Atlanta Motor Speedway

Atlanta Motor Speedway is a speedway in Hampton, Georgia, USA, 20 miles south of Atlanta. It is a 1.54-mile oval track with a seating capacity of over 125,000. It opened in 1960, and added 46 condominiums over the northeastern side of the track in 1994. The track was almost completely rebuilt in a project that was completed in 1997, becoming one of NASCAR's fastest tracks in the process.

Other highlights of the facility are a quarter-mile track between the pit road and the main track for Legends racing and a 2.5-mile (4 km) FIA-approved road course. In 1994, the speedway hosted the Countryfest concert, attracting over 200,000 fans.

NASCAR's Fastest Track

For most of the 1990s and 2000s, the track has boasted the highest speeds on the NASCAR circuit, with a typical qualifying lap speed of about 193 mph and a record lap speed of over 197 mph.

In 2004 and 2005, the similarly designed Texas Motor Speedway saw slightly faster qualifying times, but as the tracks' respective racing surfaces have worn, qualifying speeds at Atlanta have again become consistently faster than at Texas (2005 and 2006).

The NASCAR circuit has two tracks, the longer Talladega Superspeedway and Daytona International Speedway, that were once much faster than Atlanta, with lap speeds usually exceeding 200 mph, but restrictor plates were mandated for use on those tracks in 1988 after Bobby Allison's violent crash at Talladega the year before, reducing average lap speeds to about 190 mph. NASCAR does not currently require restrictor plates at Atlanta.

AMS A Hurricane Shelter?

In early September 2004, AMS found an unexpected use: as a shelter for evacuees from Florida fleeing Hurricane Frances. While there were no indoor facilities available, visitors waited out the extremely slow-moving storm parked in their recreational vehicles, after creeping along for hours in traffic on nearby Interstate 75.

Hit By Tornado

In 2005, the speedway received heavy damage on the evening of July 6, caused by an F2 tornado spawned from the remains of Hurricane Cindy. Roofs and facades were torn off buildings and the track was covered in debris from the tornado, which the National Weather Service confirmed the next day to have had winds of 120 to 150 MPH.

A 50-foot scoreboard tower was knocked down, and others were leaning over, as were many tall lamp posts. Several units at the speedway condominiums were damaged. (Five of the 48 units are regularly occupied.) Everyone managed to get out safely, and there were no injuries reported, in large part because it struck late (9:30PM) on a non-race night.

Officials estimate the complex suffered 40 to 50 million U.S. dollars in damage, which may or may not include the Tara Field airport next to it. Despite this, it opened in time for the next major race.

The damage was severe enough for the track, however, to demolish the main Weaver and Ford Grandstand which had stood in place from its 1960 construction; a smaller (13,000 seat) grandstand on the frontstretch will been added, but the track is removing seats, as sellouts have been rarer since the track lost its prestigious championship decider.

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Trivia

March 26, 1961: Bob Burdick surprises the racing world by winning the Atlanta 500. It is Burdick's first NASCAR Grand National win.

April 2, 1967: Cale Yarborough dominates the Atlanta 500, leading 301 of the 334 laps to record his first career win on a superspeedway. Curtis Turner, driving the Smokey Yunick Chevrolet escapes injury in a wild practice crash.

March 30, 1969: Cale Yarborough dominates the Atlanta 500 in his Mercury, leading 308 of the 334 laps at Atlanta International Raceway. Yarborough's win marks a successful debut for the new Blue Crescent 429-cid engine.

March 26, 1972: Bobby Allison drives his Chevrolet to a near photo-finish victory in the Atlanta 500. Allison records the first speedway win for Chevrolet since 1963.

March 18, 1979: Buddy Baker tames a 40-car field in the Atlanta 500 to notch his first NASCAR Winston Cup Grand National win in nearly three years.

March 16, 1980: Sophomore Dale Earnhardt fends off a pesky Rusty Wallace to score his first superspeedway victory in the Atlanta 500. Earnhardt comes from the 31st starting position to beat Wallace by 9.55 seconds. Wallace was making his NASCAR Winston Cup Grand National debut in a Chevrolet owned by Roger Penske.

March 18, 1984: Benny Parsons outruns Dale Earnhardt and Cale Yarborough in a spirited late-race duel to win the Coca-Cola 500 at Atlanta International Raceway. It is Parsons' 21st NASCAR Winston Cup Grand National win.

March 17, 1985: Driving with a broken leg suffered in a crash at Rockingham, Bill Elliott outruns Geoff Bodine by 2.64 seconds to win the Coca-Cola 500 at Atlanta. Elliott wins two of the first four races, but ranks a distant fifth in the point standings.

March 16, 1986: Morgan Shepherd, driving Jack Bebe's unsponsored Buick, holds Dale Earnhardt at bay in the final laps to win the Motorcraft 500 at Atlanta. The victory is the second of Shepherd's NASCAR Winston Cup career.

November 22, 1987: Bill Elliott leads 162 of 328 laps at Atlanta and easily wins the season finale. Newly crowned NASCAR champion Dale Earnhardt finishes second.

November 20, 1988: Bill Elliott's 11th place finish seals his first NASCAR Winston Cup championship as Rusty Wallace wins the season finale at Atlanta. Elliott finishes 24 points ahead of Wallace in the title chase. For Cale Yarborough and Benny Parsons, it is the last race of their careers.

November 19, 1989: Dale Earnhardt romps to an overwhelming victory in the season-ending Atlanta Journal 500 as Rusty Wallace wraps up his first NASCAR Winston Cup title with a 15th place finish. Wallace nips Earnhardt by 12 points in the final tally. Veteran driver Grant Adcox is killed in a 202nd-lap crash.

March 20, 1993: Morgan Shepherd takes the lead with 12 laps remaining to win the Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 at Atlanta, an event postponed six days due to a blizzard. It is Shepherd's fourth career NASCAR Winston Cup win, three of which have come at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

March 9, 1997: Dale Jarrett leads the final 59 laps and breezes to victory in the Primestar 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway for his first win of the season. Ernie Irvan finishes second, giving the Robert Yates team a 1-2 finish, Steve Grissom survives a tumble on the backstretch late in the race without serious injury.

March 12, 2000: Dale Earnhardt and Bobby Labonte engage in a terrific late-race duel at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Earnhardt leads the final 20 laps and nips Labonte at the finish line by a bumper to score his 75th career NASCAR Winston Cup victory.

March 11, 2001: Kevin Harvick, replacement driver for the late Dale Earnhardt, stunningly wins the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in only his third career NASCAR Winston Cup start.

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