IMPORTANT NOTES/KNOWN ISSUES:
Atlanta Speedway was a two-mile-long, purpose-built auto-racing dirt oval circuit in Atlanta, Georgia. It was the brainchild of Asa “Buddie” Candler Jr., son of the founder of the Coca-Cola company. Buddie Candler was an avid automobile fanatic, and a man with considerable enthusiasm and charisma. In addition to purchasing cars himself and participating in every automobile event he could, he managed to get his older brother Howard interested in automobiles as well, and even convinced his father (who believed automobiles to just be a fad) to buy a Locomobile for the Coca-Cola company in 1902.
In March of 1909, Indianapolis announced the construction of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and broke ground the same month. Fueled by boundless enthusiasm, his father’s money, and a complete lack of business sense, Buddie Candler decided that he was going to build a speedway to rival Indianapolis, and put Atlanta squarely at the center of automobile racing in the United States. With his friend Ed Durant, he started buying up farmland just south of Atlanta the very same month. By May, he had announced his plans for a speedway to the world.
The plans called for a two-mile dirt circuit, with looser curves and higher banking than Indianapolis to enable higher speeds. Construction of the circuit commenced in June of 1909, with a target to complete the circuit and hold the first races in November of the same year. In July, Buddie Candler and his father formed the Atlanta Automobile Association with Buddie as the president. The association was a way for Asa Candler Sr. to maintain control of the project, but also to escape embarrassment and financial responsibility should his son’s hairbrained scheme go awry.
Construction of the circuit was perpetually behind schedule and over-budget, something that the Candlers tried to keep quiet but nonetheless word got out anyway. The Atlanta Automobile Association hosted barbecues and other fundraising events (including allowing wealthy businessmen to drive their cars on one of the completed sections of the course) to try to turn public opinion in their favor. In spite of this, news of circuit’s continually-rising budget continued to spread.
The circuit was finally completed in October, and a few exhibition races were held to celebrate. In November, Atlanta hosted a huge automobile week, culminating in the inaugural races at the Atlanta Speedway, exactly as planned. To the outside world, the event would have seemed to be a rousing success, but there were significant problems under the surface.
The circuit ran several AAA IndyCar races for just one year during 1910. Significant infighting occurred in the Atlanta Automobile Association, culminating in several top officials being fired, and a split between Asa Candler Jr. and his former friend and business partner Ed Durant. Mismanagement of the circuit by Asa Candler Jr. and a failure to pay down debts led to the circuit closing for good at the end of the 1910 season. The Atlanta Airport was later built on the site of the speedway.
TIPS FOR DRIVING:
Happy racing!
- CSP is needed for GrassFX, Tiling Fix, RainFX, and other CSP adjustments. Will work just fine without it as well.
- I have separated the spectators into their own KN5 file, so if you’re someone who likes racing without spectators, you can easily delete or rename “spectators.kn5” to get rid of them.
- There’s an issue with SkidmarksFX for low-dust dirt surfaces. The Atlanta Speedway track surface was heavily oiled specifically to reduce dust, however the skid marks only appear with higher dust settings. I couldn’t get both skid marks and low dust-additive affects at the same time, so I had to prioritize one over the other. I choose to keep the dust levels low, so there aren’t any visible skid marks on the surface unless you lose the car in one of the turns.
- Dirt physics are a little bit screwy. The AC engine was never designed with dirt track racing in mind, so the physics for dirt surface are very basic and not super realistic. It tends to behave more like a very low-grip hard surface rather than a soft surface.
- Related to #4, it’s pretty common to experience some handling issues in the turns, especially with faster cars. The circuit was designed for the cars of the day, with a maximum speed of 100 MPH expected. Therefore faster, more modern cars are going to have more handling issues than slower cars.
Atlanta Speedway was a two-mile-long, purpose-built auto-racing dirt oval circuit in Atlanta, Georgia. It was the brainchild of Asa “Buddie” Candler Jr., son of the founder of the Coca-Cola company. Buddie Candler was an avid automobile fanatic, and a man with considerable enthusiasm and charisma. In addition to purchasing cars himself and participating in every automobile event he could, he managed to get his older brother Howard interested in automobiles as well, and even convinced his father (who believed automobiles to just be a fad) to buy a Locomobile for the Coca-Cola company in 1902.
In March of 1909, Indianapolis announced the construction of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and broke ground the same month. Fueled by boundless enthusiasm, his father’s money, and a complete lack of business sense, Buddie Candler decided that he was going to build a speedway to rival Indianapolis, and put Atlanta squarely at the center of automobile racing in the United States. With his friend Ed Durant, he started buying up farmland just south of Atlanta the very same month. By May, he had announced his plans for a speedway to the world.
The plans called for a two-mile dirt circuit, with looser curves and higher banking than Indianapolis to enable higher speeds. Construction of the circuit commenced in June of 1909, with a target to complete the circuit and hold the first races in November of the same year. In July, Buddie Candler and his father formed the Atlanta Automobile Association with Buddie as the president. The association was a way for Asa Candler Sr. to maintain control of the project, but also to escape embarrassment and financial responsibility should his son’s hairbrained scheme go awry.
Construction of the circuit was perpetually behind schedule and over-budget, something that the Candlers tried to keep quiet but nonetheless word got out anyway. The Atlanta Automobile Association hosted barbecues and other fundraising events (including allowing wealthy businessmen to drive their cars on one of the completed sections of the course) to try to turn public opinion in their favor. In spite of this, news of circuit’s continually-rising budget continued to spread.
The circuit was finally completed in October, and a few exhibition races were held to celebrate. In November, Atlanta hosted a huge automobile week, culminating in the inaugural races at the Atlanta Speedway, exactly as planned. To the outside world, the event would have seemed to be a rousing success, but there were significant problems under the surface.
The circuit ran several AAA IndyCar races for just one year during 1910. Significant infighting occurred in the Atlanta Automobile Association, culminating in several top officials being fired, and a split between Asa Candler Jr. and his former friend and business partner Ed Durant. Mismanagement of the circuit by Asa Candler Jr. and a failure to pay down debts led to the circuit closing for good at the end of the 1910 season. The Atlanta Airport was later built on the site of the speedway.
TIPS FOR DRIVING:
- Sticking with slower cars and cars with lots of natural grip will improve the experience of driving around the circuit tremendously.
- Oversteery cars are much better suited to the circuit than understeery cars, as they will slide more easily. Setting the car up to induce oversteer will improve handling.
- I’ve found turning on stability control (and traction control as well) can significantly improve the experience of driving on the circuit. I’m not one to drive with assists on, but stability control largely solves the weird handling issues that I experienced, especially with faster cars.
Happy racing!
