Tag: Atlanta Motor Speedway

Brad Keselowski Wins The Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Breaking Penske Team Record

Brad Keselowski won the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 on Sunday, making him the most winningest Penske driver ever. The win broke his tie with Mark Donohue, who held the record previously. The race came down to the final laps where a faster Martin Truex Jr. failed to surpass Keselowski.

“We had the best car we probably should have won that one,” said Truex Jr. after the race. The 325 lap race had a restart with 43 laps to go, with Kurt Busch and Joey Logano on the front row. The race had many leaders, as Kyle Larson won Stage 1 and Kevin Harvick won stage 2.

Keselowski was battling sickness during the weekend in Atlanta, even missing the final practice session because of it. He had a backup driver ready for the race on Sunday but was able to participate himself.

The race did not have many cautions. Besides the stage ending cautions there was only three other incidents that made cars slow down. The first one was a competition caution which occurred on lap 36 due to the rain the night before. There was a caution on lap 223 because of Kyle Busch’s car smoking, and another one on lap 274 after Ryan Preece collided with B.J. McLeod while exiting his pit box. 27 of the 37 cars finished the race within a 5 lap gap behind the leader.

Kyle Busch started from the rear after needing a backup car and made a charge up the field throughout the race. Busch finished in 6th place.

NASCAR heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway on with a triple header lineup. On Friday the Gander Outdoors Truck Series holds the Strat 22 in the evening at 9 PM EST. On Saturday at 4 PM EST, the Xfinity Series will hold the Boyd Gaming 300. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will hold their third season race on Sunday at 3:30 PM EST, with the Pennzoil 400.

Kyle Busch Wins Atlanta Truck Race, Breaks All-Time Record

Kyle Busch broke Ron Hornaday’s record of NASCAR Truck series wins on Saturday after winning the Ultimate Tailgating 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Busch also won the first two stages of the race, making it a full race sweep, similar to the one in the Xfinity Series earlier in the day.

Despite being billed as “Hotlanta” by many, today the speedway was under misty and foggy conditions. The 130 lap race had two 40 lap stages, with the final stage being 50 laps.

The race had two red flags at the end. The first was to clean up after a crash involving Spencer Boyd, Austin Wayne Self, Chad Finley, Stewart Friesen, Parker Kligerman and Jesse Little. The second one was thrown up after the cars had just started rolling again, this time due to weather. The race was able to get back going with five laps under green. The finale of the race had rookie Harrison Burton and Kyle Busch on the front row.

There were three incident cautions in the race. Two were from Natalie Decker going into grass, and the third was John Hunter Nemechek spinning out.

The Gander Outdoors Truck Series returns next Friday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Strat 200. Kyle Busch will be racing once again tomorrow in the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 for the Monster Energy Cup Series. The broadcast for the race starts at 2 PM Eastern Time.

Christopher Bell Gets Xfinity Stage Sweep In Atlanta

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell got a sweep of all three stages on Saturday, winning the Rinnai 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The win becomes the ninth for the 24-year-old driver in the series. Bell lead 143 of the 163 laps, giving up some after a pit stop where the team struggled on the right side. “Running the yellow line is so hard. I don’t know, I would just struggle on the longer runs there,” said Bell after the race.

While Christopher Bell held the lead, Cole Custer was on the behind him for most time. After a restart with three laps to go there was a close battle between the two cars. “If he ran the bottom I think I would have had him,” said Custer, reflecting on how Bell went to the high side of the track on the final lap.

The conditions during the whole race were foggy, with mist coming down throughout the race. The grid for the race was decided off of points because the qualifying was rained out. Early in the race many cars nearly went sideways but recovered. Despite the less desired weather the race only had one caution for on-track incidents. The incident came with 8 to go when John Hunter Nemechek spun out on his own. The race restarted with a three-lap shootout.

The race was the first win for the new Toyota Supra car that will run the NASCAR Xfinity Series this year. The car debuted last week at Daytona.

Later today in Atlanta the Gander Outdoors Truck Series will hold a 200 mile race, with the Monster Energy Cup Series having their Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 on Sunday at 2PM Eastern Time.