He's better known as the track president at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where the Sprint Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series visit this weekend.

But Ed Clark also is known in local AMS circles as a driving champion. He talked with NASCAR.COM about his affinity for racing -- from the driver's perspective.

Q: So are you still racing legends cars?

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I don't care what level you race on. It gives you an appreciation of what these guys do, and why they love to do it. The adrenalin rush is just unreal.

”

ED CLARK

Clark: Oh yeah. Legends and Thunder Roadsters.

Q: How long have you been racing in those series?

Clark: I ran one Goody's Dash race, back when it was the Goody's Dash Series, back at Rockingham in '79 or '80. I can't remember exactly. I know Dale Jarrett and Phil Parsons were in the race. And I finished 12th in that, mostly due to attrition.

Then about six years ago, I started up again almost by accident. We had a race with a couple of local disc jockeys. Somebody couldn't come, so I came in and drove the third car. The people who ran the program for us said, 'Why don't you just start in the back of the Masters feature, which is for people 40 and older?' That was the biggest mistake I ever made, I guess. Because I did it and loved it, and I've been doing it on and off ever since.

Q: What do you love about it so much?

Clark: I don't care what level you race on. It gives you an appreciation of what these guys do, and why they love to do it. The adrenalin rush is just unreal.

But for me, I love the racing and I love the competition. I've always played sports and I'm a competitive person. But there is another side the people don't see, and that's just the camaraderie of the people we race with. We race each other hard and don't give each other anything, but the guy will knock your fender off and then come over and help you fix it so you can come back and do it again. I really enjoy that part of it.

Q: I've read that you've gotten knocked around a little bit more than once. What was that like for you?

Clark: I've had my share of hard licks. I've had some sore backs and I remember hitting the wall so hard one time that on the right side of my mouth every tooth left its mark in my gum and my jaw. So I've had a couple really good ones, but nothing I could ever say was really where you would be worried about being seriously hurt or anything.

Q: I know you race often right there at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Do you go anywhere else to run?

Clark: Mostly just here. I've run Charlotte three times. I went up and ran Bristol last spring, which was a ton of fun on the half-mile up there, in the Roadster. It's pretty quick. I really got an appreciation for the Cup guys and what they do at Bristol after doing that. And I've run Lanier [National Speedway in Braselton, Ga.] a couple of times.

Q: What surprised you about Bristol?

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I haven't had any of these [accusations] where they say they're playing favorites because I'm the president of the track.

”

ED CLARK

Clark: Well, everybody knows how quickly you turn a lap there. Of course we weren't going the speed of the Cup cars by any means. But basically you just put it to the floor and hold it to the floor all the way around. And after talkin' to yourself for a little while to get yourself to do that, it's thrilling. Once you go into the turn and commit to your line, if you go off your line you're either going to spin or hit the wall. So you can imagine what these Cup guys feel like when three guys get sideways in front of 'em. It's not like you're going to drive around it; you're going to be in it. It is just so quick, it's pretty astounding really.

Q: How did you fare there?

Clark: I had car trouble, so I wasn't up with the leaders. So I didn't have a good day. We had an issue with the brakes dragging, and actually wore a caliper out just from metal-to-metal contact, which slowed me down. But I got enough laps in, finished the race, and didn't get torn up. I'd love to do it again. ... We learned some things. If we do go back, we'll be better.

Q: You said you played competitive sports growing up. Did you do any racing then, and what other sports did you play?

Clark: I played baseball and basketball, and even football as skinny I was -- and I was a very skinny kid. But a lot of baseball and a lot of basketball. I played both through high school and was co-captain of the team. We won a lot of games. I actually got a few small-college scholarship offers, but I wanted to go to Virginia Tech. So I didn't play once I got out of high school.

But I really enjoyed that. My first name is Edwin, and that's after Duke Snider [Hall of Fame baseball player whose real name was Edwin Donald Snider]. I was named after him. I guess I never lived up to that reputation on the baseball field. My father was a big baseball nut.

Q: Does he ever come to watch you race now?

Clark: My mom and dad came down a couple years ago to watch me race, and I actually won. So that was pretty good. That's the only time they've actually seen me race.

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Q: Maybe you'd better start bringing them in more often as good-luck charms?

Clark: It's been good. We just raced [two Saturdays ago] and I won one of those to clinch my third winter championship in a Thunder Roadster. So that's three out of the last four years. I'm pretty proud of that. I just haven't won one of the summer ones. I've finished second twice in it. I hope to get my parents down here in the spring and maybe we'll be running a race then.

Q: Well, you know winning all these championships at your own track might bring about an investigation, don't you?

Clark: Trust me, I am lucky in that I think the bulk of the guys I race with think it's neat that I'm out there with 'em. And I haven't had any of these [accusations] where they say they're playing favorites because I'm the president of the track. I think our folks even go to the nth degree to make sure there is no chance of any favoritism toward me. I told 'em, if it comes down to making a call, make it against me so no one can question it.

Q: Back in the old days at some of these dirt tracks, you know there would have been a riot, right?

Clark: Oh, of course. That definitely would have been the case.