Atlanta to be repaved after Cup Series race in March
One of the oldest surfaces in NASCAR is being repaved.
Atlanta Motor Speedway said Tuesday it would be resurfacing the 1.54-mile track after the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at the track in March.
A track release said the new surface would be laid down atop the current surface, which has been used since it was put down in 1997 and is the second-oldest in the Cup Series. The track said it wouldn’t be making any modifications to the banking in the corners, which is 24 degrees. Intermediate tracks like Homestead, Las Vegas and Kansas have added progressive banking in the corners — where the top groove is slightly more banked than the bottom — during their repaves in recent years.
One of the selling points of Atlanta has been the age of the pavement, which quickly wears out tires and provides multiple grooves of racing. But repaves are inevitable, and this was a decision that was coming sooner rather than later. Texas Motor Speedway, another track with a 15+-year old surface, will also likely be repaved sometime soon.
Repaves are an easy target for blame for one-groove racing. The new pavement has more grip and takes time to wear in. That transition period typically means minimal side-by-side racing and higher corner speeds. And we all know that higher corner speeds are not a good thing for compelling racing.
But just because something is an easy target doesn’t mean it’s a totally correct target. Cup cars fly through the corners on new surfaces because of all the downforce they have. The downforce and speeds put a lot of pressure on tires; and Goodyear hasn’t found a solution for a reliable tire on a fresh surface that shows lots of wear.
There’s always going to be a cycle of repaves in NASCAR. It’s up to the sanctioning body and the tire maker to figure out a way to minimize their impact. Cutting downforce, like NASCAR is doing for the second-straight year in 2017, is a good start.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
