There have long been rumors of Talladega Superspeedway being haunted, but speedway officials took steps to “restore balance” at the track on Thursday.

Robert Thrower, a medicine man from the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, performed a traditional Native American blessing ceremony at the start-finish line of the 2.66-mile speedway on Thursday.

“Most everything in Native American belief is about keeping balance,” Thrower said. “Sometimes people and places can get out of balance and that unbalance may be perceived as something bad. What we did today was bless the track and ask for reconciliation so that balance can be restored.”

Thrower started the ceremony with a prayer, said in the Muscogee language. He then lifted his hands and closed his eyes as if in prayer and turned in all four directions on the track. Thrower then lifted a bowl containing everlasting cedar, tobacco and wild sage and doing the same thing again. He then scattered the cedar, tobacco and sage on the track before saying a final prayer in the Muscogee language, which he then translated into English.

The prayer asked God to bless the track and the speedway property, as well as the drivers, crewmembers and fans who attend the races in the future. Thrower acknowledged the track is what he calls a “high-risk area” meaning the strange things that have happened on the property over the years may not be because of a curse or haunting.

“I’m not here to do an exorcism,” Thrower said.

Talladega Superspeedway President Rick Humphrey said there could have been an imbalance at the track since its rocky beginning in 1969. Many of NASCAR’s top drivers boycotted the first race, believing the race would be unsafe and that the tires would not hold up on long runs at the high speeds on the track.

“It was a very moving ceremony,” Humphrey said. “It’s like Mr. Thrower said, sometimes things just need to be brought back into balance. With the controversy that surrounded Talladega when we first opened, it’s a possibility that there has always been some unbalance here. I’m confident in saying that after this ceremony however, we don’t have to worry about that anymore and we are looking forward to a great AMP Energy 500 race weekend.”

NASCAR Sprint Cup and Camping World Truck Series drivers will converge on Talladega Superspeedway Oct. 31-Nov. 1 for the AMP Energy 500 event weekend.