BRASELTON – In three weeks Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta will be welcoming massive crowds to the 22nd Annual Motul Petit Le Mans; Tuesday morning track officials welcomed 70 members of the South Hall Business Coalition to their new racing tower for a sneak preview of the state-of-the-art facility.
Glass walls fronting the race course offer spectacular views from each of the four levels within the 50,000-square feet structure, with two floors of private suites, a level dedicated to media coverage and a public gathering area with thirty TV screens on the ground level.
Raceway President/General Manager Geoff Lee is hesitant to predict the number of attendees to the four-day event beginning October 9th, but he did say the crowds would be large. “We never announce but we have been growing each year,” Lee said coyly. A media release from the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce mentioned 130,000 spectators or more as very likely.
“We are second only to Lake Lanier in terms of the economic impact that we brought into Hall County,” Lee told guests.
Derek Reyes, Senior Manager of Corporate Sponsorships, told SHBC members that almost immediately after the old tower was demolished in November, 2018, three months of near-record rainfall put construction of the new tower way behind schedule.
“As you guys might imagine, a little bit of anxiety, a little bit of nerves,” Reyes said. “Think about it: we tore the old tower down; without that we’ve got no media center, no race control, no timing and scoring…and a race coming up in seven months!”
Reyes added that another time-sensitive task was awaiting completion: the venue’s new name (Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta as of January 1, 2019) required new signage and brand placement throughout the 750-acre complex. Somehow, he said, everything was accomplished.
Reyes said the reason for partnering with Michelin - whose North American headquarters are in nearby Greenville, South Carolina - and invest in constructing the new race tower were sound business decisions. Reyes said other area sport franchises have recently moved into new stadiums and partnered with corporate sponsors: the Atlanta Braves into Sun Trust Park and the Atlanta Falcons in Mercedes Benz Stadium, both in 2017.
“We’re fifty years old here and a lot of our structure is still fifty years (old),” Reyes said. “It’s a very competitive market out there for corporate entertainment here in Atlanta.”
For more information about next month’s 10-hour endurance test and the events leading up to the 22nd Annual Motul Petit Le Mans, click here.
