Tony Rizzuti Blog: Rants and Rumblings from Atlanta

AMS crowd

Webster's Dictionary: Empty Seats - (See Atlanta Motor Speedway)

Okay, this wasn't a live shot of the turn three grandstand at Atlanta, but you if you saw the race, you get the point. It is very discouraging to see the lack of attendance from the fans in Georgia. AMS has a spot in the Chase and typically sees some of the most exciting finishes in the entire year. However, it also sees some of the worst weather and traffic. It was cold and rainy again this time. The race will move to Labor Day night race next year, hopefully that will help. If not, its off to Kentucky or Vegas with the date.

It was easy to see given the state of the economy, the racing in the spring event and the weather why some fans would say, "I think I will skip this one, and hope I don't miss anything." Well, you didn't miss much. Outside of Jimmie Johnson's heroic charge on the final two restarts, it was a rather boring race to watch.

Now you can't tell any of the drivers it was boring, because from the shots of them in the car, they had to bring their A-Game. The video of eventual winner Carl Edwards fighting his car, lap after lap, was incredible. And with that, I think we can now safely say to those who feel if we took the spoilers and ground effects off the cars, we would see a better race, it doesn't work. It is very clear that the racing is best when everyone has grip. Slipping and sliding at 185 mph does not make for good racing. It makes hero's like Dale Earnhardt, but it doesn't make the show any better - at least at Atlanta Motor Speedway. (Now if you want to take all that off and slow them down to about 165-170, maybe you have something there.)

It was a fun day on Hot Pass as we covered the exploits of Edwards. He had a good day for the most part. The car was on rails early, then they had a slow stop on pit road that cost them track position and the 99 was stuck in fourth for most of the middle stages. Bob Osbourne really cracked the whip on the crew to watch the replay of the stop and figure out what they did to lose the @%$#ing lead. But Carl was able to take advantage of Denny spinning his tires and won the race. And Denny did spin the tires prior to Carl getting into him. We replayed it a couple times and that was obvious. Denny didn't like so, but it was a fair play by Carl.

Victory Lane is always a great spot. I think that was my fourth or fifth win on Hot Pass. (Note to drivers: I have the highest winning percentage of any Hot Pass announcer. You might want to request my services.) Carl did a good interview. We brought up the young boy named Dalton who Carl met at the Aflac Cancer Center in Atlanta. He gave Carl his courage necklace and said it would bring good luck. Carl actually did wear the necklace, which most drivers don't, and it was a cool story. I thought we had a great show, given such a lackluster event.

After the race, I decided to skip my Monday morning flight back to Charlotte and instead chose to ride home with Hot Pass colleage Randy Pemberton. What transpired was a four-hour version of Speed's Trading Paint right there in his SUV. We both threw out our ideas on the sport. From my view that we need a totally new tire that is bigger and wider, to Randy's thought that NASCAR's lineup be picked at random with lottery balls. We didn't always agree but it was fun. I wish I had recorded it, because there were some great ideas that came from the discussion. At some point I may try to think back and write them down and post them. I am planning on doing a first edition of my NASCAR State of the Sport at the end of the reason, where I break down what went right and wrong and how IMHO, they can fix it. Stayed tuned for that at years end.

Well, I'm off to Raceworld USA for another edition of Michael Waltrip Outloud! The double nickel had a great race going until hitting the wall. He then went from hero to zero. I'm curious to hear what he has to say.

C-Ya

PS- To all the rockers out there...I am really liking the new GnR track that I posted. Its starting to get some airplay. In fact, I learned it on my Les Paul. I almost have the effects right as well. Its a good jam! Hearing mixed reviews about the CD. I think most want that Appetite sound, which was long gone on Use your Illusion 1 and 2. It won't be GnR from 20 years ago, but I can't wait. The music biz is a little flat unless you're 15 and into Miley, Jonas, or High School 3. It could use a little hard rock about now. Oh, and AC/DC has new record out. Gonna pick that up today.

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