Published: Thursday, October 2, 2008
Note to NASCAR fans heading to Talladega: Gas up early
TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Here's some advice for the thousands of NASCAR fans driving to rural Alabama this weekend in a swarm of gas-guzzling trucks and RVs: Don't wait until the last minute to fill up.
Fuel shortages haven't been as bad in Alabama as some Southeastern states, but supplies are still spotty and there's only a handful of gas stations near the Talladega Superspeedway, site of this weekend's races.
A spokesman for AAA Alabama, Clay Ingram, said there shouldn't be any "major problems" finding gas around the track, which is located on Interstate 20 about 40 miles east of Birmingham and 95 miles west of Atlanta.
"But at the same time, it wouldn't be a bad idea for people to gas up before they get into the area," he said. "When you get 200,000 to 250,000 people coming into a small area like that, you don't know what's going to happen."
The track will play host to the ARCA RE/MAX 250 on Friday, the Mountain Dew 250 truck race on Saturday and the AMP Energy 500 on Sunday.
Many NASCAR fans drive hundreds of miles to get to the races, and superspeedway spokeswoman Kristi King said track officials are confident that fans will be able to find enough gas.
Suppliers have assured track executives that shortages caused by hurricanes Gustav and Ike are improving daily. Race fans don't all show up at once, she said, and that lessens the strain on the local gas supply.
"There is gas out there," King said. "It may not be at the first place you stop to find it."
Oil distributors selling gas around Talladega say an area petroleum terminal that supplies fuel to gas stations at Wal-Mart stores may be part of the reason that some pumps at competing stations are dry.
Paul Wells, the vice president for retail operations at Arkansas-based Murphy Oil Corp., which owns the terminal, said the company provides fuel to Murphy USA gas stations outside Wal-Mart stores before it sells gasoline to other, competing service stations.
"We're making sure our other Murphy USA stations have product and that's just logical," Wells said. "It's nice to be able to help out a competitor when you can, but at the end of the day we have to make sure our own sites have gasoline first."
Gary Harris, vice president and general manager of Green Oil Co. in Oxford, said trucks hauling to Murphy stations are coming to the Alabama terminal from as far as Savannah, Ga., and South Carolina to pick up fuel.
"The way I feel, the gas should have stayed in our radius," Harris said. "That's the reason the terminal was put here."
Fuel shortages haven't been as bad in Alabama as some Southeastern states, but supplies are still spotty and there's only a handful of gas stations near the Talladega Superspeedway, site of this weekend's races.
A spokesman for AAA Alabama, Clay Ingram, said there shouldn't be any "major problems" finding gas around the track, which is located on Interstate 20 about 40 miles east of Birmingham and 95 miles west of Atlanta.
"But at the same time, it wouldn't be a bad idea for people to gas up before they get into the area," he said. "When you get 200,000 to 250,000 people coming into a small area like that, you don't know what's going to happen."
The track will play host to the ARCA RE/MAX 250 on Friday, the Mountain Dew 250 truck race on Saturday and the AMP Energy 500 on Sunday.
Many NASCAR fans drive hundreds of miles to get to the races, and superspeedway spokeswoman Kristi King said track officials are confident that fans will be able to find enough gas.
Suppliers have assured track executives that shortages caused by hurricanes Gustav and Ike are improving daily. Race fans don't all show up at once, she said, and that lessens the strain on the local gas supply.
"There is gas out there," King said. "It may not be at the first place you stop to find it."
Oil distributors selling gas around Talladega say an area petroleum terminal that supplies fuel to gas stations at Wal-Mart stores may be part of the reason that some pumps at competing stations are dry.
Paul Wells, the vice president for retail operations at Arkansas-based Murphy Oil Corp., which owns the terminal, said the company provides fuel to Murphy USA gas stations outside Wal-Mart stores before it sells gasoline to other, competing service stations.
"We're making sure our other Murphy USA stations have product and that's just logical," Wells said. "It's nice to be able to help out a competitor when you can, but at the end of the day we have to make sure our own sites have gasoline first."
Gary Harris, vice president and general manager of Green Oil Co. in Oxford, said trucks hauling to Murphy stations are coming to the Alabama terminal from as far as Savannah, Ga., and South Carolina to pick up fuel.
"The way I feel, the gas should have stayed in our radius," Harris said. "That's the reason the terminal was put here."
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