HAMPTON, Ga. – Ever since its 2022 reconfiguration transformed the former Atlanta Motor Speedway into the drafting-style spectacle now known as EchoPark Speedway, the action has been relentless. The track has produced photo finishes, frequent lead changes and edge-of-your-seat racing, earning praise from many within the NASCAR industry as one of the hottest tickets on the circuit.
That will again be the case for Sunday evening’s Quaker State 400 (7 p.m. ET, TNT Sports, truTV, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), as fans will flock to the Atlanta suburb from all 50 states and 24 different countries to see the chaos.
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The natural progression toward electrifying racing has been a steady buildup. Each time the Cup Series returns to the 1.5-mile venue, the layout gains a touch more character, drawing it closer to its former self.
“It started out and was really easy, wide open, superspeedway-style Daytona and Talladega builds,” Travis Mack, crew chief for John Hunter Nemechek, told NASCAR.com Saturday morning. “Slowly, over time, the track is returning to its original character: worn out, grip loss. It’s slowly turning back into old Atlanta. It’s going to take some more time, but we’re slowly building more handling characteristics in the car, not the full-kill Daytona and Talladega packages.”
That leads to a challenge atop the pit box for all the crew chiefs. Some cars are set up to produce significant drag, which improves handling over the course of the run. Others are assembled more similarly to an intermediate package and get every tenth of speed, but could be difficult to drive over a long run, giving a solid mix of setups throughout the field.
“I feel like you get a lot of guys that still approach it like a speedway and some guys that approach it like an intermediate, and it gets the field in different places at different times during the races,” Chris Lawson, leader of the No. 34 team and Todd Gilliland, said. “You get guys that are good at the beginning of the runs and get guys that are good at the end of the runs.
“You have to have raw speed to stay up front if you do get track position, but at the same time, it’s got to drive good enough to get there. It’s definitely a challenging place over the last couple of years, more so than before.”
For organizations like Legacy Motor Club and Front Row Motorsports, EchoPark is an equalizer. At least 16 cars have been involved in incidents across all nine races since the reconfiguration. But strategy will remain paramount, as the winner of all nine races made either two-tire or fuel-only stops on their final pit road visits.
The biggest fear among crew chiefs is green-flag pit stops. With the yellow flag frequently flying – six of the nine races have hit double-digit cautions – teams rarely drop down to pit lane under green conditions. But getting down to pit-road speed entering Turn 3 is tricky, and should a caution fly, it could cost teams multiple laps.
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“The last thing you want to do here is pit under green,” Mack added. “I think we’ve had one pit stop under green and it’s chaos. You want to run as long as you possibly can, but you also have to pit with a pack, so you don’t lose the draft, either.”
Another factor for Lawson is that the No. 34 team has advanced to the third round of the In-Season Challenge, attempting to make a 2011 VCU-like run to the Final Four. Admittedly, he will have one eye centered on opponent Alex Bowman throughout all 400 miles, who entered the tournament as the 32nd seed, while Gilliland is No. 25.
“I would be lying if I said we weren’t going to be paying attention to who we are matched up with this week and what they do and different strategies,” Lawson acknowledged, noting he didn’t mix up his strategy the first two weeks. “You’ve got to take the little wins, and if we can manage to move on another round, that would be a huge thing for our team.”
And like Ty Dillon’s magical run to the championship round in 2025, don’t count Gilliland out from taking home the $1 million prize.
“If we can get through this one, anything can happen,” Lawson said defiantly. “It’s crazy to think that we’re the underdog as much as we are, but I really feel like we have a shot at winning this thing.”