsors and hopes that this economic recovery brings back some corporate sponsors.