In the Pits- KSR

History always in the making at AMS

NASCAR started fast at Atlanta Motor Speedway and hasn’t looked back. The very first race in what is now known as the Sprint Cup Series was won by a driver who would become known as arguably NASCAR’s first superstar—Fireball Roberts. Thus began a storied history of races typically won by marquee drivers, a trend that has helped define Atlanta Motor Speedway as one of the most exciting racetracks in all of stock-car racing.
     It’s a reputation built on speed. With the advent of restrictor-plate racing in 1988, the “fastest” label was gradually re-moved from Daytona and Talladega and applied to Atlanta’s 1.54-mile oval that features 24-degree banking in the turns and Indianapolis-like flatness of 5 degrees in the straights. “At Atlanta you’re basically going to see fast racing, close racing, exciting racing that the drivers enjoy and so do the fans,” says Ed Clark, the longtime president of Atlanta Motor Speedway.
     AMS is a big-time layout that promotes big-time racing—and victories by big-name drivers. Of the 97 Cup races at Atlanta, 61 have been won by drivers who were either past or future champions of the series—a 63 percent clip. That impressive total includes a run of 11 consecutive victories by champions—from 1995 through the first race of the 2000 season.
     The Cup Series returned to Atlanta on March 9 for the Kobalt Tools 500. The season’s second Atlanta race will be the Pep Boys Auto 500 on Oct. 26—the seventh event in the 10-race Chase that determines the series champion.
     Hosting important events, though, is nothing new to AMS. From 1987-2000, the track hosted the season finale for the Cup Series. That 14-year run enabled the speedway to run what many consider to be the most significant race in the series, the 1992 finale. “There were so many stories going into that race,” recalls Clark.
     It was Richard Petty’s final race in Cup competition. It was Jeff Gordon’s first race in the series. And then, there was the little matter of a championship being determined. The day started with six drivers still in the championship hunt. At day’s end, Alan Kulwicki won the championship by a mere 10 points—a series record for the closest championship margin and one that stood until 2004, the inaugural year of the Chase.
Other great moments in ATM history:
• In 1989, Rusty Wallace clinched his first and only Cup title, beating Dale Earnhardt by 12 points.
•    In 1990, Dale Earnhardt rode a third-place effort to his fourth series championship.
•    In 1995, Jeff Gordon won his first series title by beating Earnhardt, who by then had seven crowns, by 34 points.