Thursday, March 6, 2008

Profile: Atlanta Motor Speedway President Ed Clark

Clark Has A Lot To Promote: A History-Rich Track, In NASCAR's Top TV Market A racer at heart, Atlanta Motor Speedway President Ed Clark takes part in Legends events at his track. ATLANTA, Ga. (March 4, 2008) – Ed Clark graduated from college with a degree in horticulture. But already his career – and life – had taken a hard left turn, as Clark suddenly found himself helping to grow a sport. A 1977 graduate of Virginia Tech, the 53-year-old Keysville, Va. native actually started working in some of the motorsports industry's most-fertile soil before he finished his formal education, as public relations director at Bristol Motor Speedway. From there he moved on to Nashville Raceway, then to Lowe's Motor Speedway before landing at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the summer of 1992 – only four months before AMS hosted the '92 season finale that many call the most significant race in the history of NASCAR. That epic event was Clark's first at AMS, where he now serves as president and general manager. Of course, to race fans, that race is remembered more because it was Jeff Gordon's first in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Richard Petty's last and the culmination of a compelling championship points battle, with Alan Kulwicki edging home-state favorite Bill Elliott for the title. "I came to work that July and I'll never forget that it was my second day on the job and we sold the race out," Clark said. "Bruton Smith called me and asked what took so long. I think that was probably my first call from him after I got to Atlanta." At the time, Clark headed AMS' management team and three years later Smith – Chairman and CEO of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. – promoted Clark to track president. Today, Clark also is executive vice president for SMI, which owns and operates Atlanta Motor Speedway and other facilities throughout the country. This week, Clark is preparing for one of the track's two NASCAR weekends, especially Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500, the fourth race of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. The series will return to AMS in October, for the seventh race of the 10-race "Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup." The two events are yearly highlights of the season, located in a market that typically leads the nation in television viewership of NASCAR Sprint Cup races. That's a bit of a dilemma for Clark, since his main concern is getting fans to watch his races in person. Working in his favor is the appeal of the fast, 1.54-mile layout that is rich in history and always action-packed. "This was one of the first superspeedways that defined what NASCAR superspeedway racing was going to be like," Clark said. "Then, when SMI bought the track in 1990, we spent well over $100 million in improvements on various things. "At our track, fans are going see exciting racing. … And as everyone knows, that while TV is doing a better job than ever, there's still nothing like going to see a live event. We have a lot of good tickets left and people can walk right in and get those on event day. "Atlanta is critical for our sport. We need to be a good [attendance] market." More About Ed Clark... In addition to his race-related work, Clark also serves on the Board of Directors of the Atlanta Convention and Visitor's Bureau, Speedway Children's Charities Foundation, Inc., the Atlanta Sports Council, the Flint River Scout Council and the Southeast Tourism Society. Clark and his wife, Teresa, have a twenty-year-old daughter, Nicki, and a fifteen-year-old son, Collin. Clark, whose interests include fishing, horticulture and, of course, racing, and his family reside in Peachtree City, Georgia Photo gallery available: http://www.nascarmedia.com/photos/gallery.jsp?gallery_id=1316 (from AMS Marcy Scott)

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