Know Your Track: Atlanta

Atlanta Motor Speedway

Track Name: Atlanta Motor Speedway

           

Nicknames: "Hotlanta"

Location: Hampton, Georgia

Capacity: 99,000

Date of First Race: July 31, 1960

Layout: Atlanta is a 1.54 mile asphalt "Quad-Oval" comprised of four turns banked at 24 degrees, a front stretch with two "dog legs" and a back stretch both banked at 5 degrees. The tracks original layout, up to 1997, was a 1.5 mile track with no "dog legs" on the front stretch

Current Sprint Cup Races:

• March 1, 2015 - Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500, a 500.5 mile, 325 lap regular season points race. This is a Sunday afternoon event.

Most Wins:  

• All-Time: Dale Earnhardt, 9 wins
• Active: Bobby Labonte, 6 wins
• Latest Winner:
• 2014 Oral-B USA 500: Kasey Kahne

Description: Atlanta is a track the the drivers absolutely love. Due to it's ancient pavement (it hasn't been repaved in years), tires become worn out within five laps and this takes away pure speed as the dominant factor in a good race car, instead allowing drivers with the best ability to keep their cars from wrecking in contention for the win. You'll note how much Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are sliding around while battling for the win at Atlanta back in 2011:

Atlanta is also known for it's penchant to produce dramatic last lap, side-by-side racing for the win, such as Carl Edwards scoring his first career victory in the 2005 spring race:

Atlanta used to host two races per year, but poor attendance forced the track to go down to one date in 2009. From 2009 to 2014, Atlanta's one race was run at night on Labor Day Weekend, replacing Fontana on that marquee racing weekend. However, Atlanta will become the second race of the season starting in 2015, giving the Labor Day Weekend date back to Darlington Raceway, who traditionally held that date until the mid-2000s. Atlanta also used to host the final race of the season until Homestead-Miami Speedway assumed that date in the early 2000s.

Notable Races:

•  1992 Hooters 500 - Coming into the race, there were three contenders who could still win that season's championship; Bill Elliott, Davey Allison, and Alan Kulwicki. Allison held the points lead coming into the race, but hit debris and lost the handling of his car during the midpoint of the race and couldn't recover. Elliott and Kulwicki battled for the lead most of the day and Elliott ended up winning the race with Kulwicki finishing second. However, because Kulwicki had led the most laps (by one mere lap over Elliott, 103 to 102) that day and earned the bonus points from that, he was crowned champion by 10 points over Elliott. The race was also the last for legend Richard Petty and the very first for current driver and future Hall-of-Famer Jeff Gordon. It is regarded as one of the greatest races in NASCAR history.
• 2001 Cracker Barrel 500 - In just his third race after being tabbed the replacement driver for the deceased Dale Earnhardt, a relatively unknown Kevin Harvick scores his first Sprint Cup victory over Jeff Gordon by mere inches, setting off an extremely emotional celebration for the crew that served Earnhardt just three weeks prior.

Fun Facts: Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter was once a ticket taker at the speedway.