Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta International Raceway) is a track in Hampton, Georgia, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It is a 1.54-mile (2.48 km) quad-oval track with a seating capacity of 111,000. It opened in 1960 as a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) standard oval. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track. In 1997, to standardize the track with Speedway Motorsports' other two 1.5-mile (2.4 km) ovals, the entire track was almost completely rebuilt. The frontstretch and backstretch were swapped, and the configuration of the track was changed from oval to quad-oval. The project made the track one of the fastest on the NASCAR circuit.
First practice was held on Friday, February 23 at 3:00 PM EST. Justin Haley of GMS Racing would set the fastest time in the session with a 31.141 and an average speed of 178.029 miles per hour (286.510 km/h).[3]
The second and final practice was held on Friday, February 23 at 4:58 PM EST. Noah Gragson of Kyle Busch Motorsports would set the fastest time in the session with a 31.011 and an average speed of 178.775 miles per hour (287.710 km/h).[3]
Qualifying was held on Saturday, February 24 at 11:45 AM EST. The qualifying system was a single car, single lap, two round system where in the first round, everyone would set a time to determine positions 13-32. Then, the fastest 12 qualifiers would move on to the second round to determine positions 1-12. Kyle Busch, driving for his own team Kyle Busch Motorsports would set the fastest time in Round 2 to win the pole.[4]
