pandr
08-31-2012, 09:26 PM
Atlanta's Ed Clark: Fast starts to photo finishes
By Jim Utter - charlotteobserverThursday, Aug. 30, 2012
There isn’t much Ed Clark hasn’t experienced in his 20 years at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The track's president, who has also been a part-time racer on occasion, began his tenure at one of NASCAR's fastest tracks just as Richard Petty was ending his driving career in what is now the Sprint Cup Series and just as Jeff Gordon was starting his.
Over the years, Clark has overseen changes to the speedway, its expansion and the rebuilding of tornado-damaged facilities. He's seen a number of races that ended in photo finishes. And Clark has even seen one of Atlanta's two traditional Cup races moved to another track.
The track at Hampton, Ga., will again be center stage this weekend as Sunday night's AdvoCare 500 helps determine which 12 drivers will compete in the NASCAR's 10-race Chase this season.
Clark recently shared some of his thoughts and memories.
Q. What are your thoughts on 20 years at AMS?
Clark: Certainly my first race, which was Richard Petty’s last race and Jeff Gordon’s first, and the drama around five guys racing for the championship. It was a big moment.
But more than that, just the changes in the facility. What it was in 1990 when we (Speedway Motorsports Inc.) bought the track and in 1992 when I came here, and all the different phases of construction and everything we've done through the years, to build a facility now that not only has a great racing surface and provides great racing, but has fantastic amenities for the fans.
I'll remember how that was all done about as much as I do the great finishes we've had.
Q. What are some of the facility changes that you have overseen?
Clark: We've done pretty much everything twice thanks to the tornado (in 2005). When Bruton Smith bought the facility in 1990, we had a plan called 'Project 2000,' which was an overall facility improvement program to pretty much rebuild and upgrade the facility, largely with fan amenities that we didn't have.
We immediately went to work adding seats, parking, camping, improving all the existing facilities, paving roads. That went on beyond the year 2000. In 1996, we opened the Tara Place Condos and in 1997 we changed the backstretch to the fronstretch, redesigned the track, added the double-dogleg frontstretch, added the new grandstand on the fronstretch, built suites, and in two other phases have added in additional seats along the front straightaway.
Q. What racing moments stand out to you?Clark: Well, obviously the 1992 Hooters 500. That's probably first and foremost. The second one, I'll recall our first Camping World Truck Series race, and how competitive it was. In fact the first couple of Truck races we had, there were three to four guys coming off the fourth turn going for the win. Those were great.
One that truly stands out is the 2001 event when Kevin Harvick won. I've been in this business over 30 years, and I've never heard the fans in the stands continue to cheer and express their emotion for that long once a winner had crossed the finish line. It literally went on for seven or eight minutes without dying down at all.
I think it was several things, obviously a new winner, a great photo finish with Kevin just beating Jeff Gordon. But the biggest thing, it was just a rush, a release of emotion for all the fans. The fact that Dale Earnhardt drove that very car and won that race in a photo finish the year before – his last win here – and being three weeks after his death, it was just an emotional release for everybody.
The tornado – not so much the tornado itself, but how our team recovered from it – with about 400 people coming together to rebuild this place and do something that a lot of people, when they saw the extent of the damage, said there was no way it could be done. Yet we finished weeks early before the race.
That's pretty neat. And even most recently, Jeff Gordon's win in last year’s AdvoCare 500 and his duel with Jimmie Johnson. The way the two of them battled, I think that race will be remembered for a long time.
C/P Thats Racin
By Jim Utter - charlotteobserverThursday, Aug. 30, 2012
There isn’t much Ed Clark hasn’t experienced in his 20 years at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The track's president, who has also been a part-time racer on occasion, began his tenure at one of NASCAR's fastest tracks just as Richard Petty was ending his driving career in what is now the Sprint Cup Series and just as Jeff Gordon was starting his.
Over the years, Clark has overseen changes to the speedway, its expansion and the rebuilding of tornado-damaged facilities. He's seen a number of races that ended in photo finishes. And Clark has even seen one of Atlanta's two traditional Cup races moved to another track.
The track at Hampton, Ga., will again be center stage this weekend as Sunday night's AdvoCare 500 helps determine which 12 drivers will compete in the NASCAR's 10-race Chase this season.
Clark recently shared some of his thoughts and memories.
Q. What are your thoughts on 20 years at AMS?
Clark: Certainly my first race, which was Richard Petty’s last race and Jeff Gordon’s first, and the drama around five guys racing for the championship. It was a big moment.
But more than that, just the changes in the facility. What it was in 1990 when we (Speedway Motorsports Inc.) bought the track and in 1992 when I came here, and all the different phases of construction and everything we've done through the years, to build a facility now that not only has a great racing surface and provides great racing, but has fantastic amenities for the fans.
I'll remember how that was all done about as much as I do the great finishes we've had.
Q. What are some of the facility changes that you have overseen?
Clark: We've done pretty much everything twice thanks to the tornado (in 2005). When Bruton Smith bought the facility in 1990, we had a plan called 'Project 2000,' which was an overall facility improvement program to pretty much rebuild and upgrade the facility, largely with fan amenities that we didn't have.
We immediately went to work adding seats, parking, camping, improving all the existing facilities, paving roads. That went on beyond the year 2000. In 1996, we opened the Tara Place Condos and in 1997 we changed the backstretch to the fronstretch, redesigned the track, added the double-dogleg frontstretch, added the new grandstand on the fronstretch, built suites, and in two other phases have added in additional seats along the front straightaway.
Q. What racing moments stand out to you?Clark: Well, obviously the 1992 Hooters 500. That's probably first and foremost. The second one, I'll recall our first Camping World Truck Series race, and how competitive it was. In fact the first couple of Truck races we had, there were three to four guys coming off the fourth turn going for the win. Those were great.
One that truly stands out is the 2001 event when Kevin Harvick won. I've been in this business over 30 years, and I've never heard the fans in the stands continue to cheer and express their emotion for that long once a winner had crossed the finish line. It literally went on for seven or eight minutes without dying down at all.
I think it was several things, obviously a new winner, a great photo finish with Kevin just beating Jeff Gordon. But the biggest thing, it was just a rush, a release of emotion for all the fans. The fact that Dale Earnhardt drove that very car and won that race in a photo finish the year before – his last win here – and being three weeks after his death, it was just an emotional release for everybody.
The tornado – not so much the tornado itself, but how our team recovered from it – with about 400 people coming together to rebuild this place and do something that a lot of people, when they saw the extent of the damage, said there was no way it could be done. Yet we finished weeks early before the race.
That's pretty neat. And even most recently, Jeff Gordon's win in last year’s AdvoCare 500 and his duel with Jimmie Johnson. The way the two of them battled, I think that race will be remembered for a long time.
C/P Thats Racin