Fans no longer have to wait until Labor Day to watch the Sprint Cup cars run at Atlanta Motor Speedway. This year’s race – called the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 -- will be held at 1 p.m. March 1 and is the second event on this season’s NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit, just one week after the season-opening Daytona 500.
The Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 will be able to ride the momentum from the Daytona 500 and the start of the new NASCAR season.
“I think being the first race after Daytona brings a lot of possibilities,” AMS President and General Manager Ed Clark said. “You get to see the new team combinations, sponsors, paint schemes. As a fan, and I am a fan of the sport, that’s always extremely exciting to me to see what the new season holds.”
Clark likes the new date because it moved the race from the distractions of a holiday weekend that also falls during the Major League Baseball season and at the start of both the college football and the NFL seasons.
And in a major city like Atlanta, one that is home to MLB’s Braves and the NFL’s Falcons, in addition to major college football programs at Georgia Tech and nearby University of Georgia, this year’s race at AMS will have the spotlight on a weekend free of other large local sporting events.
Here’s a quick survival guide to help you fuel up for the race and not miss any of the action.
Experience four days of racing
NASCAR’s new testing policy will add another full day of racing to the schedule leading up to the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, giving fans four days of excitement at AMS.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series also returns to AMS this year, and combined with the Sprint Cup event and the Xfinity Series Hisense 250, gives AMS three races on one weekend:
- Thursday, Feb. 26: The Sprint Cup cars will begin two sessions of testing at 1 p.m., which will conclude around 5 p.m.
- Friday, Feb. 27: The NASCAR Xfinity Series will begin practice at 10 a.m. A Sprint Cup Series practice will go from 1-2:25 p.m., to be followed by NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice. Qualifying for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 will start at 5:25 p.m.
- Saturday, Feb. 28: Gates open at 9 a.m. and racing begins 10 minutes later with more qualifying for the Xfinity Series. Camping World Truck Series and Sprint Cup Series practice will be held before the Xfinity Series Hisense 250 begins at 2 p.m. The Camping World Truck Series race will follow at 5:30 p.m., to complete the doubleheader of racing.
“That’s a lot of racing, a lot of laps on the track,” Clark said. “That’s a great day. People are really excited about the Camping World Truck Series. I think that’s one of the real pluses of being able to move to this weekend.”• Sunday, March 1: The Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 will begin at 1 p.m.
Spring forward
AMS played host to two races a season – one in the spring and one in the late summer or fall – for several years, but the last spring race at AMS was run in 2010. Only the Labor Day weekend races have been held there the past four years.
Make sure to dress appropriately to fight off the spring chill and check with your favorite meteorologist or weather app to see if rain is in the forecast. Also, wear comfortable shoes and bring sun block and sunglasses, a hat, a camera, earplugs and binoculars.
Alcoholic beverages (no glass bottles) and coolers (14x14x14) are allowed, but can’t contain glass objects.
The Atlanta area’s average high temperature for the beginning of March is about 60 degrees, Clark said.
Plenty of affordable tickets
Fans might notice the absence of the Elliott Grandstand.
The seating area, which was built in 1991 outside Turn 3, its suites and concession areas, were dismantled this winter because “it wasn’t to the standards of what we do,” Clark said.
He and the track staff will decide on the future of that area after the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500.
There are plenty of excellent and affordable seats for all the races at AMS, which offers student discounts for children 17 years old and younger.
Call the AMS ticket office at 770-946-4211 or 877-9-AMS-TIX, or check out atlantamotorspeedway.com, to find a ticket package just right for you and your family.
“We don’t have a seat at Atlanta Motor Speedway that you can’t see the entire track, which is unique as far as facilities go,” Clark said.
Easy in, easy out
Post-race traffic jams once plagued AMS, but Clark said those have been resolved for several years. There’s also 887 acres of free parking and trams to help shuttle fans between the lots and AMS.
“I’m proud to say now, due to the work of a lot of people, including the Georgia Department of Transportation and the Georgia State Patrol, we have one of the best traffic exit plans on the circuit,” he said. “People can get in and out of here pretty quickly, which is a big change from when we bought the track in 1990.”
The best way to avoid much of the prerace traffic is to arrive early, which will leave plenty of time to check out the track and its fan-friendly facilities.
New sponsors
The AMS race has its third sponsor in as many years, partnering this year with QuikTrip, a convenience store chain with headquarters in Tulsa, Okla., and Folds of Honor, a nonprofit organization that provides scholarships to the children of soldiers who have been killed or disabled while on active duty.
Award-winning country recording artist Cole Swindell, a native of Bronwood, Ga., will highlight the "Fast Cars and Guitars" prerace festivities with a full-length concert, beginning at 11 a.m. March 1.
