Atlanta's Hard Work Makes Labor Day

Guest Column By Cathy Elliott


When someone asks the front desk manager at my office how she's doing she invariably answers, "Fine. I hope you are, too."
Let's go ahead and establish one thing up front so we don't have to come back and argue about it later.
I have worked in Darlington, S.C. in various capacities for 15 years. I love Darlington Raceway, and I will always consider the former Southern 500 Labor Day weekend as one of NASCAR's most-respected traditions. It's right up there with the green courts of major tennis tournaments and knicker-wearing gents on the golf courses of the PGA.
These things are dear to us, deeply ingrained in our sports memories and psyches. But for the most part they are gone now, replaced by long pants, the blue-court battleground of the U.S. Open and yes, Labor Day weekend NASCAR racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The atmosphere surrounding the initial announcement in June 2003 that Darlington would host its final Labor Day weekend event that year was as gloomy as the set of a Tim Burton film. Some fans reacted the way they would upon suddenly being told their parents were breaking up after 50 years of marriage. We weren't simply surprised; we took it personally.
Mom stuck around and the annual Mother's Day race weekend at Darlington has gone on to become one of the most popular stops on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule.
Dad headed out to California for a while to 'find himself' before eventually heading back home. Atlanta Motor Speedway welcomed Labor Day weekend racing like the prodigal son, dressing him up in fancy trappings and generally making a very big deal about his new residence in town. You can probably even find fatted calf on the concession stand menu if you look hard enough. AMS knows how to throw a party.
Still, every year around this time we hear that inevitable grousing about the way things were. It certainly would be a lot more productive, not to mention more fun, to focus on the way things are.
Atlanta is a terrific location for a Labor Day weekend, for a number of reasons. Its inland location means the track isn't plagued by the threat of impending hurricanes, a constant issue at Darlington. He turned northward and dropped by North Carolina's Outer Banks for a visit, but just this week Hurricane Earl threatened the East Coast. That could easily have affected South Carolina.
Atlanta is a 'destination' city, with plenty for those visiting on a holiday to do and see and eat. There's plenty of room for everyone.
But when you get right down to it, the best reason to host a Labor Day weekend race at Atlanta is the quality of action on the track. The movie masterpiece "Gone With the Wind" taught us three important things -- that tomorrow is another day, that raw radishes don't sit well on an empty stomach ... and if you're looking for a battle royale, Atlanta is the place to find it. In 50 years of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing, the track has crowned an amazing 42 different winners, proving you just never know what might happen.
Atlanta Motor Speedway has been the site of some of racing's most famous feuds and finishes. This is the place where Dale Earnhardt spanked Bobby Labonte by .010 seconds to claim his ninth win at the track.
Richard Petty ran his final Cup Series race in Atlanta, and Jeff Gordon ran his first. Just two weeks after Earnhardt's death at Daytona in 2001, Kevin Harvick renewed the spirit of his team by taking his first Cup Series checkered flag, at Atlanta.
The most recent AMS buzz, of course, centered around Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski in March. Both drivers will be competing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series Great Clips 300 as well as the Emory Healthcare 500 at AMS, turning the weekend into something resembling an ad for Doublemint gum -- "Double your pleasure; double your trouble." Or something like that. It should double your interest.
NASCAR fans seem to have a very specific wish list where Labor Day weekend is concerned. We want nice weather and a Southern location. We want to see a great race offering close competition and the ever-present possibility of controversy. We want to have a memorable experience; we want to have fun. We want an annual racing tradition at a place with many decades-worth of character, history, and respect.

The Atlanta Motor Speedway offers us all these things, and more.
I'm fine with that. I hope you are, too.