Clark: AMS restoration moving along fine

Helton visits track to survey speedway's tornado damage

HAMPTON, GA. -- Mike Helton, president of NASCAR, visited Atlanta Motor Speedway earlier this week to survey the damage the track sustained when a tornado struck the facility three weeks ago.

	NASCAR president Mike Helton, right, surveys the damage with AMS president Ed Clark. Credit: Atlanta Motor Speedway
	ALSO HAMPTON, Ga. -- Ed Clark knew he had a serious problem on his hands when he saw a sofa cushion littering the road around Atlanta Motor Speedway.  Clark, president of Atlanta Motor Speedway for the last 13 years, got a call late on July 6 that a storm had affected his track, but he didn't know how bad it was.  •   Complete story,  click here

Atlanta Motor Speedway president and general manager Ed Clark took Helton for a tour around the 870-acre facility to view the areas the tornado affected. Following the tour of the property, Clark and Helton addressed the media from AMS's Infield Media Center.

"We have a schedule set up and some areas of reconstruction are ahead of schedule," said Clark. "The cleanup is complete and the insurance company is estimating values. The suites are currently being built back and almost all of the suite demolition is complete."

Things are going so well that Clark and his staff see a light at the end of the tunnel.

"One thing that we haven't shared yet is we have targeted October 14 as our completion date," said Clark. "Our biggest challenge right now is coordination of scheduling. This way, we are giving ourselves a buffer in case any project runs over.

"We are also working on additions to the property to improve upon our already great facility, but we have not released those plans yet as they are still pending approval from our chairman, Bruton Smith," said Clark. "We will share them with you in the weeks to come."

Helton, prior to working for NASCAR worked for various racetracks, including the former Atlanta International Raceway where he once served as general manager.

Helton is encouraged by the track's progress.

"There is nothing I've seen here today that will stop us (NASCAR) from being here in October. Atlanta Motor Speedway has everything that NASCAR needs to run a race here."