by Larry McReynolds

If there was a track of the year award, president and general manager Ed Clark and all the people at Atlanta Motor Speedway would earn unanimous honors because they have created a 1 1/2-mile track with some of the best side-by-side racing anywhere. There were times when the field looked like it does at Daytona and Talladega — two- and three-wide all the way around the race track so that gives them high marks to start with before you even consider how they rebuilt the track.

There's still one thing missing at Atlanta, and it's one of the reasons why Atlanta, Ga. should not be a candidate for NASCAR's hall of fame. The forecast called for great weather three days before the race, and Sunday was a beautiful day for some of the greatest racing on the Nextel Cup circuit, but they could not fill up that place. The race just does not have the fan support. When you look at the size of metropolitan Atlanta, it's incredible that those grandstands can't be filled twice a year.

Don't get me wrong. There was a good crowd, but there were still a lot of empty seats. That confirms for me that Atlanta should not get the hall of fame. And that's nothing against Atlanta Motor Speedway, but for whatever reason, the people just do not jump on the bandwagon. I know that there were people are down there screaming, "We need the hall of fame! We want the hall of fame!" OK people, are you going to support the race weekends?

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The people at Darlington jumped up and down for two years. "Don't take one of our races!" Then, get out there and support the race. If you want to benefit from the business that comes to Darlington twice a year, get off your butt, get out there and support this race. That's what will save the races. I don't know that less than 100 percent attendance was the whole deal in Darlington losing a race, but it certainly would have helped. Darlington had a sell-out crowd in the spring, but it was too late. That's like calling the fire department after your house burned down.

But as far as the Atlanta Motor Speedway is concerned, the track officials have created a great facility, and I hope that they don't touch that race track. Don't even paint a stripe across it. We've got great racing there. The speeds are fast, and they've got everything that they could possibly want there. It's a very fan-friendly track, but I just don't understand why both races don't sell out. It ought to be like Bristol. Fans ought to be waiting in line to buy tickets.

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FOX race analyst Larry McReynolds has more than 25 years of NASCAR experience as a mechanic, crew chief and broadcaster. He and his fellow Crew Chief Club members take you behind the wall at www.crewchiefclub.com.

"How to Become a Winning Crew Chief" is on bookstore shelves, or you may order your own autographed copy from www.DWStore.com.