Notes: Smith expands on 'North Cuba' comments

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Speedway Motorsports Inc. chairman Bruton Smith didn't exactly defend his comments about Homestead-Miami Speedway, but he did put a unique spin on the remarks Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Smith would like to see NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series end its season at Las Vegas. He also thought Atlanta, the scheduled season finale from 1987 to 2001, was a better option than finishing the schedule at Homestead, which it has done since 2002. Smith owns Las Vegas and Atlanta.

"If you're going to do a championship, you've got to do it at the proper place, and I don't think North Cuba is the proper place," Smith said Saturday at Kentucky Speedway.

On Sunday, after a gathering of fans who had attended the first race at Atlanta in 1960, Smith deflected questions about the North Cuba comment.

"I was just speaking the truth," he said. "I was actually complimenting them. It was actually based on location, so I was just kind of being kind to the location. That's what it was."

Smith continued to stress that weather was the main factor in Atlanta losing its spring date to Kentucky in 2011, but he wouldn't rule out restoring a second date to Atlanta if the circumstances warranted.

"Maybe one day we'll bring another event here, but I wouldn't want to do it in March," Smith said. "I think we tried that and tried it awfully hard over the years, and people before me. I can remember actually coming down here four times before we actually ran the race -- rain, rain.

"March is not the time to run a race here. The last race of the year worked really good here. That worked really, really good."

Atlanta praised amid celebration

Atlanta Motor Speedway has been celebrating its 50th anniversary, including a ceremony Sunday attended by 1960 NASCAR champion Rex White, who lives in nearby Fayetteville, Ga.

Also on hand was Michael Greer, who was 8 years old when he attended the inaugural Dixie 300 on July 31, 1960.

"We sat in the lower rows, and the grit, the grime, the noise is what sticks out most in my mind," Greer recalled. "Of course, as an 8-year-old boy, the mud was just an added bonus. And I've been an avid NASCAR fan ever since."

NASCAR president Mike Helton praised longtime markets such as Atlanta for their importance in helping the Southern-rooted sport develop a national following. Of course, some might accuse the sport of abandoning its history by leaving tracks such as North Wilkesboro and Rockingham and stripping races away from Atlanta and Darlington.

Next year, the Cup Series will make only one stop in Atlanta, on this same Labor Day weekend. The spring race is being shifted to Kentucky.

"These folks are at the heart and soul of the history and roots of NASCAR," said Helton, who served as president of the Atlanta track from 1979-86. "When you come to the speedway and you come to Georgia, there are some pretty good stories from this neck of the woods that would support that this area contributed greatly to the early years of racing."

Gordon solid in Ella's paint scheme

Jeff Gordon had perhaps the most eye-catching car on the track. He can thank his 3-year-old daughter for that.

Little Ella Gordon helped design the paint scheme on her dad's No. 24 car, part of a campaign to promote Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Not surprisingly, she went heavy on pink, with some blue and white mixed in.

"We were trying to explain what she was doing and I don't think she really kind of grasped the concept," Gordon said. "But you lay some paper down in front of her with an outline sketch of a race car, and give her a bunch of paint brushes and things, that is all it takes."

Ella really got hands-on before the process was done.

"She kept wanting to put her hands in the paint, so we finally let her do that," Gordon said. "That is what you see on the paint scheme is bunch of different mixtures of colors and brush strokes and hand prints."

And what about those colors? It's not very often that you see so much pink on a race car.

"It is really bright and it is not a car you want to run in the back with," Gordon quipped. "If that's the inspiration that we need, then I'm fine with that. On the flip side, I can't wreck this car because she isn't going to want to see me wreck the car she designed. So there's a lot of pressure this weekend."

Not to worry. Gordon finished 13th.

Ekstrom tests for Richmond ride

Mattias Ekstrom, a two-time champion in the German Touring Car Series, will make his second Cup start for Red Bull Racing on Sept. 11 at Richmond, pending a successful test Tuesday at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

As a fill-in for Brian Vickers, who is undergoing treatment for blood clots, Ekstrom qualified 38th and finished 21st after leading seven laps in his Cup debut at the road course at Infineon Raceway in June.

Billionaire boys club

One guest at the Atlanta drivers' meeting could give Bruton Smith more than a run for his money.

Billionaire Warren Buffett, primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and one of America's wealthiest investors, attended the drivers' meeting as a guest of team owner Joe Gibbs.

Well known for his personal frugality, Buffett joked about extending his saving efforts to time as well as money.

"I understand these guys can do pit stops in 12 seconds," he said. "I'm going to see what we can do to get it under 11."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related:
• Notes: Hendrick confident about sponsorship; Smith blasts Homestead finale
• 'Papa's Car' gives Ella chance to create for father with hands-on paint scheme