Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Atlanta Motor Speedway



Yesterday while driving to CVS 4404 in Griffin, GA I passed by the Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Few who saw Atlanta Motor Speedway in its infancy would recognize the track today. A majestic structure situated on 870 acres in Hampton, Ga., just 25 miles south of Atlanta, today's Atlanta Motor Speedway is one of the country's top sports, corporate, family and entertainment facilities.
But it's a far cry from the structure planned in 1958 by Walker Jackson, Lloyd Smith, Garland Bagley, Ralph Sceiano and Ike Supporter. Before construction of the proposed superspeedway had been completed, insufficient funds forced four of the founders to abandon ship. Dr. Warren Gremmel, Bill Boyd, Jack Black and Art Lester joined Bagley in the venture and spent $1.8 million to get the facility ready.
When the 1.5-mile track, then called Atlanta International Raceway, finally made its debut on July 31, 1960, it became the seventh superspeedway,a paved facility of one mile or more, to play host to a Cup race. Only three of the original seven; Darlington Raceway, Daytona International Speedway and Lowe's (then Charlotte) Motor Speedway are still in operation.



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