“Back in ’98 or ’99, our departures out of Concord [N.H., from the race in Loudon] caused 30-minute delays out of Boston Logan and LaGuardia in New York,” said Ronnie Fountain, a pilot for Robert Yates Racing and RTAA President. The sudden dump of that many aircraft into the air traffic control system caused a backlog that was felt all the way to some of the major east-coast hubs.

Aside from the resulting delays, race teams were spending an average of 90 minutes on the ground waiting for clearances to fly — all with the engines on and otherwise ready to go. There were other concerns with routing, altitudes, and spacing, too. Fountain arranged a meeting with the Federal Aviation Administration to see what could be done.

Their best advice? Form an organization.

“They’d be able to respond a lot better to 200 people than to two,” he said.

So Fountain did: He met with several other race teams and got them on board. Now, he says, there are only a handful of teams that aren’t part of the RTAA.

The organization’s primary mission is to distribute information from the FAA to its members. Each weekend comes with a new NOTAM (NOtice To AirMen), an advisory for pilots, and the RTAA makes sure that each of the team’s pilots know what to expect. The FAA even has a webpage that details the rules for the weekend — like expected changes in routing and a radio frequency to monitor for the latest information.

Fountain received an e-mail this week from the Washington ARTCC (one of 20 regional air traffic control centers in the continental U.S.) asking about an upcoming test at Dover. Fountain replied with all the details: When they’d arrive, how long they’d stay and where they planned on flying into — Dover Air Force Base for most of the teams.

The RTAA also raises money for various charities, including the Victory Junction Gang Camp and a scholarship at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. They’ve also set up college funds for the two children of a pilot that was killed at Martinsville while bringing several Hendrick Motorsports employees to the race in 2004.

But the RTAA has been successful enough that the FAA used similar procedures in Miami in February for the Super Bowl. Fountain believes that other significant events could benefit from the partnership of the FAA and RTAA: The FAA is able to beef up staffing in advance of a major event, and the specific procedures make life easier for air traffic control: Instead of 100 aircraft coming from every direction, there are 100 aircraft coming from one direction.

The race teams have benefited too. These days, their jets spend an average of 17 minutes taxiing in preparation for departure — that’s a lot less fuel burned and a lot happier employees who get to go home in a more timely fashion. And with the acquisition of a credit card, the RTAA is able to buy fuel in bulk, improving buying power and often lowering prices.

“You can see the dollars and cents that are saved by us doing what we’re doing,” Fountain said. “The fuel savings alone is tens of thousands of dollars as a group.”

The growth of aviation has increased the RTAA’s importance. Fountain remembers when he started back in 1993 — he gave up three successful construction companies in his native Dallas before moving east to pursue his passion — Dale Jarrett was flying a Piper Navajo and many other teams had King Airs. Now, piston engines are a thing of the past; the fleet is almost entirely jets and turboprops, like Saabs, Brasilias, Learjets, Beechcraft jets and even a few Boeing 737s and 727s.

A list of what the drivers are riding in — and what the pilots are flying — thanks to our friends over at airliners.net:

First, the teams: Roush Racing’s Boeing 727; Hendrick Motorsports’ Saab 2000; Childress Racing’s Embraer; Joe Gibbs Racing’s Saab; Penske Racing’s CRJ; Ganassi’s Learjet; Evernham’s Embraer; and Petty Enterprises’ Israel Westwind.

Then, for the drivers: Jeff Gordon’s Dassault Falcon; Jeff Burton’s Cessna Citation; Tony Stewart has a Citation too; Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s Learjet; and Mark Martin’s Citation.

• TWO HOUSEKEEPING NOTES: I’m taking tomorrow off to rest up for a big weekend. But I’ll be back on Friday, live from Richmond.

Then, come race day, we’ll be back at RIR posting observations from throughout the day, leading up to the green flag — just like we did last fall.