SLOW RIDE
Tortoises rule Talladega
By Reid Spencer,Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service, October 9
It was a wonderful weekend at Talladega — for tortoises.
We all know the fable of the tortoise and the hare, how with patience
and planning, the slow, methodical turtle beats the speedy, reckless
rabbit to the finish line.
You don’t have to look hard to find the tortoise-and-hare analogy in
Sunday’s UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, the fourth race in the
Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup and the first superspeedway event for
the Car of Tomorrow.
For Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, who
finished one-two at Talladega for the second time this season, the race
was a strategic masterpiece. Gordon won, and Johnson finished second by
executing a game plan neither was particularly comfortable with —
lagging back in relative safety, waiting for a late-race surge to the
front.
Concord officials gather to show support for a quick resolution to speedway debate
October 9
In an effort to ease the tension between the city of Concord and Lowe's Motor Speedway owner Bruton Smith, Cabarrus County community leaders gathered Monday to show support for a quick resolution.
Representatives from the Cabarrus Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Cabarrus County Convention and Visitor's Bureau and the Cabarrus Economic Development Corporation met to forward a resolution asking everyone involved to keep the racetrack in Concord, a week after Smith threatened to relocate following a city council decision that would block his efforts to build a drag strip.
Business and community leaders hope they can resolve the tension between Bruton Smith and Concord officials. Neighbors told council members they were concerned the drag strip would generate too much noise, disturbing their sleep and lowering their property values.
"We feel that it's very important that all the parties involved in the ongoing negotiations between Speedway Motorsports Inc. and the city of Concord hear from the business community,” John Cox, president and CEO of the Cabarrus Regional Chamber, said. “We are very united in this."
The resolution asks Lowe’s Motor Speedway officials and the city to come to an agreement, allowing for continued economic development in the motorsports industry.
"Any decision that would negatively impact Lowe's Motor Speedway and their staying in our community would have a devastating effect on the travel and tourism industry," said arena and events center manager Frank Lapsley.
"We represent business, and business and jobs sustain our economy,” Chamber chairman Jeff Austin added. “It is very important to us to advocate on Bruton's behalf that the Concord city government find an opportunity to resolve the issue."
Attendees said they felt the meeting was the first step toward solving a potentially devastating problem.
"I think Lowe's Motor Speedway is here today, it is here tomorrow and it is here for a long, long time,” Cox said. “That is the assumption in which we are all working."
Board members plan to forward the resolution to the city and Lowe's Motor Speedway. The three groups hope the resolution will make a difference in negotiations between speedway and city officials.
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