BRASELTON — Lanier National Speedway owner Donnie Clack says racing fans who find their way to the South Hall track for this weekend's Speedfest are in for a treat.

“The racing is going to be bumper-to-bumper, door-to-door,” said Clack. “This is the kind of racing that separates the men from the boys.”

That’s part of the draw, and many fans will come to see Kyle Busch — one of the most polarizing drivers on NASCAR’s Sprint Cup circuit — driving on the short track course at Lanier. After winning the race last year at Speedfest, Busch decided to return again in 2010, mainly he says due to his fondness of driving on the short track and giving back to the fans.

“Driving on the short track is how I grew up,” Busch said following practice laps on Thursday afternoon. “I like to come out to these races and get a look at the new talent.”

This year’s Speedfest at Lanier will feature a 250-lap Super Late Model and 150-lap Pro Late Model race on Sunday, with qualfying and a 75-lap Open Wheel Modified division race Saturday. Each race features 50 additional laps from last year’s race, which will enhance the fans’ race-day experience, Clack said.

As of Friday night, Clack said everything is still going according to plan, despite the weather. If anything changes, scheduling updates will be posted on the track’s Web site, www.lanierspeedway.com.

Clack says the biggest draw of adding NASCAR drivers, such as Busch, David Stremme (three Top-10 finishes in Sprint Cup last season) and David Ragan (eight career Top 5 finishes), is to expose a different market of racing fans to the action that comes with running on a 3/8-mile track with high-banking turns.

“In NASCAR, Bristol (Motor Speedway) is the most popular track right now, and we think we have a mini-Bristol right here at Lanier National,” Clack said.

As for Busch, he enjoys the walk down memory lane that racing at a track like Lanier National provides. Before he was a NASCAR superstar, Busch got his start racing at a track called the Bowl Ring in his hometown of Las Vegas, which he says is comprable to Lanier National.

That, and driving a short track race is a good escape from the pressure of racing on the Sprint Cup for Busch, who finished 13th in the Chase for the Cup standings last season.

“This track (Lanier) is short and round, so you never have the chance to get going straight,” Busch said. “It has really aggressive banking, which makes for tight racing.”

Clack says that the timing of Speedfest is also beneficial to the success of the race with a two-week cushion before drivers embark on the Daytona 500.

“This race is getting bigger,” Clack said. “I see more and more big name drivers coming into the race in the future.
“This is a chance for fans to get up close and personal to the NASCAR drivers.”

Race fans will also get a glimpse of the future with second-generation drivers Steven Wallace (son of Rusty Wallace), Dawsonville’s Chase Elliott (son of Bill Elliott) and Ryan Blaney (son of Dave Blaney) getting a crack at the action.