GO DAWGS!!!
Posted on 03/09/2008 6:21:56 AM PDT by GeorgiaDawg32
Friday morning brought rain and the kind of dark, oppressive clouds that seem to cling to the skies over Atlanta Motor Speedway. But race day promises sun and meteorological relief, something sorely needed for a racetrack that produces tremendous speeds and tremendous finishes often overshadowed by rows of empty seats.
The metropolitan areas of Atlanta and Los Angeles have more in common than the residents of either city would likely care to admit. Both are freeway-strangled municipalities where two-hour commutes aren't unheard of, and drivers can encounter five lanes of stopped Interstate traffic even at 3 in the morning. Both are fickle sports towns where pro teams often languish in indifference. Both have speedways located far from center cities, and saddled with rotten early-season positions on the NASCAR schedule.
But from an auto racing perspective, there's one key difference: California's relatively sparse crowds catch more heat than the 110-degree temperatures that often accompany the track's Labor Day date, while Atlanta's seem to be treated a little more gently. Although late former NASCAR chairman Bill France Jr. did mention the Hampton, Ga., facility as a possible target of schedule realignment when that plan was unveiled in 2003, nobody's banging the drum for Atlanta to lose a date.
(Excerpt) Read more at nascar.com ...
I quit going to the races, and quit watching them when they started the “Race for the Cup” at the end of the season.
Cookie cutter racing. Should have left Atlanta as a true oval. The cold probably didn’t help much either.
The tracks position away from Atlanta is a good thing.You want to talk about nightmare traffic?Hope it is not going to be the jeff gordon,jimmy johnson show today.
PING!!!
I’ve been to AMS several times and it is a true nightmare getting out of there. Last race I went to (Fall ‘05, Edwards won), we waited in the parking lot for 2.5 hours after the race before we thought about getting out..
As an aside, AMS had a deal on 1000 tickets for todays race in which the price of the tickets was the number on the winning car in the Daytona 500..My girlfriend knows a guy who had 10 of them, but two people backed out so for $24, she has two tickets (she’s taking her daughter while I’m in Northern Indiana working - just my luck), 100 feet from the start/finish line, 8 rows up..
Atlanta can’t sell out Hawks or Braves playoff games. IIRC, the Falcons didn’t even sell out for the home playoff games on their way to the Super Bowl.
the hawks suck..I’ve been to exactly 1 game in 20 years and won’t go again..it was hip hop heaven..
the braves shot themselves in the foot when, after they got good in ‘91, they raised ticket prices beyond the means of the hard core fans who supported them all the bad years, and Turner Field became the place “to see and be seen”..once the novelty wore off, the “old-timers” didn’t come back..
the falcons had complete season sell-outs for the first few years of the Dome and I think they did sell out for their ONE home game in their superbowl year (they went to minnesota and beat the vikings when anderson (vikings kicker) missed a chip shot and anderson (falcons kicker) hit I believe a 39 yarder to win it.
I’ve been on the waiting list for falcon season tickets for 4 years and they called friday..wanna see how much they’re askin for them before I buy..
Because those drivers are trying to get to the ONE lane ramp to a different five lane interstate.
heh..yup..I love when new housing developments advertise “Buy here in Roswell, you’re only 25 minutes from downtown”..what they DON’T say is that IS true IF you are making the commute at 2 a.m. on sunday morning..all other bets are off..
I guess the folks aren’t making the drive down from Darlington and Rockingham like France figured they would.
Race thread Here.
NASCAR = Zzz Zzz Zzz! lol
Should have stopped when you were ahead. The Falcons playoff games sold out in 2004 and 1998 which were the most recent times they played home playoff games.
That my friend is what we call buzzard luck.Cant kill nothin and nothin gone die.
When Brian “Butthead” France decided to trade the old redneck fans for new sophisticated fans, this is what he got. A fickle bunch of malcontents. I’ll bet Child Busch’s souvenir rig still didn’t sell squat yesterday. He’s a punk, France is a fool, and Toyota is a hack. Wait and see how empty the stands look when Toyota is the only manufacturer in the sport.
speaking of which, here’s an article I posted a while back..pass the link around if you want..
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1973337/posts
GO DAWGS!!!
I love my DAWGS...:)
and UGA, best mascot in college football...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.