Why NASCAR races at Atlanta have become different than Daytona, Talladega

After all the hype and all the waiting for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season to begin, suddenly we're two races into the new year.

Through these opening events, there has already been plenty of action. Whether it be having just the second repeat winner of the Daytona 500 in 30 years with William Byron, big wrecks like Ryan Preece's flip in the same race, officiating controversies, or even several driver conflicts, there has been no shortage of storylines.

One thing that has somewhat flown under the radar, however, is a continuing trend regarding the racing product whenever the series visits drafting tracks where pack racing is prevalent.

For the last few years, people from all over the sport have complained about the racing on these tracks, with some of the complaints including that the fact that the entire pack drive at 75% throttle or less to save fuel, the fact that every race turns into a wreckfest at the end, and the fact that drivers are unable to significantly make a difference with their skills.

All of these conversations came up again after the Daytona 500, with Denny Hamlin even suggesting on his podcast, Actions Detrimental, that he is "losing his love" for this type of racing.

Despite also being a drafting track, Atlanta Motor Speedway produced something far different.

Aside from the Georgia track being roughly one mile shorter in length compared to Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, the rest of the track is very similar. It has high banks in the corners, thus allowing drivers to be full throttle around the entire circuit. This creates the formation of giant packs all race long.

With this, the racing at these three tracks should look pretty identical on the surface. But that's simply not the case.

"Atlanta is what most drivers would aspire Daytona and Talladega to be."

Denny Hamlin

While the drivers run three-wide for laps on end around Daytona and Talladega while not being able to pass and instead saving fuel, the racing at Atlanta since its major reconfiguration in 2022 has never been short of chaotic, fierce, high stakes, and downright exciting.

In fact, the last two early-season races at Atlanta have seen over 40 organic lead changes and would have both produced three-wide photo finishes if not for a controversial caution on the final lap this past Sunday.

Why is there such a massive difference in the racing product in Atlanta, compared to Daytona and Talladega?

With Atlanta being a full mile shorter than Daytona and Talladega, there is less room on the race track. With less room on the racing surface, there is less space to make a move to pass or avoid a wreck. Suddenly, every flick of the steering wheel becomes bolder and more important, and the racing becomes more intense.

Perhaps most important of all, the handling of each race car genuinely matters. With the huge amount of grip and drag and low amount of horsepower in the current superspeedway package, the cars have become, in the words of Hamlin and other drivers, too easy to drive at Daytona and Talladega.

At Atlanta, with the track being shorter, its corners tighter, and the rapidly aging track surface, it's more challenging for the both the drivers and the cars to get around the track quickly, especially in a big pack with increased speeds, turbulent air, and higher tire wear. The drivers, as well as car setup, make much more of a difference.

Finally, there's a much smaller dependence on fuel saving. Last week's winning crew chief, Adam Stevens, described it perfectly to Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass in the post-race press conference this past Sunday.

"At Daytona, the length of the runs is outside of the fuel window, so it makes everybody really try to do the fastest pit stop they can. So up until the green flag stop, nobody is racing. Everybody's running around like a bunch of baffoons (driving at a slower pace to save fuel)... In Stage 1 (at Atlanta), you didn't see a bunch of people limping around, scared to make a green flag stop, you saw a bunch of people running hard."

Adam Stevens

Nothing screams high stakes racing quite like every driver giving 100% in every corner on every lap. It gets amplified when everyone is closely packed together and has a shot to win.

That's not to say that fuel mileage racing is bad. There have been plenty of classic races and finishes in which drivers have tried to stretch it to the end, only to run out of fuel on the final lap and lose it all or crawl across the line on fumes.

Unfortunately, when drivers and teams putt around all race to avoid this, it loses its luster. What doesn't help in this scenario is that pack racing also aids with fuel saving, as the massive hole punched in the air allows cars deeper in the pack to use less throttle and still maintain pace. At any other track, they'd simply get overtaken if they limped around.

Can any lessons or ideas be taken from Atlanta and implemented at Daytona and Talladega?

Without actually changing the tracks, there's not much that can really be done. If NASCAR were to change Daytona and Talladega to be more like Atlanta, then they'd lose virtually all the traditional, historical, and beloved factors that make them what they are.

You also can't eliminate, or ban, fuel saving. The crew chiefs and teams are too smart, and the air around the cars is never going to just go away. With that, there will always be a way to do it and gain an advantage.

There are two things that may be worth trying, though.

For one, Stevens also suggested in his post-race presser that either shortening or matching the stage lengths to match the fuel cells will help limit fuel saving. If a tank full of fuel can get you to the end of the stage, then you won't need to save fuel.

If that can't be done, maybe just eliminate stage breaks completely from races at drafting tracks. Without knowing exactly when a caution flag is going to come out, the entire outlook of each team's strategy changes, causing them to pivot and think on the fly.

Continuing to award stage points on certain laps would also keep drivers aggressive, which would help create more unpredictability.

Another thing that can be done is making the cars harder to drive. Following Sunday's race at Atlanta, Hamlin suggested that NASCAR reduces the spoiler height to reduce drag at Daytona and Talladega.

In theory, this change would make the cars harder to drive in regard to handling, make fuel mileage better with less air hitting each car, and make it easier to pull out of line to make a pass without an effective parachute on the back of the car.

Of course, these are all hypothetical scenarios that are being brought up with little testing or concrete information to back them up. It's entirely possible that these changes wouldn't work as intended, or maybe even backfire. Nothing in motorsport is guaranteed.

What is concrete, though, is the incredible racing product that Atlanta provides time and time again, a product which fans, teams, and drivers all enjoy to no end.

While most would agree that the pack racing on drafting tracks isn't the most legitimate or "authentic" form of racing in the sport, in the years to come, they will also agree that Atlanta is one of the best, if not the best, track on the NASCAR schedule.