ATL Motor Speedway Damaged

[Kristi]

Storm delivers big blow to speedway, Henry County

By SAEED AHMED, RICK MINTER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/07/05
No other place in metro Atlanta appeared to have taken a worse pummeling at the hands of Cindy Wednesday night than the city of Hampton in Henry County.

Remnants of the the tropical storm, which was blamed for two deaths and possibly a third in the metro area, left small planes overturned at Hampton's airport and did major damage at neighboring Atlanta Motor Speedway.

"We're looking at a massive cleanup and rebuilding job," said speedway President Ed Clark. "The big question is where do you start."

Tonight's race has been canceled, but officials say they will have the track ready before the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500O on Oct. 30. "We'll pull together and make it happen," Clark said.

Strong winds downed two of the three scoring towers and left the Weaver grandstand torn in pieces. In the Richard Petty tribute garden, flagpoles and lamp posts were uprooted and a large oak tree was blown over in the road. In the middle of it all, a statue of Petty signing an autograph for a little girl remained undamaged.

The building at the start/finish line at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, housing several condominiums on the top floors and administrative offices on the bottom floor, suffered severe damage.

Matresses were blown through some units and hung from balconies from some of the condos. Items from other units lay strewn on the ground more than a quarter mile away.

The speedway offices were not as badly damaged as the condos, but officials worried about water damage.

"We pulled Richard Petty's pictures off the wall and put tarps over the trophies," Clark said.

Clark suspects the culprit was a tornado. "It had to be when you look at the damage over here," he said.

Thursday morning, Clark estimated damage to the complex at $25 to 40 million.

Henry County fire officials said they spotted one, possibly two, tornadoes that didn't touch ground in the area. Other tornadoes were reported in Fayette, Harris and Meriwether counties, but the National Weather Service said none had been confirmed.

Just west of the Speedway, four planes were overturned and two hangars were damaged at Tara Field —a one-lane airfield that is is heavily used during race days. Fire fighters worked late into the night cleaning up fuel spilled from the planes, said Henry County Fire spokeswoman Sabrina Puckett.

No evacautions or injuries were reported.

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