Resurfaced, reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway could make racing feel like Daytona, Talladega
Saturday afternoon’s only practice for the NASCAR Cup Series at Atlanta Motor Speedway left drivers saying they expect a certain level of calamity in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500.
The track has been repaved and reconfigured since NASCAR last visited here. With higher banking (from 24 to 28 degrees) in the turns, tighter corner widths (55 feet to 40) and a fresh racing surface, racing Sunday is expected to look more like competition at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway than that typically displayed on 1.5-mile tracks.
Saturday’s 50-minute practice featured many laps of pack racing and left some drivers a bit breathless.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was quickest in Saturday practice for Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
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Ricky Stenhouse Jr. led the session at 186.616 miles per hour. Kyle Busch and Christopher Bell followed in the top three. Half a continent away at Texas Motor Speedway, practice for Sunday’s IndyCar race saw speeds top 223.
The speeds at AMS weren’t as bothersome as the uncertainty of how cars will react over 500 miles on a new surface and how racing in tighter packs will create a landscape conducive to wrecks.
Stenhouse described the practice as “kind of chaotic. I think some of the drivers are going to be worn out come Sunday with just how intense and on top of the car you have to be. But I think one mistake, you’re going to wipe out the whole field if it’s at the front. It’ll be kind of crazy to watch this.”
Busch described the frontstretch as “really bumpy. Cars bounce a little bit – they don’t always go straight, they move, so guys holding guys tight is going to be where we start to see some issues. As far as if everybody is going to like it, I guess we will see how many cars finish.”
Some drivers have complained about bumps on the track. Busch said the second and third lanes off turn two are “horrible, like really bad. Turn four is also super, super rough when you are running high – half a lane off the wall is really rough, really jarring.”
Sunday’s race is scheduled for 325 laps. “We run 188 at Talladega and 200 at Daytona, so 125 more laps going through the same thing and being packed up—being in tight conditions, you will be, probably more mentally (tired) than physically,” Busch said. “You are going to be tired after this one.”
Bell said he found himself holding his breath several times during the practice. “It’s going to be unlike anything we have ever seen,” he said. “I can promise you that.”
Stenhouse said he expects the difficult transition from turn banking to pit road to create problems.
“Coming to pit road is going to be super treacherous,” he said. “You’re braking in the corner and the corner isn’t that wide to begin with, so you can’t get off the racetrack to start your braking like you can at Daytona and Talladega. But I think it’ll break the field up. It’ll be exciting.”
Keyword: Forecast for NASCAR Cup Race at Atlanta Calls for Calamity with a Chance of Chaos