New for ‘22: Atlanta Motor Speedway’s NextGen Look!

               Asphalt can only last for so long. Atlanta Motor Speedway is getting a long-expected repave and reprofiling for 2022. Many drivers have said over the last several years that the track shouldn’t be repaved and that they enjoyed the rough surface. However, there comes a time where it has to be done. The current surface is slick, worn and is over 24 years old. The plan for the track is for the banking in the turns to be 28 degrees instead of 24 degrees, as it currently is. This will make Atlanta the steepest intermediate track in terms of banking as well. Straightaway banking will remain at five degrees, but the racing surface will become narrower with a decrease in width from 55 feet to 40 feet. It will be 52 feet on the front stretch, 42 feet on the backstretch and 40 feet in the turns. The project is set to begin construction following the coming race weekend and will debut in 2022 with the NextGen car.

iRacing has created a lot of simulations to get the track to where there can be unique 1.5-mile racing, the cars were shown grouped together in a video with the NextGen car being tested in the simulation. Dale Earnhardt Jr will get to show and test the simulation of the “new-look” Atlanta during NBC’s prerace of the Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart. Speedway Motorsports Inc has partnered with iRacing to test and verify what they wanted the track to look like to provide the best kind of racing, something they didn’t have when reworking other SMI tracks like Las Vegas, Texas and Kentucky. In terms of the repave, with the mix design, they are looking for a surface to make the track come in quicker and make it artificially look “three to five years older” when they take the track. Construction is expected to be completed at the end of October and they will look for Goodyear tire testing with the new surface. The idea is that it will create multiple grooves, instead of what we’ve seen recently with newly repaved tracks where it was one groove. During the press conference, the track is confident that they will see two races in Atlanta for 2022 as well.

“As Atlanta’s racing surface has aged, we’ve challenged ourselves to reimagine what NASCAR racing at an intermediate track can be,” said Speedway Motorsports President and CEO Marcus Smith. “With high banks in the turns, narrower width and new pavement technology, Atlanta will be unlike any other mile-and-a-half track on the circuit. It’s all-new for ’22 and this will be specifically designed for close, competitive racing.”

Steve Swift, Vice President of Operations and Development at Speedway Motorsports, went on to explain that he expects the cars to be more bunched up and closer together, much more like pack racing you would see at Daytona and Talladega. Many had hoped that the track would possibly return to its old configuration with the true oval design, pre-1997, but it was also explained that Marcus Smith, SMI CEO, wanted to do something more innovative and different, much like the Charlotte Roval, NASCAR’s first trip to the Circuit of the Americas and the Bristol Dirt race. Swift also said that the track and SMI did not talk much with drivers on the reconfiguration of Atlanta Motor Speedway. He says that often what drivers want is not what fans want to see and vice versa. He also adds that they would have repaved the track five to seven years ago, that they feared the pavement was not holding together, which it has over this time. He says nothing happened, in particular, this year that made now the time.

In terms of what drivers had to say, some took to Twitter responding to the news after Jenna Fryer asked about driver thoughts. Landon Cassill, Xfinity Series driver, said “I think if you like Darlington, you’re going to like this too.”

Cassill also added, “My guess it will be like Darlington 09 until we see how the pavement ages.”

Josh Bilicki said, “Sadly though seems the drivers thoughts and views are irrelevant, as the track mentioned a few times they ‘did not consult drivers and their opinions.'”

Brandon Hutchinson, the General Manager and Executive Vice President of AMS, is confident that “the fans are going to love the product they will see here in 2022,” adding, “We are changing what racing will look like on an intermediate track.” He also brings up that it’s safe to say that Atlanta will once again see two races in 2022. A promotional video that gives a good first look at the new Atlanta has been posted on Atlanta Motor Speedway’s Twitter page.

Atlanta Motor Speedway will be having a second race weekend for the first time since 2010, replacing Kentucky on the schedule with the running of the Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart on July 10-11. The race is expected to be a near-sellout of what will be the final race under this old configuration. The work will begin as soon as the race weekend is over.