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Coca-Cola Family Track Walks
Kobalt Tools 500 Atlanta Motor Speedway 03-07-2010 The Coca-Cola Family Track Walk took place at 9 a.m. on March 7, 2010, the day of the Kobalt Tools 500. The Coca-Cola Family Track Walk benefiting Speedway Children's Charities allows fans to run, walk and enjoy entertainment provided by Coca-Cola on Atlanta Motor Speedway's 1.54-mile quad oval with NASCAR drivers. The event took place only hours before the start of the Kobalt Tools 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday, March 7. In addition to fans partaking, the 2010 edition of the Track Walk will feature participation from current NASCAR Sprint Cup stars Jeff Burton and Joey Logano, as well as television analyst and former driver Kyle Petty. "I love how Coca-Cola Family Track Walks make getting active exciting and easy for NASCAR fans. To me, striking a healthy balance is all about the little things in life - staying motivated, making smart choices and spending time with family and friends," said Jeff Burton, driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, stressing Coca-Cola's commitment to encourage active-family fun. "It will be great to be out on the track with fans to get a jumpstart on race day." Photo Gallery: Coca-Cola Family Track Walks at the Atlanta Motor Speedway 03-07-2010 click here Join Coca-Cola Family Track Walks at Richmond VA, Charlotte NC and Chicago IL. 11 Alive News NASCAR Fans Walk the Track Posted By - Jennifer Leslie - Updated On: 3/7/2010 1:00:14 PM Hampton, GA Race day in Atlanta started with a first at Atlanta Motor Speedway as 3500 NASCAR fans showed up early for a rare chance to walk around the track. "Never been on it," said NASCAR fan Anthony Sowden. "I've sat on row one, but that's not close enough. It's better to be on it." "It's amazing," said fan Heather Maslanik. "I love it." The first Coca-Cola Family Track Walk at AMS began four hours before the start of the Kobalt Tools 500. The walk was designed to get fans moving early on race day. "With NASCAR, a lot of times you get people sitting in the stands watching cars go around," said Susan Stribling of Coca-Cola. "So the opportunity to walk the track is so cool, and it's a way to get physically active." The pace for the fans was slow and steady with drivers Bobby Labonte and Joey Logano leading the way. "A lot of them don't understand what these tracks really look like," said Logano, the 2009 Rookie of the Year. "When you walk around, you get into the turns and see how banked they are. Plus it's not was wide as you might think it is." The first track walk of the season took place before the Daytona 500 in February. Track walks will be held at several other race venues this season, including Charlotte Motor Speedway and Richmond International Raceway. Carolyn Brewster: Coca-Cola Family Track Walk offers unique perspective while promoting family fun FANZONE COMMENTARY - Read more here  I stood in line to step onto the race track. It was chilly but that is to be expected at 8:45 on a spring morning.The neon green wristband I been given when registering the day before was now my ticket to the Coca-Cola Family Track Walk. Just me and 3,500 fellow NASCAR fans taking advantage of this free opportunity to see the drivers and pound the Atlanta asphalt in a program designed to encourage active family fun. I was excited, which is saying a lot since I had to get up early and drive an hour and a half to be there the morning of the Kobalt Tools 500. We hadn’t even begun to walk when I decided it was already worth the effort. We finally began to move at a pace that was probably the slowest speed ever witnessed on one of NASCAR’s fastest tracks. But we weren’t in a hurry. We were there enjoying the moment and the occasion. A mobile stage led the way and even briefly hosted drivers Joey Logano and Bobby Labonte of the Coca-Cola Family of Drivers. Music played while fans cheered and answered questions in hopes that someone would toss a NASCAR T-shirt their way. Meanwhile we continued to step our way around the track. I was too far from the front to ever be in serious contention of landing a T-shirt, but that didn’t matter. No one around me seemed to mind as fans were busy taking pictures to make their own personal mementos of the day. And unique picture opportunities did abound. It’s not hard to get a photo of the track from the grandstands but to be on the track with the frontstretch grass and pit road in the background is a unique prospective for any die-hard fan. Walking the track, a fan can garner a whole new respect for the high banking that drivers race on. Viewing Atlanta Motor Speedway on television can hardly produce the feel for how amazingly vertical the cars are when they race through the turns. But standing on the apron and glancing up, it’s like looking at a wall. This is probably why we were instructed to stay off the banking before the walk started. But, if there’s one thing we NASCAR fans appreciate, it’s the determination to bend the rules to achieve the greatest advantage. I’m sure this is why a few fans crawled up the “off limits” banking in attempt to get the ultimate photo. The poor track workers with the job of shooing everyone back onto the apron certainly earned their wages. The walk around the 1.5-mile track was nice. Before I knew it, we were in Turn 3 with not much farther to go. A good way to start the day, no doubt. Other tracks hosting the Coca-Cola Family Walk include Richmond International Raceway, Charlotte Motor Speedway and Chicagoland Speedway. The Coca-Cola Family Track Walks are part of a season-long program to promote active family fun. They certainly accomplished that goal at Atlanta. However, along the backstretch, I wanted to ask the lady wearing three-inch leather boots if she was still enjoying the walk. |
