Fans can plan to celebrate St. Patrick's Day at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS) with a weekend that features a full racing schedule with all three of NASCAR's top divisions. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race is scheduled for Friday night, while the NASCAR Busch Series and NASCAR Nextel Cup Series races are scheduled for Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon, respectively.
If fans arrive in Atlanta a little early in the week they are invited to attend the 5th annual Atlanta Motor Speedway Day, hosted by Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue and Sen. John Douglas. The event will take place at the Georgia State Capitol building at 11:45 a.m. on Thursday, March 15.
Special guests to the event will include NASCAR Nextel Cup champion and ESPN analyst Rusty Wallace, Cup drivers Kevin Harvick and David Ragan, Busch driver Steve Wallace, and Craftsman Truck Series drivers Bill Lester, Chase Miller, Joey Clanton and owner Billy Ballew. The public is invited to attend this event, which will include a fan zone of show cars on Mitchell Street outside the Capitol.
The fans are in for a real treat prior to Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 race. Festivities will kick off with a concert by country music star, Darryl Worley. Immediately following Worley's concert, FOX television racing analyst Jeff Hammond will be delivered to the AMS infield dangling from a Black Hawk Helicopter as part of a tribute to America's servicemen and women.
Activities scheduled to be part of the tribute include two Little Bird and two Black Hawk helicopters, managed by the U.S. Army Special Ops Command, headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. In addition to the helicopters, 12 U.S. Army Black Dagger skydivers and a Chinook helicopter will offload the official Atlanta Motor Speedway pace car in the infield.
Adding to the pre-race festivities, Oscar-winning screenwriter, director and actor Quentin Tarantino and actor Kurt Russell will interact with fans prior to the race to promote their upcoming movie, "GrindHouse." For just one dollar, fans can have their picture taken with Tarantino and Russell. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Speedway Children's Charities.
Qualifying Record: Geoffrey Bodine, (197.478 mph and 28.074 seconds), November 15, 1997
Race Record: Bobby Labonte, (3 hours, 7 minutes, 48 seconds/159.904 mph), November 16, 1997
2006 Winner: Kasey Kahne
Total Purse: $5,097,200
