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  • Shoutout of the week

    Shoutout of the week

    In this week’s shout out of the week, we will highlight Tyler Dippel, driver of the No. 02 for Young’s Motorsports in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series.

    Dippel had a quiet outing at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but it was a solid run as he finished 11th.

    It was Dipple’s seventh race of his career and his first track debut at Atlanta. Dippel made his first Truck debut this past summer at Eldora, where he finished 13th.

    During 2016-2018, Dippel competed in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East where he had two wins, nine top fives and 21 top-10s in 40 starts.

    He signed with Young’s Motorsports during the off-season hoping for a great season. Dippel had his first start at Daytona and it was a miserable 29th place finish and he was out on lap 23. It was not the debut he was looking for with his new team.

    Dippel, however, turned it around this past weekend at Atlanta to finish 11th.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Atlanta

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Atlanta

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski fought off the effects of a stomach bug to win the race at Atlanta.

    “The race was called the ‘Folds Of Honor Quik Trip 500,” Keselowski said. “Trust me, with this stomach issue, I made a lot a ‘Quik Trips.’”

    2. Kyle Busch: Busch finished sixth at Atlanta after starting at the back of the field.

    “Give Brad Keselowski credit for toughing out the win despite his tummy troubles,” Busch said. “It must be contagious, because now I want the chance to prove that I can win with an illness. In other words, Brad Keselowski makes me sick.”

    3. Kevin Harvick: Harvick led 45 laps in Atlanta and finished fourth.

    “The surface at Atlanta Motor Speedway is quite abrasive,” Harvick said. “It really does a number on your tires. A fan suggested I discuss these particular issues on a web site devoted to extreme tire wear issues called ‘Grindr.’ Well, it turns out this site is not devoted to tires at all.”

    4. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex caught race-leader Brad Keselowski with two laps to go at Atlanta but couldn’t make the pass as Keselowski took the checkered flag.

    “Ricky Stenhouse Jr. really held me up,” Truex said. “And I’m beyond frustrated. He was a lap down. Of course, it’s not the first time Ricky has held someone back. Danica Patrick dumped him and upgraded to Aaron Rodgers!”

    5. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished 11th at Atlanta one week after winning the Daytona 500.

    “Despite finishing outside the top 10,” Hamlin said, “I’m still atop the Monster Energy Cup points standings. So basically, ‘My Win At Daytona Has Kept Relevant,’ which may very well be the title of Trevor Bayne’s autobiography.”

    6. Kyle Larson: Larson led a race-high 142 laps, but a late pit lane speeding penalty spoiled his chances for the win. He finished 12th and is fourth in the Monster Energy Cup points standings.

    “I got caught going too fast entering pit lane,” Larson said. “So, I was ‘too fast entering.’ I hear Brad Keselowski’s trouble was ‘too fast exiting.’”

    7. Joey Logano: Logano struggled to a 23rd at Atlanta as Penske Racing teammate Brad Keselowski captured the win, his 60th for Penske.

    “I’m really proud of Brad,” Logano said. “That was a gutsy effort. I bet Brad was exhausted afterwards. In fact, I’m sure his first words were, ‘I’m pooped.’”

    8. Erik Jones: Jones took seventh at Atlanta and has two top-10 finishes to start the season. He is seventh in the Monster Energy Cup points standings.

    “As a teammate to Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and now Martin Truex Jr.,” Jones said, “I’m low man on the totem pole here at Joe Gibbs Racing. But Joe Gibbs does a great job pretending I’m an equal. So Joe wins the Oscar for ‘best supporting actor.’”

    9. Kurt Busch: Busch finished third in the Folds Of Honor Quik Trip 500 at Atlanta.

    “I think everyone is happy with NASCAR’s new rules package,” Busch said. “And if you’d like to quote me saying ‘Impressive package,’ please do so in context.”

    10. Aric Almirola: Almirola started on the pole and finished eighth at Atlanta.

    “I got busted for speeding on pit road,” Almirola said. “I had to question NASCAR officials’ judgment on this, so I did. And they answered, ‘Those are the breaks.’ Or they may have answered, ‘Those are the brakes.’ I guess both are good answers.”

  • Ben Rhodes settles for top-five finish

    Ben Rhodes settles for top-five finish

    After a strong run in both stages of the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway Ben Rhodes had to settle for a fifth place finish.

    “I checked up between Harrison Burton on the restart,” Rhodes said to MRN Radio. “The inside lane obviously has the grip at the racetrack, I knew on the outside it was going to be an issue, Kyle (Busch) was really good on making everyone unexpected and catch them off guard.”

    “So he (Kyle Busch) did a good job on the restart, I just got held up behind the No. 18,” Rhodes explained to MRN Radio. I thought the Ford F-150 had a ton of speed tonight, but we got some stuff we need to work on overall as a team and also some stuff on the truck. We got some good areas to work in on Las Vegas and missed it a little bit. I just needed a better restart there at the end.”

    Rhodes finished sixth and second, respectively in both stages.

    His top five finish was Rhodes’ 18th of his career.

  • Grant Enfinger has quiet third-place run

    Grant Enfinger has quiet third-place run

    Grant Enfinger had a quiet night at Atlanta Motor Speedway but finished in the third position. Even though it was quiet, there were times in the race where he was with his Thorsport teammates battling for the lead and the win.

    Ultimately, Enfinger ended up with a third place NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series finish after a restart with five to go.

    “I didn’t think we were going to get all the way there,” Enfinger told MRN Radio. “Kyle (Busch) and Rudy (Fugle) was gonna have to beat themselves tonight and made us look silly all night.”

    “Outside of that, all four of these Thorsport F-150’s were really good. We’re making gains on it, but we got a little ways to go before we can run with Kyle (Busch).”

    Enfinger finished third and eighth, respectively in both stages.

  • Brett Moffitt content with fourth-place finish

    Brett Moffitt content with fourth-place finish

    A year ago, Brett Moffitt won this race at Atlanta Motor Speedway and went on to set the season on fire to win six races, as well as the Truck Series championship. Moffitt was looking to recapture that Atlanta magic this year but came up short, finishing fourth.

    However, it wasn’t for lack of trying.

    “It was just being unfournate being on the inside lane there,” the 2018 Truck Series champion told MRN Radio. “It was tough on the outside, started on the outside next to Kyle (Busch) and restarted like I’ve never done it before.”

    “It was a terrible restart,” Moffitt said to MRN Radio. “I was just happy we got to go back racing, I was not too happy if they (NASCAR) was gonna red flag it and end it. All in all, it was a good recovery, we need to get our Silveradoes to drive a little bit better as a team. We all three kind of struggled, we were at the front at times and lacking at times. We need to reevaluate and try again next week.”

    Moffitt finished fifth in Stage 2 and fourth overall in the race after an uncontrolled tire penalty when Stage 1 ended.

  • Kyle Busch becomes all-time winningest Truck series driver with Atlanta victory

    Kyle Busch becomes all-time winningest Truck series driver with Atlanta victory

    Kyle Busch overcame a loose wheel to win the Ultimate Tailgating 200 and become the Gander Outdoor Truck Series all-time winningest driver.

    The win was Busch’s 52nd career series victory, which moved him past NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr. to take sole possession of first on the all-time wins list. The victory is also Busch’s fifth at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the 195th of his NASCAR career across the three series.

    Busch held off Johnny Sauter on a restart with five laps to go to win. Sauter finished second and completing the top five were Grant Enfinger, Brett Moffitt, and Ben Rhodes.

    Busch was forced to come to pit road on Lap 54 due to a loose wheel. It took 24 laps for the 33-year-old to recover the lead. Despite the adversity, Busch still managed to win the first two stages.

    “It certainly means a lot. I want to thank our amazing partners that allow us to do what we do,” Busch said in Victory Lane. “I can’t say enough about my guys at Kyle Busch Motorsports – they do a phenomenal job.

    “I slipped getting out of my truck – it’s a little wet out here in case y’all didn’t notice. It was a great race out there. I wish it would have ended. I would have liked to have seen Harrison (Burton) finish second. I’m not sure how far he fell. He ran a great race today.”

    Busch dominated to win Stage 1 over his KBM teammate Harrison Burton.

    Austin Hill, last week’s winner, started on the pole after qualifying was washed out and 2018 owner points set the lineup.

    On Lap 16, Natalie Decker spun off  Turn 4 to bring out the first caution.

    Busch drove through the field and beat Ben Rhodes to take the Stage 2 win.

    The caution came out on Lap 53 for debris when Joe Nemechek got into the grass, which resulted in dirt getting onto the racing surface.

    With 25 laps left in the race, Busch held a one-second lead over Johnny Sauter with Matt Crafton running in third.

    On Lap 112, the second time was a charm for Decker as she spun off turn four again to bring out the caution. Busch won the race off pit road, but Matt Crafton was forced to pit again with a loose wheel.

    The race returned to green with 13 laps to go, but several trucks wrecked on the restart, which resulted in a red flag.

    Spencer Boyd, Chad Finely, Parker Kligerman, Jesse Little, and Austin Wayne Self were among those involved.

    But there was no stopping Busch, who made history in just his 146th series start.

  • Clint Bowyer paces final Cup practice, Kyle Busch wrecks

    Clint Bowyer paces final Cup practice, Kyle Busch wrecks

    Clint Bowyer has been one of the fastest cars all week, and he showed that again during Saturday’s final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

    Bowyer, who led the way in Friday’s practice and was quickest in two of three rounds of qualifying in the No. 14, was looking sporty on Saturday with an average lap speed of 179.104 mph.

    Kyle Busch was second but was forced to go to the rear of the field after smacking the outside wall and spinning in Turn 2 (178.873 mph). Austin Dillon was third (178.712mph), Michael McDowell was fourth, and Corey LaJoie rounded out the top-five.

    “Just got loose. We were trying to run a run, and the car was pretty good with fire off there,” Busch said. “We ran some really good times and then just kept getting a little bit looser, a little bit looser. I tried to go back to the bottom and run the bottom to see how slow I had to be to go around the bottom and just snapped.”

    Completing the Top 10 were Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, Daniel Hemric, Ryan Newman, and Martin Truex Jr.

    Busch was forced to go to a backup car, which means he will have to start Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 from the rear of the field.

    Erik Jones went to the garage late in the session after his No. 20 Toyota started to spew smoke. It was reported that he was suffering power steering issues.

    Brad Keselowski, who was sidelined by flu-like symptoms for most of the session, was 28th quickest.

    Of the drivers who ran at least 10 consecutive laps, it was the Kyle and Kyle show. Kyle Busch was quickest (177.302 mph), followed by Kyle Larson.

  • Almirola Scorches Atlanta Pavement, Wins First Pole Since 2012

    Almirola Scorches Atlanta Pavement, Wins First Pole Since 2012

    HAMPTON, Ga. (Feb. 22, 2019) – At a track known for making history, Aric Almirola did something on Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway that he hadn’t done in nearly seven years: win the pole for a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race.

    Almirola’s second lap in the final round of qualifying for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 was his best of the session – and no one could top it. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver posted a phenomenal 30.55-second, 181.473-mph run to edge fellow Ford drivers Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Clint Bowyer.

    The pole was Almirola’s second of his Cup Series career and his first since the 2012 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    Daytona 500 winner and series points leader Denny Hamlin will start fourth on Sunday. Daniel Suarez – like Almirola and Bowyer, a Stewart-Haas driver – will roll off fifth. Kyle Busch was sixth-fastest with Kyle Larson seventh, Kurt Busch eighth, Martin Truex Jr. ninth and Austin Dillon 10th.

    Sunday’s forecast for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 features plenty of sun and clear skies for the second race of the Monster Energy Cup Series season on Atlanta’s challenging, high-speed 1.5-mile quad oval.

    ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang (POLE WINNER): “We knew our car had a lot of raw speed in it and through the rounds, the adjustments that (crew chief) Johnny (Klausmeier) was making kept making our car better. We were getting it done on Lap 1. … In the first round, there was a little confusion leaving pit road, so I feel like that may have cost us a little bit there.

    “In the final round, (it was) just really good execution by the whole team. The changes that the engineers and Johnny made to the car – honestly, just the car the guys brought – we had a really good car right off the truck. We were second in practice and just kind of carried that speed through qualifying. In that final round, I knew a second lap was going to be faster than the first. I sort of decided to throw the first lap away building the speed up and in the second lap, I just really executed, hit all my marks perfectly and was able to be good enough and (post) a really fast lap to get the pole, which is cool because I haven’t done it in like seven years. It was pretty neat.”

    RICKY STENHOUSE JR., No. 17 Little Hug Fruit Barrels Ford Mustang (OUTSIDE POLE):“I think the (cooler) weather definitely helped our car there. We made some big improvements on the first run, because we were 18th to start and jumped all the way up to sixth. Randy and Angela, our engineers, made a lot of adjustments to get us where I needed to be to be able to hold the car wide open.

    “This is a good start for our Little Hugs Fruit Barrels Ford here at Atlanta, but it’s a bit of a bummer, too. I was trying to think what I could have done to get a little bit more out of the car, and then when I looked up Aric (Almirola) had run a 30.55. There wasn’t much I was going to be able to do to catch up to that.”

    About the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 weekend

    The Atlanta NASCAR Weekend continues with the NASCAR Xfinity Series Rinnai 250 and the Ultimate Tailgating 200 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race on Saturday. All of this leads to the main event: the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday.

    Tickets for the 2019 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 can be purchased by contacting Atlanta Motor Speedway at (770) 946-4211, (877) 9-AMS-TIX or by visiting www.atlantamotorspeedway.com.

  • Ross Chastain and Spencer Boyd earn top-five finish

    Ross Chastain and Spencer Boyd earn top-five finish

    With a little bit of luck and maybe if Austin Hill had run out of gas, Ross Chastain would have been an upset tonight for the small funded Niece Motorsports team at Daytona International Speedway.

    However, Chastain had to settle for a third-place finish in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series NextEra Energy 250 .

    “We didn’t qualify where we wanted too,” Chastain said to MRN Radio. “Just played it safe and we did all right, I did get in that one wreck there in (Turn) 3. That was my fault for spinning out. The truck held up and had plenty of speed at the end, and tried to push Grant (Enfinger), just wanted to give him a shot.”

    “I didn’t feel like I had a shot from third, so just tried to bump draft him up there and the move didn’t quite work out.”

    Another driver that could have been an upset in the race tonight was Spencer Boyd making his first Truck Series start at Daytona.

    “This is something you dream of forever,” Boyd told MRN Radio. “You just always ask for that shot. Put me in a good truck, give me the opportunity to be up front. There was a big wreck there at the end, we knocked the nose in and it was unfortunate and once I got out to second, it was like a parachute. It was going to be tough. I needed to be tucked up behind someone.”

    “I was behind Matt Crafton all night and took a lot of notes. Just to come away with a top five, first race of the year, being new to the trucks, being new to Young’s Motorsports is just a dream come true for me.”

  • Grant Enfinger comes up one spot short at Daytona

    Grant Enfinger comes up one spot short at Daytona

    Coming from two laps down, Grant Enfinger almost found himself in contention to win the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series NextEra Energy 250 at Daytona International Speedway Friday night.

    “We had a check of a Ford F-150 down here,” Enfinger told MRN Radio.”(Crew Chief) Jeff Hensley and all these boys worked really, really hard before they got here, but worked even harder once we got caught up in that wreck.”

    “I had good speed, worked my butt off to get back on the lead lap and just thought we were in position to push (Matt) Crafton, and we just got blocked too much right there and I was going to wreck him if I kept with him. So, that’s when we got shuffled around and just couldn’t get a good run coming to the checkered.”

    Enfinger finished fifth and sixth in both stages. It is the 19th top-five finish of his career.