All three NASCAR circuits will be heading to Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend and the track looks a lot more different than when NASCAR last visited in July 2021. The track has since been repaved and has been reconfigured. The banking in the turns has increased by 4 degrees, making 28 degrees of banking. The track width also decreased from 55 feet to 40 feet. The track now has a feel of a miniature superspeedway. There are a lot of unknowns heading into the weekend and only time will tell to see how all three series will run at.
NASCAR is Heading to the 2023 24 Hours of LeMans
An announcement was made on Thursday at Sebring that NASCAR will be applying for the Garage 56 entry at the 2023 24 Hours of LeMans. In a collaboration project with Rick Hendrick, Chevrolet, Goodyear, and IMSA, the plan is to run a modified NextGen Chevrolet Camaro, in which yes, it will have lights, and run all 24 hours of it. Drivers have not been announced but Rick Hendrick that Jeff Gordon “will be put on a diet.” Jimmie Johnson could be another name to throw in with his sports car racing experience now. Former seven-time champion crew chief, Chad Knaus, will be leading the project as the program manager. NASCAR and Bill France did bring two stock cars to the 1976 24 Hours of LeMans, one owned by Herschel McGriff, and another owned by Junie Donlavey. Both cars did not finish the race and Rick Hendrick plans to clock down fast laps and finish the full event.
“From the early days of NASCAR, it was important to my father that we played a visible role in international motorsports, and there is no bigger stage than the 24 Hours of Le Mans,” NASCAR chairman and CEO Jim France said. “In partnering with Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear, we have the winningest team, manufacturer, and tire in NASCAR history. We look forward to showcasing the technology in the Next-Gen car and putting forward a competitive entry in the historic race.”
Garage 56 is a special class of its own that was introduced in 2012 to showcase cars with new innovations and technologies. It is unknown what will be shown off for the event, but some may speculate that NASCAR could show its new hybrid system that could debut as early as 2024.
NASCAR Atlanta Preview
Atlanta Motor Speedway looks a lot different now than it did a year ago. The track has always been a 1.5-mile race track but now it could be considered as a 1.5-mile superspeedway. SMI and AMS announced during the July race weekend last year about the reconfiguration, which left some drivers like Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin in skepticism about the repave due to there being no driver input on it.
The NASCAR Truck Series enters its third race of the season as Zane Smith won the season opener at Daytona and Chandler Smith won at Las Vegas two weeks ago. Kyle Busch won this race a year ago, who is not entered in this race. Ross Chastain will drive the #41 for Neice Motorsports, the team he took to the championship four in 2019. Chandler Smith will start from the pole since qualifying was canceled due to inclement weather on Friday.
My Truck Series Pick Four:
Gran Enfinger
John Hunter Nemecheck
Matt DiBenedetto
Christian Eckes
The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads into race five of the 2022 Season, with Noah Gragson coming off a victory at Phoenix last weekend. Justin Allgaier won this race a year ago and Kyle Busch won here last July. Noah Gragson will lead the field to the green flag since qualifying was canceled due to inclement weather on Friday. There is a lot of unpredictability but after watching practice this morning, there will be a lot of drafting and pack racing kind of similar to Daytona and Talladega.
My Xfinity Series Pick Four:
Justin Allgaier
Daniel Hemric
Trevor Bayne
Landon Cassill
The NASCAR Cup Series returns to Atlanta for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 as Chase Briscoe got his first cup series win last week at Phoenix, returning Tony Stewart’s #14 to victory lane. Greg Biffle is entered into this race in the #44 for NY Racing. Chase Briscoe will lead the field to the green flag since qualifying was canceled due to inclement weather on Friday.
My Cup Series Pick Four:
Ryan Blaney
Joey Logano
Brad Keselowski
Kurt Busch
The NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and Truck Series head next to the Circuit of the Americas next weekend.
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