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Tag: Atlanta Motor Speedway

  • Logging Laps: Racing the way it should be

    Logging Laps: Racing the way it should be

    Atlanta, arguably, is the driver’s favorite track. She’s fast, slick and hard to handle. For a race car driver, that’s a thrill and a half for an afternoon’s work. This last weekend, we got a show the likes of which we haven’t seen in years now. Cars that were sideways, three-wide and passing. That’s right, it was racing, everyone. That’s what racing is. That’s what racing should be. It’s the thrill of side-by-side action at speeds we normal folks could only dream about.

    For a driver, it’s the greatest adrenaline rush you can have. You’re wrestling a 3400-pound stock car on 10-inch tires with 750 horsepower around a track as fast as possible. A race car that doesn’t want to do anything you’re asking it too, but as a driver, you have the skills and the will to make that car comply. It’s a rugged task that few can step up to and complete.

    For the better part of 200 laps in the Atlanta sun, we got to see racing the way it was 20-30 years ago. A race where tires mattered and the skill of the drivers separated the contenders from the pretenders. As I sat there listening to the roar of the engines and the sound of grinding rubber being torn off the tires at 170 mph, I found myself casually reading my twitter feed, eager to see what other motorsports fans had to say about the throwback spectacle we’d clamored for so hard after the Kentucky race last year. Much to my surprise, the same people that were complaining about the caution clock from the day before were now complaining that we were in the middle of the longest green-flag run of the last few years.

    You can’t please everyone, I guess.

    Needless to say, I was taken aback. I can’t exactly say I was surprised by this, as it’s become a running gag that no matter what you do on social media, someone will go on a rampage about it and call for your head on a stick. For the first time in years, I actually felt some sympathy for NASCAR. Now, for those of you that know me, that’s an odd thing for me to say, but hear me out.

    This year, we got an aero package that was championed and spearheaded by Tony Stewart and backed by the vast majority of the drivers in the garage. “Make the cars harder to drive,” was the motto that was echoed time and time again. After the Kentucky race last year, the driver’s reaffirmed that same theory. The response from the fans was overwhelmingly positive on twitter and facebook. They loved the side-by-side passing and the cars being able to race each other. Flash forward to the Indy race and the reaction was muted by the drivers and unsurprisingly negative from the fans. They hated the high-drag package and in today’s day age, everyone was going to tell NASCAR about it.

    So, after all, the discussions and bickering, the pit road talks between the bigwigs and the stars of our sport, we got the new 2016 aero package. In my personal opinion, it didn’t disappoint. The racing was amazing, the skill of the drivers mattered and the leader wasn’t always the same car that took the restart from the pole. Case in point, Denny Hamlin early in the race. At the drop of the green flag, he rocketed to the outside in the turns and made up a bunch of spots, quickly moving into the top 10 and then the top five. But within 15 laps, he started to pay the price. His tires wore out and he faded quickly back into the pack, eventually being lapped.

    That was just a single example of the great racing we saw on Sunday. Others include seeing the battle for the lead between Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth. Watching Joey Logano race his way from the back to the front, mirrored by Kyle Busch. Jimmie Johnson’s slow and steady climb to the top five and of course, Kevin Harvick proving again that’s he’s freaky fast in his repeated battles and the feel good story of the last two years, Martin Truex. Cars could race each other. They could pass each other. They could take any groove they wanted and make it work for them. The drivers had choices and they put on an amazing display of skill and show.

    That’s real racing, ladies and gentleman. That’s how it should be. For the few poor souls that blew up my twitter during the race complaining about how boring it was without crashes? They have a racing event called a demolition derby that may suit your tastes. You might want to check with your local race tracks about it.

  • Atlanta in the Rear-View

    Atlanta in the Rear-View

    It’s time to put a nice little bow on everything that happened this past weekend in Atlanta.

    Under clear blue Georgia skies, Jimmie Johnson gambled on his fuel to put himself in position to win the race. On the final restart, he got the best restart and scored the victory in the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It tied him with the late Dale Earnhardt for seventh on NASCAR’s all-time wins list.

    “It’s such an honor,” Johnson said. “With the chaos at the end and the crash, wondering about overtime and how it worked these days, I kind of lost sight of that. I remembered on my victory lap coming down and I had to come by and throw a 3 out the window to pay respects to the man. There’s a huge void in my career that I never had a chance to race with him, but at least, I was able to tie his record there.”

    The driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet is now hands down a legend of NASCAR beyond a shadow of a reasonable doubt. He’s a six-time series champion – five of which came in a row – and has amassed 76 wins. In 509 starts, he’s also accumulated 208 top-fives (40.86 percent) and 315 top-10’s (61.89 percent).

    To suggest that he doesn’t deserve a spot in the NASCAR Hall of Fame is ludicrous.

    Photo Credit: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
    Photo Credit: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

    A dominant car wasn’t enough for the third straight year at Atlanta for Kevin Harvick. The driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet led 131 of the 330 laps but had a bad pit stop with 40 laps to go and could only get within six seconds of Johnson before his tires were exhausted.

    “We had issues about the last three runs,” Harvick said. “I had to start driving the car different. It just required a little bit different handling. And then we had a slow pit stop there. We got way behind and the No. 48 (Jimmie Johnson) was way out front and I had to drive the car really hard and got the right rear burned up. We just didn’t execute today but everybody on our Jimmy John’s/Busch Chevrolet hung in there all day and we’ll keep at it.”

    He stumbled on the final restart, had to settle for a sixth-place finish and left Hampton, Georgia third in points. The West Coast Swing plays into Harvick’s wheelhouse as he won two of the three races and led the most laps in all three events.

    Photo Credit: Noel Lanier
    Photo Credit: Noel Lanier

    Kyle Busch scored his 77th victory in the XFINITY Series on Saturday afternoon.

    I’ve always been on the fence on whether Cup drivers should be allowed in the lower divisions. While someone like Busch or Brad Keselowski occasionally win in the Truck Series, the drivers running for points in that series have now gotten to the point where they are winning the races more than the Cup drivers.

    That’s not the case in the XFINITY Series.

    I bring this up because of the new Chase format in the series where a win gets you in. Given this, I don’t understand why drivers like Busch continue racing in the lower divisions and take wins from drivers racing for points in the series.

    While I would rather see somebody get something on merit rather than superficial circumstances, I think we’ve gotten long past the point when NASCAR should seriously consider limiting drivers to a few races a season in a series they’re not racing for points.

    Photo Credit: Noel Lanier
    Photo Credit: Noel Lanier

    John Hunter Nemechek survived late race melee to score his second career victory in the Camping World Truck Series.

    The driver of the No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet inherited the lead after Christopher Bell suffered a right-front tire blowout and slammed the wall in Turn 4.

    Fifteen laps earlier, Bell got into the corner of teammate Daniel Suárez, who then got into the corner of Matt Crafton and sent both of them into the wall.

    Now let’s address the elephant in the room. This race saw the first official usage of the caution clock. I was in the media center for the Truck race and the caution for the clock expiring wasn’t very popular with a lot of the media people, especially Matt Weaver. Anybody who knows him knows that he’s not a fan of the caution clock and neither am I. I won’t tell you what Weaver said about it, but it would’ve been the reaction of the race had it not been for this tweet from Pete Pistone.

    Needless to say, I died laughing from this.

    I’ll end this by calling out the Atlanta sports fans that couldn’t be bothered to get their hindquarters to the track yesterday.

    For an entire year, I heard the people in the Atlanta area bitch and moan about it being too cold. Yesterday, it was clear blue skies and T-shirt temps and that still didn’t pack the stands. In other words, you all lied about wanting better temps.

    It’s no wonder Atlanta sports fans are a laughing stock in the sports world. I’m not joking when I say this isn’t limited to NASCAR. From 1991 to 2005, the Atlanta Braves won 14 straight division titles and rarely sold out playoff games. In the late 2000’s, the Atlanta Falcons were one of the best teams in the NFL and rarely sell out the Georgia Dome. In the 2014-2015 season, the Atlanta Hawks had the best record in the NBA, but the Philips Arena ranked 20th in attendance in a 30 team league. Atlanta also has the dubious distinction of being the first and only city in the modern era of the National Hockey League to have had two NHL teams relocate to another city (the Atlanta Flames (now the Calgary Flames) and the Atlanta Thrashers (now the Winnipeg Jets)). Both teams cited lackluster attendance as their reason for relocating.

    Yet when it comes to college football, you can barely find a soul in downtown Atlanta because they’re either at a Georgia Bulldogs or Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets game.

    I would think that a city that’s lost one NASCAR race already would stop making excuses and go to their one remaining race before it’s too late. I even told Dave Moody this and this was his response.

    Before you say Atlanta is a big market where there’s always something going on, Eddie Gossage has never had trouble getting the people of the Dallas/Fort Worth area to all but pack the stands at Texas Motor Speedway.

    Let me be clear on a few things. I love the city of Atlanta, I love the Atlanta Braves and I love Atlanta Motor Speedway. What’s not to love about it? It’s a fantastic track that’s put on great, historic races over the years. We crowned our champion at Atlanta for 14 years. Ed Clark and his staff do fantastic work making the track a go-to facility. So I don’t say all this to be mean. I say all this because I’m truly afraid that unless the Atlanta populace bucks up and starts packing the stands to the point that Bruton Smith puts the Turn 3 stands back up, Atlanta’s days are numbered.

    Now Atlanta Motor Speedway is in no danger of going away for the next five years. But once that sanctioning agreement is up, I wouldn’t be surprised if Bruton Smith decides he’s not going to continue putting up with the lackluster attendance from the Atlanta market and move its one race to another track. When that day comes and if you weren’t among the 50,000 people who did show up, you have no right to complain about losing it.

    That about sums up the events of the weekend. The next race for the Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series is in Viva Las Vegas. The Camping World Truck Series is off for the next five weeks and will return at Martinsville Speedway in April.

    The opinions expressed in this piece are solely those of the author and may or may not represent the views of Speedway Media.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Folds of Honor Quiktrip 500 at Atlanta

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Folds of Honor Quiktrip 500 at Atlanta

    After a fast race, with an average speed of 155.865 mph and only three cautions, here was what was surprising and not surprising from the 57th Annual Folds of Honor Quiktrip 500 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

    Surprising: After falling behind Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske for much of the last half of last season in performance, Hendrick Motorsports seems to have finally bounced back.

    The team has won four of the last six Sprint Cup points races, beginning with the final NASCAR victory for the legendary Jeff Gordon at Martinsville and continuing on Sunday with a one-two finish at Atlanta.

    Jimmie Johnson won his second straight Cup race and his fifth overall at the Georgia racetrack. More significantly, however, it was his 76th career Sprint Cup victory, tying “The Intimidator,” the late Dale Earnhardt Sr.

    Finishing in second, fittingly, was Earnhardt Sr.’s namesake Dale Earnhardt Jr. After the race, Johnson paid his respects to the legendary “Man in Black.”

    “Gosh, it’s hard to — I entered the sport just hoping I could win a race and keep a job for a few years, and to have 76 and tie Dale Earnhardt Sr. is something I’m very, very proud of,” said Johnson, whose 76th victory came 161 less races and nine less years in age before Earnhardt Sr.’s. “I didn’t have a chance to race against him, unfortunately, but today — there’s been a big void in my mind about not having that chance to race against him, and it was literally a handful of months away from having that opportunity.

    “I didn’t have a chance to race against him, unfortunately, but today — there’s been a big void in my mind about not having that chance to race against him, and it was literally a handful of months away from having that opportunity.

    “So to tie him today, for myself personally, it gives me a little something — it’s a little bit of attachment to the great Dale Earnhardt and something I’m very proud of.”

    It wasn’t an easy win for the driver of the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet. Short pitting and a strategy call by crew chief Chad Knaus got the El Cajon, California native out front in the late going by taking one less pit stop for tires than the rest of the field. After Ryan Newman blew a tire and spun with just two laps to go, a fast pit stop gave Johnson the fresh tires he needed to survive NASCAR Overtime. Overtime ended prematurely when a handful of drivers, most notably Aric Almirola, David Ragan and Ryan Blaney, had a major wreck in turn three. The yellow flag came out right as Johnson crossed the start-finish line and Earnhardt Jr. was able to nip Kyle Busch for second.

    Not Surprising: After an off-season full of build-up for the new 2015 Sprint Cup aero package and softer tire compounds, it definitely produced a different kind of racing in its debut on Sunday.

    Instead of follow-the-leader type racing brought on by “aero push” giving race leaders huge leads almost automatically as has been the case for years, cars could pass easier and even take the lead late in runs. The softer tire compound Goodyear brought to the track led to drivers really having to wrestle their cars around the track, slipping and sliding all the way. And all of this wasn’t due to multiple restarts either; with one of the longest green flag runs in years (208 laps or roughly 312 miles) and only two restarts the entire day, it was one of the more unique races in years.

    Drivers continue to praise the lower downforce package after being introduced to similar concepts last season at Kentucky and Darlington.

    “I loved the way the cars drive,” said ninth place finisher Brad Keselowski. “I understand that it takes more than my opinion to make the sport go round, but I thought it was awesome.”

    “They just need to keep taking more [downforce],” said Carl Edwards, a long-time proponent of the lower downforce package. “This is real racing. We’re driving hard.

    “You can see the guys out here just digging for everything they’re worth. I’m worn out. That’s a tough race and just a lot of fun.”

    Possibly some of the strongest words in support of the lower downforce package came from the sport’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    “I loved it,” the driver of the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet said. “We were sliding around and driving the hell out of the car. I had a blast..

    “Man, it was so much fun. And I post old pictures online all the time of the ‘80s and ‘90s and that’s when racing was racing. That’s when it was good. That’s what they saw today.”

    Surprising: An odd sort of circumstances had Matt Kenseth go from being a front-runner in the race to not being scored for a couple of laps.

    A lap 117 pit stop featured Kenseth’s fuel man (Listed by PitTalks.com to be named John Eicher) set the wedge adjustment wrench on the deck lid of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota while fueling the car. According to NASCAR rules, the fuel man cannot do two things at once while fueling the car, and Kenseth was hit with a drive-through penalty.

    Kenseth’s crew chief Jason Ratcliff argued the penalty while not informing Kenseth of the black flag. Kenseth got a rare black flag with a white strip after not serving his penalty in a timely matter, which means that NASCAR no longer scores the car.

    Kenseth eventually served his penalty and ended the day recovering to finish 19th.

    Not Surprising: Once again, Kevin Harvick led for most of the day but ended up not sealing the deal late in the running. After spinning his tires out on the final restart of the race, the driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet ended the day sixth.

    It wasn’t for lack of trying, however. Before the final caution period, Harvick drove the wheels off his loose race car, sliding around and trying to make up an 11-second gap in the final forty laps.

    “We had issues about the last three runs,” said Harvick after the race, it (the spring race at Atlanta) marking fifteen years since his very first Sprint Cup victory. “I had to start driving the car different. It just required a little bit different handling. We got way behind and the No. 48 was way out front and I had to drive the car really hard and got the right rear burned up.”

    Surprising: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. started the year off right with a great day at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The 28-year-old recorded only his 12th top-10 in his so far underwhelming Sprint Cup career. The 10th place finish came after a strong day where Stenhouse never fell out of the top 15.

    “I’m really happy with all the hard work that these guys put in,” said the two-time XFINITY Series champion. “It’s only one weekend. I hope to get consistent with that and I’m looking forward to going to Vegas next week.”

    Not Surprising: Chase Elliott’s first Sprint Cup start at home track Atlanta wasn’t surprising, with an eighth place finish after a good day. It is the driver of the No. 24 NAPA Chevrolet’s first top-10 finish and a nice rebound after his bad day at Daytona last week.

    What was surprising, however, was the somewhat bittersweet feeling Elliott had on Twitter after teammate and idol Jimmie Johnson won the race.

    “Congrats on the W , hurry up with VL…. ,” Elliott wrote on the social media platform shortly after leaving the media center post-race.

    The Sprint Cup series heads to Las Vegas next week. Expect plenty of gambling with strategy after the finish of Sunday’s race and plenty of fanfare as defending Sprint Cup champion Kyle Busch races at his home track for the first time since winning the championship. Race coverage for the Kobalt 400 begins at 3 p.m. Eastern on FOX.

  • Biggest Surprise for NASCAR Drivers After Atlanta Race?

    Biggest Surprise for NASCAR Drivers After Atlanta Race?

    While the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500  race at Atlanta Motor Speedway may have been the first test of the new low downforce rules package, the biggest surprise for many of the NASCAR drivers who competed may just have been the ‘big one’ that occurred on the very last lap.

    The wreck, which occurred on the backstretch during overtime, drew the yellow flag that ended the race and crowned Jimmie Johnson the winner.

    The driver with the most damage from the Atlanta ‘big one’ was Aric Almirola. His famed Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Smithfield Ford caught fire and literally burned up the entire back end of his race car.

    Almirola was able to exit the car with the help of some of the NASCAR and fire officials. He was treated and released from the infield care center.

    “This was certainly not the finish that we had hoped for,” Almirola said. “This race was a game in tire management. The tire fall off caused our tires to slide all over the track and made it incredibly difficult to keep the car on the bottom.”

    “Once we fell a lap down, it was so hard to get back on the lead lap with how challenging it was to pass in a loose car. But we ran in the Top-20 all afternoon, and we had a competitive car.”

    “It was disappointing to have a wreck on the last lap, especially with how hard our team worked, but I know that we’ll be able to bounce back next week in Las Vegas.”

    In spite of the melee, Almirola still was able to finish in the 15th position due to the limited number of race cars on the lead lap.

    David Ragan, driver of the No. 23 Dr. Pepper Toyota for BK Racing was also involved in the crash. He too was treated and released from the infield care center and finished in the 32nd spot.

    “Had a lot of fun racing and working on our Dr. Pepper, Toyota Racing Camry today,” Ragan tweeted after the race. “Stinks to get torn up on the last lap! Take the good with the bad.”

    One of sports’ more promising rookies also fell victim to that cursed ‘big one.’ Ryan Blaney, driver of the Woods Brother No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing team, went from 16th to 25th as a result of the late race carnage.

    “We had an OK car all day and we were just trying to find some balance,” Blaney said. “Sometimes we were better than others and at the end, we weren’t the best.  We were gonna run 13th to 15th, which would have been an OK day.”

    “I didn’t know what happened initially, but I guess the 43 got a big run off the top and I was inside the 14 and got tagged in the back.  That’s what they’re telling me and, unfortunately, that sent me around, which kind of stinks.”

    “We were just trying to salvage a decent day out of it and it just stinks to run all those laps and then get wrecked at the end of a race.  There are some things we can learn to go onto Vegas next week and we’re excited to bounce back there.”

    The final driver to get caught up in the so-called ‘big one’ was Landon Cassill, driver of the No. 38 FR8 Auctions Ford.

    “They just kind of wrecked in front of me,” Cassill said. “I had the car slowed down to where I felt like I was going the pace of the wreck.  It wasn’t clear in front of me yet, but it was gonna be because it looked like he was gonna go to the bottom and somebody hit me from behind.”

    “It was a frustrating way to end the day because it was a handful anyways.  At that point, we did have a position to race for, but you didn’t want to risk anything.”

    “We just wanted to bring it home in one piece and we didn’t get to do that.  I hate having a tore up race car, but maybe it will give us an opportunity to take a look at it and see what we can do to make it better.”

    Cassill managed a 36th place finish in spite of the crashing all around him.

    One driver that just barely missed the last-lap wreck was Danica Patrick. The driver of the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 10 Aspen Dental Chevrolet scored a top-20 finish when the checkered flag flew.

    “I can’t believe we made it through there at the end,” Patrick said. “I think I missed about three spins.”

    Whether being a part of the race’s only wreck or just making it through, the biggest surprise for the NASCAR elite at Atlanta was no doubt the ‘big one’, especially during the waning laps of the race.

    But the season is young and there will no doubt be plenty of other major wrecks to sort through. Anyone taking bets on a Vegas ‘big one?’

  • Harvick Comes up Short Again at Atlanta

    Harvick Comes up Short Again at Atlanta

    HAMPTON, Ga.– A dominant car and dominant performance by Kevin Harvick wasn’t enough to secure the victory in Atlanta.

    Despite leading 131 of the 330 laps in the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet stumbled on the final restart of the race with two laps to go and finished sixth.

    “We had issues about the last three runs,” he said. “I had to start driving the car different. It just required a little bit different handling. And then we had a slow pit stop there. We got way behind and the No. 48 (Jimmie Johnson) was way out front and I had to drive the car really hard and got the right rear burned up. We just didn’t execute today but everybody on our Jimmy John’s/Busch Chevrolet hung in there all day and we’ll keep at it.”

    In four of the last five years at Atlanta, Harvick has led over 100 laps. In each of those races, he’s finished fifth, 19th, second and sixth. In the last three trips, he’s led 195, 116 and 131 laps.

    Despite coming up short, Harvick leaves Hampton, Georgia third in points trailing Kyle Busch by four. He’s also heading to Las Vegas as the defending race winner.

  • Kenseth Black Flagged at Atlanta

    Kenseth Black Flagged at Atlanta

    HAMPTON, Ga.– Matt Kenseth fell afoul of an unusual rule in today’s race at Atlanta.

    Despite leading 47 laps and having a strong car, the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was black-flagged by NASCAR for “improper fueling.” During his stop, the gas man engaged the fuel can with the fuel intake of the car and left a tool on the back of the car.

    According to the NASCAR rule book, “The Fueler must be in control of the fuel can at all times when fuel is being added to the vehicle. The Fueler will not be permitted to perform any adjustments or other pit stop procedures while the fuel can coupler is engaged with the vehicle-mounted adaptor.” In other words, the gas can man can’t do anything other than hold the can while the car is being refueled.

    As crew chief Jason Ratcliff protested the penalty, he failed to relay that his driver had been black-flagged. After failing to serve his pass-through penalty within three laps of being black-flagged, he was shown the black flag with white crosses. This meant he would no longer be scored until he served his penalty. After ignoring it one lap, he finally served the penalty and went from fourth in the running order to 32nd two laps down.

    “I didn’t know we had any kind of problem. Nobody told me,” Kenseth said over his in-car radio. “Pretty much just threw our race away unless we get everything to fall in our lap.” Ratcliff said he couldn’t “see the black-and-white flag when I’m out of the pit box arguing the case.”

    Kenseth would wind up finishing 19th two laps down.

  • Johnson Ties ‘The Intimidator’ with 76 Career Wins

    Johnson Ties ‘The Intimidator’ with 76 Career Wins

    HAMPTON, Ga.– Jimmie Johnson put himself amongst the hallowed legends of NASCAR after scoring the victory at Atlanta. The driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet led 52 of the 330 laps on his way to scoring his 76th career win in the Sprint Cup Series. This victory moved him up to seventh in the all-time NASCAR wins list in a tie with the late Dale Earnhardt.

    “It’s such an honor,” Johnson said. “With the chaos at the end and the crash, wondering about overtime and how it worked these days, I kind of lost sight of that. I remembered on my victory lap coming down and I had to come by and throw a 3 out the window to pay respects to the man. There’s a huge void in my career that I never had a chance to race with him, but at least, I was able to tie his record there.”

    Meanwhile, teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished runner-up in his No. 88 HMS Chevrolet.

    “I loved it. We were sliding around and driving the hell out of the car. I had a blast. I had some good races there on the track with the No. 2 (Brad Keselowski) and the No. 18 (Kyle Busch) and a bunch of guys. Man, it was so much fun,” Earnhardt said.

    After starting 39th, Kyle Busch led two laps and finished third in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Brother Kurt led 62 laps on his way to a fourth-place finish in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. Carl Edwards led one lap and rounded out the top-five in his No. 19 JGR Toyota.

    Despite leading the most laps at 131, Kevin Harvick stumbled on the final restart and finished sixth in his No. 4 SHR Chevrolet.

    “We had issues about the last three runs. I had to start driving the car different. It just required a little bit different handling. And then we had a slow pit stop there. We got way behind and the No. 48 (Jimmie Johnson) was way out front and I had to drive the car really hard and got the right rear burned up,” Harvick said.

    Martin Truex Jr. led 34 laps on his way to finishing seventh in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota.

    Chase Elliott was the highest finishing rookie in eighth in his No. 24 HMS Chevrolet.

    “I am really proud of the effort today. Really really solid NAPA Chevrolet. Just happy to be a part of this team. Everybody fought awfully hard. We are excited about today. I think it is something to build off of. It’s not perfect, it’s a start,” Elliott said.

    Brad Keselowski finished ninth in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top-10 in his No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

    Matt Kenseth had a strong car early in the race leading 47 laps, but he was black-flagged for improper fueling. While the fuel person had the can engaged with the fuel intake, he put a tool on the back of the car. According to the NASCAR rule book, if the can is engaged with the car, the fuel person cannot do anything else but fuel the car. While crew chief Jason Ratcliff was arguing the call, the black flag message was not relayed to the driver of the No. 20 JGR Toyota. Three laps after being black flagged, he was given the black flag with a white cross meaning he wouldn’t be scored until he served the penalty. After staying out a lap, he eventually served the penalty and went from fourth to 32nd two laps down.

    After two races, Kyle Busch leads the point standings by three points over Truex while Harvick is third, four points behind the leader.

    The race lasted three hours, 15 minutes and 38 seconds at an average speed of 155.863 mph. There were 28 lead changes among eight different drivers. The race went the first 209 laps caution-free before a piece of debris on the backstretch brought out the first caution. There were three cautions for a total of 13 laps.

    Complete Finishing Order:

    1. (19) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 330.
    2. (16) Dale Earnhardt Jr, Chevrolet, 330.
    3. (39) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 330.
    4. (1) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 330.
    5. (7) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 330.
    6. (6) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 330.
    7. (9) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 330.
    8. (24) Chase Elliott #, Chevrolet, 330.
    9. (17) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 330.
    10. (5) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ford, 330.
    11. (8) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 330.
    12. (26) Joey Logano, Ford, 330.
    13. (14) Greg Biffle, Ford, 329.
    14. (15) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 329.
    15. (27) Aric Almirola, Ford, 328.
    16. (12) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 328.
    17. (18) Ty Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 328.
    18. (21) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 328.
    19. (13) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 328.
    20. (25) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 328.
    21. (2) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 328.
    22. (3) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 328.
    23. (11) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 328.
    24. (4) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 328.
    25. (23) * Ryan Blaney #, Ford, 328.
    26. (20) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 327.
    27. (22) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 326.
    28. (31) Chris Buescher #, Ford, 326.
    29. (35) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 326.
    30. (34) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 325.
    31. (10) Brian Scott #, Ford, 324.
    32. (33) David Ragan, Toyota, 323.
    33. (32) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 323.
    34. (30) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 323.
    35. (28) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 322.
    36. (29) Landon Cassill, Ford, 321.
    37. (36) * Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 318.
    38. (38) Jeffrey Earnhardt #, Ford, 313.
    39. (37) * Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 312.

  • Corey LaJoie ‘Back in the Driver’s Seat’ Again

    Corey LaJoie ‘Back in the Driver’s Seat’ Again

    In his first XFINITY race in over a year, Corey LaJoie drove his JGL Racing Young Guns No. 24 Toyota to a 23rd place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

    By Lap 18, LaJoie had advanced to the top-10 in the Heads Up Georgia 250. The team made adjustments on the car during the race while LaJoie took advantage of the valuable seat time as he reacclimated to being back in a racecar again.

    “It was great to be back in the driver’s seat,” he said. “I needed to knock off the rust a little bit right from the beginning of the weekend and the guys on this JGL Racing team were patient and made the process great. Our No. 24 Toyota wasn’t too bad out there today. We needed to turn a little better through the center of the corner and we continued to adjust on that throughout the race. In the end, it was just great to be back behind the wheel in NASCAR.”

    This was LaJoie’s seventh start in the XFINITY Series and his first race in the series since Nov. 2014 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He is probably most well-known as a driver in the K&N Pro Series East Series where in 2012 he captured five wins and was runner-up in the championship standings. LaJoie also had two Sprint Cup Series starts in 2014.

    The 24-year old is the son of two-time Nationwide Series (now XFINITY) champion Randy LaJoie and grandson of New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame member Don LaJoie.  He began racing go-karts on a track behind his father’s shop when he was four years old and has never stopped pursuing his dream.

    Being Randy LaJoie’s son puts him under a microscope when he’s on the racetrack. Every accomplishment might be magnified but so is every mistake. In LaJoie’s mind, the pluses have always outweighed the negatives. Being under the spotlight gives him an added incentive to do well and he thrives under the pressure. His father’s experience and advice have been invaluable and LaJoie gives credit to his Grandfather too.

    “I’ve always said having my Dad in my corner is a big advantage,” he told me, “because he’s been there, done that before. Without my Dad and Grandfather Don LaJoie, none of this would be possible.”

    After being away from the track, LaJoie realizes, now more than ever, that he has to make the most of each opportunity.

    “I really appreciate the opportunity that has been given to me with this JGL Racing organization.  My time away from NASCAR made me realize how important racing is to me,” LaJoie shared. “And it makes me appreciate even more opportunities like this when they come along. I look forward to getting behind the wheel of this No. 24 Toyota again and improving on this performance.”

    LaJoie heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway next weekend for the Boyd Gaming 300 as part of JGL Racing’s Young Guns program.

     

  • Nemechek Captures the Truck Victory at Atlanta

    Nemechek Captures the Truck Victory at Atlanta

    HAMPTON, Ga.– One final restart was all that was needed for John Hunter Nemechek to score the victory at Atlanta.

    The driver of the No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet led just eight laps, but it was the final eight laps as he scored his second career victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He is the youngest winner in Atlanta Motor Speedway history.

    Cameron Hayley was leading late in the race, but was passed by Nemechek with 13 laps to go and finished runner-up. Timothy Peters finished third in his No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota. Daniel Hemric finished fourth in his No. 19 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford with Grant Enfinger rounding out the top-five in his No. 33 GMS Racing Chevrolet.

    Ben Rhodes finished sixth in his No. 41 ThorSport Racing Toyota, John Wes Townley finished seventh in his No. 05 Athenian Motorsports Chevrolet and Parker Kligerman finished eighth in his RBR Racing Ford. Caleb Holman finished ninth in his No. 75 Henderson Motorsports Toyota and Spencer Gallagher rounded out the top-10 in his No. 23 GMS Racing Chevrolet.

    Matt Crafton was the dominant car of the race leading 76 of the 130 laps. With 15 laps to go, however, Christopher Bell tapped the left-rear corner panel of Daniel Suárez’s truck. He was sent into the right-rear corner of Crafton and both slammed into the wall on the backstretch. Crafton finished 30th and Suárez finished 31st.

    Bell was leading the race with four laps to go before suffering a right-front tire blowout and slamming the wall in Turn 4. He finished 26th.

    The race lasted one hour, 39 minutes and nine seconds at an average speed of 121.150 mph. The caution was waved five times for 25 laps – two times for the caution clock expiring – and one red flag for six minutes and 20 seconds. There were seven lead changes among four different drivers.

  • Kyle Busch Puts on Clinic in XFINITY Race at Atlanta

    Kyle Busch Puts on Clinic in XFINITY Race at Atlanta

    HAMPTON, Ga.– Stop me if you’ve heard this before; Kyle Busch wins in XFINITY.

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led 119 of the 163 laps on his way to scoring his 76th career victory in the NASCAR XFINITY Series.

    “Just to accomplish some of my goals that I have in racing (is special),” said Busch. “Being in Atlanta – I have never won here before (in the XFINITY Series), so I can’t say enough about JGR engines. I’m glad to get it out of the way and checked off the list.”

    Kyle Larson closed into within half a second of Busch in the closing laps, but got caught off guard by a lapped car and had to settle for runner-up in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet.

    “We were a little bit better than I thought we were going to be. I thought we’d be a fourth-, fifth-, sixth-place car, and we were definitely second-best, I thought,” Larson said.

    Erik Jones had a strong car today but had to serve a pass-through penalty after beating Busch to the line on the initial start. He would go on to finish third in his No. 20 JGR Toyota. Paul Menard finished fourth in his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Ty Dillon rounded out the top-five in his No. 3 RCR Chevrolet.

    Brad Keselowski finished sixth in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

    “We just weren’t as strong as we wanted to be and needed to be,” Keselowski said. “We’ll work on it from there and try to find a little bit more speed.”

    Daniel Suárez finished seventh in his No. 19 JGR Toyota. Justin Allgaier finished eighth in his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. Elliott Sadler finished ninth in his No. 1 JRM Chevrolet. Jeb Burton rounded out the top-10 in his No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford.

    “I was having fun today,” Burton said. “We did a good job. I felt like we lost some spots on that last restart. The longer we went, the tighter we got. It seemed like later in the day we just kept getting tighter and tighter. I’m really proud of the guys. They worked really hard this week, considering 14 days ago this team didn’t exist. I’m really proud of that and I feel like we’ll get better each week.”

    The race lasted one hour, 49 minutes and 53 seconds at an average speed of 137.065 mph. There were five lead changes among four different drivers. There were five cautions for 21 laps.

    Complete Finishing Order – NXS Heads Up Georgia 250 – Atlanta Motor Speedway

    1. (1) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 163.

    2. (4) Kyle Larson(i), Chevrolet, 163.

    3. (2) Erik Jones #, Toyota, 163.

    4. (11) Paul Menard(i), Chevrolet, 163.

    5. (6) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 163.

    6. (7) Brad Keselowski(i), Ford, 163.

    7. (3) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 163.

    8. (12) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 163.

    9. (16) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 163.

    10. (15) Jeb Burton, Ford, 163.

    11. (19) Brandon Jones #, Chevrolet, 163.

    12. (10) Kevin Harvick(i), Chevrolet, 162.

    13. (9) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 162.

    14. (5) Brennan Poole #, Chevrolet, 162.

    15. (17) Ryan Reed, Ford, 162.

    16. (8) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 162.

    17. (14) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 162.

    18. (18) Darrell Wallace Jr, Ford, 162.

    19. (22) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 162.

    20. (13) Blake Koch, Chevrolet, 161.

    21. (20) Dakoda Armstrong, Toyota, 160.

    22. (21) Ryan Preece #, Chevrolet, 159.

    23. (23) Corey Lajoie, Toyota, 159.

    24. (26) Garrett Smithley #, Chevrolet, 159.

    25. (32) Mario Gosselin, Chevrolet, 158.

    26. (29) BJ McLeod #, Ford, 157.

    27. (34) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, 156.

    28. (24) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 152.

    29. (40) Chris Cockrum, Chevrolet, 152.

    30. (36) Mike Harmon, Dodge, 151.

    31. (37) Cody Ware #, Chevrolet, 151.

    32. (33) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, Suspension, 127.

    33. (27) Ray Black Jr #, Chevrolet, 113.

    34. (38) Josh Reaume, Dodge, Suspension, 87.

    35. (25) Harrison Rhodes, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 68.

    36. (30) Carl Long, Toyota, Handling, 29.

    37. (39) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Overheating, 25.

    38. (35) Todd Peck, Ford, Engine, 15.

    39. (28) David Starr, Toyota, Engine, 7.

    40. (31) Jeff Green, Toyota, Electrical, 1.