Since NASCAR went from a restrictor plate to a tapered spacer on engines used at Talladega, Daytona International Speedway and Atlanta, the terminology we\u2019ve used for decades has had to change as well.<\/p>\n
While most of us will still call them restrictor-plate tracks, they\u2019re officially called drafting tracks now.<\/p>\n
Which is why the stats presented in the second tweet rubbed me the wrong way.<\/p>\n
The restrictor plate wasn\u2019t introduced in the Cup Series until 1988. Then pack racing was unleashed on the world.<\/p>\n
The stats as presented in the tweet just don\u2019t make sense.<\/p>\n
Major * on this. <\/p>\n
Daytona and Talladega weren’t “drafting” tracks yet when Petty, Pearson and Yarborough establish their personal records.<\/p>\n
This is one reason why the record books need to reflect different track configurations and also style of racing. <\/p>\n
Stats for Atlanta\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/SAY9oHds6x<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Daniel McFadin (@danielmcfadin) October 15, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Which brings me back to EchoPark.<\/p>\n Aside from maybe Bristol Motor Speedway, no track has had more different identities in the last 30 years than Atlanta.<\/p>\n Until 1997, the track existed as a 1.5-mile track similar in the vein to how Homestead-Miami Speedway exists today. Then Bruton Smith got his hands on it and turned it into essentially a clone of Charlotte Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway, which opened that year.<\/p>\n It was a completely different track. But you wouldn\u2019t know it from how stats are compiled.<\/p>\n A driver who competed and won at Atlanta under both configurations, like Dale Earnhardt<\/a> or Bobby Labonte<\/a>, has those wins categorized as being the same. They shouldn\u2019t be.<\/p>\n Smash cut to Atlanta in 2025. Marcus Smith got his hands on it and now EchoPark is a reconfigured drafting track.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a completely different track.<\/p>\n Now, if one of the four remaining NASCAR Cup Series drivers who won at Atlanta under the previous configuration \u2014 Brad Keselowski<\/a>, Ryan Blaney<\/a>, Denny Hamlin<\/a> or Kyle Busch<\/a> \u2014 manage to win on Sunday, that win goes into the same column as the reconfiguration wins.<\/p>\n Does that make sense?<\/p>\n If someone new to the sport is watching an EchoPark race broadcast and Keselowski\u2019s cumulative Atlanta stats are displayed, that tells them a different story than if only the stats since 2022 are displayed.<\/p>\n I could get into the weeds on how I would reframe the record book. However, for the sake of simplicity, I\u2019ll keep it to three areas.<\/p>\n First, track reconfigurations like EchoPark (both), Richmond Raceway (pre- and post-1988 change), Darlington Raceway and Phoenix Raceway (swapping the front and backstretch) and Homestead (pre and post 2003 change).<\/p>\n Second, if a track completely changed its style of racing surface, like when Bristol and Dover Motor Speedway went from asphalt to concrete.<\/p>\n Finally, I would introduce a new modern era to the record book.<\/p>\n For now, NASCAR considers the modern era everything that\u2019s happened since 1972, when Winston became the title sponsor and a new points format was introduced.<\/p>\n The seasons from 1972 to 2003 should now be designated as the Winston era.<\/p>\n Every season since 2004 should be redesignated either as the modern era or, depending on what season format we\u2019re given in 2026, the playoff era.<\/p>\n So the next time a play-by-play announcer utters the phrase \u201cin the modern era,\u201d we\u2019re not including stats from 50 years and five car generations ago.<\/p>\n Daniel McFadin is a 10-year veteran of the NASCAR media corp. He wrote for NBC Sports from 2015 to October 2020. He currently works full time for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and is lead reporter and an editor for Frontstretch. He is also host of the NASCAR podcast “Dropping the Hammer with Daniel McFadin” presented by Democrat-Gazette.<\/p>\n You can email him at danielmcfadin@gmail.com.<\/p>\n \t\t![\"Donate](\"https:\/\/frontstretch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/frontstretch-donate.avif\")
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