Racing returned in October 2005 to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 after a team of contractors from Northeast Tennessee restored the facility after the devastation of a 6 July 2005 tornado. (Photo / Contributed)

ATLANTA — While the catchphrase for the Atlanta Motor Speedway is “real racing, real fast,” without help from a team of skilled contractors from Northeast Tennessee, it very well might have been a different line for the upcoming Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 weekend.

On the evening of July 6, a tornado, spawned by Hurricane Cindy, hit Atlanta Motor Speedway, severely damaging most of the suites and many of the other buildings. Winds in excess of 150 mph and a funnel cloud a half-mile wide caused catastrophic damage, estimated by some to be in excess of $30 million.

According to Edd Hill, owner of Bristol, Tenn.-based HVAC Inc., with the next race weeks away, Speedway Motorsports Inc. could not wait to work through a settlement with its insurance carrier and prepare reconstruction drawings. “Every successful NASCAR driver is backed by a knowledgeable and skilled pit crew,” Hill said. “That’s what SMI needed to bring racing back to Atlanta Motor Speedway — a rebuild pit crew.”

SMI found its team in Northeast Tennessee, selecting contractors who had a solid track record of completing complicated projects at Bristol Motor Speedway within a short lead-time.

In addition to HVAC, which is handling all the mechanical and plumbing projects for the rebuild, the AMS rebuild team from Northeast Tennessee includes: J.A. Street and Associates, Blountville; Rentenbach Constructors, Knoxville; Summit Roofing BSR, Powell Construction, Woods Painting, Peerless Woodworking and Shuttle Engineering, Bristol; and E.S. Dockery Interiors, Johnson City.

According to Hill, the team was on site doing a damage assessment within 72 hours. “Demolition started immediately, and eight days after the tornado hit, we began ordering material and preparing plans to rebuild,” Hill said.

“By the last week in August, all of the buildings were dried in with new roofs, 675 tons of new air conditioning equipment was in place, the new plumbing and electrical was roughed in, new Sheetrock was installed and painted and ceilings were going in,” he added.

Stephen Swift, SMI project manager, expressed appreciation to the team.

“The contractors from East Tennessee have been great. The response time was phenomenal, and they have performed well past our expectations,” Swift said.

“In the short time frame we had to rebuild the buildings, we had to call upon our A-team to help us out. The contractors from East Tennessee have without a doubt worked as a team and made this catastrophe a great construction marvel. SMI gives all appreciation to the contractors from East Tennessee,” he said.

“Atlanta Motor Speedway will have real racing, real fast on Oct. 30,” Hill said. “However, the team of contractors from Northeast Tennessee showed them all rebuilding — the way it oughta’ be,” he added.