Notes From Atlanta Motor Speedway

There are two things race fans should remember to pack before heading to future races at Atlanta Motor Speedway - earplugs and cash. 

First, the racing at Atlanta is fast and loud - and if you don't have protective earwear, sitting through the race is going to be tough/borderline impossible.  I tried it and then grew worried that I might develop a certain degree of permanent auditory damage.

Second, the concession stands don't accept credit/debit cards, so be sure you take enough cash to purchase food and drinks. If not, you'll have to find an ATM and then wait in line to use it, or else beg an obliging tailgater for a spare morsel or two.

I learned both of those lessons early on Sunday.  But other than that, Atlanta is a great place to watch a race. I don't think there's a bad seat in the grandstands - and for a girl who'se used to the behemoth venues of Daytona and Talladega, I appreciated the all inclusive sightline.

I also enjoyed the pre-race hours in the garage, meandering down pit road and hanging out in the infield for driver introductions.  And though I love NASCAR, the day's highlight for was getting a close-up look at the gold medals of the United States' Men's Bobsled Olympic champs.  Photos below:

Driver of the No. 12, Brad Keselowski signs autographs for fans on his way to the driver's meeting.  Little did he know he'd be sent on a high-flying wreck fest in a few hours by this guy:

A calm Carl Edwards is interviewed in the garage area before the race.  He wasn't so calm a while later.

Country music star Blake Shelton and Robby Gordon's car both hit the wall in the beginning laps of the Kobalt Tools 500.

The happiest looking tires on pit road ...

Olympic gold medalists in the men's bobsled - Steve Mesler and Steven Holcomb pose for photos back stage at driver introductions.  I asked Mesler if his was a real gold medal or just a fake one he used for events like this.  He assured me it was the real deal!

Dawsonville's  favorite son and NASCAR legend - Awesome Bill Elliott

Dale Earnhardt Jr. handed Kyle Petty a big check Sunday morning for $1 million. The generous donation will go to Petty's Victory Junction camp.  Before they took the stage however, the two spent a few minutes chatting.  From what I could hear of their conversation, it sounded like Kyle Petty was telling a racing story.  I would have liked to hear the whole thing, but it would've been ill-mannered to tell him to speak up...

Kasey Kahne is announced at driver introductions.

Monte Dutton - Eyewitness to NASCAR History

Agree with him or no, you’ve got to respect a guy like Monte Dutton. Dutton, who has been covering NASCAR since 1993, is one of the few journalists who can rightly be called an eyewitness to NASCAR history. And, when it comes to putting today’s NASCAR into context, this historian is no revisionist.

His assessments of the sport are blunt. His belief in the NASCAR party line often skeptical. But his journalistic candor is well-earned and, you could say, a logical result of his firsthand view of the sport’s evolution.

“Most of the people who do what I do originally didn’t know much about it, they were signed by a newspaper, and they know all about it now. But they don’t have the perspective,” Dutton said. “The first race I ever went to was at Bristol when I was seven years old. A Jarrett won - Ned Jarrett.”

Witnessing the ascendance of more than one Jarrett into racing’s upper echelon is just one of the changes Dutton has seen over the years. Most notably, Dutton has watched NASCAR enact myriad rules in an attempt to officiate the ever-changing sport. Yet as any student of the sport’s past will tell you, some of the tight controls which are now the norm have led to some negative consequences.

Take the generic look of the race cars, for instance.

“When I first started covering races in 1993, I remember marveling when I was driving to a race that the rarest thing you’d ever see would be a Ford with a Dale Earnhardt sticker or a Chevy with a Bill Elliott sticker,” Monte said. “Well now they’re all Hondas. And I think that NASCAR is sort of insulting fans in trying to tell them the decal of a headlight is the difference between a Ford and a Chevy.”

Dutton’s comments bring to mind the lyrics of an old David Lee Murphy song about a barmaid who spent her time breaking up fights over Chevys and Fords. Yet today’s fans are more likely to get into fights over Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. than the make of their favorite driver’s car.

“Now NASCAR will say ‘Well, it’s the driver now. Brand loyalty’s not as important,’ ” explained Dutton. “Well they pretty much destroyed brand loyalty. It was their own concerted attempt to do that, by gradually making the cars more and more alike.”

Dutton said the equalization of cars started in the late 1980s because the Fords had an advantage aerodynamically. So, to even out the racing, NASCAR allowed Chevys and Pontiacs to put window glass in the back. This decision snowballed into the more generic-looking cars seen by fans today. And less innovaton in the garage.

“Gradually over time, it became where teams, instead of relying on their own ingenuity, began relying on NASCAR to solve all their problems, and NASCAR was only too happy to oblige, but I don’t think it’s for the good.” Dutton said. “They’ve just systematically undermined it (brand loyalty). There still is brand loyalty, but it’s not what it was. And it’s hurt the manufacturers too.”

Ironically, NASCAR’s current economic woes may lead to a return to greater brand identity, including modifications to the sheet metal on the cars. Talk about coming full circle.

“I think it might be about to happen, because NASCAR never does anything unless you hit ‘em in the pocketbook and they’ve done all kind of things now because attendance and TV ratings are going down,” Dutton said. “They’re losing money so they’re rethinking all these things.”

Spoken like a true realist.

NASCAR-ista note: Thanks to Monte Dutton for taking the time on a busy race day to do the interview and for David Cohea of NASCAR This Week for setting things up and contributing photos. In addition to covering NASCAR for the Gaston Gazette, Dutton moonlights as a singer/songwriter. Check out his music on Facebook and MySpace.

Labonte Goes Pink for Charlotte Race

When NASCAR comes home to Charlotte on Oct. 17 for the NASCAR Banking 500, Bobby Labonte will have more people on his tail than any other driver on the track – literally.

More than 13,000 names of people affected by breast cancer will be featured on the rear of Labonte’s pink No. 96 as part of a breast cancer awareness program with his sponsor Ask.com. The search engine transformed its homepage into a one-day memorial for those affected by breast cancer on Oct. 1 to celebrate the start of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and its national partnership with Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Each Tribute made that day will be incorporated into the #96 paint scheme.

Labonte, will also sport a firesuit and helmet inspired by the pink colors of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, “Ask.com did a great job allowing people a way to honor and remember loved ones affected by breast cancer because it does affect everyone,” said Labonte.

Ask.com, the Official Search Engine of NASCAR, recently announced a national multi-faceted partnership with Susan G. Komen for the Cure which included a pledge to invest $1 million to the organization. Throughout October, race fans can continue to participate in the Ask.com Search for the Cure program at www.Ask.com/cure. By downloading the special Komen search “skin” and answering questions about breast health, Ask.com will continue to make donations to Susan G. Komen for the Cure on behalf of users.

Other drivers with breast cancer awareness paint schemes include Elliott Sadler, Kyle Busch and Bill Elliott.

Catch Prelude to a Dream Tomorrow Night!

Due to the recent spate of off-track injuries, Carl Edwards and Bill Elliott won't be racing late models at Eldora Speedway tomorrow night. But that doesn't mean there won't be plenty of other drivers ready to rumble in Tony Stewart's fifth annual Prelude to a Dream.

In fact, more than 20 NASCAR drivers will kicking up some dirt as they go head-to-head for the Prelude trophy and some old-fashioned bragging rights.

Drivers slated to take the track are: Stewart, Ryan Newman, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer. Aric Almirola, Brian Vickers, David Reutimann, Marcos Ambrose, Ken Schrader, Kenny Wallace, Robby Gordon, Dave Blaney, Ray Evernham, Ron Capps and Cruz Pedregon should also be racing.

Catch the race on HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 9. Proceeds from the telecast will benefit four military charities: Wounded Warrior Project, Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, Operation Homefront and Fisher House.

Lowe's Starting Line Up Surprises

The go-or-go-homers put on quite a show during qualifying Thursday at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Three of them, to be exact, shook up the field by finishing in the top 11.

Mike Bliss scored an impressive seventh-place spot, surprising even himself. "We weren't very good in practice and I had no idea how the car would be in qualifying," Bliss told the media.

Racing veteran and fan favorite "Awesome Bill" Elliott snagged 10th place as he qualified for his 800th Cup start, while Front-Row-Joe Nemechek drove away with 11th. Rookie Scott Speed even managed to pull off a respectable 18th position. Not bad for a dude who has sometimes seemed more concerned about the state of his toenail polish than actually making races.

Unfortunately, there was one Thursday result that should be a surprise, but has now lost its shock value. Once again, Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified well behind his Hendrick Motorsports teammates. Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson will begin the race in third, fourth and fifth respectively. Junior, on the other hand, is stuck back in the pack in 27th. He might as well be racing at Daytona tonight with the amount of traffic he'll have to swim through to contend for the win.

The bright spot for the #88 team (and anyone else who qualified poorly) is that in a 600-mile race, there's plenty of time to drive to the front. But if you're a glass-half-empty type of person, there's also plenty of time for things to go wrong ...

Rockin' the All-Star Vote -- A Little Help for Race Fans

Political party affiliations be damned. This week, NASCAR fans have a much more complicated vote to cast--namely, to decide which Sprint Cup driver is All-Star worthy.

We only have until Saturday at 7:30 p.m. to cast our vote for who's in. So to help the indecisive among us, I've put together a short little voting guide for the 10 drivers who are currently leading the fan vote. And if this isn't enough, check out a search engine like Ask.com and type in the names of your pick. We fans need all the help we can get!

AJ Allmendinger: He's the king of shameless self-promotion and he unabashedly begs for votes every time a TV camera crosses his path. He's got one top five and two top 10 finishes this season. Plus, he races for The King Richard Petty, so what more needs to be said?

Bill Elliott: Awesome Bill from Dawsonville has long been a NASCAR all-star. With 44 career Cup wins, this old-school vet may be a bit long in the tooth...but he can still lay down a fast lap. Because of his past career successes, Elliott gets my vote, hands down.

Joey Logano: Boy Wonder has two top 10 finishes this season. But winning Rookie of the Year should be enough accolades for this kid. Making him an all-star so early on is definitely putting the cart before the horse.

Jamie McMurray: He's a guy that race day pundits usually pick as a sleeper to contend for the win. But so far in '09 he hasn't been able to pull it off. In fact, McMurray hasn't won a Cup race since 2007. But things could be worse--at least the #26 team has three top 10s to their credit this season.

Juan Pablo Montoya: He takes no guff and he cuts no slack. Plus, the off chance that Montoya might start a fist fight on the track is reason enough to cast your vote for the #42. If you need numbers, he's got three top 10 finishes this year.

David Ragan: Ragan scored his first Nationwide win this season, but he has yet to take the checkered flag in Sprint Cup (his best finish thus far is a top 10). Still, there's something about Ragan that's intensely likeable. Maybe it's his Unadilla accent.

David Reutimann: A pleasant surprise in the early going and a huge boon to MWR. As they say, Reutimann is The Franchise. With four top 10 finishes and one top five, surely Reutimann will pull out a win before Homestead.

Eliott Sadler: I love ol' Elliott, but I just can't get past his near crying jag when he realized he was going to lose this year's Daytona 500. It was almost as uncomfortable as watching Gilles tear up on Dancing With the Stars. But then again, he does have a top five and a top 10 finish.

Martin Truex Jr.: Any driver that can last an entire race whilst suffering from a kidney stone deserves your admiration and arguably your vote. Plus, he's finished in the top 10 three times this year. Martin's a man among boys.

Michael Waltrip: Where do I begin? He wrecks almost every time he touches the track (and usually more than once per race). But then again, he sure is funny. If it's entertainment you seek, then by all means vote Waltrip. Besides, he has managed to eke out one top 10 finish.

NASCAR -- Not Just for Southerners Anymore

During a week in which the stars of NASCAR head to a quintessential Southern race track, allow me a geographical observation. There must be something in the water beyond the Mississippi, River, because NASCAR talent sure does seem to be headed west.

And it's not just me. The numbers bear it out. Compared to just 10 years ago, fewer and fewer top drivers hail from the home of the Confederacy.

At the end of the 1998 season, eight of the top 12 Winston Cup drivers were from states below the Mason-Dixon. Guys like Bill Elliott, Dale Earnhardt and Terry Labonte were at the top of the heap. And NASCAR talent was still predominantly Southern. Of course there were a few interlopers -- like Rusty Wallace and Geoffrey Bodine -- but by and large, the top drivers were Southern-born and Southern-bred.

Ten years later, the geographical terrain of NASCAR talent has seen a seismic shift. Instead of Southern drivers ruling the points standings, the guys from California, Missouri and Washington state are snagging the top spots. In 2008, only three of the top 12 drivers were from the South. And, so far in 2009, only two of those in the top 12 are Southerners by birth.

And the talent isn't just diverse on the track. More and more folks in the garage are hailing from non-rebel states as well--seven of the current top 12 crew chiefs hail from up North or out West.

It's ironic that a sport viewed by many Americans as simply catering to its good ol' boy fan base is actually pretty diverse when it comes down to who's succeeding at the highest level. And that's good for NASCAR. The more diversity the sport can get within its ranks, the more new fans will be drawn to the races.

Now if we can just get a chick in the driver's seat ...

5 Life Lessons From Daytona

1. Life, like racing, is mostly about the decisions you make. You run with the wrong crowd at Daytona and you get sucked to the back faster than you can say "Dick Trickle". You work with your team and, if you're prepared and play it smart, you can all get to the front for a possible win. You find yourself a lap down? You never give up until you get back in a position to win. The importance of teamwork and smart decision-making - a metaphor for life.

2. Sometimes, you need to see the world through the eyes of a child. Whether you're a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle or friend, no adult should go to Daytona (or any race, for that matter) without a child in tow. Watching a youngster's excitement over the zoom of the cars, the roar of the engines and bump drafting down the frontstretch can really put things in perspective. Sometimes we lose our zest for life. We become cynical and bored. If that's the case with you, take a kid to a race. Their enthusiasm will be contagious.

3. In tough economic times - some things are still worth a splurge. I'm speaking of the Fanzone at the Daytona International Speedway. This was my first experience "in the zone" and I'll never forget it. Hanging out on the fandeck over the garages is about more than seeing your favorite drivers and crew up close -- it's about making new friends and feeling a part of the NASCAR community at large. Mark Martin signs autographs from his garage- the crowd goes wild. There's Richard Petty - cameras start snapping. Ryan Newman's wrecked car rolls into the garage area - gasps of dismay erupt from the fans. Kyle Busch drives by - let the trash talking begin. For my money, I'd rather splurge on an experience in the Fanzone, than a driver T-shirt or ballcap. T-shirts fray, but memories live forever.

4. An unexpected kindness can make someone’s day, year or life. While hanging out in the infield before Saturday's Nationwide race, I met a US Army soldier and his six-year-old little boy who was wearing a Jeff Gordon Halloween costume and hat. An Army airborne ranger (who was standing near the stage before driver introductions) came over and talked to them and gave them what looked like Dale Jr. merchandise. Then a NASCAR official brought the boy a lugnut from one of the racecars. As if that weren't cool enough, minutes later, the CEO of Camping World (the folks who sponsored the Nationwide race) asked the soldier if he and his son would like to ride in the pace car and lead the field to the green flag. The folks standing around them burst into cheers and applause. And then, like NASCAR royalty, the soldier and his child were ushered under the yellow rope and into the driver area to take their places. I'd say the kindess of the person who made that little guy's dream come true will be remembered as long as he lives.

5. Keep the memory of your heroes alive. When NASCAR fans pick a driver, they are fiercely loyal. Perhaps no fans are moreso than those of Dale Earnhardt. From the hushed picture-taking by Earnhardt's statue in front of the Daytona 500 Experience to the wistful conversations of middle-aged men standing outside the Earnhardt merchandise trailer, Daytona is sacred ground. But it isn't only the fallen NASCAR heroes that are remembered with reverence. Fans don't forget second-chance heroes like Mark Martin (who got almost as much fan applause during Sprint Cup practice as Dale Jr) and veteran Bill Elliott, who had one of the fastest cars early on in Speedweeks. The moral of the story: don't forget where you came from - and who got you there in the first place.