Atlanta, GA
Daniel Suárez to appear at Atlanta Motor Speedway open house Jan. 25, how to meet NASCAR driver
Two-time NASCAR Cup Series winner Daniel Suárez will headline the slate of fan entertainment and activities at Atlanta Motor Speedway’s Speedway Open House on Saturday, Jan. 25, which is free and open to the public.
Suárez’s most recent NASCAR victory came in last year’s running of the Ambetter Health 400 at AMS, which saw the driver of the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet triumph in a thrilling three-wide photo finish.
Before he hits Atlanta’s high banks to defend his win in next month’s running of the Ambetter Health 400 (Sunday, Feb. 23 at 3 p.m. ET), Suárez will make an appearance at the Jan. 25 Speedway Open House for a Q&A with fans and an autograph session with eligible ticketholders in the speedway’s luxurious Club One suite.
The NASCAR Cup Series star’s fan engagement will be just one part of a day full of activities and entertainment for fans to enjoy during the Speedway Open House.
The Speedway will open its doors to fans from 11 a.m.-3 p.m., with live music by singer and songwriter Presley Barker and fan Q&As will special guests all happening in Club One.
Attendees will also enjoy games and activities at the speedway and be welcomed explore the 1.54-mile oval and surrounding facility.
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Following the Speedway Open House at 3 p.m., fans in attendance will also have an opportunity to enjoy grassroots Legends and Bandolero racing on Atlanta Motor Speedway’s ¼ mile Thunder Ring.
The Speedway Open House event is free to attend, however Atlanta Motor Speedway NASCAR event ticketholders will have the exclusive opportunity to participate in the Daniel Suárez autograph session. Fans interested in attending the Speedway Open House should let AMS know at https://www.atlantamotorspeedway.com/openhouse/.
Atlanta Motor Speedway’s first major event of 2025 comes just four weeks after the open house when NASCAR visits Georgia for the Ambetter Health 400 weekend Feb. 21-23.
The Speedway Open House will enable guests to scout the best seats for that race weekend as well as the June 27-28 Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart weekend and other events like Monster Jam, which comes to AMS April 12 and 13.
Fans can find updates on the Speedway Open House and more information about 2025 events at AMS at www.AtlantaMotorSpeedway.com.
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About the Ambetter Health 400 weekend:
Atlanta’s spring NASCAR weekend is headlined by the Ambetter Health 400 on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, with intense, superspeedway pack racing that challenges NASCAR’s best and dazzles fans.
The race weekend also features the 11th year of Atlanta’s same-day NASCAR doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. The thrills of the Fr8 208 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race and the Bennett Transportation and Logistics 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race all happen in one action-packed day.
More information on the Feb. 21-23, 2025, Ambetter Health 400 weekend and ticket availability can be found online at AtlantaMotorSpeedway.com.
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Atlanta, GA
Atlanta man killed in SE Georgia shooting, GBI investigating
TOOMBS COUNTY, Ga. – A 36-year-old Atlanta man was killed in a Fourth of July shooting in southeast Georgia, and the investigation has been turned over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
What we know:
According to the GBI, Vidalia police officers responded around 3:13 a.m. Saturday to a report of shots fired in the 500 block of East Jenkins Street in Vidalia. When officers arrived, they found Rashad Lamar Lumpkin, of Atlanta, lying in the roadway with multiple gunshot wounds.
Lumpkin was taken by EMS to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The Vidalia Police Department requested the GBI investigate the shooting. Authorities said the investigation remains active and ongoing.
What you can do:
Anyone with information is asked to contact the GBI Regional Investigative Office in Eastman at 478-374-6988 or the Vidalia Police Department at 912-537-4123. Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online through the GBI’s tip portal or by using the See Something, Send Something mobile app.
Once the investigation is complete, the case will be turned over to the Middle Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for review.
Atlanta, GA
Ben’s Friends meetings help Atlanta food and beverage workers struggling with addiction
A metro Atlanta man is helping his fellow food and beverage workers struggling with addiction and alcoholism by holding weekly meetings that foster support.
“I’ve been cooking for 11 years. I started when I was a teenager. I’ve been with the company ever since,” said Jonah Jacobson, a sous chef at Pricci in Buckhead.
Jacobson said he began to experience repercussions while in active addiction five years ago.
“Things got bad enough to the point where I was fired from my first job,” he said.
Jacobson said once he started using alcohol and drugs, he could not stop.
“Where everybody else would call it a night after 1, 2 and go home like a normal person, I realized I did not have that luxury. I was not like everybody else,” said Jacobson.’
He helps lead the local chapter of Ben’s Friends, a national organization that organizes meetings for people struggling with addiction and alcoholism.
“We would always talk about another restaurant person who was either destroying their lives or, unfortunately, had just taken their lives due to alcohol and drugs. At one point, we just said enough is enough,” said Ben’s Friends co-founder Mickey Bakst.
Bakst has been sober for 43 years. He said the food and beverage industry fosters an environment in which alcohol and drugs are common and makes it easy for workers to fall into active addiction.
Adam Mauk with Edge Treatment Center in Roswell said programs like Ben’s Friends are often more successful after a person completes an initial inpatient or outpatient treatment plan. But he said people often reason they cannot afford to take the time off from work to complete initial treatment.
“It’s been proven time and time again that if you put anything ahead of your sobriety or ahead of trying to get clean or sober, then you’re going to lose that too,” said Mauk.
Jacobson has now been sober for five years.
“It (recovery) gave me a new outlook on life and gave me a sense of belonging that I was looking for, partially in a kitchen, partially outside of my life,” said Jacobson.
Ben’s Friends has more than 40 chapters across the country, offering free peer support to people working in the food and beverage industry.
Jacobson encourages anyone to attend a meeting on Mondays at 11 a.m. at Pricci, located on Pharr Road.
Atlanta, GA
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