John Hunter Nemechek wins wild Atlanta Truck race

Posted on February 27, 2016 by Reid Spencer

HAMPTON, Ga. – In a wild race that saw some of the best trucks in the field destroyed before the finish, John Hunter Nemechek held off Cameron Hayley in a two-lap dash to the checkers to win Saturday’s Great Clips 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

But it was a skull session with 2014 Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick the night before that was instrumental in guiding Nemechek to victory in his unsponsored No. 8 Chevrolet.

“I’ve got to give a shout-out,” said Nemechek, who was racing at AMS for the first time. “I can’t thank Kevin Harvick enough. I went and sat with him for about 30 minutes to an hour last night, trying to learn everything I could.”

Obviously, the lesson paid off. After extensive cleanup from Christopher Bell‘s hard crash into the Turn 4 wall, Nemechek chose the inside line for a restart on Lap 199 of 200. When John Wes Townley spun his tires in the outside lane, Nemechek pulled away to beat Hayley to the stripe by .305 seconds.

The victory was Nemechek’s second in 32 Truck Series starts and his second on a 1.5-mile intermediate speedway, the first coming last year at Chicagoland Speedway. At 18 years, 8 months and 16 days, Nemechek is the youngest NASCAR national series winner at Atlanta.

Before the family-owned team with a shoestring budget could get to Victory Lane, however, attrition took care of the drivers who led the majority of laps leading up to the finish.

Two corners after a restart on Lap 112 — following the race’s second expiration of the 20-minute caution clock — Bell lost the nose of his No. 4 Toyota, hooked Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate Daniel Suarez‘s No. 51 Tundra and turned Suarez into race leader Matt Crafton, who had spent 76 circuits at the front of the field.

MORE: Caution Clock expires for first time in CWTS | Bell triggers big wreck

The trucks of Crafton and Suarez were damaged beyond repair, leaving Bell, who lead 42 of the 130 laps, to grab the top spot after the subsequent restart on Lap 116. Bell pulled away, but on Lap 123, a tire rub resulting from the earlier contact finally popped the right front, and Bell’s Toyota swerved straight into the outside wall in Turn 4.

Behind Nemechek and Hayley, Timothy Peters came home third, followed by Daniel Hemric and Grant Enfinger, respectively.

Nemechek was circumspect about the circumstances surrounding his conversation with Harvick, but the information he received was clearly valuable.

“That’s kind of a secret,” said Nemechek, who got pit crew help from Jimmie Johnson‘s No. 48 Sprint Cup team. “But Kevin’s one of the best racers here in Atlanta, so I had to ask him. He’s very good at conserving tires, very good at winning races here, so to go and talk to him was very special.”

Nemechek also got advice from his father and team owner Joe Nemechek, who won a NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Atlanta in 2001.

Eighth-place finisher Parker Kligerman took the lead in the series standings by one point over Hemric and three over Nemechek.

The afternoon proved expensive for Kyle Busch, who as a driver won the first leg of the Saturday doubleheader in the XFINITY Series race, only to lose three trucks as an owner in the nightcap. In addition to the wrecked trucks of Bell and Suarez, Busch also had to write off the engine of William Byron, which blew on lap 59, with Byron running second.

Posted on February 27, 2016 by Reid Spencer

HAMPTON, Ga. — Scratch another race track off Kyle Busch‘s checklist.

In what evolved into a two-man battle against Kyle Larson on Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion continued his mastery in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, beating Larson to the finish line to win the Heads Up Georgia 250.

The victory was Busch’s first at the 1.54-mile track and the 77th of his career, extending his own series record.

But the outcome was far from a foregone conclusion when Busch led the field to green on the final restart with 29 laps left. Busch was strong in the short run, but Larson would start to close dramatically 20 laps into a green-flag run.

That’s exactly what played out over the final 29 laps, as Larson began cutting into a lead that had reached more than 1.5 seconds. Making up ground in the top lane through Turns 1 and 2, Larson’s No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet was within eight car lengths of Busch’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with two laps left when Larson’s progress was impeded by the lapped car of Ryan Preece through the first corner.

Larson lost ground, and Busch crossed the finish line with a lead of .466 seconds.

“I actually thought that last run was going to be too long,” Busch said. “(Crew chief Chris) Gayle did a good job of making some adjustments to our car, and it helped me. It helped me definitely on the front side of a run, for the first 20 (laps), and I don’t think it hurt me from there on to the end of the race.

“But Larson was just better than us. He could close and close and close. Lapped traffic — they were really nice to me. I think they screwed him up a couple of times. So I kind of appreciated those guys.”

Erik Jones, Busch’s JGR teammate, rallied from an early penalty — beating Busch, the pole winner, to the start/finish at the start of the race after Busch spun his tires — to run third, followed by Paul Menard and series regular Ty Dillon, who earned a free pass to the lead lap under the final caution, took four tires and charged into the top five from 11th on the restart.

Larson clearly had a problem with lapped traffic, but he wasn’t sure he could have passed Busch for the victory, even if he had pulled up to his rear bumper.

“I definitely would have gotten closer to him, but it would have been still tough to pass him,” Larson said. “He was saving his tires, I think, running the bottom, and I was running pretty hard at the top. He would definitely have moved up in front of me there in (Turns) 1 and 2, and it would have been tough to get underneath him.”

Elliott Sadler came home ninth and retained the series lead by three points over seventh-place finisher Daniel Suarez and five points over Dillon.

Posted on February 27, 2016 by Brad Norman

The Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (1 p.m. Sunday, FOX, PRN, Sirius XM Radio) will feature a special salute to fallen military service members on Lap 13, chosen because of the 13 folds in the American flag given to families of fallen service men and women.

Fans attending Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway will be asked to raise and hold replicas of folded American flags on Lap 13 in a show of honor. The event is also a fundraiser for Folds of Honor, a non-profit organization that helps to pay for the education of children and adults whose parents or spouses are killed or injured in military service.

Rachel Faulkner-Brown is among the family members who will take part in the salute on Sunday. She and her husband, U.S. Air Force Major David “Blair” Faulkner, have two children. Blair, who was an A-10 fighter pilot and later a fighter trainer, was killed on a training mission in 2008. Their son was 2 and their daughter was 5 months old at the time.

Faulkner was a race fan and liked to drive fast (he had a Porsche) so it’s a natural fit for her to work with Folds of Honor at Atlanta Motor Speedway to bring awareness to the cause.

“Pilots are car nuts and watch nuts. When you go fast all the time, you want to go fast even when you’re just driving around, it’s such a drug,” Faulkner-Brown recalls with a laugh. “We were definitely racing fans and loved to drive fast cars, too.”

Her son David, who is now 10, and daughter Campbell, 8, have benefitted from Folds of Honor, and Faulkner wants to spread the message that while her family’s story has sad parts, she has a joyful heart, and her kids can “live fully” knowing their education is secure.

“The 10th fold in the flag is for the fathers,” Faulkner-Brown explains further about the significance of the name Folds of Honor. Each of the 13 folds in a ceremonial flag has a specific meaning. “The sons and daughters give so much to their country, too. It’s not just the service member who gives.”

To make a donation to Folds of Honor, visit www.foldsofhonor.org

Posted on February 26, 2016June 29, 2020 by Kathy Sheldon

HAMPTON, Ga. — Time away from the driver’s seat is not a friend, not after a barrel roll down Daytona International Speedway‘s frontstretch. One week removed from his frightening tumble, Christopher Bell is eager to get on the track again and put his dramatic wreck in the season opener behind him.

Bell, who is in his first full NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season, has flipped sprint cars a time or two, but his crash in the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota was a first in stock-car racing. It was different in several ways, including having more time to think about the wreck afterward.

“In the open-wheel program, you race 100 races a year so you flip on Saturday and you’re back racing on Sunday,” the 21-year-old driver said before Friday’s NCWTS practice at Atlanta Motor Speedway. “Luckily, we didn’t have a huge break where you sit there and ponder it. So I’m looking forward to today and tomorrow to get Daytona behind us and I hope to start fresh.”

The physics of wrecking in NASCAR are different as well.

“The biggest thing about the stock car is it might not hurt as bad because you’ve got more material around you, but the G forces are say more. I think the biggest thing is you’re sitting to the left compared to an open-wheel car, you’re sitting in the center of the car so everything is flipping around you. In the stock cars, you’re off to the side of the truck, so whenever you start barrel rolling, you know, it’s trying to throw you out of the car.”

Bell did start fresh and fast on Friday, posting the second-fastest speed of 178.816 mph in the Truck Series’ first practice for Saturday’s Great Clips 200 (4:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1). He’s competing in the truck that Erik Jones drove to the series championship in 2015. And he feels fine.

“When I stopped, you got a lot of adrenaline, so I felt really good. … But walking to the ambulance I was pretty dizzy and by the time I got there, I was really dizzy. As far as injuries, other than a little bit of bruising, I mean my face was a little bruised afterwards, but other than that I was fine. The next morning I felt 100 percent until I got out of bed, and once I got out of bed, I realized I couldn’t move quite as fast. But after a couple days that was all gone, and I was good to go.”

Bell is hopeful to keep pushing strong speed into Saturday’s race with some solid testing at Atlanta under the team’s belt. He got his first win while running seven races for KBM in 2015, taking the checkered flag at Eldora Speedway and is eager for another trip to Victory Lane.

But first, Bell is grateful to get back to racing and past the wreck. He said the accident could have been worse if the truck had taken a hard hit to the nose or been hit by another truck rather than dissipating energy as it rolled down the track.

“Looking back at it, I saw Larson’s crash then Austin Dillon last year,” Bell said. “You think, ‘That’s never going to happen to me. That’ll never happen to me.’ Then suddenly it is happening to you. Watching it was an eye opener. Even after I went through the crash it didn’t sink in, but whenever I got to watching myself flipping, it’s like ‘Wow, that did happen to me.’ It puts it in perspective.”

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Nascar

HAMPTON, Ga. — Kyle Busch won the pole for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway Friday. And then the defending Sprint Cup champion lost it.

NASCAR officials tossed out the Joe Gibbs Racing driver’s qualifying time when the No. 18 Toyota failed post-qualifying inspection. According to Scott Miller, NASCAR senior vice president of competition, the car’s rear toe alignment exceeded the maximum allowed.

“We’ve come up with a new process for post-qualifying and post-race that measures rear toe,” Miller said. “Teams asked for it because … this is a way to police that. Teams asked for it, we instituted it and they didn’t pass. The others passed.”

Instead of starting Sunday’s race from the pole, Busch will now line up 39th for the second race of the season. The front row will now consist of Kurt Busch (Stewart-Haas Racing) and Jamie McMurray (Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates).

Kurt Busch had originally qualified second; McMurray third.

According to Miller, teams are given a tolerance within which to work with the understanding that movements by certain pieces are expected. The pre and post-inspection tolerances are not equal because of that.

“It’s not exactly the same tolerance … we gave them some, but they took a little more,” he said of the team’s infraction.

Adam Stevens, crew chief for Busch, said it was the first case of measuring rear toe on the Laser Inspection Station for teams and that no previous data had been gathered to understand how much movement might occur.

“We were perfectly legal beforehand, obviously, or we wouldn’t have qualified, and just the amount of load on the track moves everything a little bit and that little bit was a little bit too much,” he said. “We don’t know how much to be under maximum because this is the first time we’ve gathered data (after qualifying). We’re going to have to undershoot the rule by quite a bit to make sure we don’t fail the post-race tolerance.”

According to Stevens, teams received a bulletin that detailed the process and that other teams could roll through the station in order to gather data.

“As soon as I got that email, I’m like ‘I’ve got to go, I want to go. Please let me go.’ It just so happened we were on the pole,” he said.

“Nobody in this garage knows what it’s going to do until you roll across after it and it just so happened that our time to gather information was game time and we were too much. We’re going to have to undershoot the rule and be way to the good pre-race or pre-qualifying and cross our fingers that it’s not too much after.”

Miller said because the issue was found in post-qualifying inspection, the loss of starting position would be the only penalty. “It would be different if they should fail post-race,” he said.

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Nascar

HAMPTON, Ga. — NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams hit the track with the new low downforce rules package for the first time this season Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

But most say it will be months or more before the full impact of the changes will be seen on the track.

“There is still a lot to learn,” six-time series champion Jimmie Johnson said Friday at AMS.

Johnson (Hendrick Motorsports), Matt Kenseth (Joe Gibbs Racing), Kurt Busch (Stewart-Haas Racing) and Brad Keselowski (Team Penske) took part in a two-day tire test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last month. It was one of only a handful of opportunities teams have gotten to shake down the new package, which includes a shorter spoiler and changes to the splitter and radiator pan.

MORE: What the low downforce package looks like

Johnson said the Las Vegas test “went really well.”

“That is our only true kind of measuring stick and how we think we will perform for the ’16 season with the new rules package,” he said. “But it’s going to be a constant evolution. The teams are going to continue to figure out how to create more downforce and more mechanical grip. It’s just kind of what we do every year.

“It’s just the way these engineers work and the evolution of race cars.”

Following Friday’s only practice for Sprint Cup teams, Roush Fenway Racing driver Greg Biffle said his No. 16 Ford “is definitely a lot freer, on top of the race track more” with the new package.

“It’s going to be tough to stay focused, to manage your car,” JGR driver Carl Edwards said. “You see guys out there really struggling — myself included. You hook the apron, (the) car whips sideways. I mean you’ve got to really stay on top of it. It’s like a big dirt race.”

Confirmation of Edwards’ assessment had come earlier — teammate Denny Hamlin, who won the season-opening Daytona 500, lost the handle on his No. 11 Toyota; which brought the practice to a momentary halt.

“I tend to use probably a little bit more of the apron,” Hamlin explained. “… I felt like I got on the apron a little bit too much and that just de-wedges the car a lot and that’s when it spun the car out. …

“You don’t like to practice down there a whole lot, but you race down there, so I was trying to get down there as soon as I could and just lost it.”

A high number of lead changes and more side-by-side racing may be in the cards for Sunday’s race (1 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR), but those characteristics are not unusual for Atlanta, where the series has been competing since 1960. There have been 28 lead changes in two of the last three races here — 2013 and 2015. There were 35 lead changes as recently as 2011.

“Atlanta puts on good races anyway with the way the surface is and having multiple grooves,” rookie Chase Elliott said. “Hopefully it takes a race that’s always been good and makes it a little better.”

Whether or not the package is a “game changer,” he said, remains to be seen.

“I don’t think the faces of who runs good is going to change,” Elliott said. “The same groups of guys and the same teams who have run well the past couple of years will continue to run well and continue to be the ones to beat. I do hope it opens doors for better racing and being around cars a little easier.”

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Staff Report

Tony Stewart is still rehabbing following back surgery for an injury sustained in a January all-terrain vehicle accident that has forced him to miss the start of his final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, but he has made a return to the race track.

The Stewart-Haas Racing driver/owner was spotted at Atlanta Motor Speedway speaking with interim driver Ty Dillon after the Coors Light Pole Award Qualifying session.

After failing to make it to Daytona for all of Speedweeks — including the Daytona 500 — Stewart called into the broadcast to give a few updates during the season-opening “Great American Race” just five days ago. It was a pleasant surprise to see the three-time champion back in action, if just in an advisory role to the young Dillon — and it’s also a good sign of his continuing recovery and overall progression.

MORE: Stewart calls into FOX broadcast from bed

Dillon will start 18th in Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (1 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN).

Hey, Smoke!@TonyStewart @tydillon @StewartHaasRcng #NASCARonFS1 https://t.co/hJtTP70JvB

— FS1 (@FS1) February 26, 2016

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Staff Report

RELATED: Full practice results

Kyle Larson soared to the head of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series class Friday, leading opening practice at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Larson, driving the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet, registered a lap of 192.902 mph on the 1.54-mile track ahead of Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (1 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM).

Kasey Kahne, a three-time Atlanta winner in NASCAR’s top division, was second-fastest in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet with a lap of 191.807 mph. AJ Allmendinger (190.975 mph), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (190.646 mph) and Austin Dillon (190.404 mph) completed the top five in the 85-minute opening session.

Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin had a near-miss at the 35-minute mark, enduring a long slide off Turn 2 in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota. Hamlin righted the car without damage and posted the 23rd-fastest lap of the 39 drivers entered.

Defending race winner Jimmie Johnson was 12th-fastest in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet. Defending Sprint Cup champion Kyle Busch turned the 10th-fastest lap in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota.

Coors Light Pole Qualifying for the Sprint Cup Series’ second race of the year is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. ET (FS1).

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Staff Report

Practice 3 | Full results

For the second time Friday, Grant Enfinger topped the Camping World Truck Series practice leaderboard at Atlanta Motor Speedway, wheeling his No. 33 Chevrolet at a 178.775 mph clip in the final session. Enfinger, who will make just his second Truck Series start since 2012 this weekend at Atlanta, also paced the field in the opening session this morning.

Veteran wheelman Matt Crafton was second-fastest, propelling his No. 88 ThorSport Racing Toyota at 178.00 mph around the 1.54-mile track. Christopher Bell rounded out the top three with a fast lap of 177.938 mph behind the wheel of his No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports ride.

GMS Racing’s Spencer Gallagher (177.681 mph) and JR Motorsports’ Cole Custer (177.635 mph) were fourth and fifth on the speed charts, respectively.

A blown tire from Garrett Smithley‘s No. 63 truck brought out the red flag briefly.

The final leg of the third practice was marked by mock qualifying runs, as the series will qualify Saturday, Feb. 27 at 10 a.m. ET (FS1) for the Great Clips 200 (4:30 p.m. ET, FS1).

Practice 2 | Full results

Clocking in at 178.224 mph in his No. 05 Chevrolet, John Wes Townley made a late surge to the top of the leaderboard in the second of Friday’s Truck Series practice trio at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Townley was fifth-fastest in opening practice.

Daniel Hemric came up second, wheeling his No. 19 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford at 177.795 mph around the Georgia track. K&N Pro Series East champion William Byron was third on the charts, his No. 9 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota reaching a top speed of 177.368 mph. Reigning race winner and 2014 Camping World Truck Series champion Matt Crafton was fourth-fastest, his No. 88 ThorSport Racing truck rounding the track at 176.882 mph. Red Horse Racing’s Ben Kennedy rounded out the top five with a fast lap of 176.701 mph in his No. 11 ride.

Grant Enfinger, who led the opening Truck Series practice, came up 10th on the speed charts, his No. 33 Chevrolet reaching 175.833 mph.

Korbin Forrister brought out the caution less than 10 minutes into practice, as his No. 59 truck spun across the track leaving pit road. No contact was made with any other trucks.

Practice 1 | Full results

Grant Enfinger led the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ opening practice at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Friday with a high speed of 179.574 mph.

The No. 33 driver’s fastest speed came on Lap 2 of 20 laps.

Last week, Enfinger won the Keystone Light Pole Award for the season-opening race at Daytona.

Christopher Bell was second-fastest to Enfinger at 178.816 mph. Bell was involved in a scary last-lap wreck in last week’s NextEra Energy Resources 250 that had his No. 4 Toyota lifted off the track and sent barrel-rolling down the frontstretch.

Defending race winner Matt Crafton was third-fastest at 178.310 mph.

Daniel Hemric (177.858 mph) and John Wes Towny (177.858 mph) tied for fourth-fastest. William Byron was just behind them at 177.493 mph.

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Staff Report

Practice 3 | Full results

Erik Jones topped the third and final NASCAR XFINITY Series practice at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Friday, giving Joe Gibbs Racing a sweep of the day’s practice trio. Jones’ name soared atop the leaderboard quickly and stayed there throughout the entirety of the session with a fastest lap of 181.467 mph.

Next was Jones’ JGR teammate and 2009 series champ Kyle Busch in his No. 18 Toyota, posting a top speed of 180.934 mph.

The No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet of Ty Dillon rounded out the top three after propelling his entry around the 1.54-mile track at 180.481 mph. Dillon is pulling double-duty this weekend after Stewart-Haas Racing announced Tuesday that Dillon would serve as an interim driver for the injured Tony Stewart .

The No. 19 JGR entry of Daniel Suarez posted the fourth-fastest speed (180.351 mph), while Kyle Larson‘s No. 42 Chevrolet (180.316 mph) rounded out the top five.

The field returns to the track Saturday for the Coors Light Pole Qualifying (8:35 a.m. ET, FS1).

Practice 2 | Full results

Daniel Suarez jumped to the lead late to end Friday’s second NASCAR XFINITY Series practice at Atlanta Motor Speedway, posting a top speed of 181.902 mph.

Suarez’s top speed came on his 22nd and final lap around the 1.54-mile track.

Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Erik Jones was second-fastest at 180.975 mph. Jones was fastest in Friday’s opening practice session.

Brendan Gaughan (180.828 mph), Kyle Larson (180.281 mph) and Kyle Busch (179.685 mph) completed the top-five fastest on the leaderboard.

Practice 1 | Full results

Erik Jones rose to the top of the early leaderboard Friday morning in the NASCAR XFINITY Series’ opening practice at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Jones, driving the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota, turned a best lap of 183.358 mph on the 1.54-mile track. The 19-year-old is entering his first full season in the XFINITY Series after securing the Camping World Truck Series crown last year.

Ryan Reed was second-fastest in preparation for Saturday’s Heads Up Georgia 250 (1:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, PRN, SiriusXM). He registered a fast lap of 182.880 mph in the Roush Fenway Racing No. 16 Ford.

Blake Koch was third-fastest in a strong showing for first-year team Kaulig Racing. Koch, 30, clocked a 182.507 mph lap in the No. 11 Chevrolet.

Jeb Burton, in his first season driving Richard Petty Motorsports‘ No. 43 Ford, was fourth-fastest. Ty Dillon‘s Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Chevy completed the top five.

XFINITY Series points leader Elliott Sadler was 15th-fastest with a best lap of 180.012 mph in the JR Motorsports No. 1 Chevrolet. Sprint Cup star Kevin Harvick, Sadler’s JRM teammate and winner of the series’ last three races at Atlanta, was ninth-fastest at 181.029 mph in the No. 88 Chevrolet.