MOTOR SPORTS: Keeping The Races Exciting

By Noah Davis UsFANS.com Senior Writer

Atlanta Motor Speedway already runs one of the most prestigious races of the year – the season-ending Winston Cup race NAPA 500 on November 19. AMS not only celebrates the race winner, but also showcases a victory lap for the season champion.

The track is well suited to racing, featuring one of the fastest tracks on the NASCAR circuit. And while it might not offer the high banks of Talladega, AMS hosted one of the most exciting finishes this year when crowd favorite Dale Earnhardt held off Bobby Labonte at the wire at the Cracker Barrel 500.

AMS is also incredibly fan friendly. The speedway offers suite packages to the fans, as well as infield and garage hospitality packages and pit passes. This allows the typical fan to experience what the VIPs often do.

Yet AMS is not about to rest on its laurels – it wants to improve the quality of the racing at the speedway.

Ed Clark, Atlanta Motor Speedway president, wants NASCAR to implement the same aerodynamic rules used at Talladega for the NAPA 500. Clark called NASCAR chief operating officer Mike Helton to ask if Helton would consider using the Talladega rules, minus the 15/16th-inch restrictor plates, at Atlanta.

The aerodynamic features at Talladega included higher front air dams on the cars, an air-deflecting strip across their roofs and rear spoilers with a 1-inch lip stood up from 45 to 70 degrees. This would slow down the speed in the corners, which drivers are always concerned with.

With any luck it will also provide for exciting racing conditions, as evidenced by Dale Earnhardt’s rise from 18th to first in the final five laps of the Winston 500 at Talladega.

A restrictor plate wouldn’t be as effective, as it wouldn’t limit the speeds in the corners as effectively, and would only end up slowing the cars considerably on the straightaways.

Nor is Atlanta an incredibly fast track that would require NASCAR to slow the cars down too much. The 1.54-mile track had a pole-winning speed this March of 194.957 mph. The track record of 197.478 mph was set in November 1997, the first race after the track was reconfigured and repaved.

NASCAR’s Helton wasn’t overly optimistic in his assessment to reporters earlier this week. "In the conversations we had involving the aero package we used at Talladega, we had discussed the possibility of using those rules at other facilities aside from Daytona and Talladega," Helton said. "I don't want to imply that there's much hope in seeing that package again this year, but I don't want to rule it out, either."

If NASCAR is smart they will follow the AMS’ suggestions. With just a few races left in the Winston Cup season, Bobby Labonte's has opened an all-but-surmountable 201-point lead in the standings, which makes it unlikely that the championship will be decided at year's final race in Atlanta.

Clark told reporters he believed the use of the Talladega rules could spur interest - and ticket sales - for his season-ending race. There’s no question that fans would want to see the same incredible finish the Winston 500 generated.

"There's no question that we have tickets left to sell," Clark told reporters. "Even if they don't do anything I think we're going to have a great race here, but the main thing is for us to find something that will week-in and week-out make this sport even better than it already is."

The loyal fans deserve NASCAR’s best efforts to provide the best race possible.

Article courtesy of www.usfans.com