atlanta motor speedway Tag

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent The first NASCAR Xfinity Series top-10 finish for Jeffrey Earnhardt was a decade in the making. Earnhardt had a chance at a better finish in the Rinnai due to a late-race caution, but the worn racing surface of Atlanta Motor Speedway prevented him from capitalizing. Earnhardt’s No. 18 Extreme Concepts / iK9 Toyota Supra had been running inside the top-five when John Hunter Nemechek spun off turn two with seven laps to go. He exited pit road second on and restarted on the outside onRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HAMPTON, Ga. – To hear Christopher Bell describe his race in Victory Lane, you’d never know that he had just won it. “I felt pretty sloppy there as a driver sometimes,” Bell said after leading 143 of 163 laps in winning Saturday’s Rinnai 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. “Running the yellow line (at the bottom of the track) is so hard. “I don’t know, I would just struggle on the longer runs there.” Struggling, of course, is a relative thing. AfterRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Air hose woes proved to be costly for Tyler Reddick, who was just getting the run on eventual race winner Christopher Bell before the final caution came out, and had to settle for fifth in Saturday’s Rinnai 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. In the closing laps, Reddick’s No. 2 Pinnacle Financial Partners Chevrolet Camaro was making a hard charge on the bottom, to the point of clipping the apron in the corners at times, just to catch the dominant Bell and started looking like Reddick wasRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HAMPTON, Ga. – Clint Bowyer was on the doorstep of securing his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series pole position since 2007, but teammate Aric Almirola and fellow Ford driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had the last say. Almirola powered his No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford to the fastest lap of the day in the final round of Friday’s knockout qualifying session at Atlanta Motor Speedway, claiming the second Busch Pole Award of his career—and his first since winning the pole for the Coca-Cola 600 in 2012.Read More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent After the events of Daytona International Speedway, the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series is ready to get running at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Austin Hill earned his first-career victory last weekend and locked himself into the Playoffs. Daytona set two records, fewest trucks to finish, and the longest race for the Truck Series in mileage. Drivers playing catch up, an old, worn racing surface, inclement weather, and tire wear are just some of the storylines heading into the Ultimate Tailgating 200. Coverage for the Ultimate TailgatingRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After last Sunday’s barn burner of a finish in the Daytona 500, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series packs up and heads to Georgia for this weekend’s running of the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. With a track surface that is old and worn, having not been repaved since its reconfiguration in 1997, Atlanta always gets rave reviews from drivers who enjoy slipping and sliding around on the worn out asphalt. The track has been unpredictable when it comes to which driverRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to the track this weekend for the Rinnai 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Last weekend, Michael Annett scored his first career NASCAR victory after dominating the NASCAR Racing Experience 300 at Daytona International Speedway. The last time the Xfinity Series had back to back first-time winners was 2017 with Alex Bowman and Christopher Bell. An old racing surface, the possibility of inclement weather, and tire wear are just some of the stories heading into the Rinnai 250. Ryan Preece is theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor There have been great brother duos to race in NASCAR over the years, but one of the best was the combination of Bobby and Terry Labonte. Back in November 1996, the two got to showcase their talents in the season finale at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Terry entered the race with a slim 47-point advantage over Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon after finishing third at Phoenix the week prior. He had done so while nursing a broken left hand that was injured in a practice crash. WhenRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent After competing in nine NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series races in 2018, Jesse Little and his JJL Motorsports team are set to run between 12 and 15 races in 2019. Despite competing part-time in the Truck Series in 2018, Little excelled in his limited starts. He earned six top-10 finishes in his No. 97 Ford F-150. Little led the first laps of his career at Dover International Speedway and was in contention for the win until a late-race pit road penalty relegated him to a ninth-placeRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, FL – NASCAR fans old and new will tell you that Alan Kulwicki represented the best of “old school” tradition while embracing the concept of progress and hard work. His NASCAR Cup championship career was simultaneously heralded by those watching his work and especially appreciated by the people competing against him in the garage. It was an unusual dichotomy of respect and awe. And while tragedy claimed his life in an April, 1993, plane accident the weekend of the Bristol, Tenn. spring race –Read More