The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Atlanta Motor Speedway 3 p.m. ET Sunday, FOX
• 1.54-mile race track in Hampton, Georgia, 20 miles south of Atlanta.
• Length: 1.54 mi (2.48 km)
• Banking: Turns: 28°; Straights: 5°
• Capacity: 71,000-125,000 (depending on configuration)
• Owner: Speedway Motorsports
• Opened: July 31, 1960
THE AMS STORY
Competitors started fielding superspeedway cars for NASCAR races in Atlanta with 2022’s Folds of Honor Quiktrip 500, won by William Byron. The combination of superspeedway-spec cars and Atlanta’s revamped, steeper-banked track yielded tighter, more intense racing.
Few who saw Atlanta Motor Speedway in its infancy would recognize the track today, as it’s a far cry from the structure planned in 1958. When the 1.5-mile track, then called Atlanta International Raceway, made its debut on July 31, 1960, it became the seventh superspeedway, a paved facility of one mile or more, to play host to a Cup race. Only three of the original seven; Darlington, Daytona and Charlotte, are still in operation.
With just the Weaver Grandstand and wooden bleachers on the backstretch, fans would bring blankets and sit on the dirt bank.
Bruton Smith changed all that when he purchased Atlanta International Raceway in 1990 and renamed the facility Atlanta Motor Speedway. A year later, the addition of the East Turn Grandstand expanded the seating capacity by 25,000, and the 30 suites that rimmed the top gave new meaning to “luxurious.”
Under Smith, Atlanta Motor Speedway not only has undergone massive expansion, but it has dramatically increased its menu, hosting everything from the Xfinity and Truck Series, drag racing, legends and Bandolero Racing as well as car shows, concerts and business conventions.