Atlanta, GA
Denny Hamlin questions if NASCAR can learn from Atlanta to fix racing at Daytona, Talladega
Denny Hamlin spelled out his issues with the current on-track product at Daytona and Talladega during last week’s “Actions Detrimental” podcast.
Six days later, Hamlin competed in the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta, which has become a drafting track of its own over the last few years. The race was widely praised by fans, and even Hamlin himself. Hamlin said on Monday’s podcast that the harder tires Goodyear brought to Atlanta contributed to the racing that took place. Hamlin pondered if a similar tire change at Daytona and Talladega could help improve superspeedway racing.
“The tire we run at Atlanta is somewhere in the range of 20% harder than any tire we run on an intermediate track. So, it’s a very hard tire,” Hamlin said. “If Goodyear or NASCAR see that we start stringing out a little bit, maybe they add some grip to the tire to bunch us all back up and then we reset the clock. But with this tire being really hard, it doesn’t really wear out. But it still new tires you can tell that it plays a little bit of a factor.
“I’m wondering, though, is that something we can do at Daytona or Talladega to like — maybe we soften the tire or harden the tire, I’m not sure which one. There was a lot of discussion over the week of what do we do to fix the drafting tracks. I think from an entertainment standpoint, it probably can’t get a lot better. I acknowledge that, I’m just trying to make it to where there’s a balance there of entertainment and a balance of sport where the drivers that are the superstars can feel like they have a legit changing of the outcome based on decisions they make.”
Denny Hamlin pleased with racing at Atlanta
Sunday’s race was a thrill ride from start to finish and showed the kind of racing a drafting track can produce in 2025. For Hamlin, the same couldn’t be said about the Daytona 500.
“I feel like the Daytona 500 is a microcosm of the sport in general as to how we crown our champion now as well,” Hamlin said last week. “It started with the competition group a decade ago when we took away horsepower because we wanted to look good on TV, we wanted you to think they can pass, but not that they can actually pass. For me, it’s gotten to the place where the entertainment of it has far taken over the sport of it. And I don’t know how to reverse things.”
Hamlin clearly wants a happy medium between entertainment and sport. Whether that is possible at Daytona and Talladega in the Next Gen car is the question.
But at Atlanta, entertainment and sport blended quite well together.
“If you talked to most drivers they would say, ‘Man, this is how superspeedway racing used to be.’ … I think that we’re still probably a couple years away from the prime of what Atlanta could be. It’s still got a little bit maturity to go in the pavement,” Hamlin said. “But it’s getting there pretty quickly, and we’ve seen fantastic races there over the last few years. So, a great show for the fans. I thought it put on a good race from my standpoint.”
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — After Atlanta hit 96 degrees with a heat index of 102 over the Fourth of July weekend, a City Council member is pushing legislation to formalize how the city responds when extreme heat threatens public health.
Atlanta typically opens cooling centers as temperatures climb, but Councilmember Kelsea Bond said the city lacks a consistent, codified process to ensure the same steps are taken each time extreme heat arrives.
“There’s not something that is cohesive in our code that says this is going to happen this way every single time,” said Michael Julian Bond, Post 1 at-large.
Bond’s proposed resolution would create a citywide heat safety plan. It calls for more cooling centers, expanded outreach to vulnerable residents and using a health-based measure such as HeatRisk to determine what resources are needed based on conditions.
“The many individuals that don’t have working A/C or don’t have adequate air conditioning — we want to make sure they are able to get relief,” Bond said.
Multiple council members have signed on in support, arguing the city needs to prepare for more frequent and intense heat as the climate warms.
“The weather’s not going to get any cooler with global warming, and so we want to be prepared,” Bond said.
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HART COUNTY, Ga. – An Atlanta woman wanted for kidnapping in Maryland was arrested along Interstate 85 in northeast Georgia.
What we know:
Alicia Denise Brown, 37, of Atlanta, was taken into custody during a traffic stop. According to the Hart County Sheriff’s Office, deputies received an alert about the car traveling north on the interstate. Deputies pulled over the vehicle near Exit 177 along with Georgia State Patrol troopers.
A woman and two young children were taken into custody. No one was injured.
The backstory:
Brown is wanted on outstanding kidnapping-related warrants out of Maryland and by the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office on felony charges of interference with child custody.
The Baltimore County Police Department wanted Brown on charges stemming from the disappearance of a 10-year-old child who was reported missing in 2019. Maryland officials say they would extradite her back to face charges.
What they’re saying:
“We are thankful for the quick response and teamwork of our deputies, the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, the Georgia State Patrol, and all assisting agencies. Their coordinated efforts resulted in the safe recovery of both children and the successful apprehension of the suspect,” Sheriff Chris Carroll said.
What we don’t know:
It is also unclear how the vehicle was initially spotted or what specific vehicle description triggered the law enforcement alert.
The full details of the charges were not immediately available.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from the Hart County Sheriff’s Office, who explained how we got it through an official statement from Sheriff Chris Carroll, as well as details provided by the Baltimore County Police Department and the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office.
TOOMBS COUNTY, Ga. – A 36-year-old Atlanta man was killed in a Fourth of July shooting in southeast Georgia, and the investigation has been turned over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
What we know:
According to the GBI, Vidalia police officers responded around 3:13 a.m. Saturday to a report of shots fired in the 500 block of East Jenkins Street in Vidalia. When officers arrived, they found Rashad Lamar Lumpkin, of Atlanta, lying in the roadway with multiple gunshot wounds.
Lumpkin was taken by EMS to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The Vidalia Police Department requested the GBI investigate the shooting. Authorities said the investigation remains active and ongoing.
What you can do:
Anyone with information is asked to contact the GBI Regional Investigative Office in Eastman at 478-374-6988 or the Vidalia Police Department at 912-537-4123. Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online through the GBI’s tip portal or by using the See Something, Send Something mobile app.
Once the investigation is complete, the case will be turned over to the Middle Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for review.
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