NASCAR at Atlanta preview: Drivers relish challenge abrasive track presents

It’s old, weathered and its abrasive asphalt chews up tires like a grater processes cheese. The kind of place that gives the impression drivers are skating around on ice, at the mercy of a track where grip is at a premium and flirting with danger on every lap.

And yet, Atlanta Motor Speedway, site of Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (2 p.m. ET, Fox), is one of the most revered tracks on the Monster Energy Cup Series schedule, because of the fact that it challenges drivers and emphasizes their skillset like few others. Because it is multi-grooved, drivers have options on how to best circumnavigate the 1.5-mile oval -- Kevin Harvick prefers to stay stuck to the bottom, riding the yellow line through the corners, whereas Kyle Larson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are among those who will jump into the upper groove.

“I love sliding around, especially when you are at the top of the (leader) board doing that,” said Jimmie Johnson, two-time defending race winner and seven-time Cup Series champion. “It’s fun to be on the edge in your racecar.”

Sunday, though, represents the last call for Atlanta’s current surface. The track will undergo a repave with the coarse asphalt being replaced by a smooth, slick surface with no shortage of grip, which will bring with it high speeds that are expected to exceed 200 mph entering Turn 1 and likely less compelling racing.

It marks Atlanta’s first repave since 1997. And that it coincides with another driver-favorite track, Texas Motor Speedway, also being repaved has been met with unfavorably.

“I think we all appreciate tracks with so much character and to have the bad news that two of the tracks with the most character are going to be repaved this year, I think shocked and upset a lot of us,” Johnson said. “We get it. We understand, but it’s just going to take a long time for the track to get back to this condition.

“We all appreciate watching how hard the drivers have to work on tracks like Atlanta. I guess that leads to some of the sadness knowing that this is our last race on this asphalt.”

Dealing with Atlanta’s abrasiveness is compounded by NASCAR’s new three-segment race format and the unknown quantity of how that will effect strategy. A tough challenge made all the more difficult.

Tire wear is so severe that anything but four Goodyears when pitting is ill-advised and drivers who can best preserve and manage their tires over long green-flag runs gain a significant advantage. But teams will now have to start the race on the set of tires they qualified on, and only have an additional 12 sets to utilize throughout the 500-mile event divided up into stages consisting of 85-, 85- and 155-lap increments.

“Atlanta is going to be its ornery old self after you get a few laps on the tires for sure,” Brad Keselowski said.

Will the lure of gaining track position entice teams to employ unconventional strategy like the Toyota teams used in the Daytona 500 where the drivers for Joe Gibbs Racing and Furniture Row Racing all short-pitted in hopes of gaining an advantage at the end? Or, will crew chiefs rely on the tried-and-true approach of taking fresh tires at any opportunity that presents itself?

“You are going to have to manage your tires,” pole-sitter Kevin Harvick said. “You don’t have an abundance of tires anymore so you have to manage what you have.

“If you have a caution or have things happen, every time the caution comes out and you don’t put tires on they become more evil to drive. That should be fun to watch.”

As if an extremely rough track wasn’t enough of a challenge, an added wrinkle presents itself in the form of a new low downforce aerodynamic package featuring a considerably shortened rear spoiler and rules prohibiting how much teams can adjust the rear-end housing to aid how easily a car can turn.

Throughout qualifying and three practice sessions drivers were noticeably on edge more than before, with cars frequently jumping sideways. And that was largely during single-car runs. When in traffic and surrounded by other cars the conditions will only amplify.

“I think the cars are going to be a handful,” Harvick said. “They always slide and move around here, but it seems the falloff is going to be greater. The cars want a lot different setup than what they have had before just because there is not the downforce on the car that there was.”