It took 163 days of work and about 17000 tonnes of material to repave the Atlanta Motor Speedway and yet, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said it didn’t make much difference. For the two-time Xfinity Series champion, bringing down the width of the track by 15 feet and adding four degrees of banking into the turns would just make the racing too fast and the track too narrow for the cars to run on. He felt like nobody seemed to have used their brains while revamping the AMS, the older version of which resonated more with the veteran racer.
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Expressing his desire for the officials to take the track back to its original version, Junior had said way back in 2021, “They’re not going to do that. They are going to add four degrees of banking which is really nothing at all – it’s mainly in the center of the corner. I honestly don’t think we’ll be able to tell a difference. If it were 8 or 10 degrees, that’s a bit much.”
However, while racing on the new version on iRacing, Dale Jr. realized that it was indeed going to race differently, but that’s not because of the decrease in the track width or the increase in the banking. “It’ll be because it’s new asphalt,” he added.
It is perhaps safe to say that with the increased banking and decreased width, the nature of racing at Atlanta would get somewhat closer to that of Daytona or Talladega. In a recent post on X, Junior said sarcastically, “With the way this surface used to be and the obvious change in its surface color, I’m hoping it will continue to lose grip with each season. Soon then it will be an anomaly, unlike any track on the tour. Drivers will be thrilled to see that happen.”
With the way this surface used to be and the obvious change in its surface color, I’m hoping it will continue to lose grip with each season. Soon then it will be an anomaly, unlike any track on the tour. Drivers will be thrilled to see that happen. https://t.co/kTdk0fPIIi
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) February 24, 2024
What do the current drivers have to say about AMS 2.0?
Hendrick Motorsports icon William Byron has been quite successful at the newest version of the 1.54-mile racetrack in Hampton, Georgia. However, that does not mean it is his favorite track to race on. “It’s unique for sure… I wouldn’t want to do it every week,” he admitted.
However, two-time Cup champion Kyle Busch had the most to say about the track. He said, “I just don’t understand or appreciate why we added the banking and the stuff they did here with the reconfiguration. Would I have rather seen them just repave what they had? Probably.”
The biggest grievance almost every driver had with Speedway Motorsports Inc. reconfiguring the track is that SMI did not consult the drivers before making the changes to it. SMI director of operations Steve Swift admitted that the reason behind this was the plain fact that the fans wouldn’t like a track that the drivers like and vice versa. Indeed, another classic example of NASCAR prioritizing its fans over its drivers. But was it the right thing to do? Well, that is up for debate.
