Posted on by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Race results | Standings | Detailed breakdown | Full schedule for Atlanta

HAMPTON, Ga. — Kevin Harvick put on a driving clinic in Saturday’s Rinnai 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The driver of the No. 98 Ford dominated the action on the track, leading 141-of-163 laps and winning both stages before taking the checkered flag 4.183 seconds ahead of runner-up Joey Logano.

Harvick collected his fifth NASCAR XFINITY Series victory at Atlanta and the 47th of his career. He has won four of the last six events at the 1.54-mile track, where he also has won for four different car owners, tying Tony Stewart for the distinction of winning for four different owners at a single track.

Atlanta continues to be a special track for Harvick, who earned his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory here in 2001, after succeeding the late Dale Earnhardt in the Intimidator’s vaunted Richard Childress racing ride.

“It’s just been a really good place for me, obviously getting my first Cup win here,” Harvick said. “We’ve run good cars throughout the years, and the race track has stayed very similar to what it’s been for a number of years.

“And I think, as you look at the techniques and the things that I do in the car — and they give me what I want in the car, as far as the feel — it just applies here.”

Harvick’s pit crew got into the act, too, pulling off a stop in 14.4 seconds under NASCAR’s new rules that have reduced the size of the over-the-wall crew to five members. That same crew pits Harvick’s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Cup car on Sundays.

“The good thing is they’ve had a lot of reps,” Harvick said. “We’ve had Clash reps, reps in the qualifying race, the Daytona 500, and they pitted on Saturday last week. They pitted on Saturday this week, and they’re just doing a really good job.

“Those guys are pretty athletic, and they practice hard and have done a great job over the last couple years of getting this car off pit road. As long as I don’t screw it up going too fast, they do really well making the pit stops.”

Behind Harvick and Logano, pole winner Christopher Bell ran third, followed by John Hunter Nemechek, who scored a fourth-place finish in his NASCAR XFINITY Series debut. Elliott Sadler (fifth), Justin Allgaier (sixth) and Austin Cindric (seventh) were the only other drivers on the lead lap when Harvick crossed the stripe for the last time.

“I don’t think we were even close,” Logano said. “Kevin played with us all day long.”

Nemechek ran into early trouble on the bottom of the track and early trouble on the top. On Lap 7, Harvick bulled his way past Nemechek, who had just taken over third place. Nemechek’s No. 42 Chevrolet turned sideways after the contact, but he managed to save the car off Turn 4.

Three laps later, Cole Custer cut to the inside of Nemechek in a battle for fifth as the cars entered the tri-oval. Nemechek slid to the top of the track, right into the path of Elliott Sadler, who had exited Turn 4 with enormous momentum.

A tap from Sadler turned Nemechek’s car into the No. 00 Ford of Custer, who nosed into the outside wall and damaged his machine beyond repair.

“It looks like the 42 got out of shape, and then the 1 (Sadler) had a run, and he didn’t hit the brakes hard enough and he hit the 42, and the 42 hit me,” Custer said after viewing the replay.

“We just got collected in something, and there’s not much we could do. We had a pretty good car and was just kind of riding at that point, but, I don’t know. We’ll go on to the next one.”

“I’ve got to apologize to Cole Custer,” Nemechek said after climbing from his car. “I never meant to get into him off (Turn) 4 there. I got tagged from behind.”

Note: The No. 42 (of John Hunter Nemechek, finished in fourth) and the No. 52 (of David Starr, finished in 28th) each had one loose lug nut found during post-race inspection. Any potential penalties will be announced later.

Posted on by

RELATED: Bubba, Hamlin at odds | Full schedule for Atlanta

HAMPTON, Ga. – Drew Blickensderfer had a few words for his driver Darrell Wallace Jr. before last weekend’s Daytona 500.

“We will claw, scratch and fight our ass off for you all day long,” Blickensderfer said, documented in the final episode of Facebook Watch’s docuseries “Behind the Wall: Bubba Wallace.”

“I know you’ll do the same for us and at the end of the day, we’ll take what we can get.”

What they got was a second-place finish, bringing the young driver on a journey of emotions from tears to laughter that night. It had been a long few weeks for Wallace, who had been shadowed by a camera crew for weeks in filming the docuseries leading up to his run in the “Great American Race” in the iconic No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet.

“It was tough. Probably 90 percent of the stuff I talk about at the tests or at the race track is confidential stuff,” Blickensderfer told NASCAR.com on the constant camera presence. “So, we tried to keep them away when we were dealing with race cars and let ’em come in when we were kind of team bonding. It was definitely different and a little difficult.”

The cameras captured the intricacies of Wallace’s life, going into his house, motorcoach and even dinner with his girlfriend, Amanda.

What was also captured was Wallace’s growth – not just as a driver, but as a person, too.

“I think he dealt with it really well and he proved that Sunday when he was able to kind of put all this behind him and just go out there and race,” Wallace’s best friend and fellow Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney said Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. “I don’t think he could have handled that a few years ago.”

MORE: Behind the Wall: Bubba Wallace

Blickensderfer has witnessed Wallace’s growth firsthand, from steering the ship for Wallace’s four starts in the No. 43 in 2017 when the young driver’s future was uncertain, to serving as his full-time crew chief now.

“I think from afar, people probably thought he was immature a few years ago,” Blickensderfer said. “And maybe that’s what it looks like. He’s matured a lot. I think last year was humbling to him. I think when he came and drove our car, we were excited and we kind of rallied around him and he saw it as a home here.

“He wasn’t Bubba the race car driver to us; he was part of the family.

“(That’s) one thing the Pettys and this team kind of strive for and (what) we’re working on right now because we’re small. We don’t have enough employees; we don’t have enough people. We need to all get around and kind of rally around each other and Bubba’s part of that.”

The “home” and “family” aspect of Richard Petty Motorsports is something Wallace has often referenced in interviews. He says he feels comfortable there and seems to have found a niche in the King’s team.

“From Day 1, I just felt part of the family because of (Petty).” Wallace said in the final episode of “Behind the Wall.” “It started out with, ‘Hey man, how’s it going?’ to he’s my grandpa basically.”

The dynamic between him and Blickensderfer also seems to have aided in that comfort, something viewers witnessed throughout the eight-part docuseries.

“It’s one of the better relationships I’ve had with a driver,” Blickensderfer said. “We get along well, we can joke. I’m a little lower key than he is; we’re kind of yin and yang that way.

“When you look in the garage area, the really good driver-crew chief relationships are that way. They complement each other … I think when you look at Chad (Knaus) and Jimmie (Johnson) and people like that, they both work for the same goal but different ways.”

The two are in their early stages, having only run five points-paying races together. There’s some figuring-out to do still, Blickensderfer said.

“Some guys need pats on the back and some need kicks in the butt to get going,” he said. “Bubba can do both, I think. It’s my job to make sure he doesn’t get too down on himself — he’s really hard on himself. But it’s also my job to kick him in the butt when he needs it and I think he likes that and respects it. Like coaches and athletes, he’s OK with me getting on him because he knows at the end of the day, we both want the same thing.”

What they want are wins – and one day, championships. The potential for something big is there. Their third-place run in the Duels and runner-up finish in the Daytona 500 proved that.

“This is the easy part,” Blickensderfer said, leaning into Wallace’s window just before the Duels on Feb. 15 during the seventh episode of “Behind the Wall. “Just do our deal. This will be the start. Whatever happens tonight is not going to define us.

“But it will be the start of a big ball of momentum to get rolling here.”

His pre-Daytona words are almost prophetic; the momentum on track is rolling for the No. 43.

And so is the potential of Wallace and Blickensderfer.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

HAMPTON, Ga. — Ford drivers don’t have a new car to decipher this year — as the Chevrolet camp does with the Camaro ZL1 — but Stewart-Haas Racing did just fine with a familiar platform in Friday’s qualifying session.

With Atlanta maven Kevin Harvick leading the way from the third position on the grid, all four SHR drivers will start from the top 11 spots in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (1 p.m. ET), the second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the season and the first without restrictor plates on the engines.

RELATED: Full starting lineup | See every car in the field | Atlanta weekend schedule

Harvick’s teammates — Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer and Aric Almirola — will start nose-to-tail on the inside row from seventh, ninth and 11th, respectively. To Bowyer, the organization’s excellent performance in time trials represents a validation of their efforts.

“That’s a good start,” Bowyer said. “You always worry about, after Daytona, you get down to Atlanta and get to some of these mile-and-a-halves, and you wonder where you’re going to be. You’ve had a competitor (Chevrolet) get a new body this year, so you worry about that. There are a lot of unknowns as you go into the season off of a long offseason like we’ve had, but to have all four Stewart-Haas Fords in the top 11 and making that final round is very, very good for everybody involved.

“I have to thank the aero guys and the engine guys, everybody that makes up Stewart-Haas. It’s so fun to have a group like that that’s all racers. They all get it. They know the task at hand, and they all just get in there and get it done, and it’s fun to see. There’s no oddballs at that place. Everybody fits in, and everybody chips in, and it’s a lot of fun to see.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Qualifying results | Practice results

HAMPTON, Ga. — If Friday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying is any indication, Hendrick Motorsports has work to do.

Of the 34 drivers who posted times in the knockout sessions, Daytona 500 pole winner Alex Bowman was 18th fastest, and that was the best performance among the four HMS entries.

Seven-time series champion Jimmie Johnson qualified 22nd, followed by Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender William Byron in 23rd and Chase Elliott in 27th.

Asked what he and his team missed in preparation for the time trials, Elliott had a succinct answer.

“Everything, I think,” he said. “Some days you do, and some days you don’t, and we didn’t today. So, I don’t know. We were way off — not even close.

“So, I don’t really have much of an excuse for it. We just didn’t hit it right today, and we’ll go to work tonight and work through it and hopefully get ready for (Saturday’s practice). It’s our only option now.”

MORE: Full weekend schedule | Bowman welcomes new sponsor

On the other hand, qualifying was a relative success for Kasey Kahne, who landed a ride in the Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet after Byron took over Kahne’s former seat at Hendrick. Kahne failed to advance to the final round of qualifying by a mere .074 seconds and will start 14th in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (1 p.m. ET on FOX).

“We picked-up in the second round, which I thought was nice,” Kahne said. “It’s tough to do. I don’t feel great, but I doubt anybody does on this surface. But it’s been an interesting day just trying to understand.

“It’s a different car and a lot of different things going on. We’re trying to understand that. Working with the guys has been good, but we have a long way to go. So we’ll keep after it.”

Undoubtedly, the Hendrick drivers feel the same way. They just have farther to go after a qualifying session that saw only one of their cars earn a spot in the front half of the field.

Johnson was sixth fastest in final practice on Saturday, but his teammates continued to struggle. Bowman was 17th in Happy Hour, followed by Byron in 26th and Elliott in 28th.

Posted on by Staff Report

A look at the drivers with the top speeds over 10 consecutive laps during practice at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

PRACTICE 2: RESULTS 

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 11 Denny Hamlin 1 10 176.557
2 18 Kyle Busch 21 30 175.704
3 21 Paul Menard 1 10 175.649
4 14 Clint Bowyer 1 10 175.542
5 78 Martin Truex Jr. 11 20 175.287
6 12 Ryan Blaney 1 10 174.868
7 4 Kevin Harvick 22 31 174.565
8 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 1 10 174.325
9 41 Kurt Busch 23 32 173.983
10 95 Kasey Kahne 1 10 173.964
11 42 Kyle Larson 43 52 173.619
12 88 Alex Bowman 1 10 173.523
13 48 Jimmie Johnson 1 10 173.271
14 1 Jamie McMurray 1 10 173.264
15 22 Joey Logano 47 56 173.002
16 2 Brad Keselowski 1 10 172.893
17 31 Ryan Newman 29 38 172.706
18 9 Chase Elliott 19 28 172.605
19 13 Ty Dillon 1 10 172.560
20 10 Aric Almirola 15 24 172.523
21 38 David Ragan 1 10 172.460
22 6 Trevor Bayne 1 10 172.369
23 19 Daniel Suarez 19 28 172.220
24 20 Erik Jones 9 18 171.870
25 3 Austin Dillon 41 50 171.224
26 47 AJ Allmendinger 37 46 171.190
27 34 Michael McDowell 1 10 171.133
28 43 Darrell Wallace Jr. # 28 37 170.529
29 24 William Byron # 32 41 169.651
30 32 Matt DiBenedetto 1 10 167.333
31 23 Gray Gaulding Jr. 1 10 164.018

Car must run 10 consecutive laps on the track to be included in the above chart.
# Indicates driver is running for Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors.

PRACTICE 1: RESULTS

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 11 Denny Hamlin 1 10 178.669
2 2 Brad Keselowski 1 10 178.544
3 41 Kurt Busch 1 10 177.611
4 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 6 15 174.826
5 1 Jamie McMurray 1 10 173.636
6 4 Kevin Harvick 10 19 173.376

Car must run 10 consecutive laps on the track to be included in the above chart.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Final practice results | Full schedule for Atlanta

Ryan Newman rolled to the fastest speed in Saturday’s final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Newman, who just missed out on the pole position in Friday qualifying at the 1.54-mile track, pushed the Richard Childress Racing No. 31 Chevrolet to a speed of 184.868 mph. He’ll start second in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (1 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM).

Martin Truex Jr. posted the second-fastest lap at 184.597 mph in the Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota. His speed came before his team served a 30-minute penalty at the end of practice for failing Optical Scanning Station inspection three times before qualifying. Truex did not log a qualifying speed and is set to start 35th in the 36-car field.

Paul Menard landed the third-fastest lap (184.566 mph) in the Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford. He was followed on the speed chart by Denny Hamlin (183.564) and Joey Logano (183.303), who rounded out the top five in the 80-minute session.

Kyle Busch, who won the pole in Friday qualifying, was 15th-fastest in final practice in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota. Defending race winner Brad Keselowski logged the 29th-best lap in the Team Penske No. 2 Ford. Daytona 500 champ Austin Dillon turned in the 24th-fastest lap in the Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Chevy.

Truex was the only driver to serve a 30-minute penalty. Six other drivers had 15-minute deductions from their practice time:

  • Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 00 StarCom Racing Chevrolet
  • Gray Gaulding, No. 23 BK Racing Toyota
  • Michael McDowell, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
  • Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
  • Harrison Rhodes, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet
  • Cole Whitt, No. 72 TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet
Posted on by Brad Norman

Jeff Gordon’s answer during a #askJG question-and-answer session with fans online Saturday leaves the door open the exciting possibility of seeing him back on track.

A fan asked if Gordon would be open to part-time duty in either the NASCAR Xfinity Series or NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Gordon said he’s happy in the booth with FOX and isn’t considering any driving at a 1.5-mile track or superspeedway. BUT (this deserves all caps) he might want to race a truck at Martinsville Speedway.

You can count Ray Evernham, NASCAR Hall of Famer and crew chief for three of Gordon’s championships, among those who like the idea.


Track personnel were also pretty excited at the possibility.

OK, really excited. And quick to provide context about Gordon’s long-standing love affair with the 0.526-mile ” Paperclip.” His career stats at Martinsville are impressive.

And Gordon’s last race at Martinsville as a full-time driver? “We’re going to Homestead!” is etched among the greatest Victory Lane moments of all time.

Yep, “giddy” accurately describes the reaction to possibly seeing Gordon race again for a Grandfather Clock.

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR and track officials have moved up the start time for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway because of the threat of inclement weather.

RELATED: Full weekend schedule | Complete starting lineup

The Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 was originally set for a green flag at 2:16 p.m. ET (FOX, PRN, SiriusXM). That start time — and all pre-race ceremonies — have been rescheduled for one hour, 10 minutes earlier.

Officials reached that decision Saturday morning, faced with an 80 percent chance of precipitation in the race-day forecast at the 1.54-mile track, according to the National Weather Service.

Driver introductions are now scheduled for 12:15 p.m. ET. The revised green flag time is 1:06 p.m. ET.