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NASCAR, like every other motorsport category, strives to improve racing and safety for its fans and drivers. The most recent development to take place that pushes this endeavor forward is the reprofiling of the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Drivers and teams will head to Hampton, Georgia next week to race at the 1.5-mile-long oval for the Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500.
Notable NASCAR journalist Bob Pockrass confirmed the news on Twitter, writing:
“Based on tire test feedback, Atlanta “softened” entry out of Turn4 to frontstretch dogleg by moving outside wall “in” approx 5 feet at dogleg corner for 320 feet of a wide curve w/new wall/SAFER barrier for smoother transition Turn4 to frontstretch. frontstretch width not reduced”
A fellow fan replied to Pockrass's tweet and posted a picture of the slightly changed oval:
The reasons for the alterations have been cited as data from the new 18-inch tire test. Entry to the dogleg front stretch has been 'softened' and SAFER barriers have been added where required. The width of the front stretch itself has not been altered.
Next Gen NASCAR tires and effect of testing on this Sunday's race
With this new era of stock cars racing in 2022, teams and drivers have had to adapt quickly to stay competitive. Weekends such as Fontana proved to be big unknowns for teams as they tried out new cars and 18-inch tires on the tracks for the first time. With the practice session format changes, the teams had no baseline or historical data to look at.
Sunday's Ruoff Mortgage 500 comes as a slight relief as the new cars had a testing session at the Pheonix Raceway in January this year. This gives the teams and drivers some idea of how the tires are going to behave, what the degradation is going to be like, how abrasive the track surface is and so on.
Catch Ruoff Mortgage 500 this Sunday at 03:30 pm ET.
