When EchoPark Speedway, formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway, was redesigned into a miniature drafting track to produce superspeedway-style racing in 2022, no one knew quite what to expect.
It has quickly become quite arguably the most exciting track in NASCAR. The thrilling three-wide photo finish in the spring of 2024 was of course an instant classic, and both 2025 Cup Series events were full of non-stop action.
The former was ruined by an anticlimactic race-ending caution, but Saturday night's Quaker State 400 delivered from flag to flag, as Chase Elliott passed Brad Keselowski on the final lap to score the victory.
Four years into this new version of Atlanta, the verdict is in. EchoPark isn't just a smaller Daytona International Speedway or Talladega Superspeedway. It's significantly better.
EchoPark Speedway is what NASCAR pack racing was meant to look like
To longtime NASCAR followers, recent races at Atlanta may bring back memories of a lost era of superspeedway racing, particularly at Daytona prior to its 2010 repave. In those days, the track had character. Handling played a major role and there was off-throttle time in the turns. The packs would get spread out and the cream would rise to the top.
Even at Talladega, the maneuverability was much easier, and the outcomes felt more based on skill than luck. In today's two-by-two gridlock racing with the Next Gen car, they're generally determined by whoever gets out of the pits first on the last stop, whoever has a teammate behind them at the right time, or worst of all, whoever is fortunate enough to not get caught up in the inevitable series of wrecks in the final laps.
Such is not the case at Atlanta. Saturday's race featured 46 lead changes, and these were not just due to one lane inching in front of the other at the start/finish line, or because the drivers were all saving fuel so that they could spend less time on pit road during their final stops. Every single pass was straight-up earned, and every driver fighting for the win at the end was up there because they drove their way up there.
That's what pack racing should be. Unfortunately, it's unlikely that Daytona or Talladega will be fixed in the foreseeable future, likely not until NASCAR designs another new car or the tracks are repaved. When that time comes, though, they need to take notes from EchoPark Speedway, the new gold standard of NASCAR superspeedways.