The racing surface at Atlanta Motor Speedway will likely be repaved sometime in the future, according to AMS President and GM Ed Clark.
Photo: Atlanta Motor Speedway

The track surface is now 13 years old, and we know that in the next several years we are going to be forced to resurface it. Every time I see a driver or crew chief at a race or see them here at our facility, they tell me, ‘don't pave the track, don't touch it.' Worn out asphalt gives them a lot of options as far as where to run. It makes, in their mind, for a better race. New asphalt has extreme grip here and is extremely fast. It's difficult for Goodyear to build a tire for it.

When we repave our racing surface, that's what is going to be the challenge, to create a tire that is going to hold up. Also, it'll make the track lightning-fast. We may see a challenge to Geoff Bodine's track record, which he set the first race after it was repaved. He held the accelerator to the floor all the way around the track and shocked everyone around the garage.

We know that two or three years down the road, we'll have to take a hard look at it.