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TOPIC: ATLANTA SPEEDWAY SEVERLY DAMAGED

scott121476

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Date: Fri Jul 8 19:41:09 2005

ATLANTA SPEEDWAY SEVERLY DAMAGED	Permalink

FROM JAYSKI Damage at Atlanta Motor Speedway from July 6, 2005 storm Damage at Atlanta Motor Speedway: Remnants of Tropical Storm Cindy moved through metro Atlanta on Wednesday evening, overturning small planes, flooding highways, displacing residents and causing at least two deaths. The Hampton area in Henry County was hit particularly hard. Four planes were overturned and two hangars were damaged at Tara Field, fire officials said. A 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, speedway President Ed Clark said. "The condo building and the whole track area got hit pretty hard," Clark said. "It's pretty extreme." Clark said no one was injured, but windows were blown out and vehicles were blown around by strong winds he suspects were part of a tornado. "It had to be when you look at the damage over here," Clark said. 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.(Atlanta Journal-Constitution other links: 11alive.com)(7-7-2005) >>>>>with that damage to that track i will have to say its gonna be very close that the oct race will be held without hitches....... plus they have MR DENNIS comming too so time will tell........ scott __________________

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