April 13, 2009

By Connie Felix

Taking Cover At Nashville Superspeedway

NASCAR arrived at Nashville Superspeedway on Friday for the Nationwide Series 300 race, as crews prepared for practice and qualifying, Mother Nature had different plans. By noon, drivers, crews, workers and media took cover in the infield Media Center and south garage restrooms for several hours, when severe storms hit the area. Campers in the east lot pulled their motorhomes into a circle and all eyes watched the televisions for updates. As everyone waited, elbow to elbow for the storms to pass, just 5 miles away numerous EF-3 tornadoes hit the town of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. In a section 15 miles long, 100 homes were flattened, major damage occurred to 150 additional homes and numerous businesses are no more. Two days later, most electricity is back on in non-damaged areas.

Local Cheered

Race fans at Nashville Superspeedway, greeted their own Casey Atwood, driver of the No. 05 - 31W Insulation Chevrolet with loud cheers during the NASCAR Nationwide Series 300 driver introductions. Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Joey Logano and Michael Waltrip were also fan favorites.

Drivers Color Eggs

Several NASCAR Nationwide Series drivers, including Steven Wallace, Joey Lagano and Burney Lamar colored eggs with ESPN and Speed reporters, Friday at Nashville Superspeedway. A beautiful six year old young lady, won the contest when judging continued following a two hour delay, while heavy rains passed over the track.

Emerson Drive Returns

Canadian group, Emerson Drive returned to Nashville Superspeedway to perform the post race concert following the NASCAR Nationwide Series Race on Saturday. It has been four years, since their first concert at the track. Emerson Drive has remained the same, only growing older and back to their original hair color, stated one of the group.

Visit to Baker Curb Racing

Media visited the north Nashville, Tennessee 75,000 square foot race shop of Baker Curb Racing on Wednesday prior to the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Nashville Superspeedway. Gary Baker, who operated the Bristol Race track from 1978-1983 and part owner of the race team was available for questions from the media. Also, the No. 27 Scott Tissue/Kroger, Ford driver Jason Keller. The facility has added a museum of finished and unfinished cars in one corner. It includes the 1980 Chevrolet Monte Carlo No. 2, driven by Dale Earnhardt to victory that year at Bristol Motor Speedway and the Nashville Fairgrounds track.

Book In Review

"The Complete Idiot's Guide to NASCAR", was published by Alpha, a part of the Penguin Group in early 2008, and written by journalist, Brian Tarcy. I'm mentioning this timeless soft cover, 188 page book, as it provides complete coverage of the sport - its leagues, top drivers, scoring systems, rules and regulations, terms and jargon - in a guide that is filled with statistics, trivia and fun facts of NASCAR. A quick read or pick and choose the sections as you want them. For $14.95 or less this book will enlighten new race fans as well as longtime enthusiast.

Race Car Treats

The No. 47 Toyota Camry driven by Australian driver Marcos Ambrose, in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is sponsored by Little Debbie. Through November 2009, in honor of their driver, you can find racecar shaped fudge brownies topped with red frosting and stamped with the No. 47 along with window and tire details. Each carton contains eight individually wrapped brownies, with Ambrose and car on the packaging.

All Access Great Success

Nashville Superspeedway offered fans the opportunity to see the garage, pit road and front stretch race cars up close. Looking down at the crowd from the Press Box during the drivers meeting the ALL ACCESS concept was a huge success giving fans an opportunity to be up close, where they have never been allowed before.

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