Late-race fade derails Kyle Larson’s powerful performance at Atlanta

Posted on March 21, 2021March 21, 2021 by Zack Albert

Kyle Larson sat poised to snap the string of unique winners in the NASCAR Cup Series this season Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. His No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet had led a considerable bulk of the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 and his second victory in a three-week span seemed within sight.

Larson’s dominant day unraveled in the closing laps as Ryan Blaney eased past him to lead the final nine laps at the 1.54-mile Georgia track, bringing the count of 2021 winners up to a half-dozen. Larson was left to settle for his third top-five finish in the last four Cup Series races, a result that left him disappointed but still trying to see the bright side in his first year with the No. 5 group.

“I don’t know, I think he just got a lot better there that last stage and it kind of changed up my flow of the race a little bit,” said Larson, who led a race-best 269 laps. “I could get out to such a big lead and then I could take care of my stuff and run the bottom (groove), where it was maybe slower, but I could take care of my tires. He was fast there, and I just wanted to maintain that gap that I had, so I had to run in the faster part of the race track and just use my stuff up. And then, he was just a lot better than me there late in the run. Hate to lead a lot of laps and lose, but we had a really good car that we brought to the track.”

Larson swept both stages, and though he lost the lead to Blaney on a pit-stop exchange early in Stage 3, he quickly regained the top spot and rebuilt his margin on the rest of the field.

That reign started to fray down the stretch as Blaney closed back in. Larson complained over his team communications that Joey Logano, a teammate to Blaney with Team Penske, had initially held him up during Blaney’s final pursuit. No. 5 crew chief Cliff Daniels tried to encourage Larson’s confidence by saying he could pass him back, but the 28-year-old driver was unable to mount another challenge and finished 2.083 seconds behind at the checkered flag.

“I mean, it’s hard to say. I definitely would have had a better shot had I gotten by Logano when I got to him,” Larson said. ” But, yeah, I mean, it just was hard. My tires were pretty much gone at that point. I was sliding around. I just didn’t get through traffic good at the end.”

Larson’s most recent start at Atlanta — February 2019 — also ended with heartache. He led a race-high 142 laps but finished 12th after a pit-road speeding penalty. Larson also was runner-up in 2017 at Atlanta, where he has four top-10 finishes but lacks a victory.

Still, Larson took some solace in the team’s speed and performance, expressing hope that more wins — like his March 7 victory at Las Vegas — would follow.

“Yeah, I mean, I would have loved to win today to really pick up some momentum. But, yeah, I mean, we’ve had the fastest car most weekends,” Larson said. “If we can continue to evolve and continue to get better, yeah, I mean, we can do great things. Our pit crew has been really good. Our car has been really fast. I feel like for the most part I’ve been doing a good job.

“With all that Cliff and all the guys making good decisions on the box, yeah, we can definitely go out there and keep contending. If we can contend as much as we are, yeah, I mean, we can win a lot of races.”

Posted on March 21, 2021March 21, 2021 by Reid Spencer

You can call Ryan Blaney “The Spoiler.”

With a pass for the lead with eight laps left in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Blaney took the air out of an otherwise dominating performance by Kyle Larson, who had to settle for second place after winning the first two stages and leading 269 of 325 laps.

RELATED: Official results | Cup Series schedule

“Gosh, we had a great long-run car all day,” Blaney said after climbing from his No. 12 Team Penske Ford. “It took us a little bit to get going. I was pretty free all day, so we made a really good change to tighten me up where I needed it.

“It looked like Kyle was getting loose, and I’m happy it worked into our favor that there were a couple of long runs at the end (that) let us kind of get there, and he got slowed up behind some lapped traffic. … It’s nice to close out a race like that — it was awesome.”

Blaney’s first victory at Atlanta and the fifth of his career extended the streak of different NASCAR Cup Series winners this season to six. The victory was the fifth straight at the 1.54-mile track for Ford drivers.

For the fourth time in his career, Larson swept the first two stages of a race and failed to win the event.

“I think he (Blaney) just got a lot better that last stage, and that changed up my flow of the race a little bit,” said Larson, who won each of the first two stages by more than six seconds. “I could get out to such big leads, and I could take care of my stuff and run the bottom where it was maybe slower, but I could take care of my tires.

“He was fast there (in the final run), and I just wanted to maintain that gap that I had, so I had to run in the faster part of the race track and just used my stuff up. He was a lot better than me there late in the run. I hate to lead a lot of laps and lose, but we had a really good car that we brought to the track. Our (No. 5) Hendrick Cars Chevy was stupid-fast there for a long time. I don’t know if we got that much worse, or if he got way better.”

Alex Bowman ran third, followed by Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch. Austin Dillon, Chris Buescher, William Byron, Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick completed the top 10.

The first two stages featured only one caution for an on-track incident. On a restart on Lap 113, after the break at the end of Stage 1, Kyle Busch spun his tires at the front of the pack in the outside lane, causing Chase Elliott and Kurt Busch to check up behind him.

Kurt Busch steered down to the middle lane, but off-center contact from Hamlin’s Toyota sent the No. 1 Chevrolet into the Turn 1 wall and out of the race.

“Yeah, I think the No. 18 (Kyle Busch) was the outside-lead car,” said Kurt Busch, who ran near the front of the field throughout the first stage. “The No. 9 (Elliott) kind of checked-up, too. I checked up. … It was just the accordion effect and then I jumped to the middle. I’m like ‘I’m here’; I positioned myself. It wasn’t like I rearranged my lanes and made another block.

“He (Hamlin) didn’t do anything vicious or malicious there. It’s a 500-miler, and these are the days that it hurts the worst. This absolutely hurts the worst because we had a top-five, winning Monster Energy Chevy.”

Elliott, the reigning series champion, sustained damage on that same restart, but his troubles didn’t become terminal until the third stage, when his engine blew to cause the fifth caution of the afternoon.

“Yeah, obviously we broke a motor there later on,” Elliott said. “We got some damage there on that restart. Kyle (Busch) kind of spun his tires and then I was pushing him, and Kurt (Busch) was pushing me. We all just really jammed together hard and ended up hurting the nose some. I don’t know if that had something to do with breaking the engine or not.”

Early tire troubles ruined the afternoon for defending race winner Harvick, who pitted with a flat left rear as the rest of the field restarted on Lap 32 after a competition caution. Larson lapped Harvick later in the first stage, and the 2014 series champion didn’t get the lap back until he took a wave-around under the fifth caution, for Elliott’s blown engine.

Harvick battled back to finish 10th but could advance no further.

The Cup Series’ next event is the Food City Dirt Race, scheduled next Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM) on Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt surface. It’s the first race on dirt for NASCAR’s top division since 1970.

Notes: Blaney’s win extended Ford’s streak of Atlanta victories to five in a row. … The Cup Series returns to Atlanta Motor Speedway on July 11. It’s the first time since 2010 that the track has held two annual events for the series. … Inspection in the NASCAR Cup Series garage turned up no issues.

Posted on March 21, 2021March 28, 2021 by Staff Report

Which channels have NASCAR programming this week? We answer that and give the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

Note: All times are ET.

MORE: How to find NBCSN | Get the NBC Sports App | How to find FS1 | Get FOX Sports App

Monday, March 22
3:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Atlanta (re-air), FS1
4:30 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (re-air), FS1
9 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (re-air), FS2

Tuesday, March 23
Midnight, NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Atlanta (re-air), FS2
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

On MRN:
7 p.m., NASCAR Live

Wednesday, March 24
10 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Atlanta (re-air), FS2
10:30 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Fr8Auctions 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (re-air), FS2
12:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: EchoPark 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (re-air), FS2
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (re-air), FS2
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
7 p.m., eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series: Bristol — Dirt practice, FS1
8 p.m., eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series: Bristol — Dirt, FS1

Thursday, March 25
Midnight, eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series: Bristol — Dirt (re-air), FS1
3:30 a.m., eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series: Bristol — Dirt (re-air), FS2
11 a.m., eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series: Bristol — Dirt practice (re-air), FS2
Noon, eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series: Bristol — Dirt (re-air), FS2
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
7 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, NBCSN

Friday, March 26
11:30 a.m., eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series: Bristol — Dirt (re-air), FS2
3 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway first practice, FS1 (Canada: TSN3)
4 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway first practice, FS1 (Canada: TSN3)
5 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Weekend Edition, FS1
5:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway final practice, FS1 (Canada: TSN3)
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway final practice, FS1 (Canada: TSN3)
7:30 p.m., Blink of an Eye (re-air), FS1

Saturday, March 27
3 a.m., NASCAR Presents: Neil Bonnett (re-air), FS2
3:30 a.m., The Golden Hour: Making of Days of Thunder (re-air), FS2
6:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Classic: The 1997 Winston 500 (re-air), FS1
7 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway final practice (re-air), FS1
12:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway final practice (re-air), FS2
1:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway final practice (re-air), FS2
4:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Series: Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway qualifying, FS1 (Canada: TSN2) — CANCELED
5:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Weekend Edition, FS1
6 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway qualifying, FS1 (Canada: TSN2) — CANCELED
7 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: NCWTS at Bristol Motor Speedway dirt, FS1 — CANCELED
8 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Series: Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway, FS1 (Canada: TSN2) — POSTPONED
10 p.m., Trackhouse Racing: Get Ready, FS1
11 p.m., eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series: Bristol — Dirt (re-air), FS1

On MRN:
7:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Series: Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway — POSTPONED

Sunday, March 28
1:30 a.m., NASCAR Classics: 2007 Food City 500 (re-air), FS1
2 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: Cup Series, FOX
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, FOX (Canada: TSN5) — POSTPONED
9 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Series: Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway, FS2 — POSTPONED

On PRN:
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway — POSTPONED

On MRN:
9 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Series: Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway — POSTPONED

Monday, March 29
Noon, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Series: Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway, FS1 (Canada: TSN1)
4 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, FOX (Canada: TSN1)

On MRN:
Noon, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Series: Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway

On PRN:
4 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway

Posted on March 21, 2021March 21, 2021 by Staff Report

Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion and home state hero Chase Elliott will start from the rear of the field for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) following a pair of failures in pre-race inspection.

Elliott’s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was slated to start fifth. In five starts at the 1.54-mile track, Elliott has one top five, four top 10s and an average finish of 10.0.

The 25-year-old driver also started at the rear of last Sunday’s race at Phoenix Raceway following multiple pre-race inspection failures and came on to score a fifth-place finish.

The No. 66 car of Timmy Hill failed three times, will drop to the rear of the field, serve a pass-through penalty and lose their car chief, Sebastian LaForge, for today’s race.

The No. 00 car of Quin Houff will also drop to the rear for making unapproved adjustments.

Posted on March 21, 2021March 21, 2021 by Jason Christley

SOUTH BOSTON, VA. — Peyton Sellers had talked last week about how much he was looking forward to getting back to racing at South Boston Speedway, his home track, for the 2021 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series season.

His return to South Boston Speedway for Saturday’s season-opening Back On Track Twin 75s Late Model Stock Car Division event was a stellar one.

The Danville, Virginia, resident swept the two 75-lap Late Model Stock Car Division races, giving him a good start toward defending his 2019 South Boston Speedway title and the 2020 NASCAR Virginia state championship.

“It just feels good to be back at South Boston Speedway,” Sellers remarked after completing the sweep.

“To come here and start the season off with two wins is a big feather in our cap. These season-openers are hard to win because everybody works so hard all winter long to build their cars fast. For us to be able to come out here and get two wins was really special for our team.”

Sellers scored a flag-to-flag win in the opening 75-lap race, edging rookie Landon Pembelton of Amelia, Virginia by just under a second. Rookie Jacob Borst of Elon, North Carolina finished third with Chris Denny of Timberlake, North Carolina and Stuart Crews of Long Island, Virginia completing the top five finishers.

The nightcap was much more difficult. Sellers started ninth by virtue of an inverted start among the top finishers of the opening race and was involved in a mishap with another car that resulted in a caution flag being thrown on lap 18.

After restarting 11th Sellers began picking his way through traffic, taking advantage of three caution periods that followed to put himself in a position to work his way back to the lead. Sellers passed Pembelton for the lead on the 46th circuit and held the lead over the final 29 to earn the win and complete the sweep.

Josh Oakley, the seventh-place finisher in the opening race, took the runner-up spot, finishing .875 second behind Sellers. Pembelton finished third, Mark Wertz of Chesapeake, Virginia took the fourth spot and Crews rounded out the top-five finishers.

There were three lead changes among four drivers in the nightcap, with rookie Zach Lightfoot, Oakley, Pembelton and Sellers all taking turns leading the race.

Moss, Winslow Split Limited Sportsman Division Twinbill

Daniel Moss of Danville, Virginia and Eric Winslow of Pelham, North Carolina split wins in Saturday’s twin 25-lap races for the Limited Sportsman Division competitors.

Moss led 23 laps of the opening 25-lap race and pulled away to a 3.404-second win over Ryan Joyner. Joyner was later disqualified following a post-race inspection of his car by track NASCAR officials, elevating J.D. Eversole of North Chesterfield, Virginia to second place. Winslow was awarded third place with Drew Dawson of Nathalie, Virginia and Danny Willis Jr, of South Boston, Virginia rounding out the top five finishers.

Winslow started on the pole in the second race and scored a flag-to-flag win, with Moss taking the runner-up spot. Dawson finished third with Brent Younger of South Boston, Virginia and Penn Crim Jr, completing the top five.

Crews Captures 30-Lap Budweiser Pure Stock Division Race

Nathan Crews of Long Island, Virginia got a leg up in his quest for a second South Boston Speedway Budweiser Pure Stock Division title by winning Saturday’s 30-lap race.

Crews cruised across the finish line 5.971 seconds ahead of Johnny Layne of Halifax, Virginia. Bruce Mayo of Halifax, Virginia finished third, Randy Hupp of Halifax, Virginia finished fourth and Josh Paynter finished fifth.

Dawson Takes Win In Budweiser Hornets Division

Josh Dawson of Halifax, Virginia started his 2021 season in a big way with a win in the 15-lap Budweiser Hornets Division.

Jared Dawson of Nathalie, Virginia was the runner-up with Jason DeCarlo of Chase City, Virginia, Kevin Currin of Chase City, Virginia and Andrea Ruotolo rounding out the top five finishers.

Next Race At South Boston Speedway

Racing action returns to South Boston Speedway on Saturday, April 3 with the 2 p.m. running the of the NASCAR Late Model 100 racing program.

The four-race card will be headlined by a 100-lap race for the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Late Model Stock Car Division.

The latest news and updates about South Boston Speedway and its racing events can be found on the new South Boston Speedway website at www.southbostonspeedway.com and on the speedway’s social media channels. Fans can also subscribe for e-mail updates on the speedway’s website.

The field of NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Late Model Stock Cars takes the green flag for the start of the first 75-lap race of the season-opening Back On Track Twin 75s at South Boston Speedway. (Joe Chandler/South Boston Speedway)

Posted on March 21, 2021March 22, 2021 by Staff Report

NASCAR officials announced Sunday morning that they will not penalize Noah Gragson for his actions in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race, ruling that pit-road contact between his car and Daniel Hemric’s was unintentional.

Gragson’s No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet backed into Hemric’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on pit road at Atlanta Motor Speedway after both drivers overshot their pit boxes. Their dispute erupted in a post-race scuffle after the EchoPark 250, with the two drivers trading shoves and swings before they were separated.

Scott Miller, NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition, said that the incident was reviewed after a post-race consultation with Gragson at the series officials’ hauler.

“We reviewed the incident which occurred between the 9 and 18 cars on pit road during Saturday night’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and met with Noah Gragson after the event,” Miller said in a statement issued Sunday morning. “A chain reaction of events led to the 18 and 9 both overshooting their pit stalls. The 9 ended up both long and out of his pit box to the outside, and needed to back up as far as possible to have any chance at fully pulling into his box. After reviewing the video, it is our judgment that the contact was not deliberate.”

Posted on March 21, 2021March 21, 2021 by Jason Christley

Jonathan Davenport blasted from a 10th-place starting place to run away with the 40-lap Super Late Model portion of Saturday’s Karl Kustoms Bristol Dirt Nationals at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Davenport showed exactly why he’s nicknamed “Superman,” blowing by NASCAR Cup Series star Kyle Larson with 15 laps to go and racing away for a 3.5-second win, pocketing $50,000 in the process.

Larson, who won a heat race earlier in the evening, wound up second. Dirt racing legend Scott Bloomquist finished third followed by Bobby Pierce and Frank Ingram.

Davenport, a three-time Lucas Oil Series national champion, said Saturday night’s victory ranked near the top of his racing accomplishments.

“This ranks right up there with anything I’ve done,” said Davenport, who is from Blairsville, Ga. “I just love this place in general. I think it means a lot for us to be here.

“We’ve had this circled on the calendar for a long time. It means a lot to me.”

SUPERMAN’S COLOSSEUM@TheFast49 takes $50,000 and a huge #BristolDirt Super Late Model victory! ⚔️🏁 pic.twitter.com/GR5tlJEgYD

— Karl Kustoms Bristol Dirt Nationals (@BristolDirt) March 21, 2021

Chris Ferguson, who started on the pole and had won a $10,000-to-win Super Late Model race in Friday’s Karl Kustoms Bristol Dirt Nationals, fell out of the lead early and wound up seventh.

Larson dominated a 10-lap heat race early in the evening, racing to a comfortable win. But he said he was no match for Davenport in the feature.

“It was a fun race, even finishing second. The track was really good, we were able to move around,” said Larson, who will be back on track here next weekend for the Food City Dirt Race NASCAR Cup Series race.

“Davenport was just a lot better than me. He blew my doors off and put a straightaway on me and maintained it.”

Jonathan Davenport (#49) drives under Kyle Busch (#51) Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Despite starting deep in the field, Davenport was able to quickly work his way toward the front and by the half-way point he had wrestled the lead from Larson.

“You just never know how things are going to play out. I think it took me maybe 10 laps to get going good. We fired back off on a restart and I could just go by them. I knew then we had a good car,” said the 38-year-old Davenport. “Then we started along Scott (Bloomquist) on a restart, and we fired off so good. I could run wide open through the center. At that point I knew I was going to be really good on the long runs.”

NASCAR Cup star Kyle Busch, who was late arriving at the track after winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, advanced to the feature with a second-place finish in the first 10-lap Super Late Model last chance qualifying race.

He started 19th in the feature and wound up 11th, one lap down.

Another NASCAR Cup Series driver, Austin Dillon, started on the pole and led every lap to capture the 20-lap 604 Late Model feature in dominating fashion. Dillon took a half-second win over Ross White with Shan Smith third.

Austin Dillon celebrates his win Saturday night at Bristol.

“This was a lot of fun, a blast all weekend long,” said Dillon, who won three events during the week, including a heat race and feature on Tuesday. “It was a good tune up for next weekend.”

Kyle Strickler held off NASCAR Camping World Truck Series star Matt Crafton to claim the 20-lap Modified Open race. Michael Asberry came home third with Curt Spalding fourth and Drake Troutman fifth.

The 20-lap Stock Car race was a family affair with 16-year-old Dallon Murtry beating his father Damon Murty for the win. Derrick Agee wound up third.

In the 18-lap Hornet feature, Jake Benishek was the winner with Jason Ketron second and Kyle Stark third.

AUSTIN DILLON POST-RACE PRESS CONFERENCE

The Food City Dirt Race at the dirt-transformed Bristol Motor Speedway is the first race on a dirt surface for the NASCAR Cup Series in more than 50 years. Richard Petty won the last Cup race on dirt in 1970 at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds in Raleigh.

The Food City Dirt Race will air on FOX and PRN Radio at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 28. The weekend also will feature Bush’s Beans Practice Day on Friday, March 26 and the Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt for the Camping World Truck Series on Saturday, March 27, with the green flag dropping under the lights at 8 p.m. and race coverage by FS1 and MRN Radio.

Super Late Model A-Feature Results

1. Jonathan Davenport; 2. Kyle Larson; 3. Scott Bloomquist; 4. Bobby Pierce; 5. Frank Ingram; 6. Donald McIntosh; 7. Chris Ferguson; 8. Chris Madden; 9. Dakotah Knuckles; 10. Joey Coulter

11. Kyle Busch; 12. Coleby Frye; 13. Jay Scott; 14. GR Smith; 15. Travis Stemler; 16. Michael Rouse; 17. Adam Yarbrough; 18. Michael Chilton; 19. Brian Nuttall Jr.; 20. Kyle Lear

21. Jensen Ford; 22. Jon Hodgkiss; 23. Brandon Overton; 24. David Payne

604 Late Model A Feature Results

1. Austin Dillon; 2. Ross White; 3. Shan Smith; 4. Justin Hobgood; 5. Oscar McCown; 6. Steven Whiteaker; 7. Joseph Joiner; 8. Jackson Hise; 9. Todd Cooney; 10. Clay Harris

11. Michael Duritsky; 12. Tyler Arrington; 13. Jason Fitzgerald; 14. Cory Dumpert; 15. Brock Hall; 16. Kyle Lear; 17. JJ Mazur; 18. Ben Sukup; 19. Kevin Godwin; 20. Michael Combs

21. Corey LaJoie; 22. Anthony White; 23. Joe Sheddan

Open Modified A Feature Results

1. Kyle Strickler; 2. Matt Crafton; 3. Michael Asberry; 4. Curt Spalding; 5. Drake Troutman; 6. Clay Harris; 7. Michael Truscott; 8. Gunner Martin; 9. Steve Arpin; 10. Cory Davis

11. Aaron Branham; 12. Dalton Magers; 13. Andrew Charlson; 14. Victor Lee; 15. Daniel Sanchez; 16. Brad Deyoung; 17. KC Burdette; 18. Rich Michael Jr.; 19. Brayden Berry; 20. Mitch Thomas

21. David Reutimann; 22. Nick Stroupe; 23. Dave Pinkerton; 24. Brianna Robinson

Hornet A Feature Results

1. Jake Benischek; 2. Jason Ketron; 3. Kyle Stark; 4. Travis Brown; 5. Matt Pederson; 6. Dan Benson; 7. Billy Evans; 8. Terry Merritt; 9. Tim Raup; 10. Christopher Meyer

11. Josh Lank; 12. Andy Thompson ;13. Logan Clausen; 14. Phil King; 15. Tanner Earhart; 16. Wayne Risner; 17. Shannon Weaver; 18. Jaedon Erickson; 19. Brad Chandler; 20. Kaleb Hinkley

21. Walker Windham; 22. Chuck Fullenkamp; 23. John Windham; 24. Robert Williams; 25. Brandon Gibson Jr.; 26. Jonathan Sarratt; 27. Cyle Hawkins; 28. Don Rufener III; 29. Brandon Dalton; 30. Joshua Wood

31. Devon Dixon; 32. Hunter Anthony

Posted on March 20, 2021March 21, 2021 by Staff Report

Daniel Hemric and Noah Gragson traded swings and shoves in a post-race scrap after Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The two squabbled over pit-road space during a late-race stop, with Gragson’s No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet and the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Hemric in adjacent stalls. That dispute included contact when Gragson backed up and sent the No. 18 crew scrambling, then boiled over into a tussle after the cool-down lap.

Hemric exited his car and confronted Gragson as he conducted a post-race interview and the two traded pushes and threw punches before they were separated.

“Pretty simple. He had no idea what was going on out on the race track,” Hemric said later, explaining their battle for pit-road real estate. “We come down pit road and the guy pitted behind us when you accelerate when I was pulling into my box, and it made me have to steer around the guy going to the 9’s (Gragson) box. I backed up and yes, it messed up both of our pit stops.

“I backed up and he decided to put it in reverse and cram into the right-front fender and knock a hole in our Poppy Bank Toyota Supra nose. We had to pit again and fix it. That was completely deliberate and it was absolutely ridiculous. Where I come from, you get your eye dotted when you do stuff like that.”

Asked for further confirmation on whether Gragson’s action was intentional, Hemric confirmed: “Oh yeah, crammed it into reverse and backed up. Punched a hole in the nose of our car. Punched a hole in our car and I got one punched in his eye. We’re even.”

Gragson rallied from a multi-car crash at the end of Stage 1 to finish fourth behind race winner and JRM teammate Justin Allgaier in the EchoPark 250. Hemric took ninth place, his fifth top-10 finish in six races this season.

NASCAR representatives said that Gragson had been ordered to the officials’ hauler for post-race consultation, indicating that the incident would be reviewed. Any potential penalties, officials said, would be addressed later in the week.

Gragson defended his actions in a subsequent interview and with a post-race tweet that included his pit-stop footage.

“I don’t know why he’s mad,” Gragson said. “We were behind him coming onto pit road … Then he was in our pit box and I had to come around him and not really sure why he was there, but had to back up and get there. … I’d be mad if I was in his shoes, too, just based off what he’s done in his career, but it is what it is and we’ll move on and keep on fighting. Man, what a day. Top five, we’ll go celebrate that.”

Here's the full video. Penalty if right side tires are out of the box. Final pit stop. Judge for yourself. pic.twitter.com/2LCQEiUDQ7

— Noah Gragson (@NoahGragson) March 21, 2021

Posted on March 20, 2021March 20, 2021 by Reid Spencer

When Martin Truex Jr. made his only serious mistake on Saturday afternoon, Justin Allgaier took full advantage.

Even so, Allgaier had to hold off Truex during a 26-lap, green-flag run to the finish to win the EchoPark 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

“We didn’t start out the day like we wanted to — these guys persevered behind it,” said Allgaier, who picked up his first win of the season, his first at Atlanta and the 15th of his career. “They pushed and made great adjustments on pit road — (crew chief) Jason Burdett and all the guys on the team did a great job. My wife and daughter are here. They may not be able to come out here (to Victory Lane), but I get to go celebrate with them. Just proud of the effort that we put in today.

“Martin had a great race car. They definitely had the car to beat at the beginning. We made good adjustments, and that’s what it came down to at the end.”

Harrison Burton ran third, followed by Noah Gragson, who recovered from a Lap 40 wreck and ended his day exchanging blows on pit road with Daniel Hemric — the result of an earlier pit road altercation between their two cars.

A pit-road speeding penalty under caution on Lap 114 of 163 spoiled what had been the Truex show up to that point. Truex, who won the first two stages and led 103 laps, restarted at the back of the field on Lap 118 and spent the rest of the race working his way back to the front, aided by two subsequent cautions.

But Truex used up his No. 54 Toyota charging into the runner-up position and had little left for Allgaier in the closing laps.

“We got back up there, but obviously, we were kind of out of tires at that point,” said Truex, a two-time Xfinity champion who was racing in the series for the first time since 2010. “Got close, and then the last 10 (laps), the right rear was completely smoked off. Just had to use too much to get there.

“Thanks to (sponsor) Stanley and everyone else at JGR for letting me go do this. It was fun until I screwed it up. Just came up a little short at the end there.”

Hemric confronted Gragson after the race for backing into the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on pit road. Hemric had to pull into Gragson’s stall to avoid a car blocking his own pit box. After Hemric backed into his own stall, Gragson entered his and backed into the nose of Hemric’s Supra as crew members scattered.

“I got a hole in the nose of my car, and he got popped in the eye, so I’d say we’re in good shape,” Hemric said after the combatants were separated and had a chance to cool down.

A multicar wreck on the final lap of Stage 1 ruined the winning chances of a handful of contending cars. Contact from Brett Moffitt’s Chevrolet turned Brandon Jones’ Toyota into the outside wall on the backstretch.

Moffitt fell out of the race in 40th place, and Jones finished 37th, 31 laps down. The No. 22 Ford of series leader Austin Cindric, as well as the Chevrolets of AJ Allmendinger and Gragson, all sustained enough damage in the chain-reaction crash to affect their performance adversely.

Gragson and Allmendinger recovered to finish fourth and fifth, respectively. Cindric came home 13th, as his streak of five straight top-five finishes to start the season came to an end.

Allgaier, Burton, Gragson and Allmendinger qualified to race for the Dash 4 Cash prize when the Xfinity Series resumes at 8 p.m. ET on Friday, April 9 at Martinsville Speedway (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Note: The Nos. 07, 11, 17 and 98 cars each had one lug nut not secure in post-race inspection. There were no other issues.

Posted on March 20, 2021March 20, 2021 by Reid Spencer

Kyle Busch wasn’t about to let two straight NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races slip away.

Leading 102 of 130 laps and pulling away in the final stage of Saturday’s Fr8Auctions 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Busch notched his first victory of the season, his sixth at the 1.54-mile track and the 60th of his career — extending his own series record.

Busch beat runner-up Austin Hill to the finish line by 4.133 seconds. Third was John Hunter Nemechek, who had held off Busch, his team owner, to win the last Truck Series outing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

RELATED: Race results | Atlanta weekend schedule

“I thought we had a great truck at the start of the race,” said Busch, who collected his 214th NASCAR national series win. “We just kept working on it all day. We were loose to start, and we got it a lot better there. That final stage, we just took off, and it was super-fast, super-good. Can’t say enough about everybody at Kyle Busch Motorsports.”

Busch led most of the first two stages, but at the end of each, he surrendered the top spot to Nemechek, who picked up a pair of playoff points for the stage wins. But Busch beat Nemechek off pit road on Lap 63 during the Stage 2 break and held it the rest of the way, save for a cycle of green-flag stops that put Chase Purdy out front from Lap 102 through 105.

The race featured three cautions, one for a planned competition yellow after Lap 15 and two for the stage breaks. With the race going green for the final 63 circuits, Hill never had a chance to test his No. 16 Toyota against Busch’s No. 51.

The victory was the first for crew chief Mardy Lindley, who joined Kyle Busch Motorsports this year. The only improvement Busch could have wished for was a 1-2 finish for KBM instead of a 1-3.

“Anytime I’m in my truck, I want to be able to go out there and score the victory,” Busch said. “With good competition and good competitors, it’s not easy. With John Hunter coming on board, at Vegas he was super-fast and did everything right, no mistakes.

“We’ll go back and regroup and make sure that 4 truck (Nemechek) can stay in front of that 16 truck (Hill) the rest of this year.”

Johnny Sauter ran fourth, followed by GMS Racing teammates Sheldon Creed and Zane Smith. Ross Chastain, Matt Crafton, Brett Moffitt and Stewart Friesen completed the top 10. Friesen recovered from a penalty for an uncontrolled tire during a stop under caution on Lap 63.

Bill Lester finished 36th, seven laps down, in his first NASCAR national series start since 2007.

The Camping World Truck Series’ next race is the Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt, scheduled next Saturday (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) on Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt surface.

Note: The race-winning No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota of Kyle Busch passed NASCAR’s post-race technical inspection. Busch’s truck did have one lug nut not safe and secure. In addition, the engines from the No. 51, No. 13 (ThorSport Racing Toyota of Johnny Sauter) and No. 44 (Niece Motorsports Chevrolet of Ross Chastain) trucks will be brought back to the NASCAR R&D Center for evaluation.

Contributing: NASCAR.com staff reports