Atlanta Motor Speedway kicks off a busy stretch this weekend by hosting its first Global Rallycross event. The races will be run Saturday on a makeshift course along the frontstrech of the 1.54-mile quad-oval. The track will quickly be put back in its original condition so that it will be ready when NASCAR’s top drivers come to town at the end of the month for the AdvoCare 500 weekend.
Toomas “Topi” Heikkinen enters the AMS race as the Sylvania zXe Cup series points leader after winning the first two races in the series, but he has stiff competition in the likes of Ken Block, Brian Deegan, Patrik Sandell, Tanner Foust and Steve Arpin. In addition to his racing, Foust is one of the co-hosts of the History cable channel’s “Top Gear” program, along with Rutledge Wood of Senoia. Arpin is familiar to NASCAR fans through his participation in the Nationwide and Camping World Truck series.
But Arpin’s experience on NASCAR tracks will be of little use at Atlanta, as the Rallycross will be run on a course featuring surfaces that include asphalt, dirt, slick spots and jumps.
“I haven’t even seen the layout,” Arpin said Wednesday.
But he is familiar with the Sylvania zXe Cup, a new program that offers $20,000 to the driver who earns the most points in four of the series’ U.S.-based events this season.
Jefferson ready for Super Series race: Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson is set to host its premier event, the Slack Auto Parts World Crown 300, on Saturday. The race originally was scheduled for July 4, but was postponed until Saturday because of weather concerns.
The 300-lap race, which dates to 1983 when the late Dick Trickle was the winner, is the final race of the season at Gresham.
The World Crown is part of the Southern Super Series, which has five more races to run now that the Sept. 7 race at Fairgrounds Raceway in Nashville, Tenn., was cancelled. Daniel Hemric of Kannapolis, N.C., is the series points leader, and Senoia’s Bubba Pollard is second, 16 points out of first place.
USCS in Peach State: The Fayetteville-based United Sprint Car Series kicks off a swing through Georgia on Saturday with a race at Dixie Speedway in Woodstock. Then the series will run the USCS Summer Nationals IV at Senoia Raceway on Aug. 16-17.
And on Aug. 30 the sprinters will run the USCS Sprint Car Shootout on the quarter-mile Legends track at Atlanta Motor Speedway just after qualifying for the Advocare 500.
The circuit will be back on dirt the night of Sept. 1 at Toccoa Speedway.
Road drivers want oval success: When the Sprint Cup Series runs the road courses at Sonoma and Watkins Glen, series regulars Juan Pablo Montoya and Marcos Ambrose are among the prerace favorites to win. Montoya has two career Cup victories, one each at Sonoma and Watkins Glen. Ambrose also has two career Cup wins, both at Watkins Glen.
Despite their success on road courses, both drivers went to NASCAR to win on the oval tracks that comprise the majority of the schedule.
“It’s what we’re here for,” Montoya said. “Ninety percent of the season runs in ovals. It’s not that we’re not trying. I’ve been very close, a lot of opportunities, (but) we’ve thrown them away. We’ve found ways to screw them up.
“But to tell you the truth, as a team we keep our head up and we keep fighting, and believe me, we believe we have a chance. We really, really believe that we have a good chance.”
Montoya acknowledged that road-course appearances are a different matter for him and Ambrose.
“Marcos and myself, the only thing we need to do at the Glen to have a chance of winning is not screw up,” he said.
Ambrose said he, too, has high expectations this weekend as he goes for his third consecutive win at the Glen.
“Obviously, we feel like we are contenders each time we go to Watkins Glen, and this weekend is no different,” he said. “I just know what I want in the car, and we have been fortunate enough to get that feel in our Stanley Ford Fusions the past two races.
“That allows me to race up front, and I have a lot of confidence. Watkins Glen is a really fast track, and I really enjoy it. I know what I need to do to be there at the end.”
Ambrose ranks 22nd in the Cup standings, and Montoya ranks 23rd, but both see Sunday’s race as a way to get in the running for a wild-card Chase berth. They would need to win and get inside the top 20 in points to be eligible.
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