Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor It’s been a rough afternoon for Martin Truex, Jr. and his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team, the defending Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champions, as pre-qualifying inspection at Atlanta Motor Speedway went from bad to worse for the Denver, Colorado based team. Failing inspection after three separate trips through NASCAR’s new Optical Scanning Station, the team was penalized with the loss of car chief Blake Harris for the weekend, as well as being docked 30 minutes of practice time. Fearing a fourth failure andRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HAMPTON, Ga. – Ryan Newman was within seconds of breaking a pole drought that dates to 2013 – until Kyle Busch made his final-round qualifying run at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Covering the 1.54-mile distance in 30.024 seconds (184.652 mph) in the money round of Friday’s knockout qualifying session, Busch edged Newman by .038 seconds to win his first pole of the young Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, his first at Atlanta and the 28th of his career. Starting up front is certainly a benefitRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR 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 whichRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor As first reported on Twitter by Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Atlanta Motor Speedway will not repave their 1.5 mile track for next year’s race, electing instead to postpone their plans for at least a year. The track, which has not been repaved since it was reconfigured in 1997, has shown increasing signs of wear over the years and as a result has been revered by drivers for its challenging race conditions, including heavy tire fall-off and cars slipping and sliding around on the worn-out surface. EvenRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HAMPTON, Ga. – Thanks to the unintentional generosity of the dominant driver in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, opportunistic Brad Keselowski won the second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the season. Kevin Harvick led 292 of the 325 laps at the 1.54-mile track, but a pit road speeding penalty under caution on Lap 311 sent him to the back of the field for the final restart. That gave Keselowski the chance he needed, and on Lap 319 he surged past KyleRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor There is bad luck and then there is Kevin Harvick’s luck at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Heading into Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Harvick had been the dominant car in the three previous races at the track, leading the most laps in each of those events, but failing to capture the victory at the end of the day for various reasons, whether it be a bad restart, a bad pit stop, or something else. On Sunday, Harvick once again found himself in the catbird seatRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HAMPTON, Ga. – Kevin Harvick saved his best lap for the best possible moment on Friday afternoon, putting his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford on the pole for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX). In the third and final round of knockout qualifying for the second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the season, Harvick toured the 1.54-mile track in 29.118 seconds (190.398 mph) to post the fastest lap of the entire qualifying session.Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor 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 Atlanta being the first non-restrictor plate track on the 2017 schedule, the track will be the first to employ the new lower downforce rules package, which includes a few reductions from last season’s low downforce package, namely with a smaller rear spoiler, front splitter, asRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor In news that is not likely to have many fans throughout the NASCAR garage, Atlanta Motor Speedway announced on Tuesday that the 1.5 mile track will be resurfaced after the completion of its 2017 race weekend in March. The track was last repaved in 1997 when the facility underwent a reconfiguration from a true oval to the current quad-oval, making it the second oldest surface on the NASCAR circuit. A favorite among drivers and fans alike, the track’s aging surface had developed multiple racing groovesRead More

SHOW #400 – Guest: John Hunter Nemechek – We recap the exciting racing from Atlanta, review Jimmie Johnson’s 76 career win, tying Dale Earnhardt Sr., hear from Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Rick Hendrick on the milestone, preview everything Las Vegas and more. Hosted by Kerry Murphey and Toby Christie ( Roughly 48:00 mins) DOWNLOAD HERE   CREDITS: Hosts: Kerry Murphey & Toby Christie Executive Producer: Kerry Murphey Music: Russell Nash Audio Director Voice Over: Thomas Moog SUBSCRIBE FREE HERE RSS FEED RADIO STATIONS CLICK HERE SUBSCRIBE FROM iTUNES: Take us with you! Subscribe to our audio showsRead More