Full Throttle

Via the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

If Atlanta wins NASCAR’s hall of fame, it may have some beluga whales to thank.

The Georgia Aquarium, with its overwhelming early foot traffic, is Atlanta’s best case for luring the highly coveted racing shrine to Centennial Olympic Park, NASCAR’s chief executive, Brian France, said Wednesday.

But it’s not all good news. France, the last word on the hall of fame decision, gave rival Charlotte two critical advantages in the hall of fame race: Lots of guaranteed money and superstar drivers and racing teams in its back yard.

France walked through Atlanta’s fish tank for the first time Wednesday after speaking at a business conference in Buckhead. Bernie Marcus, the aquarium benefactor and Home Depot co-founder, joined local business leaders to give him a private tour.

But charming as they are, Marcus and the belugas may not be enough.

Question: If there is any “cross pollination” between NASCAR fans and Beluga whales, wouldn’t it show in the form of heaping platters of Beluga caviar in the high-falutin’, high rent corporate sky boxes?

Opps… never mind, its Beluga sturgeon caviar, not Beluga whale caviar. Silly me!

But the point is the same, Charlotte holds all the cards, “sleeping with the fishes” won’t cut it.

UPDATE: Mike Lafferty seems to think if the green falls and the checker flag is displayed for the Daytona 500 without the city being named as the HoF “winner” their bid is history.