Atlanta's inaugural event just what track needed

The following is the first of a four-part series highlighting Atlanta Motor Speedway's storied history as the track prepares for its 100th Cup Series race.

HAMPTON, Ga. -- If one really wants to know how far Atlanta Motor Speedway has come during the 99 races leading up to No. 100 -- the Kobalt Tools 500 on Sunday -- look no further than the photographs from race No. 1, the Dixie 300 on July 31, 1960.

Those old black-and-white photos show 1960s Fords, Chevrolets, Plymouths, Oldsmobiles and Pontiacs streaking by on the shiny, smooth asphalt. But a closer look at the scenes tells the true story. Photos taken from atop the grandstands show the area between the seats and the catch fence littered with construction debris -- empty buckets, sections of pipe, dirt piles and concrete chunks. Pictures from the infield look more like a construction site, with mounds of dirt adjacent to the track, then known as Atlanta International Raceway.

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But those old pictures also illustrate the determination and can-do spirit of the track's founders, who had been languishing in debt and desperately needed the income from a race to finish building the facility.

According to those around at that time, the running of that first race -- and the very existence of the track today -- is due in large part to former track superintendent Alf Knight, his sidekick Ernie Moore and a group of their friends.

It seems many of the contractors building the track had stopped work because they hadn't been paid. In stepped Knight and his work crew. They called themselves the Chinese Bandits, a name taken from the second-string defensive unit of the LSU Tigers of that era. The football Bandits, who played under coach Paul Dietzel, became a part of LSU lore because they made up with determined play what they lacked in God-given talent.

The same is often said of Knight's Bandits -- and a lot of others involved with the new raceway -- who worked right up until race time to get the track in presentable condition.

"We went right down to the wire trying to get it ready," said Jack Black, one of the original shareholders who later became track president.

The opening race was a dream come true for Black and his fellow investors, who got the idea to build a track after attending a race at Darlington Raceway, NASCAR's original superspeedway.

"A group of us went to Darlington, and it was so festive, and there were so many people there and so much excitement," Black said. "It just set us on fire." (Continued)