atlanta motor speedway Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Half of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season is now complete as Atlanta Motor Speedway comes calling this weekend to kick off the second half with Sunday’s running of the Quaker State 400. Atlanta’s aging racing surface, which had been in place since 1997, held together as long as possible, but the 260 laps around the 1.5-mile track last July were the last on that particular surface as the track underwent a repave and reconfiguration for the 2022 season. The 24-degree banking in the turns wasRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HAMPTON, Ga. – It was superspeedway racing with all the trimmings. “New” Atlanta Motor Speedway produced a fifth different 2022 winner—William Byron, who managed to keep an angry pack of drafting cars behind him for the final 10 laps of Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500. In a race that produced 46 lead changes among 20 drivers—both track records—Byron crossed the finish line .109 seconds ahead of Christopher Bell and .145 seconds ahead of Ross Chastain. Bell, however, was penalized for passing below the boundaryRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HAMPTON, Ga. – With a brilliant move to the inside of leader Ryan Sieg on the final lap of a second overtime, Ty Gibbs seized control of Saturday’s Nalley Cars 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway and won by .178 seconds over runner-up Austin Hill. Overcoming a mistake on pit road, where he overshot his stall, Gibbs rallied to run near the front as the race reached the end of regulation and moved into overtime.  In the second extra period, which pushed the event nineRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HAMPTON, Ga. – Moments after taking the white flag in Saturday’s FR8 208 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Corey Heim powered to the inside of Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate Chandler Smith, got a push from teammate John Hunter Nemechek and held on to win his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. Heim’s No. 51 Toyota crossed the finish line .173 seconds ahead of the Toyota of Ben Rhodes, as Ty Majeski came home third and Smith slipped to fourth. Daytona winner Zane Smith completedRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HAMPTON, Ga. – Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series practice answered a lot of questions about the nature of racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway. With NASCAR’s superspeedway competition package in place for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at the 1.54-mile track  (3 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)., Cup drivers quickly gravitated toward drafting in large, organized packs. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. topped the speed chart with a lap at 186.616 mph, edging Kyle Busch (186.390 mph) and Christopher Bell (186.321 mph). “WhatRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor When the NASCAR Cup Series takes the green flag in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta, it will also be taking a step off into the unknown. Atlanta’s aging racing surface, which had been in place since 1997, held together as long as possible, but the 260 laps around the 1.5-mile track last July were the last on that particular surface as the track underwent a repave and reconfiguration for the 2022 season. Almost as soon as Kurt Busch crossed the line to takeRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service In 2022, the NASCAR Cup Series will return to the Last Great Coliseum after visiting one of the first great coliseums for the first time. The series will make its first trip to the shores of the Mississippi under the shadow of the Gateway Arch. And the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will have a new look, with Homestead-Miami Speedway moving back into the postseason and each round featuring a shakeup of the participating tracks. For the first time in its history, the Clash, theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer On paper, Martin Truex, Jr. started fifth in Sunday’s Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. That all changed during pre-race inspections when his No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry failed twice. The first issue came from the deck lid, which NASCAR deemed to be too high. His Joe Gibbs Racing crew were able to fix the issue, but a new issue rose. The tail wasn’t compliant to the sanctioning body’s liking. By the rulebook, Truex had to give up his starting position and work hisRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Kurt Busch out-dueled his younger brother Kyle Busch in the pair’s fourth career 1-2 finish to secure his 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs position and take his 33rd career victory in Sunday’s Quaker State 400 Presented by Walmart. Busch, 42, has been particularly good at the 1.5-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway. Sunday’s win was his fourth there, most among the current field, and the last trophy given before the historic NASCAR track is repaved and reconfigured going forward. More importantly Sunday’s work was a bigRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After Atlanta Motor Speedway announced earlier this week that it would be repaving and reconfiguring the 1.54-mile track for the 2022 season, a chorus of drivers and crew chiefs have come out in opposition to the changes planned to the oldest racing surface in NASCAR. Following his 102nd NASCAR Xfinity Series win Saturday at the track, you can add Kyle Busch to that growing list. “I sure am glad to win the final Xfinity Series race on a real Atlanta race track,” Busch said. “Because theRead More