Could Atlanta lose a NASCAR race?

Atlanta Motor Speedway officials have fought off the rumor for years.

Almost any time the subject of NASCAR scheduling comes up, someone will mention the possibility of AMS losing one of its two Sprint Cup race dates. It happens because recent races there have failed to sell out and because AMS’ parent company, Speedway Motorsports Inc., recently purchased Kentucky Speedway, which has no Cup date.

NASCAR’s long-standing policy has been that if a company such as SMI wants a Cup date for a track such as Kentucky, which currently hosts Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series events, it must take a race from one of its existing tracks.

AMS president Ed Clark said he and his boss, SMI chairman Bruton Smith, have never discussed the possibility.

“Is there a chance?” Clark asked. “Always there’s a chance until you sign your sanctioning agreement for the following year. From everything I’ve been told, everything’s a go for both of our events next year. We’ll see what happens after that.”

Clark said he believes AMS, which has seating for 104,000, has a lot going for it, despite some attendance-challenged races in past years.

“Number one, there are a lot of events on the schedule that don’t draw as many people as we do,” he said. “People talk about our attendance but we draw a lot more people than a lot of events in other markets that have Cup races.”

Empty seats have been common at most tracks on the NASCAR circuit. For the recent race at Daytona International Speedway, the backstretch grandstands weren’t open and there were empty seats on the frontstretch. Chicagoland Speedway, with a seating capacity appoximately two-thirds of AMS, had large gaps in the grandstands Saturday night.

There also are business reasons to leave AMS alone. Many of the corporations that support NASCAR, including Coca-Cola, UPS, NAPA and The Home Depot, are headquartered here.

Clark also points out that AMS, located in Hampton, is one of the foundational tracks of NASCAR, having played host to at least two Cup races a year ever since 1960.

“It’s part of the tradition of NASCAR,” he said. “It’s in the South where the sport started and where the traditional fan base is and moving an event out of this area wouldn’t be in the best interest of NASCAR.”

Clark said that he’s counting on Smith to get his Kentucky date without having to take a race away from one of his existing tracks. In the past, Smith has bought interest in other tracks, including North Wilkesboro Speedway and North Carolina Speedway, and moved their Cup races to SMI tracks.