Atlanta Motor Speedway:
History
· Originally called Atlanta International Raceway, the track was then a 1.5-mile paved speedway.
· The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Atlanta was on July 31, 1960, won by Fireball Roberts from the pole.
· The track was re-measured to 1.522 miles in the spring of 1970.
· It was renamed Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1990.
· The track layout was reversed and the track was re-configured to 1.54 miles between the two races in 1997.
Notebook
· There have been 107 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Atlanta
Motor Speedway since the first race there in 1960. Until 2010 there have
been two races per year except 1961, which had three. This year marks
the fourth season with only one event.
· 552 drivers have competed in at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway; 367 in more than one.
· Richard Petty leads the series in starts at Atlanta with 65. Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with 41 starts, followed by Joe Nemechek with 38.
· Fireball Roberts won the inaugural Coors Light pole at Atlanta in 1960 with a speed of 133.870 mph.
· 48 drivers have Coors Light poles at Atlanta, led by Buddy Baker and Ryan Newman with seven each.
· Winning consecutive Coors Light poles has happened eight times at Atlanta, among six drivers.
· Ryan Newman holds the record for most consecutive poles at Atlanta with six; spring of 2003 through 2005.
· Youngest Atlanta pole winner: Terry Labonte (03/15/1981 – 24 years, 3 months, 27 days).
· Oldest Atlanta pole winner: Harry Gant (11/14/1993 – 53 years, 10 months, 4 days).
· 43 different NSCS drivers have won at Atlanta Motor Speedway, led by NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt with nine wins. Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with five.
· 11 drivers have posted consecutive wins at Atlanta Motor Speedway: Marvin Panch (1965 sweep), Bobby Allison (1972 sweep), David Pearson (1973 sweep), Richard Petty (1974 fall, 1975 spring), Cale Yarborough (1980 fall, 1981 spring), Bill Elliott (1985 sweep; 1992 sweep), Dale Earnhardt (1989 fall, 1990 spring; 1995 fall, 1996 spring), Bobby Labonte (1997 fall, 1998 spring), Jeff Gordon (1998 fall, 1999 spring), Carl Edwards (2005 sweep), Jimmie Johnson (2007 sweep)
· Youngest Atlanta winner: Kyle Busch (03/09/2008 – 22 years, 10 months, 7 days).
· Oldest Atlanta winner: Morgan Shepherd (03/20/1993 – 51 years, 5 months, 8 days).
· The Wood Brothers and Hendrick Motorsports have the most wins at Atlanta in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with 12 each:
o Wood Brothers: Cale Yarborough (three), David Pearson (three), Marvin Panch (two), Neil Bonnett (two) A.J. Foyt (one) and Morgan Shepherd (one).
o Hendrick Motorsports: Jeff Gordon (five),Jimmie Johnson (three), Darrell Waltrip (one), Jerry Nadeau (one), Kasey Kahne (one) and Ken Schrader (one).
o Joe Gibbs Racing has the third most wins at Atlanta with 11.
· Nine different manufacturers have won in the NSCS at Atlanta; led by Chevrolet with 38 victories; followed by Ford (29), Pontiac (11), Dodge (nine), Mercury (eight), Buick (four), Plymouth (four), Toyota (three) and Oldsmobile (one).
· 14 of the 107 (13.1%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Atlanta have been won from the Coors Light pole; the most recent was Kasey Kahne in 2006.
· The fifth starting position is the most proficient
starting position in the field, producing more winners (15) than any
other starting position at Atlanta Motor Speedway; the most recent was Jeff Gordon in 2011.
· 26 of the 107 (24.2%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at
Atlanta have been won from the front row: 14 from the pole and 12 from
second-place.
· 60 of the 107 (56.1%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Atlanta have been won from a top-five starting position.
· 85 of the 107 (79.4%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Atlanta have been won from a top-10 starting position.
· Seven of the 107 (6.5%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Atlanta have been won from a starting position outside the top 20.
· The deepest in the field that a race winner has started at Atlanta is 39th, by Bobby Labonte in the fall of 2001.
· No driver has swept the weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway
across all three NASCAR national series. Two drivers have won in
multiple NASCAR national series in the same weekend at Atlanta: Carl Edwards (2005, NSCS/NNS); (fall 2008, NSCS/NNS) and Kyle Busch (spring 2008, NSCS/NCWTS)
· Dale Earnhardt and David Pearson lead the series in runner-up finishes at Atlanta with seven each; Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with five.
· Dale Earnhardt leads the series in top-five finishes at Atlanta with 26; Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with 16.
· Richard Petty leads the series in top-10 finishes at Atlanta with 33; Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with 26.
· Ryan Newman leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average starting position at Atlanta with a 7.409.
· Jimmie Johnson leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average finishing position at 11.522.
· Nine of the 10 active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winners at
Atlanta Motor Speedway participated in at least one or more races before
visiting Victory Lane. Kevin Harvick won at Atlanta in his first appearance (2001). Carl Edwards won in his second appearance (2005).
· Denny Hamlin competed at Atlanta Motor
Speedway 12 times before winning in the spring of 2012; the longest span
of any the 10 active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winners.
· Among the 10 active NSCS Atlanta winners Denny Hamlin (12) is the only driver to have made 10 or more attempts before his first win.
· Joe Nemechek leads the series among
active drivers with the most NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Atlanta
without visiting Victory Lane at 38; followed by Matt Kenseth with 26.
· Since the advent of electronic scoring the closest margin
of victory (MOV) in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Atlanta Motor
Speedway was the March 11, 2001 race won by Kevin Harvick over Jeff Gordon with a MOV of 0.006 second.
· There have been four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races
resulting with a green-white-checkered finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway
(Scheduled No. of Laps/Actual No. of Laps): fall of 2007 (325/329);
spring of 2010 (325/341), fall of 2012 (325/327) and 2014 (325/335).
· Qualifying has been cancelled due to weather conditions in
the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Atlanta Motor Speedway five times; most
recently the fall of 2010.
· One active driver has posted his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (9/01/2013).
· Two active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers have posted their first career start at Atlanta Motor Speedway: Jeff Gordon (11/15/1992) and Martin Truex Jr. (10/31/2004).
· Two active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers have posted their first career win at Atlanta Motor Speedway: Kevin Harvick (3/11/2001) and Carl Edwards (3/20/2005).
· Cale Yarborough leads all drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in laps led at Atlanta with 3,283 laps led in 47 starts. Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers in laps led at Atlanta with 1,297.
· Three female drivers have competed at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Janet Guthrie, Shawna Robinson and Danica Patrick.
Driver
|
Starting Position
|
Finishing Position
|
Date
|
Janet Guthrie
|
34
|
30
|
3/20/1977
|
Janet Guthrie
|
19
|
16
|
11/6/1977
|
Janet Guthrie
|
23
|
10
|
3/19/1978
|
Shawna Robinson
|
31
|
34
|
3/10/2002
|
Danica Patrick
|
23
|
29
|
9/2/2012
|
Danica Patrick
|
21
|
21
|
9/1/2013
|
Danica Patrick
|
27
|
6
|
8/31/2014
|
NASCAR in Georgia
· There have been 166 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races among 12 different tracks in Georgia.
Track Name
|
City
|
NSCS
|
Atlanta Motor Speedway
|
Hampton
|
107
|
Augusta International Speedway
|
Augusta
|
12
|
Lakewood Speedway
|
Atlanta
|
11
|
Savannah Speedway
|
Savannah
|
10
|
Middle Georgia Raceway
|
Macon
|
9
|
Central City Speedway
|
Macon
|
7
|
Valdosta 75 Speedway
|
Valdosta
|
3
|
Jeffco Speedway
|
Jefferson
|
2
|
Oglethorpe Speedway
|
Savannah
|
2
|
Augusta International Raceway
|
Augusta
|
1
|
Columbus Speedway
|
Columbus
|
1
|
Hayloft Speedway
|
Augusta
|
1
|
· 180 drivers in NASCAR national series history have their
home state recorded as Georgia; 15 have won at least once in one of
NASCAR’s national series.
· 11 of the 178 have posted at least one victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
· Bill Elliott (five wins) is the only Georgia native to have won at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Driver
|
NSCS
|
NXS
|
NCWTS
|
Bill Elliott
|
44
|
1
|
0
|
Tim Flock
|
39
|
0
|
0
|
Jack Smith
|
21
|
0
|
0
|
Fonty Flock
|
19
|
0
|
0
|
Bob Flock
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
Frank Mundy
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
David Ragan
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
Gober Sosebee
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
Harold Kite
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
Sam McQuagg
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
Jody Ridley
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
Reed Sorenson
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
Chase Elliott
|
0
|
3
|
1
|
Buckshot Jones
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
Ronald Cooper
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
