Atlanta Motor Speedway Seeing High Demand For Sunday's Race

Ticket sales for Sunday's Sprint Cup Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS) "have been brisk," and AMS President Ed Clark said that a "single-day sales record was set Monday," according to Nate Ryan of USA TODAY. It is the first Labor Day weekend race at AMS and the first-ever night race at the track, and SMI Chair & CEO Bruton Smith said, "Sales have been good the past four weeks, and I don't know what's caused that. It's a night race, and it's the right time of the year." The "resurgence comes after the 124,000-seat grandstands were about 35,000 short of a sellout" for March's Kobalt Tools 500 at the track. AMS hosts this weekend's race after California's Auto Club Speedway held the Sprint Cup's Labor Day weekend race for five years. Prior to that, the Southern 500 was a Labor Day weekend "staple for stock car racing at Darlington Raceway for more than 50 years" (USA TODAY, 9/4). In Augusta, Don Coble noted NASCAR fans last week "started forming a line to get into" AMS for Sunday's race, a "sign that things might, at long last, be turning around." The race is set to begin at 7:30pm ET and fans "clearly are intrigued by the nighttime start," with some even waiting "11 days just to pitch their tents in the campground." Ticket windows at AMS have "never been busier," and AMS President Ed Clark was "forced to authorize overtime for the first time in years just to keep up with the demand." Clark: "It's nice to have these kind of problems. I've believed for years a night race in the summer would be big here. So far, it's everything we thought." Clark added, "The economy has affected everyone. It's forced us to reach out and sell tickets one at a time. It's a lot of work, but it's worth it" (AUGUSTA CHRONICLE, 9/3).

GEORGIA ON MY MIND: NASCAR.com's David Caraviello noted while AMS sells about 30% of its tickets in metro Atlanta, the track still "struggles to gain ground in the city itself, where the ethnic population is highest and the competition among entertainment options is at its zenith." Former SMI President & CEO Humpy Wheeler: "It's one of the toughest tracks to sell tickets to that there is. ... They don't have a beach to contend with, but they have a tremendous amount of things to do." Atlanta Sports Council President Gary Stokan said of Sunday's race, "You have to put together the ancillary events around the big event. You have to make sure the facility you're at is one of the best, which is certainly the case with Atlanta Motor Speedway. ... I think the key is, moving it to a date that really works for the fan. And in this case, Labor Day is going to be an absolute home run for Atlanta Motor Speedway and all its fans." Caraviello noted AMS is "marketing to fans of the Alabama and Virginia Tech football teams," which will play in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic Saturday at the Georgia Dome. There is "even some talk of showing the start of Saturday's Nationwide race on the big screen at the Georgia Dome before the football game, and showing the end of the kickoff game on the big screen at the race track after the Nationwide event ends." Stokan, whose organization hosts the Kickoff Classic, said "Rising tides raise all boats. If you look at the demographics, some of the Alabama fans will have to go right by Atlanta Motor Speedway going home" (NASCAR.com, 9/2).

GOING OUT WITH A BANG: In San Diego, Bill Center wrote it is "time to blow up Auto Club Speedway. They should "tear up the track" and "re-design the plant the way NASCAR did Las Vegas Motor Speedway." As it "stands now, Auto Club Speedway serves no purpose as a racing venue" and might be the "most boring track this side of Pocono's 'triangular' oval." The fans "packed the place when the facility opened" in '97, but they have "returned in ever fewer numbers." Center: "Why? The racing stinks" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 9/3).