Posted on by John Crane

HAMPTON, Ga — As each 2023 NASCAR Cup Series race concludes, the swan song reaches a higher crescendo, and for Kevin Harvick, the same tune could be sung for Sunday’s Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (7 p.m. ET, USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

With the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing driver set to retire at the end of the season, such an occasion hits home in more ways than one at the recently revamped superspeedway. After all, Harvick’s first win at the track — and ever — came in 2001 in only his third Cup Series start after the then-25-year-old took over for Dale Earnhardt following the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing driver’s death just weeks prior in the Daytona 500.

RELATED: Kevin Harvick through the years | View Harvick’s career stats 

That Atlanta win, infamously, came in the No. 29, and more than 22 years later, Harvick’s final Atlanta sendoff will see that very same No. 29 machine take to the track to pace the field, piloted by none other than Richard Childress, himself.

“I actually haven’t seen it yet, but I’ve been talking to Richard about it and saw they sent me some videos of it this morning and sent me a video of it parked in the garage, so I couldn’t be more excited about seeing it, you know, seeing it lead the field to the green,” Harvick, 47, said Saturday at the track. “I know how excited Richard is. I’m excited as well, but Richard’s been super excited to drive it, so that makes me happy, too.”

The No. 29-styled sendoff hasn’t been the first time the number has found its way back to the track this season. Harvick paid homage to the number personally during the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway on May 21, when he drove a stylized Next Gen-style rendition of the scheme to an 18th-place finish.

However, the usage of the number this time around brings another historical wrinkle, with the car being the very same one used all those years ago and driven by the same owner Harvick called boss for 13 years.

Such a throwback showing Sunday evening will additionally re-emphasize the resilience Harvick displayed in not only taking over for a driver beloved by millions but in getting comfortable with Earnhardt’s setups, even if Harvick was relatively comfortable due to prior experience with the RCR program.

“I had been driving for almost a year, so I did all of it except for Daytona and Indy, so those were the two that Dale would go to, so all of the development stuff and everything that we did,” Harvick said. “I did all of that, so those guys, we were pretty accustomed to driving what he had in the car, what we had come up with, what they implemented and just kind of made all that work.

“I had already been in the cars and kind of known the little nuances of things to do differently and likes and don’t likes and things like that, so obviously they had a pretty good setup, so I would go around this place pretty good. A lot of that stuff was, at that particular point, pretty seamless just because I had been in the car so much.”

MORE: Atlanta schedule | Sunday’s starting lineup 

Harvick will start the Sunday night race in sixth as one of eight Fords inside the top 10. With three career wins, nine top-fives and 16 top-10 finishes at the track in 35 total starts heading into Sunday, his reputation at the track can speak for itself. However, for Harvick, what happens before the race with the No. 29 will evoke as much emotion as the race itself will.

It only makes sense that a sendoff throwing it back to where it all started will definitely hit home.

“Well, obviously, this has been a place for me that has a lot of history here, so to run the last race is definitely a little bit bittersweet,” Harvick said. “But, you know, I think for me, I’ve been prepared for all of this as I’ve gone into this, so seeing the 29 car, the original 29 car, lead the field to the green with Richard driving it and seeing the Hunt Brothers sign there in the middle of 1 and 2, it kind of adds a little bit to it, but mentally, I’ve been prepared for it.”

Posted on by John Crane

To Chris Buescher, the name of the game is to always take that next step.

A brief glimpse at what the No. 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford has achieved so far this season could immediately illustrate how many steps have already been climbed. The 30-year-old Buescher at the season’s halfway point holds eight top-10 and three top-five finishes in the NASCAR Cup Series heading into Sunday’s Quaker State 400 available at Walmart at Atlanta Motor Speedway (7 p.m. ET, USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

But for the native Texan, however, that next step doesn’t equate to more top-10 or top-five finishes. Instead, the plan is to be a consistent, weekly contender for a trip to Victory Lane, with another attempt coming at the 1.54-mile superspeedway.

“That next step is probably the hardest step, and it very well could be one of the smallest steps, but it’s just that matter of going from a top-10 car to a car that has a chance to win consistently week in and week out,” Buescher told NASCAR.com Thursday. “We’ve had some shots to win races, but not as consistent as we would like and have the speed to be able to contend for them at as many as we would’ve hoped for.”

RELATED: Buescher’s career stats | An overview of RFK Racing

Of course, any winding road can take many years to navigate, and for Buescher, this was no different. Since joining the RFK ranks as a 15-year-old, claiming the 2012 ARCA Menards Series title, winning the 2015 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship and continuing to grind for RFK at the Cup level all the way to 2023 after pit stops at Front Row Motorsports and JTG-Daugherty Racing, Buescher has relished the opportunity of being a part of an organization always yearning for consistent, winning success on the regular.

Witnessing such eagerness from his fellow team members only made Buescher that much more determined over the years. Fast forward to 2023, and the optimism and team culture is as strong as ever.

“For me, on a more personal level of being in the shop and being around a lot of the same individuals that have been there for a lot longer than I have, to see their enthusiasm and their mindset in a better place than I’ve seen it in a decade,” Buescher said. “It is really, really neat, and it means something, and it’s cool to see that progression. Not that anybody wasn’t ever hungry, but it gets frustrating, and when you try and put everything you can into it, and you can’t find the result with it, and we’re finding results now, and I think that’s keeping everybody fired up and just a really solid place to work from.”

An optimistic mindset has only helped Buescher discover his prowess on every type of track, varying from superspeedway to short tracks and road courses alike. However, this year’s success started to come to a major head beginning last year, where Buescher put together a career-best season at the Cup level, finishing with 10 top-10 finishes and three top-five finishes in conjunction with a triumph at the Bristol Night Race under the lights during the postseason.

“Then, from the 17 bunch, I think we hit a pretty good stride last season,” Buescher said. “The Bristol win was obviously huge. Bucket list item for so many of us, and Scott [Graves, crew chief] and myself actually lost an Xfinity race there on a green-white-checkered years back together, and it still hurt and haunted both of us. So that was a big recovery … for the team itself, the competitiveness has been there. We’ve got a great group of people that work fantastic together. We’ve been able to really be competitive on the race track, off the truck, on pit road, whatever it may be, we’re really firing on all eight right now.”

MORE: Atlanta schedule | Cup Standings 

For Buescher, having driver-owner and 2012 Cup champion Brad Keselowski as a teammate has only helped accelerate taking that next leap forward. From race weekend conversations to organization-wide company lunch meetings, Keselowski has emphasized the importance of always striving to improve, no matter what success might look like in its current form.

Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski talk.
Sean Gardner | Getty Images

“We can’t lay over or let up. That’s not there. That’s not what our sport is,” Buescher said. “Not that it’s realistic, but if you are winning every week it does not mean you can let up, and that’s something that’s hard to keep everybody in that mindset sometimes, but I think everybody gets it. Brad did a really good job talking to everybody and kind of just reminding everyone that it’s always about learning and being better than you are the previous day and what we can build on, and that’s what we’re after.

“Our sport just doesn’t sit still. … Now is the time to shift gears and go harder.”

MORE: Atlanta 101 | What to Watch: Atlanta

Shifting those very same gears is the goal as the regular season winds down. With Buescher currently sitting 11th in points, the priority will be to scoop up a win and clinch a berth in the 2023 postseason. The opportunity to find that elusive win could very well come at Atlanta, where the No. 17 has shown quick speed recently, despite crashing out in each of the last two races there.

No matter what recent history at Atlanta might show, Buescher will strive to continue demonstrating the positive attitude that has seized the No. 17 team by the horns. The hunger to win has only ever grown, and after Bristol last year provided a taste, Buescher is now eager to make the spectacle more of the norm. Making all of the right moves, whether from finding the right groove on the track to emphasizing consistent growth off the track, will only make that norm become possible.

Consider it one more step in need of climbing.

“It’s an execution day,” Buescher said. “It’s all pieces coming together, and I think that’s pretty much it for any win, but you need to be fast off the truck, you need to have smart decisions during the race. You need to have fast, clean pit stops. Strategy and weather need to go your way, and all of the above.

“It takes everything, which is why we talk about our sport and how much of a team sport it is and what sometimes a casual fan doesn’t realize is it’s not myself in the car deciding to go inside or outside of a car on a single lap that’s make-or-breaking our day. If we have a great day, I didn’t do all of that work. That came from people back at the shop, that came from our practice adjustments, that came from pit road and our spotter on top and strategy. It’s a massive puzzle, and everything has to sit into place on the right day to be able to make it work. So, that’s what we’re focusing on is getting that win.”

Posted on by John Crane

HAMPTON, Ga. — Kaulig Racing was on the cusp of a race sweep.

On paper, the results didn’t look too shabby. Daniel Hemric finished runner-up, and Justin Haley finished close behind in fourth, with Chandler Smith being the outlier of the trio with a 20th-place result after running out of fuel late. But a potential 1-2-3 banner finish for the organization wasn’t cashed in during Saturday evening’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Alsco Uniforms 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

The sting of what could have been resonated profoundly. A dominant effort from all three drivers through the early, middle and later portions culminated with all three drivers in the top three with less than 20 laps to go. A chance for the hat-trick finish was on the table until misfortune in a late caution and NASCAR Overtime saw the trio split up and eventually falter to Joe Gibbs Racing’s John Hunter Nemechek.

“That’s a bitter feeling,” Hemric told NASCAR.com. “John Hunter did a great job. He was in the mix all night. He did everything right, to be honest with you. We just executed extremely poorly on our part.”

“We were just trying to win,” Haley told NASCAR.com. “We thought we were in a good spot, and we just weren’t.”

The waning laps and ensuing overtime period following an Austin Hill caution on Lap 161 looked to put the team in a bind, with the Kaulig cars, spearheaded by Haley, looking to set the pace and cement himself in a position to simultaneously be a blocker and control the front rows. However, the team could not position itself accordingly, with Smith running dry and a Hemric push providing Nemechek the window of opportunity to take control and hold off the field.

Haley finished the race with a field-high 80 laps led. Smith followed up with five laps led of his own, while Hemric — despite not leading any laps during the race — proved to be the steady presence up front, despite the organization’s overall finish.

“In all reality, it probably falls on my lap,” Hemric said. “If I’m not shuffled to fifth there before the yellow comes out, we line up and control the entire front row and at least half of the second row, and I think our odds go up substantially at that point. So, I’ll take the blame for having to choose kind of all we had to choose coming into the last restart, and at the end of the day, that’s kind of what set the tone for the green-white-checkered.”

“Daniel has got to take the shortest line so he can try to get to his teammates, right?” Kaulig Racing President Chris Rice told NASCAR.com. “That’s the key because he had done some blocking, and when you take the shortest line, you get lined up behind people that you hadn’t been racing with, so like I told Matt (Kaulig, team owner), I’m going to go back and look at it and see what it was. But yeah, the big thing is we lost a race, and it’s never fun to lose a race once you dominate like we dominated tonight.”

MORE: Updated Xfinity Series standings 

Moving forward, the team will look to regroup both on the track and off the track, varying from continuing to bring quick cars and vying to improve on providing the right leadership to find that team-wide success.

“Just getting fast cars,” Haley said. “We brought fast cars here which struggled in the spring and seemed decent today.”

“I got to do a better job as a leader at the shop,” Rice said. “I got to make sure I do a better job with everybody, and like I told them, I take full blame for it, and I’ll take it on my hip and figure out what I need to do different to help everybody to be able to win these races because Matt Kaulig deserves to win these races, and that’s what it’s about.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

HAMPTON, Ga. — Grabbing the lead on an overtime restart as Saturday night’s Alsco Uniforms 250 went six laps past its posted distance, John Hunter Nemechek streaked to his third NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the season.

The only time Nemechek led was during the overtime after a push from Daniel Hemric powered him into the lead on the final restart.

Nemechek won for the first time at Atlanta Motor Speedway and for the fifth time in his career, finishing 0.245 seconds ahead of Hemric. Cole Custer came home third, followed by Kaulig Racing’s Justin Haley, who held the lead for the final restart.

MORE: Race results | At-track photos

At the start of the race, Nemechek’s car suffered from handling issues, particularly in traffic. But his team made the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota progressively better as the race unfolded.

“I got a huge push from the 11 (Hemric) there, so thanks to Daniel for giving me that huge push,” Nemechek said. “Early on, if you had said we would have won the race, I definitely would have told you that wasn’t going to be the case.

“We didn’t have the fastest car tonight, but I’m really proud of this 20 team… Man, this is special. I don’t know if the track changed a ton. We just had to make our car better all night. It came down to an overtime finish, and luckily, we were able to execute on that restart.”

Kaulig drivers Haley and Chandler Smith were running 1-2 when Austin Hill spun in Turn 4 on Lap 161 to cause the eighth caution and send the race into NASCAR Overtime. Haley chose the outside lane for the restart, with Nemechek to his inside and Smith behind him.

But Haley didn’t get the push he needed as Smith faded back through the field after stumbling out of fuel. Haley, who led 80 straight laps from the green-flag start of the final stage, dipped below Hemric on the final lap, rather than pushing his teammate, saying later that he was running out of fuel too.

Hill’s late spin and an earlier pileup on the backstretch eliminated a handful of potential contenders for the win.

A massive wreck on Lap 88, involving 11 cars, ruined the chances of Stage 2 winner Sheldon Creed and the competitive car of Ryan Sieg, who had led twice for 15 laps.

In the middle of the pack after a Lap 87 restart, the Ford of Riley Herbst slowed with a tire down. Brandon Jones, running behind Herbst, took evasive action, but in moving down the track, Jones’ Chevrolet turned Sieg’s Ford nose-first into the outside wall.

WATCH: Herbst’s flat tire triggers mayhem | Xfinity standings

Creed, who had an issue getting fuel into his Chevrolet under caution at the end of Stage 2, had to return to pit road and restarted near the back of the field. Collected in the wreck, Creed exited the race and finished 35th.

Joining Creed on the sidelines were Herbst, Sieg, Jones and Anthony Alfredo.

“We did everything right,” said Sieg, bemoaning his ill fortune after a mandatory trip to the infield care center. “It just sucks to be on this side of it. We’ve been fast in all of four of these (Atlanta) races.”

The series heads next to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the Ambetter Health 200 on July 15 (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

Note: Post-race inspection in the Xfinity Series garage concluded without issue, confirming Nemechek as the race winner. The Nos. 7 and 48 cars each had one loose lug nut, which will result in a monetary fine.

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

A flat left-rear tire on Riley Herbst’s No. 98 Ford triggered a multicar melee down the backstretch during the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday night.

Herbst, the Stage 1 winner, suffered the cut tire at the exit of Turn 2 just ahead of a three-wide battle. On the outside of that three-abreast situation, Brandon Jones swerved left to avoid the slowing No. 98 car, clipping the right rear of Ryan Sieg’s car, sending the No. 39 RSS Racing Ford sideways in front of the field and nose-first into the outside SAFER barrier.

MORE: Race results | At-track photos

“Got off of Turn 2 there, and by the time I saw the 98 struggling up top and going under 100 (mph), we were all probably double his speed and just nowhere to go when you’re up top,” Jones said. “You can’t fade to the bottom, and I tried a little bit and it probably ended up collecting more people than it could’ve, but you’re getting pushed from behind. Just a lot of stuff going on and it happens way too quick to be able to avoid something.

“Really nothing that Riley could have done differently. He’s in a bad position there obviously. It looked like he had a flat tire to me and just couldn’t get down.”

Also involved in the scrap were Stage 2 winner Sheldon Creed, Anthony Alfredo, Sam Mayer, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Josh Williams, Kyle Weatherman, Blaine Perkins and Brennan Poole.

After starting from the rear with transmission troubles in qualifying, Creed led 24 laps Saturday before getting collected in the pileup. The No. 2 Richard Childress Racing team had trouble fueling the vehicle on its prior pit stop, dropping Creed to the rear of the field for the subsequent restart. Sieg also led 15 laps Saturday, his second-most of the season.

Herbst led three circuits, including the final lap of Stage 1 which netted him 10 regular-season points and a playoff point. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver entered the contest holding the final spot in the 12-driver playoff field, 26 points ahead of 13th-place Parker Kligerman.

RELATED: Xfinity standings

After the checkered flag flew, that gap dwindled to just six points at the elimination line after Kligerman registered an eighth-place finish.

The series heads next to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the Ambetter Health 200 on July 15 (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

Posted on by Staff Report

Three teams lost their pit-stall selections and had a crew member ejected after failing pre-race inspection twice ahead of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota and the No. 31 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet each lost pit selection as a result. Car chiefs Clay Alexander of the No. 8 and Zachary Marquardt of the No. 23 were ejected from the event, in addition to No. 31 engineer Garrett Peterson.

MORE: Starting lineup | Pit stalls for Sunday’s race

RCR’s Kyle Busch, 23XI’s Bubba Wallace and Kaulig Racing’s Justin Haley will retain their starting positions for Sunday’s Quaker State 400 available at Walmart (7 p.m. ET, USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

Busch will roll off from 22nd position while Haley will start 17th. Wallace aborted his qualifying lap and will start 37th.

Race-day update: Chris Sherwood, the car chief of the No. 20 Toyota of Christopher Bell, was ejected Sunday afternoon due to unapproved adjustments to the race car.

Posted on by Adam Fenwick

WALL TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Modifieds have front bumpers for a reason, and Ron Silk put his to good use Saturday night at Wall Stadium Speedway.

The 40-year-old racing veteran used the chrome horn to move friend and rival Justin Bonsignore out of his way with fewer than five laps to go in the Jersey Shore 150 to earn his third NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory of the season.

“I think we were all pretty much sliding around there at the end,” Silk said in Victory Lane after his 20th career Modified Tour victory. “It seemed like I had maybe a little bit better car than Justin, but he fought hard on the restart before that. Luckily I was able to get him back there at the end.”

RELATED: Complete results from the Jersey Shore 150

The day didn’t start off on the right foot for Silk, who qualified 11th in the 23-car field. That meant he had a lot of work to do if he wanted to race for the victory at the third-mile oval, but he was up to the task.

Silk was in the top five before Lap 50 and took the lead for the first time on Lap 90 from pole-sitter Austin Beers.

Six-time Modified Tour champion Doug Coby appeared to have a faster car than that of Silk and nearly got by him with 42 laps to go, but contact with the slower car of Anthony Nocella took Coby out of contention just as he was making the pass for the lead.

With Coby out of the picture, it was down to Silk and Bonsignore, the latter of whom was making his 200th Modified Tour start.

Bonsignore was able to get around Silk on a restart with 21 laps left, but the race was slowed multiple times by cautions, one of which took out Beers and Eric Goodale on the backstretch.

The final caution of the evening waved with 10 laps left with Bonsignore still leading Silk, setting up a five-lap dash to the checkered flag.

Bonsignore was able to pull clear of Silk through Turns 1-2, but Silk used his bumper to move Silk out of the way entering Turn 3 to regain the race lead.

Silk led the remainder of the race, though Bonsignore did everything in his power to return the favor. He gave Silk a big shot to the bumper with three laps left in Turn 3, but it wasn’t enough to regain the lead.

“We were throwing haymakers at each other,” Bonsignore said. “It’s been like that all year. We’ve been really putting on a lot of good battles. Nobody has crashed; it’s about as aggressive as you can get without crashing each other.

“I used him up down in [Turn] 1, and I thought I got him maybe far enough back. He just lined my bumper up getting into [Turn] 3, and that was it. He just drove me up the hill, and I couldn’t get back to him.”

Silk’s victory allows him to further pad his advantage at the top of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour standings as he continues his pursuit of his second series championship.

“It’s always good to be on a little bit of a win streak, and while you’re leading the points, it’s good,” Silk said. “It’s really early for points. We just want to keep trying to get some wins.”

Eddie McCarthy earned a career-best finish in third, with Anthony Sesely and Andrew Krause completing the top five.

Coby finished sixth, followed by Matt Hirschman, Blake Barney, Beers and Dave Sapienza.

A replay of the Jersey Shore 150 will broadcast on Saturday, July 15 at 11 a.m. ET on CNBC.

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns to action next Saturday, July 15 with the running of the Mohegan Sun 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The green flag is scheduled to wave shortly after 6 p.m. ET, with every lap available live on FloRacing.

Posted on by Staff Report

Jersey Shore 150

Wall Stadium Speedway

Wall New Logo Jpeg

  • Race results
Finish Pos. Starting Pos. Car No. Driver Sponsor (Car owner) Laps Status Led Points
1 11 16    Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine and Future Homes   (Tyler Haydt) 150 running 47 47
2 4 51    Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications Inc.   (Ken Massa) 150 running 26 43
3 5 20    Eddie McCarthy McCarthy’s Marine Sales   (Ed McCarthy) 150 running 0 41
4 8 19    Anthony Sesely Wanick Construction Inc.   (Tommy Wanick) 150 running 0 40
5 9 24    Andrew Krause Supreme Manufacturing   (Diane Krause) 150 running 0 39
6 6 7    Doug Coby Mayhew Tools   (Tommy Baldwin) 150 running 0 38
7 2 60    Matt Hirschman Pee Dee Motorsports / Colyer Trucking   (Roy Hall) 150 running 0 37
8 15 14    Blake Barney Atlantic Sprinkler Co / County Line Auto Body   (Richard Barney) 150 running 0 36
9 1 64    Austin Beers Lumiere Electric / Andrew James Interior / De   (Mike Murphy) 150 running 77 37
10 16 36    Dave Sapienza Sapienza Enterprises / Eastport Feeds   (Judy Thilberg) 150 running 0 34
11 12 22    Kyle Bonsignore Chalew Performance / MTT / Munn’s Auto   (Kyle Bonsignore) 150 running 0 33
12 19 46    Anthony Nocella Riverhead Building Supply   (Russell Goodale) 150 running 0 32
13 21 18    Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood and Restaurant   (Robert Pollifrone) 150 running 0 31
14 17 32    Tyler Rypkema Northeast Drilling / MUSCO Lighting   (Dean Rypkema) 149 running 0 30
15 22 9    Tommy Wanick * Wanick Construction Inc.   (Tommy Wanick) 148 running 0 29
16 23 01    Melissa Fifield Pine Knoll Auto Sales   (Kenneth Fifield) 148 running 0 28
17 13 8    Tom Martino, Jr. * Martino Racing Engines   (Tom Martino, Jr.) 145 running 0 27
18 10 3    Jake Johnson * Propane Plus / Lins Propane Trucks   (Michael Boehler) 145 running 0 26
19 20 34    J.B. Fortin A&R Materials / John’s Fuel Oil / Rapid Recov   (Nicole Fortin) 139 crash 0 25
20 18 26    Max Zachem Lakeland Landscape Supply   (Sean McDonald) 139 dnf 0 24
21 7 58    Eric Goodale GAF Roofing / Riverhead Building Supply   (Edgar Goodale) 131 crash 0 23
22 3 76    Jimmy Blewett Garden State Honda / John Blewett Inc / FX Ca   (Jimmy Blewett) 76 engine 0 22
23 14 82    Craig Lutz Horton Ave Materials   (Danny Watts Jr.) 53 radiator 0 21
Posted on by Staff Report

Although Austin Cindric will be racing the No. 2 Team Penske Ford during Sunday evening’s bout at Atlanta Motor Speedway as normal, the 24-year-old will have a different look, with the Columbus, Ohio native preparing to don glasses inside the car during Sunday’s Quaker State 400 (7 p.m. ET, USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

The new eyewear came in handy in Saturday’s qualifying session as Cindric will start 10th under the lights Sunday evening.

“I’ve been telling everybody it makes pretty things look prettier and ugly things look uglier,” a glasses-adorned Cindric said to Tyler Reddick during Saturday’s pre-qualifying media session with the No. 45 driver noticing the different look.

RELATED: Atlanta schedule | Cup lineup for Sunday

One reason for the change came at Nashville Superspeedway on June 25, where he finished 27th during the evening contest. The change became official on Wednesday when Cindric had an eye appointment and immediately sprinted to the mall to have a pair made within the hour.

While the change could initially bring fear, it is the opposite in the case of Cindric, who looks forward to the opportunity.

“One of my motivators was Nashville,” Cindric said. “I couldn’t see very well by the end of the race. Here I am with glasses before the next night race, so it’s not fear at all. I would say I’m gonna have a great improvement come Sunday night.”

Cindric plans to wear glasses as opposed to contacts in the car and additionally asked Joey Logano — another fellow glass-wearer — about the intricacies of where glasses inside the machine with the helmet and additional gear taken into account.

“I didn’t take any much time to decide whether or not this was the right thing for me to do as far as getting glasses, especially for me,” Cindric said. “I guess I’m nearsighted, and I have trouble seeing things far away. My profession requires me to identify things that are far away at a high rate of speed, so I would identify that as significantly important to eliminate a weakness.”

Cindric currently sits 22nd in the season points standings and has three top-10 finishes in 18 starts this season.