Tonight’s commute home will seem more like a NASCAR race to some local residents due to the race action starting at 7 p.m. at Atlanta Motor Speedway in nearby Hampton.

The qualifying event will certainly bring the usual "short-cut" traffic through Fayette County, as will the Busch Series race Saturday and the Nextel Cup race Sunday.

A crowd of more than 50,000 people is expected tonight for qualifying, officials said.

The state is asking race fans to use Ga. Highway 19/41 and Ga. Highway 20, which was recently realigned to handle more cars. Some veteran race fans will take shortcuts to Hampton taking Ga. Highway 92 south near Brooks.

Locals may want to take an alternate route home if they can to avoid any logjams of race fans.

The Fayette County Sheriff's Department will have extra patrols in the area on the weekend and will be on hand at various times to direct traffic when necessary.

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