On-track activity for the 10th anniversary of the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta was matched by the exalted level of food and drink served to special guests at the newly repaved 2.54-mile road course. How the 10-hour or 1,000 mile (whichever came first) ALMS sports car race turned out is reported elsewhere in these pages. This reporter was busy seeking out “inside stuff” about the track, the teams and the sanctioning body and was — fortuitously — invited to two dinners hosted by track owner Don Panoz and his wife, Nancy. The first was a Thursday buffet in a huge and elaborately decorated tent-like building made of transparent plastic on the raceway grounds. Let me review the chafing dish after chafing dish menu, created by the chef and staff at Chateau Elan, the luxurious Panoz hostelry: Barbeque cocktail sausages; Oriental Spring Rolls with Plum Ginger Sauce; Sun-dried Tomato and Basil in phyllo; Savannah Crab Cakes with Spicy Honey Mustard and Coconut Chicken Tenders, with a selection of red and white wines. But, there was no coffee at the end! Friday’s feed was for the top executives of Nissan, Honda, Porsche and team owners supporting the ALMS. It was held in The Legends, a mansion on the Chateau Elan grounds configured to serve the diverse business needs of Dr. Panoz and his companies. It was a sit-down affair of the highest order, 100 strong at tables of eight. We heard from Dr. Panoz and his president, Scott Atherton, and others as the wait staff did their jobs well. It was two straight nights of gustatory gold mines. Back to the track — its new $1 million repaving job made it up to two seconds a lap faster which, as it turned out, was too fast for some drivers as there was a plethora of yellow flags in the race’s first five hours. A team-by-team check revealed drivers of the big bore stick-shift ’Vettes shifted 16 times per lap according to Max Papis; pilots of the Audi diesels changed gears 21 times per lap with their paddle shifts while Porsche LMP2 pilots changed gears 21 times a lap, according to the consensus vote of the Penske quartet. Up until race time on-and-off rain plagued all practice drills. Corvette pilot Ron Fellows, when asked what changes were made to his car to adapt it to the rain, replied, “I don’t know, I’m just a driver.” We wondered what Darren Manning’s lady had to say when he arrived home after leaving the race early with what was described as “A loose diffuser.”  The spectator turnout for the race was immense, with Lanier Raceway across Highway 53 from the road course pressed into service as a parking lot. Late arrivers had to park a half-mile or more from the main gate! All-in-all, a great Petit Le Mans.         

Advertising placed by the Champ Car World series says, among other things, that 85 percent of its fans have never attended a NASCAR race; 34 percent of its fans earn more than $100,000 annually; and that its new five-year partnership with ABC and ESPN delivers CCWS races to 508-plus million world-wide households representing more than 1.7 billion potential viewers. And advertising seeking sponsorship for the World of Outlaws series makes the point that there are no spotters! This is apparently to let one and all know WoO drivers need no help. 

Hustling. Gillett Evernham Motorsports, with two Nextel Cup teams (Cars No. 9 and 19), plans a New York City office to expedite the sale and service of sponsorships on the cars. The move was a part of new partner George Gillett, Jr.’s involvement in the Statesville, N.C.-based team.

Beer anyone?  Finance writers say Coors’ announcement that it will replace Budweiser and become the Official Beer of NASCAR, will cost the Colorado brewer $20 million over the next five years. Bud is also saying bye-bye to NASCAR’s Busch series, where it has long been that series’ sponsor. Nationwide is its replacement, so one can wonder what Allstate is thinking of that. And the U. of Colorado recently ruled that beer can no longer be sold at its basketball games. And where does the Colorado hoops team play? At the Coors Events Center, that’s where. That sponsorship reportedly cost Coors $1.3 million and the university now stands to lose as much as $80K a year in beer sales.

Hungering for a date. Jerry Carroll, co-owner of Kentucky Speedway and chairman of the track’s board of directors, says he wants to buy New Hampshire Int’l Speedway and transfer one of its two Nextel Cup dates to his track. His lawsuit against NASCAR and International Speedway Corp. on anti-trust grounds remains alive. Carroll’s claim is that ISC has an “illegal advantage” in being awarded Cup dates for its tracks, as the France family, which owns NASCAR, also controls ISC.

Are they paid — or just owed? In recent months NASCAR has levied fine after fine on its members for a variety of rule infractions, some personal, some mechanical. The total amount fined is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, all said to be for the point funds of the respective series involved. But never have we seen a NASCAR press release about a fine going unpaid. When a salaried crew chief is hit with a surprise $25,000 or $35,000 fine, it’s likely that such an amount would take some time to pay, but no word from the sanctioning body on such an issue.

Where did all the Southern accents usually heard in victory lane go? Despite five North Carolina-born and three native Georgians competing regularly in Nextel Cup, nary a one has won in the 30 races contested so far this year. But thanks to California-born Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Casey Mears and Kevin Harvick, the Golden State can now boast 13 victories by its speedy citizens.  

 California’s oldest midget racing club, the Bay Cities Racing Ass’n, warns about damaging the flame-retardant quality of driver suits made of Nomex by incorrect washing or cleaning. It recommends dry cleaning with perc (Perchlorethylene). However perc, a carcinogen, is now banned in some states. An alternate is washing by hand, or gentle cycle in a machine, with Cold Water Woolite, or use liquid CO2. And never heat dry in a machine.