NASCAR Cup Series at Atlanta Motor Speedway

History

From 1987 until 2001, the race was scheduled as the final race of the NASCAR season, and thus was typically the event in which the champion was decided. Several times, however, the championship had already been clinched prior to this race, rendering the race anticlimactic. In some cases, the championship would be decided the moment the points leader took the green flag to start the race – effectively clinching enough championship points by finishing last or better. Other times the championship might be decided early or mid-race, well before the checkered flag. For instance, in the 1993 race, Dale Earnhardt needed to finish 34th or better to mathematically clinch the championship. On lap 117 of 328, eight cars had dropped out of the race (including teammate Neil Bonnett in an intentional start and park). That meant Earnhardt could finish no worse than 34th and had effectively clinched the title before the race had reached the halfway point.

The 1992 race marked the final race for Richard Petty, and coincidentally, the debut for Jeff Gordon. With six drivers eligible for the Winston Cup Championship, the race is widely regarded as one of the greatest NASCAR races of all time. Alan Kulwicki, who finished second in the race, edged out Bill Elliott, the race winner, by leading one more lap in the race. Kulwicki won the NASCAR Winston Cup title by a then-record margin of only 10 points.

The 1998 race was run mostly at night after a long rain delay; despite the inexperience with the lights, newly installed for an Indy Racing League race, NASCAR and the teams agreed to attempt finishing the race at night. It was shortened to 221 laps because it was after 11:00 p.m. EST and NASCAR wanted to "get the fans out at a decent hour". The 1999 Cracker Barrel 500 also ended at night. This would mark a springboard of sorts for finishing delayed races at night by utilizing a track's permanent lighting system.

In 2001, the race was scheduled as the season finale; however, it ended up being the second-to-last race. The New Hampshire 300 was postponed from September 16 to the Friday after Thanksgiving, due to 9/11. Beginning in 2002 the race was moved to mid-October as NASCAR elected to hold its final race at Homestead–Miami Speedway instead of Atlanta. The 2003 race started a tradition of night qualifying at Atlanta, which has carried over to the spring race as well.

In 2006, the race start time was changed from 12:40 pm. EDT to 2:55 pm. EDT to finish the race at night. Driver complaints erupted because of the track's troublesome situation, where the sun can get into the driver's eyes in Turn 1, including leading to a crash during the time the sun sets in that area of the track between Jeff Gordon and Jamie McMurray, which led to the abandonment of the 3 pm start after this race.

During the race's history as the second in Atlanta, it had been rumored to be either eliminated or moved several times in recent years. On February 29, 2008, it was reported that Bruton Smith, the president of the track's owner, Speedway Motorsports, was talking with International Speedway Corporation (the owner of numerous other NASCAR tracks) about a possible date switch for 2009 with one of its tracks. He proposed a move that involved the fall Atlanta race and the Pepsi 500, the Labor Day weekend race held at Auto Club Speedway. Doing so would give the Fontana, California track a race in the Chase for the Championship and also make the three races that precede the beginning of the Chase closer to each other geographically. Prior to the realignment, the teams raced in the Sharpie 500 at Bristol the week before Labor Day, then traveled cross country to California for the Pepsi 500, and then came back across the country to run the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond the following Saturday. Smith's offer to have Atlanta as the Labor Day weekend race was accepted and was officially announced by NASCAR on August 19, 2008. However, instead of moving the race at Auto Club Speedway (previously on Labor Day weekend) to Atlanta's spot on the schedule at the end of October, the AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway was moved to that spot after previously being at the beginning of October, and the aforementioned Pepsi 500 was moved to the beginning of October in Talladega's old spot.

In 2015, Atlanta's lone race date moved to the second week of the season in early March, with the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway returning to its traditional Labor Day weekend date. Atlanta will be run on a Sunday afternoon. This event used to be called the Oral-B USA 500, and this event used to be aired on ESPN for 6 years preceding the Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway and the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway

On July 10, 2022, the track announced that Ambetter would be the title sponsor of the race starting in 2023. The company, owned by Centene Corporation, was the title sponsor of the Ambetter Get Vaccinated 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (another Speedway Motorsports-owned track) in 2021 and the Cup Series race at New Hampshire in 2022. QuikTrip, one of the two title sponsors of the race since 2015, announced prior to the 2022 race that it would be their last year as title sponsor. Folds of Honor, the other title sponsor of the race, did not return in 2023 as their title sponsorship was as a result of a partnership they have with QuikTrip.

Past winners

• 1977 & 2002: Race shortened due to rain
• 1998: Race shortened
• 2000: Race postponed from Sunday to Monday due to rain.
• 2003: Race started on Sunday but was finished on Monday due to rain.
• 2007, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2025, & 2026: Race extended due to a NASCAR Overtime finish.
• 2011: Race delayed from Sunday night to Tuesday morning due to rain.
• 2020: Race postponed from March 15 to June 7 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Multiple winners (drivers)

Notable races

• 1966: Richard Petty led 90 laps and beat Buddy Baker for his first Atlanta win, but the story of the race centered on pole-sitter Curtis Turner and third-starting Fred Lorenzen. With Ford's participation stopped in a dispute over engine rules, the season had been dominated by Chrysler race cars. Turner entered a Smokey Yunick Chevrolet rumored to be radically altered and not in compliance with the NASCAR rulebook; Lorenzen drove Junior Johnson's Ford, a car nicknamed "The Yellow Banana" because the body had been visibly altered; both cars passed NASCAR inspection where others did not. Turner led 60 laps and finished 24th with distributor failure while Lorenzen led 24 laps and was eliminated in a crash, finishing 23rd.
• 1971: Richard Petty became the first stock car driver to reach $1 million in career earnings after a race-long duel with Bobby Allison.
• 1976: Dave Marcis took his final superspeedway win. Driving Harry Hyde's famous No. 71 Dodge, Marcis engaged in a nose-to-nose battle for most of the first 64 laps with Buddy Baker, Cale Yarborough, and David Pearson. Part-time racer Dale Earnhardt survived a huge crash with some 60 to go when Dick Brooks hit the wall in Three and slid into Earnhardt's path; Earnhardt tumbled to the fourth turn.
• 1977: The race shortened due to rain/darkness. Darrell Waltrip took advantage of the lapped car of James Hylton to storm past Donnie Allison on the last lap; Allison crashed with Cale Yarborough coming to the stripe.
• 1978: A scoring breakdown led to an embarrassing change of the declared winner. Manual scoring ruled that Richard Petty had edged Dave Marcis at the stripe, but a recheck hours later proved that Donnie Allison, who finished two lengths ahead of Petty and Marcis, had indeed won.
• 1979: Neil Bonnett edged Dale Earnhardt, Yarborough, and Bobby Allison in a hot four-car battle over the race's final 20 laps. Following the race, Darrell Waltrip took a two-point lead over Richard Petty entering the season finale in Ontario.
• 1980: A multi-car wreck in the first 20 laps eliminated the Allison brothers and other contenders, leaving Cale Yarborough to breeze all but uncontested to the win; the win helped him close to within 29 points of leader Dale Earnhardt with one race left in the 1980 title chase.
• 1981: ESPN televised the race live, the first such telecast for the third-year cable network. The race turned into a spirited affair as Neil Bonnett and Richard Petty fought back and forth for the lead amid bids by Darrell Waltrip, Joe Ruttman, and Harry Gant. The final two laps were a fierce duel won by Bonnett over Waltrip and Cale Yarborough.
• 1982: The race set a track record for lead changes at 45, among 14 drivers. Blistered tires ruined a victory bid by Richard Petty as Bobby Allison outdueled Darrell Waltrip and Harry Gant for the win. This would be the final start for Country music singer Marty Robbins, who would die in December of that year.
• 1984: Driver Terry Schoonover was killed in the race after crashing into the barrier in turn two.
• 1986: Dale Earnhardt wrapped up his second career title by completely dominating the Dixie 500. The rest of the top five was a list of NASCAR luminaries – Richard Petty, Bill Elliott, Tim Richmond, and Buddy Baker.
• 1987: For the first time, this race was scheduled as the final race of the NASCAR season.
• 1989: In this race, independent driver Grant Adcox was killed in a crash.
• 1990: With cars packed tightly together for late-race pit stops under yellow (the result of NASCAR's rule closing pit road when the yellow comes out instead of letting cars pit before taking the yellow), one of Bill Elliott's crew members was killed when Ricky Rudd was coming into the pits for service and lost control of his car. This led to NASCAR mandating a speed limit on pit road for crew member's safety.
• 1992: Widely considered one of the most dramatic NASCAR races of all time. See 1992 Hooters 500
• 1993: Race winner Rusty Wallace and Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt circled the track in a Polish Victory Lap, carrying No. 7 and No. 28 flags to honor Alan Kulwicki and Davey Allison who were both killed in aviation accidents during the season. Both Kulwicki and Allison were key fixtures exactly one year earlier at the classic 1992 race.
• 1995: Jeff Gordon wrapped up his first series title as Dale Earnhardt drove his No. 3 to victory at the race time of 3 hours, 3 minutes, and 3 seconds. Jeff Gordon became the youngest champion of NASCAR's Modern Era at 24 years, 3 months, and 3 days old. Dale Earnhardt scored his 7th win at Atlanta, tying Cale Yarborough as the all-time winningest driver at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
• 1996: Bobby Labonte took the win, the first for Joe Gibbs Racing building its own engines after four seasons running Rick Hendrick engines. Terry Labonte clinched the 1996 Winston Cup Championship driving for Hendrick Motorsports. The two made a victory lap together and celebrated together in victory lane.
• 1997: 325 laps / 500.5 miles with new configuration. Bobby Labonte won in JGR's first win with Pontiac; Pontiacs dominated the top ten at the finish
• 1998: Race shortened due to rain and darkness. Rain delays throughout the day made the race go into midnight, and track officials wanted the fans to get home at a decent hour. First night Cup race.
• 2000: Race postponed from Sunday to Monday due to rain. Final career start for Darrell Waltrip. It would be the final time the event would be the last race of the NASCAR season.
• 2001: Was scheduled to be the final race of the 2001 season, but Loudon was moved to the weekend after due to 9/11. That instead made this the second-to-last race of the season.
• 2002: Race shortened due to rain. Moved from November to October, such that the race will no longer be the final race of the NASCAR season.
• 2009: Race moved from October to Labor Day weekend, marking the first regularly scheduled NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta to start at night. Kasey Kahne took the win, the second of the year for the team now under the aegis of Richard Petty Motorsports.
• 2011: Race postponed from Sunday night to Tuesday afternoon due to rain. Jeff Gordon scored his 85th career win after a fierce duel with teammate Jimmie Johnson over the final ten laps on worn tires, giving him sole possession of third on the all-time wins list and the most wins by a driver in NASCAR Modern Era (1972–present). This was only the second time in NASCAR's Modern Era that a race was postponed to a Tuesday, the other time coming in August 2007 at Michigan (also for rain). Gordon was honored by NASCAR president Mike Helton with a framed portrait of photos from past victories by Jeff made into the shape of the No. 85 to commemorate the milestone victory.
• 2015: The start of the race was delayed nearly an hour due to rain. Once the race began there were two wrecks, one with 69 laps to go where two cars were involved, and another wreck with 21 laps to go. Six cars were involved in the second incident, which brought a nine-minute, one-second red flag to facilitate cleanup on the track. Jimmie Johnson scored his first win of the season.
• 2016: Johnson repeated as race winner and tied Dale Earnhardt with 76 career Cup wins. Matt Kenseth was black flagged on a green flag stop when a crewman left a wedge wrench on the rear deck and another crewman picked it up for use on the car; a communication breakdown meant Kenseth stayed on the racetrack for five laps and was not scored for one of those laps.
• 2017: 2500th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race. Kevin Harvick led 292 of the 325 laps and looked to be on his way to his second win at Atlanta until a caution came out for Austin Dillon's stalled car. When they came down pit road under caution, Harvick got caught speeding exiting sending him to the rear of the field. Kyle Larson found himself on his way to the win, until with seven laps to go left the door open as if he were oblivious, allowing Brad Keselowski to pass him and ultimately win. It was also the first time the stage racing format was used at Atlanta, where stages 1 and 2 were 85 laps long each, and stage 3 comprising the final 155 laps of the event. Last race on the original pavement laid down when the track was reconfigured in 1997, but voices from fans and drivers are calling for them not to repave the surface, even though several drivers saw tires fail during the race.
• 2022: The 2022 race marked the first event to be held on the track after it was repaved and reprofiled with steeper turns and a narrower racing surface, with a new rules package to emulate superspeedway racing like that seen at Daytona and Talladega. The event set a then-track record for lead changes, with 46 lead changes among 20 leaders. William Byron took his third career Cup victory after dominating the closing portion of the race.
• 2024: Daniel Suárez scored his 2nd career NCS victory in a three-wide photo finish with Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch. The margin of victory was 0.003 seconds between Suárez and Blaney, and 0.007 seconds between Suárez and Busch. This was the third-closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history, behind the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington and the 2011 Aaron's 499 at Talladega (both races were won by 0.002 seconds). The race broke the 2022 race's of lead changes, with 48 lead changes among 14 drivers.

History

From 1960 to 2010 and as a July race since 2021. The race is one of two races currently held at the Atlanta track every season, with the Autotrader 400 being the other and run at various times (originally November, later October and currently the second race of the season as of 2024).

The race was originally 500.5 miles (805.5 km) on the 1.54-mile quad-oval (325 laps). In August 2010, Atlanta Motor Speedway announced that they would no longer run this spring race, instead choosing to focus on the Labor Day weekend race at the track beginning in 2011. The end of the Atlanta 500 was followed by the addition of a race at Kentucky Speedway starting in 2011, primarily due to litigation by Kentucky's former owners and a settlement of that trial.

On September 30, 2020, Speedway Motorsports announced Kentucky would lose its Cup race and the event be moved back to Atlanta, to be held July 11, 2021. The race would be 260 laps (400.4 miles), owing to Shell's prior sponsorship agreements and the first since 1966 to be held at the track at 400.4 miles (644.4 km). The event was held under the lights in 2023, the opening race of the playoffs race in 2024. The 2025 event marked the opening round of the inaugural NASCAR In-Season Challenge, as well as a return to a night race ran on a Saturday night. In 2026, the race would retain it's night race, but moved to Sunday night.

On June 12, 2026, it was announced that Dollar Tree would replace Quaker State as the title sponsor in 2027.

Notable races

• 1960: The first race at Atlanta International Raceway (now Atlanta Motor Speedway) was won by Bobby Johns in a 1960 Pontiac.
• 1961: Bob Burdick led 44 laps to his only career Grand National win. Pole sitter Marvin Panch led 127 laps but faded to sixth, while Fred Lorenzen led 87 laps but fell out with engine failure. Rookie Bobby Allison finished 37th.
• 1964: Fred Lorenzen led the last 168 laps and 206 in all, en route to a two-lap win amid an epidemic of tire failures and resultant crashes; Paul Goldsmith led the first 54 laps but blew a tire, smashed the guardrail, and flipped over.
• 1966: Jim Hurtubise led the final 58 laps in his only career Grand National win.
• 1971: A. J. Foyt outdueled Richard Petty for his fifth career win.
• 1972: Bobby Allison posted the first win for Chevrolet on a superspeedway since the 1960s, as he held off a strong challenge from A. J. Foyt and Bobby Isaac.
• 1974: Cale Yarborough grabbed the lead when David Pearson pitted under green and was trapped by an ill-timed yellow; the race was shortened to 450 miles (720 km) due to the energy crisis.
• 1975: After winning the Dixie 500 four times, Richard Petty edged Buddy Baker for his first Atlanta 500 win.
• 1976: David Pearson lost a lap early and spent 225 laps getting it back before winning. Cale Yarborough lost four laps on a green-flag stop and got three of them back to finish third.
• 1977: Richard Petty, David Pearson, and Cale Yarborough finished 1–2–3 as they combined to lead all 328 laps. Yarborough finished third after his brakes wore out and at times he had to be stopped by Richard Childress' car on pit road. Only two yellows flew.
• 1979: Buddy Baker caught a late yellow, got four tires, and won in a late sprint, his first win since 1976.
• 1980: Sophomore Dale Earnhardt took the lead with 30 to go after Cale Yarborough broke while chasing down Bobby Allison. USAC stock car racer Rusty Wallace finished second. Donnie Allison crashed out of the lead with sophomore Terry Labonte in what became his final race for car owner Hoss Ellington.
• 1981: Cale Yarborough posted his first win for car owner M.C. Anderson, but the story of the race was a loud protest by Bobby Allison over a NASCAR-mandated reduction of the spoiler of his 1981 Pontiac LeMans to reduce the car's aerodynamic efficiency. Car owner Harry Ranier threatened to boycott the race but got no support in the garage area and relented to the rule change.
• 1982: After Dale Earnhardt fell out, rain hit the race and Darrell Waltrip edged Richard Petty to the race-ending yellow.
• 1983: Cale Yarborough drove a backup car to victory for the second time in 1983. He'd wrecked his primary Ranier Chevy a week earlier in Rockingham and used a car that had been a show car. It was also the second time he won on his birthday.
• 1984: Benny Parsons posted his final career win.
• 1986: Morgan Shepherd outran Dale Earnhardt for his first win in five years and the first of three wins at Atlanta.
• 1987: Dale Earnhardt fell out late and Ricky Rudd edged Benny Parsons and Rusty Wallace for his first win on an oval longer than a mile.
• 1989: Darrell Waltrip came back from nearly a lap down to win. During a mid-race caution, Waltrip was slowed by the pace car picking up the wrong leader during pitstops and was trapped barely on the lead lap. The mishap led to the implementation of the rule closing pit road when the yellow comes out; the rule was designed to stop cars from pitting before taking the yellow, which was blamed for scoring mistakes in the days of manual lap scoring. Also, during this race, Richard Petty's car caught fire during a pit stop, injuring his gasman and leaving Jerry Punch some singed hairs (after this, pit reporters are required to wear fire suits).
• 1992: Bill Elliott won in unlikely fashion as a caution trapped the entire field behind him a lap down during green flag stops in the final 30 laps.
• 1993: A major snowstorm, Superstorm 93, caused the race (scheduled for March 14) to be rescheduled for March 20, with Morgan Shepherd taking the win.
• 1995: Jeff Gordon posted his second win of 1995 on his way to his first championship title.
• 1996: Dale Earnhardt scored his 70th career NASCAR Cup Series win in this race. Earnhardt collected his 8th Atlanta win, passing Cale Yarborough as the all-time winningest driver at Atlanta Motor Speedway. This would be Earnhardt's last points victory until the 1998 Daytona 500.
• 1997: Dale Jarrett dominated in a race where Steve Grissom tore open a concrete wall and flipped over. His fuel cell hit the wall and erupted in flame.
• 1998: Bobby Labonte took the win in a race delayed to Monday by rain and in a weekend that saw numerous driver injuries, notably Mike Skinner and Derrike Cope.
• 2000: Dale Earnhardt won in a thrilling side-by-side finish, edging out Bobby Labonte by inches. Earnhardt scored his 75th career NASCAR Cup Series win, extending his record at the time as the 6th winningest driver in NASCAR History (currently 8th All-Time). This would be Dale Earnhardt's 9th and final victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway, extending his record as the all-time winningest driver of the racetrack. His record of 9 wins still stands today. This would also be Earnhardt's only win on the 1.54 mile quad-oval configuration. Mike Skinner, Dale Earnhardt's teammate of Richard Childress Racing, had dominated the race by leading 191 of the 325 laps. His engine however blew up with 19 laps to go, allowing Earnhardt to win this race.
• 2001: Kevin Harvick edged Gordon by inches in his first win for RCR after Earnhardt's death. Although the car had been assigned a new number, Harvick used the same car and team Earnhardt won with the previous year. Prior to Earnhardt's death, this race had already been intended to be Harvick's Cup series debut. He was originally scheduled to run 7 races in 2001, and move to full-time in 2002; but he would go on to race the remainder of the season for the team.
• 2002: Tony Stewart posted his first 500-mile (800 km) win.
• 2005: Carl Edwards slithered past Jimmie Johnson on the final lap to score his first career win, completing a sweep of the weekend at Atlanta.
• 2006: Bill Lester becomes the first African-American driver to race in a Cup series event since Willy T. Ribbs in 1986. Kasey Kahne would win this race, which became the first of his six wins that year.
• 2007: It was the last race that the fourth generation car was run consecutively. The fifth generation Car of Tomorrow would debut the following week at Bristol. Additionally, Mark Martin would close a 621-race Cup series consecutive start streak, reaching back to 1988.
• 2008: Kyle Busch won, giving Toyota their first win in the Cup series. It was the first for a foreign automaker since Jaguar in 1954. It was also Busch's first win under the Joe Gibbs Racing banner.
• 2009: Kurt Busch dominated the race after a pit crew mistake by one of Marcos Ambrose's crewman trapped most of the cars that could challenge him a lap down.
• 2010: A scary flight by Brad Keselowski was a top story; he was spun out by the lapped car of Carl Edwards and nearly struck the fencing past the start-finish line in the final laps. This was also the last spring race at Atlanta until the track's surviving summer-autumn race was moved to March in 2015.
• 2021: In what was the final Cup Series race at Atlanta prior to its superspeedway reconfiguration, Kurt Busch fended off younger brother Kyle Busch and won the race. This was Kurt's final win with Chip Ganassi Racing and the penultimate win of his career.
• 2022: Chase Elliott finally earned his first Cup Series win at Atlanta, which is considered his home track. However, it was not without slight controversy; Corey LaJoie, who had finished a career-best 5th at Atlanta in the spring, was looking to earn his first Cup Series victory. As LaJoie attempted to pass Elliott, he slid up the track, squeezing LaJoie into the wall.

Past winners

• 1962, 1982, & 2023: Race shortened due to rain.
• 1974: Race shortened due to energy crisis.
• 1983: Yarborough won on his birthday for the second time.
• 1991 & 2026: Race started on Sunday but was finished on Monday due to rain.
• 1993: Race postponed one week due to snow from Blizzard of '93.
• 1997: Last race on Atlanta's original configuration.
• 1998 & 2006: Race postponed from Sunday to Monday due to rain.
• 2009, 2010, 2024 & 2026: Race extended due to a green–white–checkered finish. 2010 took 2 overtime attempts.