MACON - For three summers now, local auto race fans have been spoiled by the presence of some of the biggest names in NASCAR.

Drivers like Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Michael Waltrip and, on Wednesday night, Kasey Kahne, have wandered into Macon Speedway as though they'd taken some weird detour on their way to the next NASCAR Sprint Cup throwdown.

And let's face it: It's hard to wander off the NASCAR travel path and find Macon Speedway by mistake.

No, the NASCAR stars have been coming thanks to their own generosity, hard work on the scheduling front throughout the winter and a series of favors extended because Macon Speedway counts as its co-owners current Sprint Cup point leader Stewart and former NASCAR drivers Kenny Wallace and Ken Schrader, in addition to long-time track owner Bob Sargent.

As Kahne prepares to make his Macon Speedway debut on Wednesday night, Sargent said the demands on the elite level NASCAR stars have reached a point that getting them here year after year should not be a foregone conclusion.

Meanwhile, it's a luxury he hopes can continue.

"It's hard to get them scheduled," Sargent said Monday. "Each winter Kenny Wallace, Ken Schrader, Tony Stewart and I talk about it and discuss who would be a good driver to bring in. Then we approach them and see if we can find a date."

Finding a date is no easy matter.

"As soon as next season's NASCAR schedule comes out, they start filling in with other dates and they've got a bunch of them they have to get worked out," said Sargent, who has personally worked with scheduling assistants for the sport's biggest names.

First of all, there are 38 weekends during which drivers compete. Include with that qualifying, mid-week tire testing, garage time spent working on the cars, media obligations and the race itself. Plus travel.

The millions of dollars major sponsors put up to have their names painted on the cars (Kahne's top sponsor is Budweiser) come with a price tag. There are a number of sponsor obligations that drivers must attend to and the obligations extend beyond the major sponsor.

Stewart, for example, schedules sponsor obligations for Old Spice, Office Depot, Harley-Davidson, J.D. Byrider, Quaker State and Bass Pro Shops, among others. Some sponsors want the driver to address business executives. Others want them to attend a cocktail party.

The drivers do print ad photo shoots, TV commercial work, charity events, mandatory press conferences and, because the season now stretches so long, many drivers try to wiggle in a couple mini-vacations.

"All of that comes first," Sargent said. "When we get together with them at Daytona in February, their calendars are already pretty full."

But, Sargent said every NASCAR driver is at least willing to consider making a guest appearance at a small track like Macon Speedway - if certain things line up favorably.

"There are 800 dirt and asphalt tracks that race weekly and they would all like to do this. But only a few of those tracks are getting NASCAR drivers to appear," Sargent said.

So how does it all get worked out?

"The main ingredient for the driver is: Do I have an open date?" Sargent said. "And there aren't many because we're primarily looking at June, July and August. Then, will they do it as a favor? Some of these drivers can command as much as $30,000 for an appearance. That's where Kenny Wallace and Tony Stewart come in because they're friends with everyone.

"And then finally, can they see themselves having some fun? For many of them, it's a chance to get away from their usual grind and do something different, something that reminds them of what it was like when they were getting started in the sport."

Most of the time a NASCAR driver visiting Macon Speedway will fly in on his own jet, landing in Decatur and hustling down Rt. 51 to Macon Speedway. Some choose to compete in one of the night's races. Others just want to hang out, sign autographs, talk to the crowd on the track microphone and spend some time in the pits.

Most of the time they're back in the air that same evening, jetting off to the next race or the next commitment.

Some, however, emphasize the "fun" aspect of the night and they still talk about the time Michael Waltrip climbed behind the bar at "The Finish Line" in Macon and shared a few beers with the local race fans.

Sargent said Wallace has been fantastic at lining up NASCAR drivers. He is the one who arranged the Kasey Kahne visit and who convinced Mark Martin to join Stewart at the track. Their June 11 visit was rained out, but they've agreed to return Sept. 2.

"That we could find a return date was a miracle," Sargent said. "We still haven't been able to reschedule (NASCAR Nationwide Racing Series driver)) Justin Allgaier, and you'd think that would be simple."

As the obligations grow for the top dozen NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers, Sargent fears that bringing them to Macon Speedway will become more difficult.

At the same time, he does not discount the possibility that a future season might include a visit from a NASCAR mega-star like Jeff Gordon.

NASCAR has always done a unique job of making its drivers accessible and creating a bond with its fans.

In Major League Baseball, for example, there are 750 big league players. But try getting one of them to commit to an appearance during their season. It's rare.

NASCAR, by comparison, has 43 drivers in a given race. And a track like Macon Speedway will have one of the very best here Wednesday night and two more coming in September.

It's a bonus race fans probably shouldn't take for granted.

mtupper@herald-review.com|421-7983.