A Closer Look at Atlanta Motor Speedway

NASCAR rolls on as they enter their fourth weekend of racing since coming back from the pause in the schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After seeing a pair of races at Darlington and Charlotte in the first two weeks, the circuit moved to The World’s Fastest Half Mile at Bristol last week with a highly entertaining race that saw four different drivers hold the lead in the final dozen laps. This week, NASCAR heads to the Peach State and the outskirts of Hotlanta for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 from Atlanta Motor Speedway. Today, we give you some background on the track to give you insight before putting down some wagers on Sunday’s race.

Atlanta Motor Speedway was conceived as an idea in 1958 by Walker Jackson, Lloyd Smith, Garland Bagley, Ralph Scieano and Ike Supporter. After money ran out, the track was completed in 1959 thanks to additional capital investment from Dr. Warren Gremmel, Bill Boyd, Jack Black and Art Lester. The track is a banked quad oval with the turns banked at 24 degrees while the straightaways are set at five degrees.

The first race at the track took place on July 31, 1960 with the Dixie 300. Fireball Roberts won the race from the pole with Cotton Owens and Jack Smith the only other cars on the lead lap. At that point, the track was 1.5 miles around and stayed that way until 1970. The 1970 Atlanta 500, won by Davey Allison, marked the first race with the track at the length of 1.522 miles around. That remained the length of the track until the 1997 NAPA 500, won by Bobby Labonte, when the track was extended to 1.54 miles. As it stands, that remains the current distance of the track.

Among active drivers, Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick have run the most races here with 29. Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson have each run 28 races at the track while Ryan Newman rounds out the top five with 27 starts here. Only six active drivers have ever won here, with Johnson leading the way with five victories. Kurt Busch has three wins, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick each have two checkered flags and Denny Hamlin has one. No one else has managed to claim a victory here, at least not on the top circuit.

Johnson leads the way when it comes to top-five finishes at the track as he has recorded 14. That means he’s run in the top-five in half of his races at Atlanta Motor Speedway in his career. Kenseth is second in line with 11 while Harvick (eight), Kurt Busch (seven) and Kyle Busch (five) round out the top five in that category. When it comes to finishing in the top 10, Kenseth holds the top spot with 17 such finishes, with Johnson right behind at 16. Kurt Busch and Harvick each have 14 while Martin Truex Jr. and Newman are tied for fifth with nine such finishes each. Harvick has led the most laps (1,192) with Kurt Busch (802) and Johnson (586) rounding out the top three in that department.

In the most recent race here at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Keselowski earned the checkered flag. He held off Truex Jr. by .218 seconds to take the win, his second in the last three races here. Kurt Busch, Harvick and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top five in the race. He led just 33 laps in the race and was one of nine drivers to hold the lead for at least one lap, led by Kyle Larson’s race-high 142.

Sunday’s race is slated for 325 laps and should be an entertaining one. It will cap a busy weekend at the track as the Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series runs the Vet Tix Camping World 200 Saturday afternoon. That’s followed by the Xfinity Series running the Echo Park 250 later Saturday afternoon. The Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 is scheduled to start at 3 pm ET on Sunday afternoon with the race televised on Fox and the Performance Racing Network. Chase Elliott was the lucky draw and earned the pole position for Sunday’s race. Aric Almirola will run on the outside of the front row alongside Elliott.

Author Profile
Chris King

Chris King has been immersed in the world of professional and collegiate sports for more than three decades. Whether it's playing pickup games or being involved in organized sports to being a fan, he's checked all the boxes. From the NFL to arena football, the NHL to the KHL, the NBA to the WNBA to college hoops, and even MLB to the KBO. If it's out there, he's covered it and bet on it as well, as Chris has been an expert bettor in his career. Before joining Winners and Whiners back in 2015, his work appeared around the internet and in print. He's written books for Ruckus Books about college basketball, the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, golf, and the World Cup. If you're looking for the inside track on hitting a winner, do yourself a favor and read what Chris has to say.