Atlanta Motor Speedway To Be Showpiece

03/18/96

The Associated Press reported that Bruton Smith plans to turn the Atlanta Motor Speedway into a showpiece for NASCAR Winston Cup Racing. Smith, who bought the Speedway in October 1990 has been bringing the track up to snuff with modern standards. When he bought the track it had only two small grandstands on the front and back straightaways and about 24 suites. Smith has overseen the construction of two new grandstands on turns one and two, and has ringed each of them with luxury boxes. The new construction has increased the speedway's crowd capacity to above 100,000 spectators and added 60 suites for a total of 84.

So far construction around the 1.522 mile oval track has cost $50 million, and Smith plans to spend at least that much again before he's done. Smith also owns the Charlotte Motor Speedway and is building a 160,000-seat track near Dallas-Fort Worth. The Atlanta Motor Speedway, however, hosts the final race of the Winston Cup series season and the championship is generally decided there--it is thus important to the entire racing series, and especially to sponsors.

Smith's long range plans for the Speedway are known as "Project 2000" and aim at a seating capacity of 225,000 which would include 5,000 theater-style, glass-enclosed clubhouse seats and more than 100 luxury suites. Smith also wants to put the start-finish line on the backstretch, which would itself be remodeled into a a double dogleg like at Charlotte. The plan also includes a new pit road, garage area, press box, media center, scoreboard, control tower and hospitality area.

Smith's Project 2000 should be done in 3-6 years, provided that he can get new roads to assist with chronic traffic problems at the speedway. "Right now, we're kind of stuck," said Ed Clark, Atlanta's vice president and general manager. "We can't add any more seats until we improve the traffic flow."

The wait isn't derailing Smith's plans, however. Said Smith, "We have a sign that tells it all: `The road to success is constantly under construction.' That certainly fits what we're doing here."

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel