Like any other outdoor event, the success or failure of Atlanta Motor Speedway’s NASCAR weekends are heavily dependent on the weather.
When it comes to AMS, the bad-weather tales tend to overshadow the better ones from balmy days. The extended forecast for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 calls for mostly cloudy skies with a 20 percent chance of rain and a high of 54 degrees.
In the beginning, eight of the first 10 race scheduled at the track were affected by rain, leading to the nickname “Atlanta International Rainway” when the facility then known as Atlanta International Raceway.
Weather challenges played a big part in the track falling under bankruptcy protection in the 1970s. Stacey Cotton, the trustee credited with reviving the track, always maintained that the real reason the track’s fortunes improved was that it didn’t rain during the time he was signing the checks.
Cold weather also has become a big part of track lore.
The famed Blizzard of 1993 hit town the same week as the NASCAR circuit, forcing a week delay in the race.
Michael Waltrip remembers his trip back to North Carolina after that race was postponed.
“I was driving back home and a couple of guys ahead of me started spinning,” he said. “I was sliding myself and picking my way through spinning cars.
“I remember thinking: ‘You’re supposed to be doing that on the race track, not on I-285 going through Atlanta.’”
But despite chances of cold weather in early March, the track had some successful races back when it held races early in the season.
“I’ve been here 23 years and in that time, there have been many more good weather years than poor,” AMS president Ed Clark said. “In fact, it’s been short-sleeve weather a number of times in March.”
This time around, Clark is hoping his track’s race, moved from Labor Day weekend to the first weekend in March as part of a major race-date shuffle by NASCAR, will benefit from the buzz around last Sunday’s Daytona 500 and won’t be hindered by competition from football, baseball and other sports as it was on Labor Day weekend.
And he’s hoping to attract fans from northern states who are passing through Georgia on their way home from Florida.
“We’re expecting a good number of campers who are also going to Daytona and a decent number of first-time attendees,” Clark said, adding that he also expects to draw more northern fans in upcoming seasons. “We got our date kind of late last year and fans had already made their travel plans. But with a whole year to work on it, we can build on that.”
Many in the sport see AMS’ race date as a challenge when it comes to selling tickets, but they’re also pulling for AMS to make a success of it. Driver Jamie McMurray is among them.
“It’s so frustrating for all of the drivers that we don’t sell more tickets there, especially being in that big of a city with so many people in the area,” McMurray said. “To me, it should be one of the best tracks we have as far as people showing up. It puts on a great race every time.
“The rules package didn’t need changing to make the racing better there. It is already a really good place.”
Driver David Ragan, from Unadilla, literally grew up at AMS. His father, Ken Ragan, worked at the track when David was a youngster. Not surprisingly, he took the opportunity during Daytona’s media day to give his home track a plug.
“I know for a fact that there can be nice weather in March in Atlanta,” he said as part of a response to a question about tires and horsepower. “It can happen. It can be a beautiful, 60-degree day.”
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