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 Seth Eggert, Staff Writer After finishing second in the Daytona 500, Darrell “Bubba” Wallace, Jr. now has a sponsor for Atlanta Motor Speedway. Wallace will drive the No. 43 NASCAR Racing Experience Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Petty Motorsports in the Folds of Honor Quik Trip 500 on Sunday, February 25. Wallace has three previous starts at the 1.5-mile D-shaped oval in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. His best finish was sixth in last year’s event. In the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, “Bubba” Wallace has one previous start onRead 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 Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor He didnt receive much media fanfare in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but Cole Whitt did an incredible job finishing 20th in his second race with TriStar Motorsports. The little team that could, which has 30 full-time employees and fields an Xfinity Series team in addition to the No. 72 car that Whitt drives, has now begun their season — their first in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series since 2013 — with consecutive top-20 finishes. Whitt, who started 37th,Read More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Sunday at Atlanta, Kevin Harvick led a staggering 292 laps of the 325 that were completed in the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500. However a costly error by the 41-year old driver on pit road with 16 laps remaining in the event relegated the 2014 Series champion to a disappointing ninth place finish. Harvick, however, showed grace in defeat when he was interviewed following his latest non-winning dominating effort at the 1.5-mile speedway in Hampton, Georgia. After the race, you could say Harvick took theRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer After scoring his first Daytona 500 Top 10 finish since 2015, Kasey Kahne looked to continue his strong performance in the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The race was historic as it was the 2,500th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race. In the first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, Kahne’s No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS was seventh fastest. Qualifying was a disappointment however, as Kahne could not muster a lap faster than 29th. In the final practice, Kahne’s HendrickRead 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 Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Matt Kenseth may not have won Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but the 44-year old driver from Cambridge, Wisconsin had to feel great in finishing third. Kenseth started the race from the 16th position and by lap 10 he appeared to have a decent car as he had moved up to 12th. During a pit stop at lap 36 though, Kenseth was busted for speeding heading into pit lane. After a pass through penalty, Kenseth fell to 31st one lapRead More