Justin Allgaier explains what NASCAR's pit road change means for Atlanta

NASCAR has decided to ramp up some of the speeds at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend. Well, at least in terms of pit road entry for the Xfinity and Cup Series events on Saturday and Sunday.

Thursday, the sport announced it would increase speeds for a portion of pit road entry for this weekend.

“Under green, Sections 1 and 2, located in Turns 3 and 4, will be 90 mph. Sections 3 through 18 will be 45 mph. Under yellow, all sections will be 45 mph,” the statement read.

What does it mean for the upcoming races? Driver Justin Allgaier provided some insight on how it could impact racing in Atlanta.

“I think, in the Xfinity Series it’ll be interesting. You know, we didn’t get that green flag pit stop in the spring like we thought we were going to. It’s definitely a possibility now that we could have one,” Allgaier said.

“In the Cup Series, we for sure saw green flag pit stops and that pit road speed all the way around turns three and four was a huge, huge detriment, especially if a caution were to come out at the wrong time. I mean, you could really make or break a weekend by that. Now, does 90 miles per hour fix that? I don’t know that it fixes it, but it maybe makes it a little bit better. But I think it does throw some curveballs at us, as far as being prepared and making sure we’re doing the right things to get up to speed. I do think we need to do something.”

NASCAR announced today that while Atlanta pit-road entry will remain the same as March in Turn 3, drivers can run the apron at 90 mph instead of pit-road speed 45 mph under green. Justin Allgaier on what that decision means: pic.twitter.com/FiRyqxk4z4

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) July 6, 2023

Why did NASCAR increase pit road entry speeds?

NASCAR’s goal of increasing the speeds in certain portions of the track should prevent drivers from falling a lap behind during green flag pit stops. It should also reduce the possibility of wrecks while some cars attempt to pit.

Allgaier admitted that he’s not sure the decision is the right one from NASCAR, but said something needed to be done. In the spring race, cars fell laps behind during green flag pit stops when speeds were limited to just 45 mph.

If a caution flag came out at an inopportune time, it could be costly to certain teams.

So, how effective will these new speeds be in keeping cars on the lead lap and avoiding accidents? We’re not really sure. But we’ll find out this weekend in Atlanta.