Well it's here -- AMP Energy 500 weekend. This is the week we all enjoy so much and why we work so hard.
Campers began arriving Saturday to line-up for the Family Campground. I had the chance Monday to go out and talk with some of them. Everybody is excited and ready to set up their homes for the next 5 or 6 nights. I met one gentleman who said he had been to all of the races during the 40 year history. He had some really good stories about everybody from Brickhouse to Earnhardt.
That's one of the best parts of my job -- letting the fans educate me. It's amazing what you can learn when you just sit and listen to the customer. Some of the biggest and most significant changes have come from ideas brought to us by our fans.
Fans who visited the Hall of Fame Monday got a neat surprise as Bobby Allison was hanging around the Hall of Fame doing some promotional photos. He also signed a few autographs for fans waiting in line to buy tickets.
That's another neat thing about our sport, you never know when you might bump into one of the sport's legends or stars. So this weekend if you're around the track, keep your eyes open, because they will be around.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
October 23, 2009
It’s been a busy week at Talladega Superspeedway and around the state. I spent all day Monday in Huntsville promoting the upcoming AMP Energy 500 weekend. I got the chance to spend some time with an old friend Mark McCarter. Mark is a columnist for the Huntsville Times. I first met Mark in 1993 when he was the media representative for Michael Waltrip during his Pennzoil days. It was fun to catch up with him and rekindle stories about Michael and Jimmy Spencer.
Kurt Busch came to Birmingham Wednesday to hang out with some fans, do some media work for us and take home one lucky fan in the AMP Energy 500 pace car. Boy was she excited! She especially got excited when he peeled out of the parking lot. Kurt enjoyed driving the Dodge Challenger so much, he requested to drive back to the airport instead of going as a passenger.
The most exciting event of the week, however, occurred Thursday when Robert Thrower, a medicine man with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, came and blessed the speedway and restored balance to the land. I’m not sure you’re aware of this, but there are many urban legends and superstitions centered around strange occurrences that have happened in and around Talladega Superspeedway. For example, Bobby Isaac once came in and parked his car for no other reason than he heard voices in his head to get out. The driver strike back in 1969, race cars being vandalized in the garage area the night before a race and it goes on and on. So after 40 years of existence, we thought that there was not a better time than now to put these legends and tales behind us and get a blessing. Mr. Thrower came and prayed over the start finish line and held a traditional ceremony to restore balance.
Next week is race week and it’s always one of the two most exciting weekends of the year for me. Race fans will begin arriving Saturday to line up for the Family Campground that will open Tuesday. When our first guest arrives, that’s when we know it’s show time.
Kurt Busch came to Birmingham Wednesday to hang out with some fans, do some media work for us and take home one lucky fan in the AMP Energy 500 pace car. Boy was she excited! She especially got excited when he peeled out of the parking lot. Kurt enjoyed driving the Dodge Challenger so much, he requested to drive back to the airport instead of going as a passenger.
The most exciting event of the week, however, occurred Thursday when Robert Thrower, a medicine man with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, came and blessed the speedway and restored balance to the land. I’m not sure you’re aware of this, but there are many urban legends and superstitions centered around strange occurrences that have happened in and around Talladega Superspeedway. For example, Bobby Isaac once came in and parked his car for no other reason than he heard voices in his head to get out. The driver strike back in 1969, race cars being vandalized in the garage area the night before a race and it goes on and on. So after 40 years of existence, we thought that there was not a better time than now to put these legends and tales behind us and get a blessing. Mr. Thrower came and prayed over the start finish line and held a traditional ceremony to restore balance.
Next week is race week and it’s always one of the two most exciting weekends of the year for me. Race fans will begin arriving Saturday to line up for the Family Campground that will open Tuesday. When our first guest arrives, that’s when we know it’s show time.
Friday, October 16, 2009
October 16, 2009
The first class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame has been announced and I couldn’t think of five more deserving people -- Bill France Sr., Bill France Jr., Richard Petty, Junior Johnson and Dale Earnhardt. All of these men, in different ways, helped mold our sport to what it is today.
While I never had the pleasure of meeting Bill Sr., I have had the opportunity to spend some time around the other four, if only limited. Some of my fondest memories in the sport have come from the time I have spent around Junior Johnson.
My first job out of college was with a newspaper in North Wilkesboro, N.C., the home of Johnson and North Wilkesboro Speedway. While covering all of the sports in the community was my job, my passion for racing found me spending a lot of time writing about NASCAR and specifically Junior’s teams. I was constantly calling the shop to talk with Junior to find out what he thought about the last race or about the upcoming event. He was always kind and patient with me.
My first full-time job in motorsports came in 1993 when I was hired by a company to handle media for the McDonald’s Racing Team, a team which Junior owned. This allowed me to be around Junior even more and listen to some of the legendary stories he would share with others.
Those stories will be treasured forever.
At 78 years old, Junior still looks young and gets around well . . . but that’s nothing new. We were at Dover in the early 90s and fell out of the race early. This was before they had the pedestrian bridges, so back then when you were in the infield you were stuck until the race was over. For some reason, on that particular day, NASCAR let us cross the track while the cars were on the backstretch under caution, but they didn’t open any gates. So after we jumped over the pit road wall, we had to climb the catch fence and go through a little opening to get out. All of this had to be done with about 100,000 fans watching. Junior was one of about 10 of us who left early that day and was my inspiration to make that dash across the track and up the fence. I figured if he could do it at his age, so could I, right? Well trust me, he was up the fence and out before I could make much progress. We all made it out safely that day just not ahead of Junior.
While I never had the pleasure of meeting Bill Sr., I have had the opportunity to spend some time around the other four, if only limited. Some of my fondest memories in the sport have come from the time I have spent around Junior Johnson.
My first job out of college was with a newspaper in North Wilkesboro, N.C., the home of Johnson and North Wilkesboro Speedway. While covering all of the sports in the community was my job, my passion for racing found me spending a lot of time writing about NASCAR and specifically Junior’s teams. I was constantly calling the shop to talk with Junior to find out what he thought about the last race or about the upcoming event. He was always kind and patient with me.
My first full-time job in motorsports came in 1993 when I was hired by a company to handle media for the McDonald’s Racing Team, a team which Junior owned. This allowed me to be around Junior even more and listen to some of the legendary stories he would share with others.
Those stories will be treasured forever.
At 78 years old, Junior still looks young and gets around well . . . but that’s nothing new. We were at Dover in the early 90s and fell out of the race early. This was before they had the pedestrian bridges, so back then when you were in the infield you were stuck until the race was over. For some reason, on that particular day, NASCAR let us cross the track while the cars were on the backstretch under caution, but they didn’t open any gates. So after we jumped over the pit road wall, we had to climb the catch fence and go through a little opening to get out. All of this had to be done with about 100,000 fans watching. Junior was one of about 10 of us who left early that day and was my inspiration to make that dash across the track and up the fence. I figured if he could do it at his age, so could I, right? Well trust me, he was up the fence and out before I could make much progress. We all made it out safely that day just not ahead of Junior.
Monday, October 12, 2009
October 12, 2009
I got the opportunity recently to do something I haven’t done in a long time and I realized how much I miss it. Saturday night I went to Montgomery Speedway to promote the upcoming AMP Energy 500 and man was that fun. In addition to meeting some of the fans at the track, I was able to watch a little bit of the racing and hear the passion among the fans for the race officials and their favorite drivers. During one red flag, I think everyone in the stadium was passionate and was willing to share it with the crowd.
Saturday night at Montgomery Speedway was a special Late Model race that attracted a good field of cars. Fans who arrived there were probably surprised to find the car of Chase Elliott in the field. Chase is the 14-year-old son of Bill and Cindy Elliott. They raced Friday night at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola and then came up to race Montgomery on Saturday night. Bill mentioned to me recently how proud he is of Chase and his accomplishments at such an early age. He specifically talked about a race he won at Hickory earlier in the summer. Chase had a top-five finish Saturday night.
So for those who have been wondering what Bill is doing while not driving for the Wood Brothers, he’s helping his son get his career started on the short tracks around the southeast. Visit your local short tracks and support those future stars of our sport and you never know who might be there.
As for Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Auto Club Speedway what a race? Jimmie Johnson and his team continue to have something no one else appears to have in California. And wow, what about some of those late-race cautions. They say Talladega’s going to twist up the championship, I don’t think any of the 12 drivers in the Chase can relax until the checkered flag in Miami-Homestead.
Saturday night at Montgomery Speedway was a special Late Model race that attracted a good field of cars. Fans who arrived there were probably surprised to find the car of Chase Elliott in the field. Chase is the 14-year-old son of Bill and Cindy Elliott. They raced Friday night at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola and then came up to race Montgomery on Saturday night. Bill mentioned to me recently how proud he is of Chase and his accomplishments at such an early age. He specifically talked about a race he won at Hickory earlier in the summer. Chase had a top-five finish Saturday night.
So for those who have been wondering what Bill is doing while not driving for the Wood Brothers, he’s helping his son get his career started on the short tracks around the southeast. Visit your local short tracks and support those future stars of our sport and you never know who might be there.
As for Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Auto Club Speedway what a race? Jimmie Johnson and his team continue to have something no one else appears to have in California. And wow, what about some of those late-race cautions. They say Talladega’s going to twist up the championship, I don’t think any of the 12 drivers in the Chase can relax until the checkered flag in Miami-Homestead.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
October 8, 2009
In years past, this would be our race week. Since moving our second Sprint Cup Series date from July to October in 1997, we have typically raced in and around the second weekend of October. Since the Chase came into play, we have typically been race 4 in the 10-race Chase for the Championship, but we’re very excited about being race No. 7 this year and having a bigger play in the championship decision. And besides, they are forecasting rain for Friday evening and Saturday morning.
I have been asked since the date change, how did Talladega get a new date in the Atlanta Motor Speedway, Auto Club Speedway switch? There were several reasons for the switch. Auto Club Speedway had expressed some desire to move away from the heat of Labor Day weekend, and Atlanta Motor Speedway had an interest in the Labor Day date because of it being a holiday weekend. The two tracks couldn’t make a clean switch because that would put races on the West Coast within two weeks of each other and because of Auto Club Speedway’s early-season date in 2010. By putting Talladega in the mix, it also separated us from Atlanta Motor Speedway’s fall date, which is beneficial for both of us.
When asked to consider the date change, I was somewhat hesitant. But when we started talking about the numerous ideas that Halloween would present us, I thought it was a great idea. That’s how HALLOW-DEGA was born. Next year, the AMP Energy 500 is scheduled for Oct. 31st, so we’ll keep the HALLOW-DEGA message alive for years to come.
I have been asked since the date change, how did Talladega get a new date in the Atlanta Motor Speedway, Auto Club Speedway switch? There were several reasons for the switch. Auto Club Speedway had expressed some desire to move away from the heat of Labor Day weekend, and Atlanta Motor Speedway had an interest in the Labor Day date because of it being a holiday weekend. The two tracks couldn’t make a clean switch because that would put races on the West Coast within two weeks of each other and because of Auto Club Speedway’s early-season date in 2010. By putting Talladega in the mix, it also separated us from Atlanta Motor Speedway’s fall date, which is beneficial for both of us.
When asked to consider the date change, I was somewhat hesitant. But when we started talking about the numerous ideas that Halloween would present us, I thought it was a great idea. That’s how HALLOW-DEGA was born. Next year, the AMP Energy 500 is scheduled for Oct. 31st, so we’ll keep the HALLOW-DEGA message alive for years to come.
Monday, October 5, 2009
October 5, 2009
I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend. I know I certainly did. I spent the weekend at Kansas Speedway and in my opinion there’s just no better place to be on a weekend than at a NASCAR race.
When Kansas Speedway opened in 2001, it brought NASCAR racing to an area of the country that was starving for our sport. It also took NASCAR to an area that already had big-league sports with the Chiefs and the Royals. I remember a time when our sport would try to avoid going head-to-head with the NFL or other big events in an area. This weekend in Kansas, Kansas State played Iowa State at Aarowhead Stadium on Saturday and on Sunday, the NY Giants were in town playing the Chiefs. Despite that, the crowd at the Speedway Sunday was large and looked great.
Tony Stewart’s victory Sunday at Kansas just shows that he continues to be, in my opinion, the biggest story of the year. You know everybody has been talking about the Hendrick association have a lot of to do with Stewart’s success, but he certainly surrounded himself with some good people when Stewart-Haas was formed. One of those individuals is Bobby Hutchens. Bobby, the director of competition for Stewart-Haas, spent many years with Richard Childress Racing and many of those years were spent with Dale Earnhardt. Bobby has always been one of those behind-the-scenes guys that make it happen. And he’s certainly helping make it happen this year at Stewart’s new operation.
This week is gearing up to be another busy week. Monday it’s an all-hands-on-deck ticket selling push trying to make some last minute sales for the upcoming AMP Energy 500 weekend. So if I call you, please don’t hang-up. Dave Despain from SPEED will be here for several days this week shooting a Talladega special as part of our 40th anniversary and ESPN will be here as well doing some stuff. Race time is getting close and the excitement is here.
When Kansas Speedway opened in 2001, it brought NASCAR racing to an area of the country that was starving for our sport. It also took NASCAR to an area that already had big-league sports with the Chiefs and the Royals. I remember a time when our sport would try to avoid going head-to-head with the NFL or other big events in an area. This weekend in Kansas, Kansas State played Iowa State at Aarowhead Stadium on Saturday and on Sunday, the NY Giants were in town playing the Chiefs. Despite that, the crowd at the Speedway Sunday was large and looked great.
Tony Stewart’s victory Sunday at Kansas just shows that he continues to be, in my opinion, the biggest story of the year. You know everybody has been talking about the Hendrick association have a lot of to do with Stewart’s success, but he certainly surrounded himself with some good people when Stewart-Haas was formed. One of those individuals is Bobby Hutchens. Bobby, the director of competition for Stewart-Haas, spent many years with Richard Childress Racing and many of those years were spent with Dale Earnhardt. Bobby has always been one of those behind-the-scenes guys that make it happen. And he’s certainly helping make it happen this year at Stewart’s new operation.
This week is gearing up to be another busy week. Monday it’s an all-hands-on-deck ticket selling push trying to make some last minute sales for the upcoming AMP Energy 500 weekend. So if I call you, please don’t hang-up. Dave Despain from SPEED will be here for several days this week shooting a Talladega special as part of our 40th anniversary and ESPN will be here as well doing some stuff. Race time is getting close and the excitement is here.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
October 1, 2009
I love this time of year, the morning air is cool, college football on Saturdays and drivers in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship are already discussing Talladega . . . even though it’s 30 days away.
Despite his success here, Mark Martin has never made it a secret that he is not fond of TSS. In 1997, Mark won the fastest 500-mile stock car race ever ran, with an average speed of more than 187 mph, quite an accomplishment to say the least. Yet recently when Mark won at New Hampshire, he mentioned Talladega as the Lottery in the Chase. I guess he considers the AMP Energy 500 a gamble and we’ve already been called the Wild Card. So I don’t totally disagree with Mark, you’ve got to play your cards right at Talladega a little more than at other tracks.
Ever since our second date on the schedule was moved to October in 1997, Talladega has played an integral part in the championship. But this year, being race No. 7 in the Chase, I’m not sure if integral is a strong enough word to describe the AMP Energy 500.
We’ve got some new advertising coming out that I think best describes Talladega – Dream Maker . . . Heart Breaker. What else can you say about a track where so many drivers have scored their first and only victories or had victory snatched from them because of someone else’s mistake or just bad luck?
Dale Earnhardt coined the phrase, “That’s Just Racin” to described just about anything that happed on the track. Come Nov. 1, I’m sure a lot of answers to questions will be, “That’s Just ‘Dega.” And those words might even be uttered in Victory Lane.
Despite his success here, Mark Martin has never made it a secret that he is not fond of TSS. In 1997, Mark won the fastest 500-mile stock car race ever ran, with an average speed of more than 187 mph, quite an accomplishment to say the least. Yet recently when Mark won at New Hampshire, he mentioned Talladega as the Lottery in the Chase. I guess he considers the AMP Energy 500 a gamble and we’ve already been called the Wild Card. So I don’t totally disagree with Mark, you’ve got to play your cards right at Talladega a little more than at other tracks.
Ever since our second date on the schedule was moved to October in 1997, Talladega has played an integral part in the championship. But this year, being race No. 7 in the Chase, I’m not sure if integral is a strong enough word to describe the AMP Energy 500.
We’ve got some new advertising coming out that I think best describes Talladega – Dream Maker . . . Heart Breaker. What else can you say about a track where so many drivers have scored their first and only victories or had victory snatched from them because of someone else’s mistake or just bad luck?
Dale Earnhardt coined the phrase, “That’s Just Racin” to described just about anything that happed on the track. Come Nov. 1, I’m sure a lot of answers to questions will be, “That’s Just ‘Dega.” And those words might even be uttered in Victory Lane.
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