Henry Daily Herald

Ed Clark, who entered Thursday's double feature races at Atlanta Motor Speedway as the Masters division points leader, prepares to take to the Thunder Ring at Thursday Thunder for his race.

With Atlanta Motor Speedway hosting the Asphalt Nationals this fall, Ed Clark wanted to try something new.

So the AMS general manager bought himself a new legends car to race in the weekly Thursday Thunder racing series.

It has been the right move as Clark entered Thursday’s double features as the Masters division points leader.

“I think I was a little better prepared this year,” Clark said. “I’ve had some good luck and some good draws. It has been a fun and pretty special summer.”

With a log-jam at the top of the points standings, Clark is hoping to hang on another week to take his first legends car race title.

But the racing veteran knows it will be tough with competition from Skip Nichols and Terry Mathis in his rearview.

“This is one of the most exciting finishes we are going to have in the division,” said Nichols, who is Thursday Thunder’s all-time winningest driver.

Last season, Nichols finished runner-up to Cummings’ Terry Mathis by two points in the division.

Doug Stevens was in charge of the setup for Clark’s car. Stevens, who occasionally races at Thursday Thunder, said the new car has been a good fit for Clark.

“I think he really likes it,” Stevens said. “This year’s Masters is really tight. It is going to be really exciting to see how it unfolds.”

Since Stevens does the setup for most of the drivers in the division, he calls it a win-win situation for himself.

“I’m very pleased at how this is going,” Stevens said. “It is a great situation for me.”

As Clark spends his days preparing the track for its big showcase NASCAR race Labor Day weekend, he said racing relieves the stress.

“I’ve got to be at the track anyway for this, so I might as well race,” Clark said. “I have a good team around me so they allow me to get out on the track. As much as I like the racing aspect of it, it is just the camaraderie of the drivers in the garage that is just as fun.”

And winning a points championship would add to the excitement.