BRISTOL, Tenn. -- If you needed proof that the show was about to begin, if you needed something like the flashing of the house lights to show you it was time to take your seats, Hackman Lee Breton was here Saturday afternoon.

	Lee Breton, a.k.a. Hackman, put on a show for race fans by using a hacksaw to cut a car in half in a just 4 minutes, 28 seconds.

In a gravel parking lot behind Bristol Motor Speedway, Hackman used a Lenox 18-bit saw to slice a Chevy Corsica in half, from its roof to the floor. In four minutes and 28 seconds, the chiseled tool company sales manager used four saw frames to turn the Corsica into a front half and a back half.

"People just love seeing cars destroyed," said Breton, who's been with the company for 41 years and slicing cars since 1981. "And I put on a pretty darn good show."

For a little over a week now, fans have been filling this border town to the brim, eating deep fried Twinkies and steak on a stick while awaiting the main attraction, Saturday night's Sharpie 500, to begin. And finally, it is here.

They've come by foot, by car, by RV, even by helicopter. Car traffic Saturday afternoon backed up for five miles in both directions heading toward the Speedway. And that started at 11 a.m., some eight hours before the green flag was to fall.

	Some 160,000 people will pack themselves into Bristol Motor Speedway for Saturday night's Winston Cup race.

So chaotic were the grounds around the Speedway that corporate events for some, including Alltel, were held on entrance ramps two miles away. Scalpers sold tickets on the street for as much as $300. Cars filled the streets, and pedestrians clogged the shoulders alongside the roads. For miles.

But as big of a circus as it was getting to the stadium, once fans arrived, the true circus awaited. An estimated 8,000 fans waited in two-hour lines for a track tour. Others lucky enough to score a pit pass paraded around the grounds, hoping to touch their favorite car or catch a glimpse of their top driver.

In a gravel parking lot outside the stadium, corporate circus acts like Hackman put on their assorted shows. Each tent featured some sort of attractive female, coaxing passersby into the tent with giveaways, gimmicks or just a friendly smile.

At the Cingular tent, fans could see how fast they can change two tires on a Winston Cup race car. The U.S. Army tent featured helicopter and tank simulators as well as a marksmanship challenge. At another NASCAR simulator, a Dodge representative teased a Jeff Gordon fan, saying, "Sir, we only have enough room for four Jeff Gordon fans at one time. However, since I only see one other fan, you should be fine."

Everything is corporate. Even the golf carts, ATVs and people-moving tractors carrying fans from far-off parking lots to the Speedway are littered with Nationwide Insurance stickers or flags.

	Race fans line up near the entrance where Winston Cup drivers arrive for Saturday night's race.

But nobody seems to mind. Unlike sports like football, where fans raise a fuss when stadium names go corporate, in NASCAR world, fans embraced such corporate affiliations when entering Saturday's race. Sterling Marlin fans walked toward the Speedway with Coors Light in their hands. Jeff Gordon fans wore DuPont backpacks.

"That's just the way it is," says 29-year-old Paul Simone, a Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan from Little Rock, Ark., wearing a pair of Budweiser No. 8 pajama pants. "It's the way you support your team."

But few things better blended the world of corporate sponsorship and ultimate entertainment, while killing the final hours before the race, than Hackman. The man who has cut tanker trucks, airplanes, railroad cars, armored cars and houses had little trouble with the Corsica, much to the delight of impressed onlookers.

"It's hell on the 18-bit teeth of the saw," Breton said. "But that almost makes it more fun. And it gets people fired up for the race."

Wayne Drehs, a staff writer for ESPN.com, can be reached at wayne.drehs@espn3.com