HAMPTON, Ga. -- The Daytona 500 left many Cup Series drivers rueing the state of superspeedway racing. One week later, they were proclaiming their adoration for NASCAR's smallest drafting track.
"Dude, it was fun," Ricky Stenhouse Jr. told AltDriver on pit road after finishing fifth. "It was really, really fun."
Sunday evening's race did not feature the excessive fuel-saving that has plagued Daytona and Talladega in the Next Gen era. The drivers were pushing from the moment the green flag waved, slicing and dicing their way through the field.
These drivers showed why they are the best in stock car racing as they used slingshots to pass each other on the bottom. They then took the field three wide while riding inches from the wall. Handling was the focus of the teams more so than simply taking pushes.
"I mean, certainly that was the most -- or this is the most fun style of speedway racing that I've done in my career," race-winner Christopher Bell said in response to a question from AltDriver.
"It's different. It's different than Daytona, Talladega. I think a lot of it just has to do with the way that the lanes open up, and it seems like, for the most part, there's always somewhere to go. ...Yeah, I will say this is the most fun superspeedway we have."
The Bowties have arrived! @Alex_Bowman is doing all he can to take the lead away from @joeylogano. pic.twitter.com/jH7R0q00pA
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What has made the difference for the drivers? Why does Atlanta shine in their eyes while Daytona and Talladega frustrate them?
The simple answer is that the track surface continues to wear at a rapid pace, which puts the control back in their hands. They can showcase their skills to the viewers at home and have more of a say in whether they win or lose.
"This race track is coming into its own where the tires wear out, the car slides around," Stenhouse continued. "And once you get late in those stages when you're in the middle lane, the air is off your car.
"You're sliding around a lot, you're having to lift. You don't want to lift but you kind of have to."
Atlanta is quickly becoming a favored track of NASCAR's top drivers despite the occasional superspeedway-style wrecks. It's racing less like a drafting track and more like an intermediate track.
Yet it continues to deliver the photo finishes and close racing that keeps the fans coming back en masse.
This is a trend Cup drivers expect to continue in the coming years as the Hampton track wears during the Georgia seasons. They anticipate even better racing in June and the next few seasons.
Now they just have one request for NASCAR's decision-makers -- take the superspeedway package off of the cars so they can have even more fun.