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38-464: In 1969, David Sloyer, Earl Walker, and Arthur Montgomery purchased a 750 acres (300 ha) plot of farmland in Braselton, Georgia , with the intent to build a world-class road racing facility. When a Can-Am race had to be canceled due to flood damage, the series organizers chose Road Atlanta to replace it. The track then began to take form quickly, taking only six months to excavate, grade, and pave

76-758: A ZIP code with Hoschton . The Road Atlanta race track has a Braselton address, but is located just north of the town itself. As of the 2020 United States census , there were 13,403 people, 3,779 households, and 3,100 families residing in the town. In 2022 the Braselton population by county breakdown was as follows: 2,973 in Gwinnett County, 1,763 in Jackson County, 1,690 in Hall County, and 1,085 in Barrow County. The town operates

114-502: A home on 786 acres (318 ha) of land he purchased north of the Hosch Plantation. The land he purchased was later called Braselton. The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Braselton as a town in 1916. In 1989 actress and Georgia native Kim Basinger and other investors bought 1,751 acres (709 ha) of the town's 2,000 privately owned acres for $ 20   million from Braselton Brothers Inc, intending to turn it into

152-570: A marquee event in the ALMS. Prior to the 2007 Petit Le Mans, the entire track surface was repaved. The works also included moving the walls in the esses away from the track, with the intention of improved driver safety and better sight lines for spectators. In the late winter of 2007–2008, the circuit was again modified with the reconfiguration of turns 4 and 12, for the ostensible safety benefit of motorcycle racers (the racing line for cars remained essentially unchanged). In April 2008, Road Atlanta hosted

190-416: A partnership to purchase the track. They spent the next three years making gradual improvements to the facility. New buildings were constructed, others were renovated, the track was widened and resurfaced and the grounds were landscaped. In November 1996, Don Panoz purchased the track and made Braselton the base of operations for his motorsports-related ventures. Panoz introduced the first major changes to

228-669: A police department, a Hall County Sheriff's Office location, post office, and one fire station. Northeast Georgia Health System built a new hospital in the Central/Greater Braselton area that opened in Spring 2015. It's the first net-new hospital in Georgia in 20 years. Portions in Barrow County are in the Barrow County School District . For this portion, Bramlett Elementary School is

266-528: A tourist destination. In 1995, facing personal bankruptcy , she and her partners sold the land for $ 4.3   million. Braselton is located at 34°06′33″N 83°45′46″W  /  34.10917°N 83.76278°W  / 34.10917; -83.76278 (34.109167, -83.762778). According to the United States Census Bureau , the town has a total area of 12.5 square miles (32.4 km ), of which 12.4 square miles (32.2 km )

304-541: Is a town in Barrow , Gwinnett , Hall , and Jackson counties in the U.S. state of Georgia , approximately 43 miles (69 km) northeast of Atlanta . As of the 2020 census , the town had a population of 13,403, and in 2023 the estimated population was 15,538. The Gwinnett and Barrow County portions of Braselton are part of the Atlanta – Sandy Springs – Marietta , GA, Metropolitan Statistical Area , and

342-663: Is a regional stock car racing series owned and operated by the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) and the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). Races are held at oval tracks ranging from 1 ⁄ 3  to 1 mile (0.54–1.61 km) in length and on two road courses, 1.53 and 2.45 miles (2.46 and 3.94 km) in length. Most races are stand-alone events (i.e. not in conjunction with other NASCAR touring series), but there are three race weekends that are in combination with

380-403: Is built using NASCAR-approved pieces that may be purchased from an approved supplier. The engines may be purchased as a kit or pre-assembled. All of the spec pieces are individually encrypted with a barcode for verification and tracking purposes and can be checked during the inspection process with an encryption reader. NASCAR has a specification supplier for the series-specification engine. When

418-403: Is land and 0.12 square miles (0.3 km ), or 0.79%, is water. Braselton has seen its growth from 7.20 square miles (18.6 km ) to its current size from annexations into surrounding areas. Braselton borders the mailing addresses (not city limits) of Gainesville (Candler), Flowery Branch , Oakwood (Chestnut Mountain side), and Pendergrass . The town borders the city limits and shares

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456-845: The NASCAR Cup Series . Many of the ARCA Menards Series East drivers on the series are gaining experience with the hopes of moving up to one of the major NASCAR series, however some of the drivers are right at home in the series and have no plans of moving on. The series is not only developmental for drivers (including Joey Logano , Martin Truex Jr. , Ricky Craven , Mike McLaughlin , Austin Dillon , Trevor Bayne , Brian Ickler , Ricky Carmichael and Ryan Truex ), but for crew members (such as Greg Zipadelli and Marc Puchalski) and officials, as well. In 1994, it became

494-575: The PlayStation game Gran Turismo 7 . The track was added to the game as part of update 1.26, which was released to mark the series' 25th anniversary. The outright unofficial all-time track record is 1:01.200, set by Marc Gené in a Ferrari F2003-GA , during a 2018 Ferrari Corsa Clienti event. As of October 2024, the fastest official race lap records at Road Atlanta for different classes are listed as: Braselton, Georgia Braselton ( / ˈ b r æ z əl t ən / BRAZ -əl-tən )

532-638: The SCCA Runoffs , at Road Atlanta from 1970 to 1993. The first road race in NASCAR Busch Grand National Series history took place at Road Atlanta in 1986. The track was sold in 1978, and was passed from one owner to the next—culminating in bankruptcy in 1993 under the Whittington Brothers ( Don & Bill ). Business executives Frank Drendel, Jim Kanely, Eddie Edwards, George Nuse, and Bill Waddell formed

570-729: The SEMA Show in Las Vegas , NASCAR president Mike Helton unveiled a new body style for the K&;N Pro Series based on the NASCAR Cup Series Gen 6 models . The new body, developed with Five Star Race Car Bodies, is constructed of a composite laminate blend and designed with easily replaceable body panels, expected to shrink the costs of fabrication dramatically. The body style is eligible for use in both Menards Series competition and ARCA Racing Series competition, replacing

608-603: The 2013 Chevrolet SS , Ford Fusion , or Toyota Camry . Since the 2007 debut of the new chassis at the Cup and 2010 debut at the second-tier level, many ARCA East and West cars are former Cup or Xfinity cars. Teams have an option of building their own engines or they may run a specification engine, similar to what is used at many short tracks. Both engines are V8, pushrod, 12:1 compression motors. "Built" motors are built to team specifications using any configuration of pieces as long as it still meets NASCAR specifications. The spec engine

646-554: The 4th stage of the Tour de Georgia , one of the largest cycling stage races in the United States. The stage was run using standard racing bikes instead of the more aerodynamic time trial bikes. Slipstream Chipotle won the stage with a time of 19:38.86, while Astana and Team High Road finished second and third respectively. Used in local cycling events, the circuit is run counterclockwise (in reverse), owing to safety issues from

684-569: The East and West series rules were combined, the compression ratio changed to 12:1. Menards Series cars use Sunoco racing fuel, NASCAR's specification fuel. For races run with national series, the cars run an E15 blend since the national series uses such fuels. The cars use radial tires. Along with the rest of ARCA and NASCAR's international series, the Menards Series have General Tire as their exclusive tire supplier. On November 4, 2014 at

722-772: The Grand National Division. For 2015, the names of both the East and West series were both sponsored by K&N Engineering and the East Series was named the K&;N Pro Series East . In 2011, NASCAR lowered the age maximum across each of its regional touring series to 30. In 2020, the series became part of the ARCA Menards Series banner and was renamed to the ARCA Menards Series East . As part of NASCAR's unification of

760-472: The Hall County portion is part of both the Atlanta and Gainesville , GA Metropolitan Statistical Areas . The remaining Jackson County portion of Braselton is not part of any core based statistical area . The first permanent settlement at Braselton was made in 1884. The town is named after Harrison Braselton, a poor dirt farmer who married Susan Hosch, the daughter of a rich plantation owner. Braselton built

798-921: The Truck Series in 2019. The other regional division at the Grand National level of ARCA is the Menards Series West . Formed as the NASCAR Busch Grand National North Series in 1987, the series originally raced primarily in the Northeastern United States, including Maine , New Hampshire , Vermont , Massachusetts , New York, New Jersey , Connecticut , and Pennsylvania . Drivers in the series could compete in "combination" races with then named Busch Grand National Series (now Xfinity Series ) that were held at various tracks over

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836-523: The best drivers from both series head-to-head. For 2013 NASCAR made several rule changes including giving team the option of using "special" engines and a composite body to reduce the cost of competing in the K&N Series. The "spec" engine has become fairly popular, but the old style steel bodies are still preferred over the composite bodies by most teams. Chase Elliott won the series at 2010, and 2011. On December 16, 2019, NASCAR announced that Camping World would take over as title sponsor of both series in

874-568: The combination races with Busch Series because the drivers who won those races are computed as Busch Series winners. Also does not include the combination races with Menards Series West that were won by Menards Series West drivers because the drivers who won those races are computed as Menards Series West winners. Bold indicates a combined race with the ARCA Menards Series West Races in Bold were combination events with

912-439: The downhill Turn 11 to Turn 12, creating a steep climb from Turn 12 to Turn 11, and a much safer route for cycling. The October 2008 Petit Le Mans had a four-day crowd of 113,000 people with an average weekend crowd of nearly 80,000 fans. The race entry list includes a number of new and returning cars. In September 2012, the track was purchased by IMSA Holdings as part of its acquisition of Panoz Motor Sports Group. The intention

950-466: The first NASCAR-sanctioned series to have a winless season champion when Dale Shaw won the then-Busch Grand National North Series championship without winning a single race all year. The series had the distinction of being the only NASCAR series in which this had happened until 2013, when Austin Dillon won the Nationwide Series championship the same way. Matt Crafton would also do this in

988-597: The first edition of the Petit Le Mans endurance race . The race attracted worldwide attention, and included entries from the Le Mans -winning Porsche factory team. The race would be the first race of the American Le Mans Series and included a spectacular accident where a Porsche 911 GT1 backflipped and flew into the side barriers. Petit has continued to be an annual event at Road Atlanta, and

1026-638: The naming rights agreement. In 2020, Michelin Raceway hosted the PNC Atlanta 10 Miler: Extreme Hill Edition and 4k Races because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The track was first included in the 1985 Commodore 64 game Racing Destruction Set . Road Atlanta is featured in the 1999 PC racing simulator Sports Car GT and the Xbox video game Forza Motorsport and all its subsequent entries. The track

1064-902: The next 18 years, the series extended its reach and added races in Delaware and Virginia . The series name was changed to Busch East for the 2006 season after a race was added in Greenville-Pickens Speedway in South Carolina. Races were added in South Boston, Virginia, and Nashville, Tennessee for 2007 to continue the push South and West, as well as East-West combination races at the Iowa Speedway in Newton, IA and Elko Speedway in Elko, MN.. The 2008 schedule had

1102-609: The old Gen 4-style steel bodies after 2015, and the then-current one-piece composite body after 2016. In 517 races there have been 126 different winners, 73 of which have won multiple races. Does not include Combination races with Busch Series that were won by Busch Series drivers since these victories are already counted in the Busch Series. Updated after: Sprecher 150 (August 28, 2022) Bolding indicates driver has won at least 1 NASCAR Cup Series Championship All-time wins under Menards Series East banner. Does not include

1140-507: The road course. The first race was held on September 13, 1970. Vic Elford , in a Chaparral 2J, won pole and Tony Dean , in a Porsche 908/02 , won the 300 km Can-Am event, with Stirling Moss as the Grand Marshal . Throughout the 1970s, more top-level series came to Road Atlanta, including Can-Am, Formula 5000 , IMSA Camel GT , and Trans-Am . The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) held their annual national championship,

1178-516: The series first started, the cars ran a V6 engine with a maximum 274 cu in (4,490 cm ) displacement and no compression limit. In the early/mid 1990s the V8 engine with a 9.5:1 compression and maximum 358 cu in (5,870 cm ) displacement was introduced to the series as an alternative to the V6 engines. Due to the decrease in popularity of the V6, it was phased out for the 1999 season. When

Road Atlanta - Misplaced Pages Continue

1216-533: The series running races in 8 states up and down the East coast. ( Connecticut , Delaware , Iowa , New Hampshire , New York, Ohio , South Carolina , Tennessee and Virginia ) In 2012, NASCAR unified the rules of the NASCAR K&;N Pro Series Invitational and North/East Series to a many rules package. A pre -season invitational race known as the Toyota All-Star Race was also added to pit

1254-480: The track, removing the Dip and creating a chicane at the end of the long back straight. These changes brought the track up to FIA standards, so that international events could be held. A new pit and paddock area was also constructed on the infield side of the track, allowing for larger events, and a 10,000-seat terrace area was constructed around the new Turn 10 complex. In 1998, major racing resumed at Road Atlanta with

1292-402: The two Camping World Series in 2003, the cars can be either a 105-inch (2,700 mm, which had been used in the former Busch Grand National East) or 110-inch (2,800 mm, which had been used in the former Winston West) wheelbase . Cambered/off-set rear ends are not allowed. Currently, the series requires the use of a Five Star bodies composite body that started in the 2015 season, currently

1330-451: The years, including but not limited to Daytona International Speedway , Nazareth Speedway , Watkins Glen International and New Hampshire Motor Speedway . Combination races were on the schedule until 2001. In 2002, a big crash occurred at the Glen that saw many cars spinning through the esses on lap one, along with Troy Williams actually overturning over the guardrail. No one was hurt. Over

1368-789: The zoned elementary school, and Winder-Barrow High School is the zoned high school. Portions in Gwinnett County are in the Gwinnett County Public Schools school district. This section is zoned to Duncan Creek Elementary School, Osborn Middle School, and Mill Creek High School . Portions in Hall County are in the Hall County School District . The portion in Jackson County is in the Jackson County School District . NASCAR K%26N Pro Series East The ARCA Menards Series East (formerly known by other names)

1406-404: Was also digitally created for Electronic Arts ' F1 series ( '01 – '02 ), then modded to be compatible with multiple PC games. Scratch-made versions of the track have also been created for rFactor , Papyrus' NASCAR Racing 2003 Season , and BeamNG.drive . It also appears in the PlayStation 2 game Le Mans 24 Hours and on iRacing.com . In November 2022, the track was added to

1444-750: Was to combine the Grand AM and American Le Mans Series. NASCAR K&N series has announced a return to the track in October 2013 as part of the NASCAR K&;N Pro Series East . In December 2017, the track hosted its first 24 Hours of LeMons event, the Kim Harmon Scrotium 500. The series is also scheduled to return in 2018. In 2019, the track became Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta after Michelin and IMSA Holdings announced

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