The Atlanta Journal from Atlanta, Georgia • 11

The Atlanta JournalThe Atlanta Constitution SPORTS AUTO RACING Tuesday June 18 1991 Atlanta Motor Speedway to add 21000 seats in time for 500 By Rick Minter Staff writer Twenty one thousand seats will be added at turn one at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in time for the 500 on Novem ber 17 AMS owner and presi dent Bruton Smith said Monday The new grandstands which will cost $95 million will raise the seating capacity of the track to 83000 according to Bob Mar cum general manager of the speedway When combined with general admission in the infield of the track the addition of the new east turn grandstand will raise the total capacity of the speed way to more than 100000 Mar cum said The new grandstand is the first phase of a planned $75 mil lion expansion of the 31 year old NASCAR race track Twenty four luxury suites will be constructed atop the grandstands Each suite will ac commodate 49 people and will be leased for $49000 per year More than 200000 yards of dirt have been moved to the site and officials expected to begin pouring concrete Monday "I guess just a frustrated Smith said far as I know this is the largest expan sion of seating at one time for any facility in any sport but it is just the Smith says his ultimate goal is to increase seating capacity at the track to 200000 Plans are also underway for two 50 unit condominiums which will be built overlooking the backstretch of the track Construction of the condo miniums is expected to begin lat er this year Smith also the owner of Charlotte Motor Speedway pur chased AMS in October of 1990 for approximately $20 million Bill grandmother dies at 93 A private funeral is sched uled today for Mrs Audie Reese the maternal grand mother of NASCAR Winston Cup racer Bill Elliott and his brothers Ernie and Dan Elliott Mrs Reese died Monday morning at St Hospi tal in Dahlonega four days af ter falling in her Dawsonville home She was 93 families have always been extremely said George Elliott father of the Elliott brothers lived next door to us for 40 years In 1 fact Bill lived in a basement apartment in her house during the early part of his racing Rick Minter Enough was enough An opportunity for Kuhn 11 Africa on brink of rejoining sports world The Associated Press OLYMPICS CANCERS A Invitations for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics will be sent out July 25 and IOC offi cials said a late entry is still possible for the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville rance ans were incensed Ted in stantly became a martyr Thou sands of fans wrote the commis him suspended this was going too far I decided I needed to do something I absolutely certain it was an act anymore I headed across the lobby to look for Ted and grabbed Bill Lu cas by the arm along the way South formal re turn could come on July 9 when the sports lead ers are scheduled to meet with IOC officials in Switzerland erations many of which have been formed Ted went on to explain to me that the suspension was exactly what he wanted he said been the owner the hero of the little guy They love me I run the team the way they think they would if they owned it I come to the games sit in the stans drink a few beers even take my shirt off Every to them their pal Ted had a potential problem in 1977 that he be able to explain easily to his fans He was going to spend most of the summer competing in the Ameri Cup That was not something that fit his down to earth our kind of guy our pal Ted image People might suddenly realize he was not only rich but also an elit ist a yachtsman Or even worse they would realize yacht ing came first with him since be missing all the baseball games But found a way out It had suddenly occurred to him that have to miss all the games if the commissioner sus pended him for a year No one could blame him then He could sail all summer other guy we got in the Kenny Smith mention that the other guy was John Lucas who promptly retired Above all be positive Refer often to the Kenny Smith deal Tell all interested teams how smart we made Houston HOTTER THAN EVER! The following material is tak en from the book "We inished Last Without (Longstreet Press) by former At lanta Braves publicity director Bob Hope A typical reaction of the rest of baseball to Ted Turner was voiced by St Louis Cardinals an nouncer Jack Buck during din ner before one game boss is Buck told a dinner ta ble full of people smart enough that never be able to commit him to an institution On the other hand if they ever do never let him Ted was well aware he had a last place team and was deter mined to change that He wanted to convince outfielder Gary Mat thews to sign with the Braves when his contract with the Giants expired at the end of the 1976 season However Ted abide by the procedure of waiting until Matthews was free from his Giants contract and available to start talking In baseball what Ted did was con sidered tampering' At a party for baseball offi cials Ted yelled a remark to San I rancisco owner Bob Lurie to the effect that Atlanta would of fer Matthews whatever it took to sign him The remark made the newspapers and infuriated Com missioner Bowie Kuhn along with many of the owners In their minds it was one more example of danger to baseball Matthews signed with the Braves but the matter of tampering go away Base winter meetings were com ing up in Los Angeles and word was that the commissioner would decide penalty for the tam pering shortly after they were over The winter meeting would be a good place for Ted to be on his best behavior Turner had a plan AMATEUR CONTEST WED 9PM $350 in Prizes Sat 4PM $500 in Prizes this ad good fa admission EXPIRES 7 1 91 1400 Northside Drive Yfes! Season tickets are still available Guarantee yourself a great seat to all remaining home games "Yes! Groups of 30 or more can save in ield and Upper Level on most dates Baseball Call 577 9100 OK so maybe typed a disparaging syllable or two about the Atlanta Hawks but the time for disparagement is gone The Hawks are at a crossroads If they do something cleverly radical stink on ice next season During the last two years two games above 500 Absent a significant acquisition fall below it in 92 maybe way below here to help As ever the Hawks are trying to trade (As ever also raising ticket prices) Trouble is not many teams like the players anymore Time was the Hawks had a surplus of front court types Now no surplus of anything and at this rate have a shortfall of ticket buyers i nat wny tney neea to aeai but how to deal when crazy about what offering? Clear the aisles please The Spin Doctor is about to make a house call The trick I submit is in the sales presentation If the Hawks I accentuate the positive such as it is To borrow from the cold eyed Miles Drentell on So Ted said we had to use the winter meetings to make sure Bowie Kuhn was thankful for the opportunity to get Ted Turner out of the way by suspending him from baseball That was our challenge Ted wasted no time getting started The first night we were there Bill Lucas stopped me in the lobby to tell me Ted had been on his hands and knees barking at people in the hotel restaurant or the next few hours that seemed like all I heard bewil dered comments from employ ees of other teams who had either seen or heard about bark ing like a dog The next three days were the strangest ever with Ted Turner He was ranting like a San ran cisco street preacher holding court in the lobby of the Los An geles Hilton He told people he feared the commissioner of base ball was going to kill him that he feared for his life After we had been at the meetings for three days a radio reporter cornered me in the hotel lobby and had me listen to a bi zarre interview Ted had given him know what to do with he said run It was Ted telling him he was going to get a gun and kill the commissioner before the com missioner got him first Ted sounded absolutely crazy on the tape and despite our plan to do Note that he was the first to de mand a new contract while sit ting out the season with an inju ry Note that even Michael Jor dan try the sort of shots Willis does add good Remind prospective buyers that Willis had a 39 point 21 rebound game against Den ver feel compelled to men tion that it came in March 1986 Spud Webb: State with abso lute confidence that the best player shorter than 5 foot 8 in the history of basketball reveal that the previous holder of this distinction was Red Klotz Rumeal Robinson: Emphasize how surprised you were by his rookie performance say we figured he was a lot better than Alexander Volkov: Smile and say hurt us a bit last Then hope nobody recalls that he play I said lost his mind time for us to do Bill been watching Ted per form in the lobby disagree me at Jon Koncak: Be semi honest Say he be the best starter in the league but not the worst Then hope nobody challenges you on it Say stats so hot but he does things that show up in the box mention that those things include inhaling and exhaling Also note that a great guy to have around in case you need a loan Kevin Willis: Stress his cre ativity both oncourt and off BIOII i LONDON South Africa moved closer to rejoining world sports this summer by abolishing its last major apart heid law Monday The South African Parlia ment voted overwhelmingly to repeal the Population Registra tion Act of 1950 which classi fied citizens on the basis of race and served as the foundation for most apartheid measures Jt was the last of pjree apart forming non racial sports fed heid laws whose repeal had been demanded before South Africa could rejoin internation al sports after a 20 year ban The International Olympic Committee and other sports bodies have said readmission is dependent on those laws be ing abolished and South Africa i Mark Bradley a BOB HOPE The week before Ted called me into his office Ted wanted to talk to me about his impending punishment by the commission er of baseball what do you think do to he asked I had no idea tell you what going to he answiered his own question ha? three choices He can give Matthews back to the Giants But he do that because punishing Mat thews He could fine me but that do him any good I have plenty of money and would never miss it pay it and be perfectly whatever was necessary to get happy Or he could suspend he continued with a twinkle in his eye could kick me out of the game for a whole season Get me out of the way been wanting to get rid of me This is his chance to do it for a I kLiKV Bill and I had both gone well beyond worrying about our jobs I was going to have to let Ted have a piece of my mind We each took one of arms and pulled him to the escalator lead ing down to the side doors of the hotel Next to the entrance was a small bar We took him in and sat him down I looked Ted square in the eyes and prepared for him to strike back I said firm ly a fine line between selling being outrageous and being ab solutely out of your mind gone over that Ted sat there calmly you think I should get on a plane and fly back to he asked if you get your mind together and act I said you think convinced him he asked I answered OK he said He did or the next couple of days he was perfectly normal The next week we returned to Atlanta and a month later the an nouncement was made by the office Bowie Kuhn fined Ted $35000 for tam pering with Gary Matthews while he was a Giant but the commissioner also suspended Ted for the 1977 season Spin Doctor has prescription for raising trade value ile John Koncak: Not the league's best starter but not the worst either fantasy If got a car with 200000 miles on it I adver tise it as all to I say and The same could work for the Hawks (Remember: ree agents be traded which rules out John Battle Moses Malone Gary Leonard Duane errell and Sid ney Moncrief) What follows are Dr prescriptions: Dominique Wilkins: Empha size that coming off his best season emphasize that his best enough to lift the Hawks past the first round Mention how marketable he is Play tapes of his stylish spots for Reebok and Minute Maid under any circum stance show the one for Arrowhead Clinic Doc Rivers: Promote him as the answer to Ernie Banks (Natural tie in: Banks played in Chicago Rivers is from Chicago) Run clips of post loss comments Note with admiration how upbeat and un sioner in protest Burger King ruffled he is after his team gets even had a promotion offering hammered by Charlotte Note postcards to send to the Major with how much conviction he League Baseball office in New says this doesnt worry York Ted used the situation not only to become a hero but also to build a ticket mailing list He had us sneak behind the commis back and hire two secre taries in the baseball office to type labels of all the names and addresses of people who sent protest letters and cards We sent them ticket information Ted was undaunted He had gotten his way He had become a bigger hero in his hometown and he had the summer off to sail Only Ted RSSBLASI Ted tampers his way to a sail As usual he so crazy after all YOU wkm sc MT z'''W A I I A 1 3 a va 1 Pr A 1 I 1 HKflU I iii iiiihj iiiiii CT oufliiewan Bachelor Perties Just 5 min from Dojynt Shower Shows isa Tim McCormick: Say look Why not let us do the same helped us 10 times more than the for INeiV MOTOROLA pager I SUNS ORIENT Ini Only $99 Purchase 10 off with ad IB I 5 nnual' Oriental Massage Ml SB PeRo Satellite System Hot Steam Sauna Table Shower Acupressure Massage Open Daily 10 to MidnightSunday 1 to 10pm i A 1 A ROO 843 Southway Dr Jonesboro 477 2216 I UJUU I 75 Exit 77 6th stop It Turn left niTIIYTYTTTTYTTTIIIIIIIIIimXr.