From the day it first opened its gates to NASCAR fans in 1960, Atlanta Motor Speedway has had an identity crisis.
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From having several ownership groups, to bankruptcy in 1971, an increase in length from 1.52 miles to 1.54 miles (did anyone really notice the difference?), numerous increases in seating capacity over the years, to a tornado in 2005 that caused over $40 million in damages, AMS — rechristened as EchoPark Speedway earlier this year — has often been in the news almost as much for non-racing as it has been for racing itself.
Speaking of racing, the track has gone through a number of repavings over the years, a relocated finish line and then a total reconfiguration after the 2021 season to add banking in the turns, widened the frontstretch — but made the turns narrower — and pushed the start-finish line bit further down the track.
But through it all, Atlanta has always had that identity crisis: it’s the little track that from Day 1 has thought of itself as a superspeedway, essentially a miniature version of Talladega Superspeedway. For the most part, drivers and fans loved the old pre-reconfiguration track. It was bumpy and slick and, as countless drivers referred to it, had “character.”
For the better part of the 1990s and until around 2010 or so, AMS was the fastest non-restrictor plate track around. Drivers routinely hit speeds in excess of 200 mph, so much so that NASCAR officials several times considered adding restrictor plates to races at the 1.54-mile oval.
But they never did because it would have taken away the superspeedway allure. It was not a superspeedway in name only; it truly was one — albeit a mini version of ‘Dega, which, at 2.66 miles, is over a mile longer.
Races lost, races returned
Through the years, AMS drew its share of both applause and derision. When attendance started to falter significantly from the start of the new century through 2010, NASCAR took away AMS’s twice-yearly spots on the Cup schedule and gave the track just one Cup race per year.
That single-race era lasted 10 years, from 2011 through 2020, before NASCAR reinstated the track to two annual races. Much of the reason for that reinstatement was because after a red flag situation in the July 2021 race at AMS that stopped racing for close to a half hour because pavement was coming apart, then-track president Ed Clark promised the already announced major rehab would turn AMS back into a state-of-the-art facility that would not only reinvigorate drivers and teams, but also bring fans back.
Long known as a “can-do” kind of guy, Clark’s promise was not only fulfilled, it exceeded expectations — far exceeded expectations, in fact.
When AMS reopened its doors in spring 2022 after the nearly six-month rehab project, it was a glowing racing palace once again.
Saturday’s race was one for the ages
Which brings us to Saturday night’s race. At a track that’s seen countless highlights — most notably the 1992 season finale when Richard Petty drove his last Cup race, Jeff Gordon drove his first and underdog Alan Kulwicki came from behind to beat Bill Elliott for the Winston Cup championship — Saturday’s Quaker State 400 will likely go down in history as one of the track’s best-ever.
And in ironic fashion, hometown hero Chase Elliott — okay, he and his NASCAR Hall of Famer father Bill, are both from Dawsonville, Ga., 85 miles away from EPS — won a race that few will forget, breaking a 44-race winless streak (longest of his career) and likely protecting job security for Elliott and crew chief Alan Gustafson.
Then again, countless fans likely will want to quickly forget Saturday’s race with the way some of their favorite big-name drivers, including Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez, William Byron, Ryan Blaney and others — saw their days come to an end due to 10 cautions (most due to multi-car “big one” wrecks).
Admittedly, several current or former drivers didn’t want to see AMS reconfigured, among them Kevin Harvick (he wanted to see the place blown up entirely and replaced by a Bristol-like short track), Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney, Austin Dillon and the king of keeping the character of old tracks intact, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
But after Saturday’s race, and aside from the drivers whose days ended in mishaps and mayhem, most are already looking forward to next spring’s race.
Perhaps the best way to describe that “we can’t wait for” feeling is NASCAR analyst Kyle Petty, who boldly proclaimed that Atlanta “is the best track on the NASCAR calendar. … They should race there every week as far as I’m concerned because it is great NASCAR racing.”
It’s hard to argue with Petty’s logic, for sure.
