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  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Atlanta Motor Speedway

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Atlanta Motor Speedway

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series came to Atlanta Motor Speedway this past weekend following the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the only doubleheader of the season. The Active Pest Control 200 sure didn’t disappoint as it came down to the wire and the last restart of the race.

    Here’s a look at this weeks power rankings.

    1. Brett Moffit – Moffit surprised the field Saturday night by taking home his second career Truck Series victory. A late race caution came out on Lap 126 when Dalton Sargeant and Josh Reaume got collected to send the race into overtime. Moffit led the most important two laps of the race and won for the first time since 2016 at Michigan. With this win, Hattori Racing and Moffit are now locked into the Playoffs.
    2. Johnny Sauter – Sauter came into a track where he had no wins in the previous seven races. It looked like that streak could have ended Saturday, but he scored another third-place finish. This was Sauter’s second consecutive third-place finish at Atlanta. He will have to wait another year to check this track off. Sauter started ninth and finished seventh and second respectively in both stages, along with leading three times for 12 laps.
    3. Noah Gragson – Gragson scored his career-best track finish this past weekend. In last year’s race, he finished 14th after starting 10th. This year, Gragson started third, won the first stage and finished fifth in Stage 2. Gragson only led 43 laps before ultimately finishing second after restarting ninth with two laps to go.
    4. Matt Crafton – Crafton headed to one of his favorite tracks on the truck series circuit, Atlanta, in hopes of locking himself into the Playoffs early. After starting second, he took the lead on lap 44 and led for seven laps. This would be the only time Crafton led in the race. He finished second in Stage 1 and fourth in Stage 2. However, the No. 88 Menards driver ultimately finished fifth at the end of the day. Crafton sits second in the point standings, 31 points behind Daytona winner Johnny Sauter.
    5. Jesse Little – Little competed in his first race of the 2018 season this past Saturday. The last time the No. 97 driver raced was at Phoenix where he started 24th and finished 18th due to a crash on lap 134. Atlanta saw Little make his track debut. After starting 12th, he finished fifth in Stage 1 and eighth in Stage 2. After a late race restart, the scoring pylon showed the No. 97 team eighth. It was a solid outing for Little’s first start at Atlanta.
  • John Hunter Nemechek Places 4th in Xfinity Series Debut

    John Hunter Nemechek Places 4th in Xfinity Series Debut

    After a flat tire during Stage 1, John Hunter Nemechek battled back to finish fourth in his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Saturday’s Rinnai 250.

    Chip Ganassi Racing announced back in December that Nemechek would make his debut in the stock car series. His performance, however, made it seem as if he was a veteran in the series. His first qualifying attempt for a Xfinity race placed him in the third overall position to start Saturday’s race with a speed of 180.769, one of only six drivers to break the 180 mph barrier.

    As for the race, the first 35 laps were eventful for Nemechek to say the least. On Lap 10, Kevin Harvick, Elliott Sadler and John Hunter Nemechek bumped through Turns 3 and 4. The unfortunate victim was Cole Custer, who would crash into the wall with heavy damage and end his day early. On Lap 33, Nemechek would blow a right front tire. Miraculously, he saved the car from crashing, which allowed his team to change tires and get him back to racing action. Even though he fell a lap down early in the event, he would battle back to put himself in the Lucky Dog position and place himself back on the lead lap. His and the team’s hard work paid off as they finished in the fourth position, claiming the highest finish of any Chevrolet in the field.

    Nemechek shared his perspective of his weekend during a post-race interview.

    “I’m happy with the outcome that we had, finishing fourth there. My goal was to come here and run all the laps, learning as much as I could and hopefully bring home a top-five run. After we unloaded yesterday [Friday], my first ever lap in an Xfinity car was lap one of practice. I have definitely learned a lot from both practice sessions, qualifying and the race.

    “We blew a right front at the end of the first stage. It seemed like tire wear was really big today, and we were victim to circumstances. Luckily, we were able to get the Lucky Dog, get back on the lead lap and rebound from the back to come back to the front. At that last pit stop, we were able to get by Elliott [Sadler] to bring it home fourth.

    “I’m looking forward to getting in more races as the year goes on.”

    When asked about his performance during the final run of the race, Nemechek credited his spotter for his guidance and his crew chief for their relationship.

    “Listening to Mike Shiplett and Derek Kneeland. Derek up on the spotter’s stand just telling me to be patient. I feel like myself and Mike Shiplett have created a good communicational bond so far this year, being able to make adjustments on the race car and trying to fix what we need to fix to make it faster at the end.”

    Nemechek does come from a racing family. His father, Joe who is nicknamed “Front Row Joe,” made a solid career in the Monster Energy Cup Series with four wins and 10 poles across 23 years. He also gathered over a dozen victories in the Xfinity series. His uncle, John Nemechek, was also a NASCAR competitor, primarily in what is now the Camping World Truck Series. He competed in 43 events over three years until 1997 when he suffered a fatal crash at Homestead-Miami Speedway during a Truck race.

    John Hunter shared his excitement on his official Twitter account shortly after the race.

    Nemechek will pilot the No. 42 Chevrolet in multiple Xfinity Series races throughout the year, sharing the ride with Kyle Larson.

    “I feel like going over to Chip Ganassi Racing, an established team who have won races, has helped as well,” declared Nemechek. “I feel like going over there, being able to talk with the guys and create relationships definitely helps. Any lap that you’re on the track, you’re gaining experience, and experience is key. Nothing can outweigh that.”

    Chase Briscoe also made his debut in the Xfinity Series, finishing in the 15th position.

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series will race next at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 3 for the Boyd Gaming 300. You can order race tickets on the speedway’s website at http://www.lvms.com/tickets/pennzoil_400/.

  • Ringing the Bell

    Ringing the Bell

    Atlanta was only the second race of this season but we already saw a glimpse of who can be a threat for the NASCAR XFINITY Series championship this season.

    Although Christopher Bell did not dominate Atlanta nor win the race, he turned some heads after Saturday’s race. Last year’s Truck Series champion only led 12 laps in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota but finished third and presented speed and experience behind the wheel.

    With five laps to go Bell gave up the second position to Joey Logano after tagging the wall.

    “I just got really loose there on the last run,” Bell said.

    Racing around experienced drivers like Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano, the rookie displayed intelligence and patience behind the wheel. Throughout most of the second half of the race, Bell observed the dominance of Harvick as he controlled the race as the leader.

    But is Bell going to be as dominant as he was last season in the Truck Series?

    Despite wrecking out of Daytona and not winning Atlanta we can’t say that just yet. His performance at Atlanta Motor Speedway was impressive but not surprising.

    Last year Bell won five Truck Series races and a championship. The youngster also took home a trophy after winning the XFINITY race at Kansas.

    Bell began the season with momentum after winning a championship which can truly prosper his success this season in the XFINITY Series.

    The NASCAR youth movement is not only taking over the top three national series but is also bringing in talent that we may not have seen in past years.

    Many of these young drivers that have succeeded in the Truck Series and XFINITY Series have already leaped into the Cup Series. Some of those drivers that were just starting out their NASCAR careers have already been able to race for a Daytona 500 trophy.

    It seems like Bell is already headed toward that track. If he continues to build success this season, Bell can certainly be the guy to beat for the championship in the final race in Miami.

     

  • Harvick Finally Back In AMS Victory Lane With Folds Of Honor QuikTrip 500 Win

    Harvick Finally Back In AMS Victory Lane With Folds Of Honor QuikTrip 500 Win

    HAMPTON, Ga. (Feb. 25, 2018) – Kevin Harvick held three fingers out his window on his way to Victory Lane after Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

    The salute to Dale Earnhardt Sr. replicated the one he made 17 years ago after his first win as a NASCAR Cup Series driver.

    It was also the last time Harvick won at AMS, despite leading more laps at the 1.54-mile oval than anyone else.

    “That was the first win of my career and to be able to do that, to pay tribute to Dale was pretty cool,” Harvick said. “I’ve been waiting a long time to do it. We’ve had so many days where we could do that here. For five years, it’s been so fast at this particular race track — and a lot of other ones — but I love racing here and it’s good to be back in Victory Lane. Finally.”

    Harvick has led more laps than any other driver at Atlanta, his 173 on Sunday upping the total to 1,152.

    Getting another win had eluded the No. 4 car, though.

    He led 292 of 325 laps at last year’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, but a pit road speeding penalty with just 13 laps to go allowed Brad Keselowski to jump ahead for the win.

    On Sunday, Harvick overcame a pit problem at the start of Stage 2 and, after battling with Keselowski late, pulled away for a definitive victory.

    “It was great getting into this race car and knowing everybody knew they had to beat our car,” said Harvick, who also won the Xfinity Series race on Saturday. “We overcame a lot of things today and got a late-race restart that we drove off and won the race with.

    “There were so many demons that seemed to haunt us here for a long time, but the coolest part was being able to replicate that first win celebration.”

    Harvick won Stage 1 and then his pit crew had trouble with the air gun. Harvick’s team wasn’t the only one to struggle with the new NASCAR-supplied tool, but he had to come back around for another stop to tighten the lugs. Harvick went from first to 19th.

    He began working his way back to the top quickly. Just 28 laps into Stage 2, Harvick had climbed all the way back to seventh. Ten laps later, he was third and five laps after that, Harvick was back out front.

    Keselowski claimed the Stage 2 win and the top cars, including Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin, continued to jockey for the lead for the next 100 laps.

    Hamlin took a chance, delaying one of the last pit stops, but it wasn’t enough to hold off Harvick.

    “I felt like our long-run speed was so good we needed to stay out there, have fewer stops and spend more time on the race track,” Hamlin said. “Either way, we kind of ended up where we should have.”

    Hamlin finished fourth.

    Keselowski was second and Clint Bowyer was third.

    “We had a really strong day on pit road,” Keselowski said. “With how many pit stops you have here at Atlanta, that can be critical to a team’s success.

    “But Kevin, man, he was just in a league of his own. We threw everything we could at them, we just didn’t have enough.”

    Martin Truex Jr., who started at the back of the field following a failed pre-qualifying inspection, was fifth. Joey Logano was sixth, followed by the Busch brothers. Pole-sitter Kyle Busch was seventh and Kurt Busch was eighth. Kyle Larson finished ninth, and Dawsonville’s Chase Elliott finished 10th after starting 27th. Only 13 cars finished on the lead lap.

    Harvick walks away from Atlanta with his 38th career NASCAR Cup Series victory and heads to Las Vegas qualified for the 2018 NASCAR Playoffs.

    NASCAR racing returns to Atlanta in 2019, and fans can become AMS Insiders Club members by nenewing their tickets on or before June 8. The AMS Insiders Club offers access to more than 750 exclusive race-weekend experiences, no-interest payment plans, a limited-edition commemorative race ticket, and more.

    To renew your 2019 tickets today, contact the AMS ticket office by calling 877-9-AMS-TIX.

  • Brett Moffitt Active Pest Control 200 Benefiting Children’s Healthcare Of Atlanta In Wild Finish

    Brett Moffitt Active Pest Control 200 Benefiting Children’s Healthcare Of Atlanta In Wild Finish

    HAMPTON, Ga. (Feb. 24, 2018) – Brett Moffitt slid down to the bottom groove, surged to the lead in overtime and won the Active Pest Control 200 benefiting Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Saturday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

    Moffitt got a chance to claim just his second Camping World Truck Series win after pole-sitter Kyle Busch had a pit miscommunication under caution late.

    The field pitted with six laps to go, and Busch, who led 67 laps, left his pit box before the lugs on his left rear tire were secure. Busch made it off pit road and the tire fell off. He reverse to get it fixed, but a win was no longer in the cards.

    Moffitt powered away from defending series champion Johnny Sauter and Noah Gragson to win in the two-lap overtime shootout.

    “I knew I needed to get a good jump and get to the inside,” Moffitt said. “Then I was just watching my mirror, holding it wide open for two laps straight there. Luckily they were getting smaller in the mirror.

    “It’s unreal to be in Victory Lane this early with such a new group. I love this place — and I love it even more now.”

    Gragson, who won Stage 1, finished second. Sauter jumped to the lead after a shuffle at the top to start Stage 2 and led 12 laps before Busch took control in the final stage. Only Sauter was in striking distance of Busch when Josh Reaume wrecked with six laps to go.

    Under caution, teams were able to pit and that’s when the door opened for Moffitt.

    “I had a good launch,” Sauter said. “I felt like I did it right grabbing gears. I’d love to be able to tell you I could do something different, I just don’t think I could have. Wide open is wide open.

    “All in a all, a decent night for our Allegiant Sunseeker Chevy. I’m proud of the guys. It’s far and away the best run I’ve ever had here. I felt like we were in the right position and it just didn’t work out. That’s racing. But my pit crew was phenomenal.”

    Ben Rhodes struggled with his engine all night, but slogged through the difficulties to finish fourth.

    “There were times during the race where I would go a second and a half without power in the corner,” Rhodes said. “I mean, the motor was just completely out. I would go down to 5,000 rpm, which is absurd. Then going down the straightaways, I felt like I was on six or seven cylinders at times. For the whole race it plagued us and we could never figure out what it was. I’m really disappointed. We have a championship team and we’re making championship runs.”

    Two-time truck champion Matt Crafton was fifth. Stewart Friesen, rookie Myatt Snider, Jesse Little, Grant Enfinger and Austin Dillon rounded out the top 10.

    Snider was up front at the restart, but only got there by opting to get two tires instead of four.

    “This is unbelievable to even be in a race car, much less in victory lane,” Moffitt said. “We had a really good truck all night and right here I knew (Snider) was a sitting duck. I just wanted to get a good restart and hopefully they got into a battle behind me, which they did. It’s pretty surreal.”

    The 2018 Atlanta NASCAR Weekend wraps up tomorrow afternoon with the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race beginning at 1 p.m. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.atlantamotorspeedway.com or call the AMS ticket office at 877-9-AMS-TIX.

  • Kevin Harvick Wins Rinnai 250

    Kevin Harvick Wins Rinnai 250

    HAMPTON, Ga. (Feb. 24, 2018) – Kevin Harvick surged to the front on a one-lap shootout to end Stage 1 and rolled to a dominating win in Saturday’s Rinnai 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

    Harvick has won the Xfinity Series race at AMS four of the last six years and five times overall.

    Only seven cars finished on the lead lap as Harvick set a strong pace after starting fifth. The No. 98 car led 137 of 163 laps.

    “It’s just been a really good place for me,” said Harvick, whose first ever Cup Series win came at Atlanta in 2001. “The race track has stayed very similar to what it’s been for a number of years. It’s been a great race track for us. I was frustrated last year when we didn’t leave here with a trophy on either day and that’s always our goal.”

    Joey Logano was second but never seriously challenged Harvick and finished 4.183 seconds back.

    “I don’t think we were even close,” Logano said with a head shake. “Kevin played with us all day long. He ran a few hard laps when he needed to. It doesn’t matter what car he’s driving, Kevin’s just really good at Atlanta.

    “Second always stings a little bit.”

    Pole-sitter Christopher Bell, a rookie in Xfinity after winning last year’s Camping World Truck Series championship, led 11 laps and ended up third. His rear tire tagged the wall with five laps to go, and the No. 20 car lost a spot to Logano.

    “I just got really loose there the last run,” Bell said. “I don’t know. I wish I would have been able to hold off a little longer and been second instead of third, but overall a really good points day for us to start out the 2018 season. This place is a ton of fun.”

    Chevy drivers occupied the next three spots. John Hunter Nemechek was fourth in his series debut, followed by Elliott Sadler and Justin Allgaier. Austin Cindric was seventh and the rest of the field finished a lap, or more, off the lead.

    For more information or to purchase tickets today, contact the Atlanta Motor Speedway ticket office at (770) 946-4211, (877) 9-AMS- TIX or visit www.atlantamotorspeedway.com.

  • NASCAR moves up start time for Sunday’s Monster Energy Cup Series race at Atlanta

    NASCAR moves up start time for Sunday’s Monster Energy Cup Series race at Atlanta

  • Kyle Busch on Pole at Atlanta, First at 1.5-Mile Oval

    Kyle Busch on Pole at Atlanta, First at 1.5-Mile Oval

    Kyle Busch will have a front row seat when the field takes the green flag for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race after qualifying with the fastest speed of 184.652 mph at Atlanta Motor Speedway.  Driving the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Busch nabbed the top spot from Ryan Newman (184.419 mph) and clinched his first career pole at the iconic 1.5-mile oval.

    Busch was cautiously optimistic after winning the pole.

    “The pole run was really good with being able to start up front where we left off last year having strong qualifying efforts each week all year long.” But, he added, “Atlanta is a tough place. It certainly isn’t easy, you have to able to make sure you bide your time here with the tires and everything. Going through three rounds of qualifying is a challenge and it certainly was for us. But we got it right there on the last round and were certainly were able to hit a good lap there on the last one. We got everything we needed out of the racecar, so we certainly were glad the time popped up when it did to put us on the top of the sheet and we’re looking forward to Sunday.”

    Ryan Newman will join Busch on the front row after qualifying with the second fasted speed.

    “We’ve got a good racecar with our Liberty National Life Insurance Chevrolet. Obviously, the Camaro is strong out of the box, but wish we could have got that pole for them as well as us. Just in general, look forward to this weekend,” Newman said.

    Kevin Harvick (184.388 mph) will start third, placing all three manufacturers in the top-3 starting positions. Daniel Suarez (184.229 mph) and Brad Keselowski (183.856 mph) round out the top-five.

    “I think everybody did a great job on our Jimmy John’s/Busch Ford and the car still had speed. It just didn’t drive as good as we needed it to drive to cut to the center of the corner and it was just way too tight the whole time. We were that way in race trim too, and you don’t get a lot of chances at it in practice to try and make it better, so we took our best guess at it,” Harvick said.

    Perhaps the biggest news besides Busch’s first career pole at the speedway was the pre-qualifying inspection failure by defending Monster Energy Cup champion, Martin Truex Jr. After three failed attempts to pass through Optical Scanning Station, NASCAR’s rule book states that a crew member gets ejected and the team is docked 30 minutes of practice. Blake Harris, car chief for the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota will be ejected for the remainder of the weekend. Truex will start at the rear of the field, as he and Harrison Rhodes did not turn a lap during qualifying.

    “NASCAR’s new inspection process is just that … new,” said Joe Garone, president of Furniture Row Racing. “The tolerances are very tight, within thousandths of an inch. It’s difficult to push the limits where you feel you need to and still be within the tolerances of the new system. One thing we won’t do is leave anything on the table and expect to get poles and wins. We will always push for the maximum.”

    Notable drivers eliminated during the first round of qualifying include Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, and last week’s Daytona 500 champion Austin Dillon. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who topped first practice earlier in the day, backed up his run with a sixth-place start at 183.722 mph for Sunday’s race.

    “Some days you do and some days you don’t and we didn’t today. So, I don’t know. We were way off, not even close. So, I don’t really have much of an excuse for it. We just didn’t hit it right today and we’ll go to work tonight and work through it and hopefully get ready for tomorrow. It’s our only option now,” Elliott said.

    The green flag will wave on Sunday afternoon for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 shortly after 2 p.m. ET at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

  • Harrison Rhodes Will Make Cup Debut at Atlanta

    Harrison Rhodes Will Make Cup Debut at Atlanta

    With only 36 cars entered for this weekend’s Monster Energy Cup race at Atlanta, Harrison Rhodes will make his debut in NASCAR’s top-level series. The XFINITY Series veteran will pilot the Rick Ware Racing (RWR) No. 51 Chevrolet Camaro ZR1 chartered car in the second Cup Series race of the season. Justin Marks drove the car to a 12th place finish in the Daytona 500.

    In 2013, Rhodes made his XFINITY Series debut at ISM (Phoenix International) Raceway, also with RWR. Rhodes made his announcement on his Twitter page last week.

    Another notable driver that made his first career start at Atlanta in the Cup series was Jeff Gordon, 26 years ago.

    A primary sponsor for the No. 51 Chevrolet in the Atlanta race has yet to be announced.

  • Full Weekend Schedule for Atlanta

    Full Weekend Schedule for Atlanta

    By Staff Report – NASCAR.com

    After taking on the high banks of Daytona to kick off the season, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series are off to Atlanta Motor Speedway for a tripleheader weekend. Check out the tentative full schedule below, subject to change.

    Note: All times are ET

    Friday, Feb. 23

    ON-TRACK
    11:35 a.m.-12:55 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series first practice, FS1 (Follow live)
    1:05 p.m.-1:55 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series first practice, FS1 (Follow live)
    2:05 p.m.-2:55 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series first practice, FS1 (Follow live)
    3:05 p.m.-3:55 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series final practice, FS1 (Follow live)
    4:05 p.m.-4:55 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series final practice, FS1 (Follow live)
    5:15 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying, FS1 (Follow live)

    PRESS PASS (Watch live)
    10 a.m.: Austin Dillon
    10: 30 a.m.: Brad Keselowski
    10:45 a.m.: Darrell Wallace Jr.
    1 p.m.: Jordan Anderson, Johnny Sauter and Ben Rhodes
    1:20 p.m.: Chase Elliott
    1:35 p.m.: Martin Truex Jr.
    1:50 p.m.: Ryan Blaney
    2 p.m.: Folds of Honor/QuikTrip
    2:15 p.m.: Justin Allgaier, Kaz Grala, Brandon Jones, Tyler Reddick
    6:30 p.m. (approx.): Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series post-qualifying

    Saturday, Feb. 24

    ON-TRACK

    9:10 a.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying, FS1 (Follow live)
    10:35 a.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series qualifying, FS1 (Follow live)
    12 p.m.-1:20 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice, FS1 (Follow live)
    2 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series Rinnai 250 (163 laps, 251.02 miles), FS1 (Follow live)
    4:30 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Active Pest Control 200 benefiting Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (130 laps, 200.2 miles), FS1 (Follow live)

    PRESS PASS (Watch live)
    4:15 p.m. (approx.): NASCAR Xfinity Series post-race
    6:30 p.m. (approx.): NASCAR Camping World Truck Series post-race

    Sunday, Feb. 25

    ON-TRACK
    1 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (325 laps, 500.5 miles), FOX (Follow live)

    PRESS PASS (Watch live)
    4:45 p.m. (approx.): Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series post-race