(formerly Atlanta International Raceway) is a
Superspeedway in
Hampton, Georgia , twenty miles (32 km) south of
Atlanta . It is a 1.54-mile (2.48 km) quad-oval track with a
Seating Capacity of over 125,000. It opened in
1960 as a 1.5 mile standard oval. In 1994, 46
Condominium s were built over the northeastern side of the track. In
1997 , to standardise the track with Speedway Motorsports' other two 1.5 mile ovals, the entire track was almost completely rebuilt. The frontstrech and backstrech were swapped, and the configuration of the track was changed from oval to quad-oval. The project made the track one of the fastest on the
NASCAR circuit.
Other highlights of the facility are a quarter-mile track between the pit road and the main track for Legends racing and a 2.5-mile (4 km)
FIA -approved road course. In 1994, the speedway hosted the Countryfest concert, attracting over 200,000 fans.
For most of the 1990s and 2000s, the track boasted the highest speeds on the NASCAR circuit, with a typical qualifying lap speed of about 193 mph (311 km/h) and a record lap speed of over 197 mph (317 km/h). In and
Daytona International Speedway , that were once much faster than Atlanta, with lap speeds usually exceeding 200 mph (322 km/h), but
Restrictor Plate s were mandated for use on those tracks in 1988 after
Bobby Allison 's violent crash at Talladega the year before, reducing average lap speeds to about 190 mph (306 km/h). NASCAR does not currently require restrictor plates at Atlanta, which helped lead to the adoption of the track's commercial slogan, "Real Racing. Real Fast."
In early for
Evacuee s from
Florida fleeing
Hurricane Frances . While there were no indoor facilities available, visitors waited out the extremely slow-moving storm parked in their
Recreational Vehicle s, after creeping along for hours in
Traffic on nearby
Interstate 75 .
In
Airport next to it. Despite this, it opened in time for the next major race.
[http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/3744894
The damage was severe enough for the track, however, to demolish the main Weaver and Ford Grandstands on the backstretch, which were the track's original grandstands when built in 1960. A new 13,000-seat grandstand on the frontstretch, the Winners Grandstand, replaced the lost seats.
Lights were installed for
Indy Racing League races from 1998 until 2001. In 2003, qualifying for the Bass Pro Shops 500 was moved to Friday night, and shortly afterwards both Cup races began featuring night qualifying. In 2006, the Bass Pro Shops 500 start time was adjusted to guarantee a night finish.
The opening scenes of the 1980 movie ''
Smokey And The Bandit II '' were filmed at the track.
''See also:''
List Of NASCAR Race Tracks
- , 28.074 s (197.478 mph), 1997
- , 3 h 3 min 3 s (163.633 mph), November 12 , 1995
- , 28.830 s (192.300 mph), 2003
- , 1 h 58 min 55 s (151.751 mph), March 8 , 1997
- , 30.339 s (182.735 mph), 2005
- , 1 h 27 min 35 s (142.424 mph), March 18 , 2005
