ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY - HAMPTON GA
The track was built at it's chosen location because one of the investors owned the property. The track is a 1.54-mile race track in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles south of Atlanta. It was originally built as an oval track, having long sweeping corners where handling was important. It has always been fast, as the very first race saw the pole speed be over 133 mph. It has annually hosted NASCAR Cup Series stock car races since its inauguration in 1960. The first race was ran on July 31, 1960, and was dubbed the Dixie 300. 25,000 people turned out for the opening race. Bill France Sr. (founder of NASCAR) flew in for the race and got tied up in traffic. He got out of his car and started directing cars into the lots. I-75 wasn’t complete, so you had to come down U.S. 41. The police in the next town up the road (Jonesboro) were no help at all. They didn’t like them holding races on Sunday when people ought to be going to church. They cooperated
later on, but at first they thought this racetrack was the work of the devil. Joe Weatherly appeared to have the best car in that first race; but after leading 61 laps his motor expired. He ended up finishing 35th. Fireball Robert started on the pole and went on to capture the win at the inaugural race. Cotton Owens; who was leading with just 13 laps to go, finished second. The Fall race of 1960 saw the race lengthened to 500 miles; the length it has remained ever since. Starting in 1961, Fred Lorenzen was the man to beat in the Spring race. He claimed the win every year from 1961-1964. No one could manage to dominate at Atlanta in the late 60's. Cale Yarborough won three times; while Marvin Panch,
LeeRoy Yarbrough and Richard Petty won twice each. The 70's saw Richard Petty claim five wins; while Bobby Allison got four wins and David Pearson three. As Dale Earnhardt moved to the Cup ranks; he found the high banks of Atlanta to his liking as he won five times in the ten events in the 80's. During this time Atlanta played host as the final season ending race for the Cup Series. In 1992; Richard Petty would make his final Cup start; while a young up and coming Jeff Gordon would make his first. Bill Elliott won the race while Alan Kulwicki would win the Championship. The racing surface itself was rebuilt in 1997, adding two bends to the 1.54-mile oval. It became known as one of the fastest tracks in NASCAR, with qualifying speeds well over 197 miles per hour. It was laser-graded every seven feet to make sure
there were no bumps or drops. Four drivers and two crew members have been killed during races at the speedway. The first Cup series fatality was Terry Schoonover, a rookie from Ohio, who died during the 1984 Atlanta Journal 500. Five years later, in the same race, Grant Adcox of Tennessee smashed into the outer wall. A year later one of Bill Elliott’s crew members, Mike Rich of Blairsville, died when a car spun out of control on pit road and struck him as he was changing a tire. This wasn't the first time a crew member was killed at Atlanta. In the late 70's; 18 year old jack man Dennis Wade died when a car driven by Dave Watson came in fast and its brakes locked up, throwing the machine into a skid; striking
Wade. Driver Chad Coleman died in 1998, and driver Stuart Lyndon died in 1985; both while running in an ARCA Series race. The track hosted two Cup races every year from it's opening through 2010. At that time NASCAR juggled the schedule and Atlanta was reduced to just one race; and moved September. In 2015 the race dates were moved back to the Spring. 2021 saw Atlanta once again expand back to two races per season. In 2022 it was decided the track was due for a repave. The track had been wanting to do it for several years; but the fans and the drivers liked the old worn out surface because it provided better racing and took more car control. While the track was going to repave; they went ahead and dug up the entire race surface. The track banking was increased from 24 to 28 degrees; and narrowed from 55 to
40 feet. This produced racing much like at Daytona and Talladega. Tight pack racing, with big crashes. But during the first year after it was reconfigured, Georgia boy Chase Elliott would win there.
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