Small-town team contends 'we're not in over our head'

TOCCOA, Ga. -- "You missed the train," the caretaker says as I hold the door open to the tiny waiting area inside.

He sets down his plastic container of cleaning supplies, reaches up on the wall and pulls down a brochure for the Amtrak Crescent, with service to New York, Washington, Charlotte, Atlanta, Birmingham, New Orleans -- and Toccoa.

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A quick glance at the timetable and there it is: The southbound Crescent weaves its way down through the Piedmont and reaches here by 6:15 a.m., about an hour before the northbound train leaves New Orleans on the return trip at 9:57 p.m.

Yeah, I missed the train by almost seven hours.

The Amtrak station is in a small corner of the original Toccoa train station, recently refurbished and repainted in bright colors. The building stretches nearly a football field.

I can only imagine what it was like when rail was king in these parts. The caretaker was probably a young man back then.

For now, it's a quiet place, a handful of freight cars on the siding, a museum and offices taking up the rest of the station. From the looks of it, it's probably quiet even when the Crescent makes its twice-daily stop.

"There's a story in the Anderson paper today," the man says. "If we don't get more funding, they're gonna close down this route. That'd be a shame."

Across the from the train station is another kind of station -- WNEG-AM, with a classic window-front studio. They're broadcasting Skip Caray and the Braves, taking on the Reds a couple of hours south in Atlanta.

The game's in the fourth inning as I head a couple of miles east on Highway 17, passing the usual fast-food chains and strip mall shopping centers. My destination? A nondescript, small square building on the right, just past the Toccoa Triple Cinema.

It's a typical garage, the kind where you might get your alternator replaced or perhaps a new set of tires. Both bay doors are open, and it's only when you get a little closer you realize those are a couple of Dodge Charger racecars on jackstands with the hoods up. And a classic Volkswagen Beetle.

"I'm charging the battery in the boss' car," says car chief Charles Swing.

Can you imagine Chad Knaus doing that for Rick Hendrick?

Welcome to Toccoa, Ga., perhaps the unlikeliest place to find a Nextel Cup garage in today's high-tech, high-dollar NASCAR.

This is the home of E&M Motorsports, although the sign out front still says R&J Racing. Oh, and the marquee reads "Kobalt 500, Atlanta Speedway, John Andretti" -- which was back in March. But when you're a small-time operation competing in the big leagues, switching the letters on the sign can wait.

Team owner John Carter recently split his operation from Front Row Motorsports and purchased the No. 08 with plans to run several races this season, beginning with the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, perhaps with Andretti behind the wheel.

This is the literal definition of a three-car team. There are three cars in the main garage -- which probably isn't as large as the reception area at Roush Fenway Racing -- plus an old superspeedway car in the auxiliary garage. And the car that Boris Said totaled at Charlotte, its front clips drooping like arthritic elbows.

Swing is on the phone to crew chief Mark Tutor in Charlotte. Swing's job in Toccoa is to prep the cars with the correct setups and make sure they pass tech inspection without much fuss. When you're last in the inspection line, you want everything to go without a hitch. (Continued)