Nemechek hopes to reclaim last year’s form at Atlanta

Posted on March 18, 2022 by Reid Spencer

A five-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series winner in 2021, John Hunter Nemechek would like nothing better than to finish without incident in Saturday’s Fr8 208 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

So far this season, the closing laps of races have been unkind to the driver of the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota. Nemechek started second and first, respectively, at Daytona International Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but late crashes dropped him to finishes of 24th and 25th in the two events.

Nemechek participated in the January tire test at Atlanta. Since then, NASCAR has instituted the yellow-line rule for superspeedways at the 1.54-mile track, prohibiting passing on the apron.

“A lot of things have changed since we were there at the tire test, double yellow-line rule now,” Nemechek said. “A lot of changes going back…

“The first laps in a pack may be at the start of the race, so a lot to learn, a lot to figure out in a short time, but hopefully it’ll be fun, and hopefully we can bring home our first checkered flag of the year.”

Nemechek is one of three former Atlanta winners entered in Saturday’s race. The others are Matt Crafton and Grant Enfinger.

Posted on March 18, 2022March 18, 2022 by Zack Albert

Austin Cindric has made a tradition out of planting the checkered flag into whatever piece of infield grass he can grab after a victory. This year, he took that habit straight from the NASCAR Xfinity Series to Cup in the season-opening Daytona 500.

It may as well have been a stake driven right into his claim of the Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award. For fellow first-year driver Harrison Burton, it took an otherwise friendly competition within the competition and set the bar for what will be required to wear those laurels at season’s end.

“We’ve had a lot of fun with it,” said Burton, in his first year with the Wood Brothers’ No. 21 team. He’s vying for top rookie honors with Team Penske’s Cindric and Front Row Motorsports’ Todd Gilliland. “It’s been fun to kind of go back and forth and joke around with each other about it and use it as some competitive edge. And then Austin goes off and wins the first race of the year, and that kind of made it harder for us because then we had to go match that.

“So, which is cool, it’s exciting. I mean, there’s been a lot of new winners this year. Every race has had a different winner, and there’s been some first-time winners with Austin and Chase (Briscoe), and (Daniel) Suarez was close. So I think there’s room there to do it. You’re just going to have to have a spectacular day.”

For Burton, those days have been admittedly tough to come by just four races into the 2022 campaign. Crash-related exits in the first two races – including a roof ride in the Daytona opener – created an early deficit for the 21-year-old driver in the Cup Series standings. A 16th-place run at Las Vegas helped stem the slide, but Burton scrapped for just 29th in the final order last weekend at Phoenix.

A Stage 2 wall scrape didn’t help Burton’s cause, but the No. 21 bunch fought handling adjustments over the course of the 312-lapper. The result prompted team president Eddie Wood to say post-race, “we’re a lot better race team than what folks saw today.”

RELATED: Harrison Burton’s 2022 stats

Meg Oliphant | Getty Images

Some degree of learning curve was to be expected this year with a new driver, a new car and the first race of the season on that track type – the 1-mile Phoenix oval. Burton says the underlying confidence from the organization remains, and it’s helped to buoy spirits amidst the difficult early going.

“Let’s be honest, it’s not been a good start. We’ve had a lot of crashes, things that were out of our control, and there were some weekends that were in our control,” Burton says. “And Phoenix was one that, that’s kind of on us, and that’s one of the harder ones to swallow, I think, is when you just run really poorly. But I feel like that it wasn’t something that is not fixable.

“It’s just sometimes you have those days in racing, and I’ve had nothing but great support from the Wood Brothers so far, and that hasn’t changed at all. If they still believe in me, then I still believe in myself. Those are some of the legends in our sport, and they know what they’re talking about. So I think internally, there’s still a great belief in our team, and one bad race isn’t going to change that.”

The challenges promise to continue this weekend at new-look Atlanta Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (3 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The intermediate-sized track has undergone a full repave and a significant reconfiguration, with steeper banking and a narrower racing surface.

MORE: Weekend schedule | Atlanta 101

Teams will use the superspeedway rules package typically reserved for the larger layouts of Daytona and Talladega, leading to wide-ranging conjecture about how the track will race. “It’s like a super-intermediate,” Burton said with a laugh. “That’s what I’m going with.”

Whatever the terminology for the newfangled Atlanta, Burton says he expects a tall test for rookies and veterans alike.

“Yeah, it’s a lot of unknown, that’s for sure,” Burton says. “It’s more unknown than known, and especially for us not having gone to the (previous tire) test, it’s pretty hard to really know what to prepare. It’s kind of its own animal now, so what race do you watch to prepare? What do you do to study? What can you do? There’s been some theories that we’ve had, and we’re certainly trying to prepare just as hard as we normally would, but it’s hard without a lot of material.

“So there’s a lot of unknown, and I’m expecting it to be a really challenging race because of that. A lot of learning on the fly, but you know, fortunately, we’re kind of in the habit of doing that this year. It’s been what this year is all about.”

Posted on March 18, 2022 by Terrin Waack

Atlanta Motor Speedway has been repaved, reconfigured and, therefore, reset. The 1.54-mile track located in Hampton, Georgia, offers a clean slate for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (3 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) despite having already hosted 115 NASCAR Cup Series races prior this year. Old stats may be irrelevant but can be intertwined into current ones to be made relevant again.

RELATED: Weekend schedule | Paint schemes | Betting odds

Here are five fast facts before the weekend activities:

1. The last nine Atlanta races were won by Chevrolet or Ford.

Chevrolet is responsible for four of the last nine victories at Atlanta. Ford filled out the other five spots. That means Toyota’s last win there was in 2013. On a similar note, it has been nine races since Toyota won in the Cup Series – Talladega Superspeedway in 2021 (Bubba Wallace). This season alone, Toyota has posted only three top-five finishes in the four completed events: Wallace (second, Daytona International Speedway), Kyle Busch (fourth, Las Vegas Motor Speedway) and Kurt Busch (fifth, Phoenix Raceway).

2. Chase Elliott is winless in last 20 races.

The No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet’s last Victory Lane visit came on July 4, 2021 at Road America. It was his second win of the season, marking his lowest total in four seasons with a win. Since then, the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion has tallied six top-five results, including three runner-up finishes – none of which have happened in 2022. In fact, Elliott’s best run so far was ninth at Las Vegas two weeks ago. He led 50 laps last weekend at Phoenix but wound up 11th. Meanwhile, two of his teammates – Larson and Bowman – have already won this year.

3. Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin are the only active drivers with average finishes that rank within the top 10 on both superspeedway and 1.5-mile tracks.

How the racing will play out at Atlanta is still a bit of a mystery. The track remained 1.54 miles in length, but the new banking – 28 degrees rather than 24 – is higher than any other intermediate circuit. Because of that, NASCAR decided the superspeedway rules configuration (510 horsepower, seven-inch spoiler) will be used rather than the base package. So, it’s a low-key mix of the two track types.

4. For the season, four different drivers have won a pole, won Stage 1, won Stage 2, won a race and led the most laps.

Only four drivers have also finished in the top 20 in all four races: Ty Dillon, Aric Almirola and the Busch brothers. And the final green-flag stretch in all four races also happened to be four laps or less. The number four seems to be the theme of 2022 so far.

5. Drivers under the age of 30 have won the last 10 races.

I’d make a Next Gen-eration joke here, but this trend started prior to the Next Gen car’s implementation. Since Wallace won at Talladega in October of 2021 – aka last season into the current – every victor has been under 30 years old. That 10-race streak is the longest in NASCAR history at the Cup Series level. Granted, there have only been five different winners during that span thanks to repeats.

Posted on March 17, 2022January 28, 2023 by Official NASCAR Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Nearly half a century after Bill France Sr. first took stock cars to the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans, NASCAR and Hendrick Motorsports have announced their intention to compete in the 2023 event as the special Garage 56 entry. The entry will be a modified version of the Next Gen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 race car and is a collaboration of NASCAR, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet, IMSA, and Goodyear. Further details, including technical elements of the car and the team’s driver lineup, will be announced at a later date.

“From the early days of NASCAR, it was important to my father that we played a visible role in international motorsports, and there is no bigger stage than the 24 Hours of Le Mans,” said Jim France, NASCAR Chairman and CEO. “In partnering with Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear, we have the winningest team, manufacturer and tire in NASCAR history. We look forward to showcasing the technology in the Next Gen car and putting forward a competitive entry in the historic race.”

Hendrick Motorsports is the all-time leader in NASCAR Cup Series championships, points-paying victories and laps led. The team is coming off its second consecutive title and has won two of the four races in 2022. Seven-time champion crew chief Chad Knaus will serve as its Garage 56 program manager.

“Participating in one of the truly iconic events in auto racing and representing NASCAR and Chevrolet on the world stage is a privilege,” said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. “Jim deserves tremendous credit for having the vision for the project, and we thank him for trusting our organization with the responsibility. Even though Garage 56 is a ‘class of one,’ we are competitors and have every intention of putting a bold product on the racetrack for the fans at Le Mans. It’s a humbling opportunity – one that will present an exciting challenge over the next 15 months – but our team is ready.”

“NASCAR is going back to Le Mans! Chevrolet is looking forward to being a key partner with NASCAR, Hendrick Motorsports and Goodyear in this historic Garage 56 effort,” said Jim Campbell, Vice President, Chevrolet Performance and Motorsports. “While many know us as the winningest manufacturer in NASCAR, we also have had great success with our Corvette Racing program at Le Mans, with eight class wins in 21 starts since 2000. At Chevrolet, we love to compete and we can’t wait to get started on this program.”

“Goodyear has proudly produced tires for NASCAR for more than 60 years, and we look forward to taking our innovation to the next level at the 24 Hours of Le Mans,” said Stu Grant, Goodyear’s general manager of Global Race Tires. “In addition to Goodyear’s presence at Le Mans on the LMP2 class vehicles, being involved in this historic race as part of the Garage 56 entry is yet another demonstration of our commitment to advancing racing tire technology.”

Bill France first brought stock cars to Le Mans on June 12, 1976, after reaching a deal with the event’s organizers. Two NASCAR race cars — a Dodge Charger owned and driven by Hershel McGriff, and a Junie Donlavey owned Ford Torino driven by Richard Brooks and Dick Hutcherson — competed in a newly-created Grand International class.

“Garage 56 is a special opportunity at Le Mans since this race has been a leader in technological process for the auto industry over its nearly century long existence,” said Pierre Fillon, president of l’Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), the organizer of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. “When the ACO receives an application for a Garage 56 program, we begin by talking with designers, team partners, and suppliers in order to set performance parameters such that the program can be successful for everyone involved. We will continue to work with NASCAR and all their partners as they work toward their proposed 2023 Garage 56 project.”

Garage 56 was introduced in 2012 as a special single-entry class reserved for innovative cars. It allows for the testing of new technologies and fostering of creativity and innovation without taking away the spot of a car from the traditional starting grid.

Posted on March 17, 2022May 29, 2023 by Zack Albert

SEBRING, Fla. — Once all approvals go forward, NASCAR’s Next Gen car will be in a class by itself in a literal sense in next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

NASCAR, Hendrick Motorsports and other collaborative partners announced Thursday that they intend to enter a modified version of the Cup Series racer in the endurance classic, which will celebrate its 100th year in 2023. The Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 is intended to race as the Garage 56 entry, a designated spot in the field that showcases innovation.

MORE: NASCAR, Hendrick Motorsports team up for special Le Mans entry in 2023

The Garage 56 entry is scored and recorded in the official results but is not eligible to compete for the podium or the overall victory. That berth is considered a “class of one” outside of the traditional classifications and an extra entry outside of what used to be a 55-car cap.

Since its creation in 2012, Garage 56 has been a proving ground for experimental and creative technology, starting with the radical Nissan DeltaWing in the program’s inaugural year. A hybrid coupe version of the DeltaWing called the ZEOD RC (Zero Emission On Demand Racing Car) marked a historic first two years later, lapping the 8.469-mile course in racing conditions solely using electric power.

“Garage 56 is a special opportunity at Le Mans since this race has been a leader in technological process for the auto industry over its nearly century long existence,” said Pierre Fillon, president of l’Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), the organizer of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. “When the ACO receives an application for a Garage 56 program, we begin by talking with designers, team partners and suppliers in order to set performance parameters such that the program can be successful for everyone involved. We will continue to work with NASCAR and all their partners as they work toward their proposed 2023 Garage 56 project.”

Other prospective entries in the Garage 56 category included concepts that ran on alternative fuels. The program returned in 2021 for the first time in five years, with the La Filiere Frederic Sausset by SRT41 team fielding a specially adapted Oreca 07 car with hand controls for co-drivers Nigel Bailly and Takuma Aoki, who are both paralyzed from the waist down.

The full technical aspects of the NASCAR-Hendrick project were not disclosed at Thursday’s presentation, with those details and a driver lineup to be announced at a later date. But the nature of the Garage 56 class creates an avenue for innovation and experimentation — both strong suits of Chad Knaus, Hendrick Motorsports’ vice president of competition and the Le Mans project manager.

Posted on March 17, 2022March 17, 2022 by Zack Albert

SEBRING, Fla. — NASCAR and Hendrick Motorsports announced a cooperative venture Thursday that would bring a modified Next Gen stock car to the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the race’s centennial celebration in 2023.

The project — which also includes collaborative efforts from IMSA, Chevrolet and Goodyear — would bring a specially prepared Camaro ZL1 from the NASCAR Cup Series into the international motorsports scene’s biggest endurance race. Once approved by race organizer l’Automobile Club de l’Ouest, the proposed entry would fill the Garage 56 slot — an extra starting berth that showcases innovative vehicles outside of the race’s traditional classes.

MORE: Garage 56 offers showcase slot for Le Mans innovation

Chad Knaus, Hendrick Motorsports’ vice president of competition, will oversee the project. Officials on hand Thursday indicated that the team’s driver lineup and other technical details about the Le Mans entry would be announced at a later date.

The endeavor was announced, fittingly, from the Le Mans Ballroom at the Seven Sebring Raceway Hotel overlooking the Sebring International Raceway circuit. The track hosts IMSA’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on Saturday (10 a.m. ET, Peacock, USA, IMSA.tv).

It’s the next step in the evolution of the seventh-generation stock car for NASCAR’s top division. After years of development, the Next Gen model debuted this season in Cup Series competition. Its sports-car chops and its adaptability would be tested at Le Mans, where the car would bring an American flavor to the renowned Circuit de la Sarthe.

Dodge Charger of Hershel McGriff | RacingOne

It’s not the first NASCAR foray into the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 1976, NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. and event organizers agreed to create a new Grand International class — a play on the “Grand National” name of the Cup Series at the time. That move opened the door for two stock-car entries: a Dodge Charger owned and driven by NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Hershel McGriff with his son, Doug, as a co-driver; and a Junie Donlavey-prepared Ford Torino for drivers Richard Brooks, Dick Hutcherson and Marcel Mignon. The French media dubbed the stockers “the two big monsters,” noting how they stood out among the smaller prototypes and sports cars.

Le Mans’ Garage 56 entry was created in 2012 to provide a featured spot for inventive cars with cutting-edge technology — all outside of the race’s normal classifications and its 55-car field limit. Garage 56 entries are not eligible to compete for the overall win, but are scored and classified in the official results. They must also meet safety and performance standards to race alongside the event’s other entries.

Knaus won seven Cup Series championships as a crew chief for Jimmie Johnson’s efforts in the Cup Series before making the transition to Hendrick Motorsports’ front office for competition. In an interview last year with NBC Sports, Knaus indicated he hoped to one day race at Le Mans, furthering the work he’s done with the Action Express Racing team and Johnson’s partial driving schedule in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Team owner Rick Hendrick also has a history of involvement in sports-car racing, fielding the factory Chevrolet Corvette GTP in IMSA’s top class from 1985-88. His intent to field a Le Mans entry would represent a first.

“Participating in one of the truly iconic events in auto racing and representing NASCAR and Chevrolet on the world stage is a privilege,” said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. “Jim deserves tremendous credit for having the vision for the project, and we thank him for trusting our organization with the responsibility. Even though Garage 56 is a ‘class of one,’ we are competitors and have every intention of putting a bold product on the racetrack for the fans at Le Mans. It’s a humbling opportunity — one that will present an exciting challenge over the next 15 months — but our team is ready.”

Posted on March 17, 2022March 17, 2022 by Staff Report

ATTLEBORO, Mass. – JDV Productions announced today the addition of a Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup bonus program for teams who will compete in the three NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour New Hampshire races JDV will promote in 2022.

The program includes over $15,000 in posted bonuses – on top of the regular purses offered for the events – headlined by a champion bonus for the team owner of the driver who earns the most points across the three races. NASCAR’s point system will be used to determine the champion of the three-race series – and the champion will be awarded $5,000. Second-place in the points will earn $2,000 and third will earn $1,000.

This means a total of $8,000 alone will go towards this special points system for the three-race series. And that isn’t the only group of incentives on the line for teams to compete in all three events. If a driver can sweep all three races and end up with the race win in all of them, the team owner of that driver will also go home with an additional $5,000.

The Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup bonus program includes events at Lee USA Speedway on May 21, Monadnock Speedway on June 18 and Claremont Motorsports Park on July 29. Based on current NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour purse offerings, the events will all pay lucrative purses to win and throughout the field, along with these special bonuses.

“Our partnership with Whelen has enabled us to tie our three New Hampshire races together under the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup banner,” Josh Vanada, owner of JDV Productions, said. “In doing so, we are enticing and rewarding teams who commit to compete in all three of these events. Our bonus program stands tall – offering an additional $15,000 to NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour car owners and drivers who compete on New Hampshire’s short tracks. We’re very proud to pay premium purses to NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour teams and are grateful for Whelen Engineering and their support to add even more to the pot.”

Outside of points from each event, multiple bonuses are also on the line at each specific race. The Invader Bonus, Hard Charger Bonus, Lap Leader Bonus and Consistency Bonus will all be offered. Between the four of them, an additional $2,500 is on the line.

For $200 per race, the Challenger Bonus will be paid to the highest finishing driver in each event who has competed in less than 50% of the races on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in the past two seasons. The Hard Charger Bonus, also for $200 per race, will be awarded to the driver who improves the most positions from their starting to finishing position.

The Lap Leader Bonus will be set for $500, distributed to the driver who leads the most total laps over the three events. The Consistency Bonus, offered to the driver who scores the lowest average finish across the three races, will earn $800. Both the Lap Leader Bonus and the Consistency Bonus will be paid out following the final of the three races.

Overall, the bonus program will offer an additional $15,500 on top of the purses for each event.

“I’m excited to have the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at my home tracks here in New Hampshire this year,” Cory Plummer, who will field a car for Steven Dickey at Lee, and a driver TBA in the other two events, said. “The bonus program that Josh and Whelen Engineering have put together really made the decision easy for us. It’s more financially feasible to enter a race in these circumstances.”

JDV Productions kicks-off their 2022 season with the first of the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup races at Lee USA Speedway for the Granite State Derby on Saturday, May 21. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour 175 will be joined by the Granite State Pro Stock Series and multiple of Lee’s house divisions. On Saturday, May 28, JDV celebrates Memorial Day weekend at Jennerstown Speedway with the Jennerstown Salutes 150 for the second straight year. New for this year, the Jennerstown Pro Stocks and Fast 4’s will be part of the lineup.

On Saturday, June 18, Monadnock Speedway will host the third JDV race of the year, the Duel at the Dog 200, also joined by the Granite State Pro Stock Series and select track house divisions. The final race of the season for JDV will be the Clash at Claremont Motorsports Park on Friday, July 29. This event will also include Claremont house divisions, and will serve as the crowning of the champion of the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup.

Posted on March 17, 2022March 19, 2022 by Zach Sturniolo

The NASCAR Cup Series returns to the East Coast to a brand-new version of Atlanta Motor Speedway.

As part of a repave, the 1.5-mile oval was also reconfigured with higher banking.

Learn all about the new track details, car configurations, odds and much more ahead of Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (3 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NEW LOOK, NEW RULES

Atlanta’s facelift features a widened front straightaway and a significant increase in banking, moving from 24 degrees to 28 degrees and becoming the steepest-banked intermediate track on the schedule. The widened frontstretch, though, is coupled with tighter turns as the width shrinks from 55 feet to 40 feet.

The high banks make for higher speeds, so NASCAR will implement many similar elements from its superspeedway configurations. Cars will be outfitted in the same 510-horsepower, 7-inch spoiler configuration utilized at both Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.

Additionally, all racing must be done within the inside painted line. The boundary will be enforced throughout the weekend, so no passes will be permitted beneath the line. The choose rule will also be in effect throughout the race, so look for strategy to play out there.

LOGGING LAPS

After inclement weather put a block on Friday’s on-track sessions, Saturday’s schedule was updated to reflect the changes. Instead of Saturday’s original qualifying session, Friday’s postponed practice session will take its place beginning at 12:40 p.m. ET. The session will remain 50 minutes.

Cup Series qualifying was canceled and the starting lineup for Sunday’s race was determined by the NASCAR Rule Book.

ATLANTA HISTORY

— Atlanta Motor Speedway took shape in 1960, later than scheduled thanks to poor weather that delayed construction in 1959.

— Weather has long been a factor at the track, including a 1993 snowstorm and Tropical Storm Lee in 2011 that pushed the September race back to Tuesday.

— Speedway Motorsports acquired the track in 1990 as a symmetrical 1.5-mile oval. In 1997, the track was repaved and reconfigured into a 1.54-mile quad oval, featuring a dogleg on the front stretch, which was previously used as the facility’s back straightaway.

— The season finale was scheduled at Atlanta from 1986-2001, although the 2001 fall race became the year’s penultimate race following New Hampshire’s postponement.

— This season’s renovations mark the track’s first repave since 1997 and also tightened the corner width from 55 feet to 40 feet.

Source: Racing Insights

GOODYEAR TIRES

In recent years, one of Goodyear’s most daunting challenges stemmed from Atlanta’s aged and abrasive surface. Its recent repave creates a new task for Goodyear.

“Atlanta has always been a major challenge from a tire standpoint, but the reason for that challenge has changed dramatically since our last race there,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “Last season, Atlanta was the most worn surface on the circuit, aggressively wearing tires and calling for four-tire stops at every opportunity. Now that the track has been repaved in the off-season, the challenge has shifted to that of a smooth surface that will not naturally wear tires much at all. Tire wear is a positive in racing because as the tire wears, it sheds rubber. This helps to dissipate the heat generated from the high level of grip and speed, keeping the tire at a more optimal performance level. The tread compounds for Atlanta have been formulated to operate in these low-wear conditions.”

ATLANTA STORY LINES

— Then driving a Chevrolet, Kurt Busch’s win in July 2021 ended Ford’s five-win streak at Atlanta.

— Eight of the last nine Atlanta winners picked up their first victory of the season.

— Kurt Busch became the only Stage 2 winner at Atlanta to also win the race. Kevin Harvick (2018) is the only Stage 1 winner to do so.

— Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick are the only drivers to appear in the series’ top 10 for average finishes at both 1.5-mile tracks and superspeedways.

— Chase Briscoe became the 10th consecutive driver under the age of 30 to win a Cup race, the longest streak in NASCAR history.

— Chase Elliott is winless in the last 20 races, his longest winless streak since scoring his first career win. He has led 861 laps and finished second three times in that stretch.

— The laps-led leader in a race has yet to go to Victory Lane in 2022.

— Only four drivers have finished inside the top 20 in each of the first four races: Kurt Busch, Aric Almirola, Kyle Busch and Ty Dillon.

Source: Racing Insights

WHERE’S YOUR MONEY GOING?

Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson opened at 9-1 favorites, according to BetMGM, but not all odds are created equally in this case.

While there are no guarantees in racing, Blaney is the obvious pick this weekend. The Team Penske driver has one win (March 2021) and three top fives in his last three starts at Atlanta, and if Sunday’s race plays out like a superspeedway, he’s got you covered there too with three superspeedway victories to his name. Expect the No. 12 Ford out front.

At 12-1 odds, also give Kyle Busch a look. Busch hasn’t won at Atlanta since 2013 but consider this — his two Atlanta victories came in the newest generation of car’s first race around the 1.5-miler. The two-time series champion won the 2008 Atlanta debut of the Car of Tomorrow and backed it up five years later by winning the first Gen 6 event at Atlanta. No, he hasn’t won a superspeedway race since winning both Daytona and Talladega in 2008, but perhaps the new layout provides another quirky first for Kyle Busch.

FANTASY LIVE

Want to manage a team and race your way to the top of the leaderboards? Check out NASCAR Fantasy Live, which is open now. The free-to-play game lets you choose your drivers each week and show off your crew-chief instincts by garaging a driver by the end of Stage 2, and there is a $25,000 prize for the winner.

The 2022 Fantasy Live points leaders are Joey Logano (134 points), Kyle Busch (125 points) and Chase Elliott (125 points).

How to play: Fantasy Live | Set up a team today!

ALSO ON NASCAR.COM

Get additional camera views by logging on to NASCAR Drive, where each week a select number of in-car cameras will be available — as well as a battle cam and an overhead look.

NASCAR has partnered with LiveLike to add fan engagement in the NASCAR Mobile App. Log in to the mobile app during the race for polls, quizzes, the cheer meter and more — and see instant results from NASCAR fans like you.

Posted on March 17, 2022 by Staff Report

Before Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), try your hand at some props on the race ranging from who will win a featured matchup to where a driver will finish.

Battle of the teams

Featured Matchups of the Week

Race-specific data props

Posted on March 17, 2022 by Staff Report

Kurt Busch entered the first turn of Lap 171 with the lead in the Quaker State 400 last July. But, after a restart to replace a chunk of asphalt at Atlanta Motor Speedway, many eyes were beyond Busch’s No. 1 Chevy and Alex Bowman’s No. 48 Chevy (in second place) as the pack ran three- and four-wide around the 55-foot, 24-degree turn.

No one will run four-wide this weekend in the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, the first Atlanta race since last summer. And three-wide will be rare, if not out of the question, after the track’s makeover last fall.

“It’s completely changed with the banking, the fresh asphalt,” Busch said after testing the new track in January. “It’s a clean slate and the Next Gen car is a clean slate and so . . . [this] was a big day with excitement and anticipation of how the track would drive and how it would feel.”

That new track smell and feel. Good job @amsupdates. Send it! pic.twitter.com/21tYJtYIIk

— Kurt Busch (@KurtBusch) January 5, 2022

The 62-year-old track — with a 24-year-old surface — is “completely changed” with 28-degree banking and widths of 40 feet in the turns, 42 feet on the backstretch, and 61 feet, six inches on the front.

Home state hero Chase Elliott is seeking his first win in his eighth NASCAR Cup Series races at the now-steepest intermediate track on the schedule. And to get his first win Sunday, he’ll need to at a minimum, finish ahead of Denny Hamlin.

Elliott is paired against Hamlin in one of four outstanding Featured Matchups for BetMGM’s NASCAR betting in the Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500:

Chase Elliott (-110) vs. Denny Hamlin (-110)

Chase Elliott’s two most recent top-10 finishes at Atlanta – of five total in only seven Cup Series starts – sandwich a 38th-place finish at last year’s Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500 when a blown engine ended his day on the 221st lap.

Denny Hamlin, meanwhile, finished fourth in that race and ranks fifth in average finish (8.25), fourth in low finish (13th), and seventh in average rating (102.6) in Atlanta’s four races since 2019.

As of Wednesday, March 16, Elliott and Hamlin are tied for the third-highest winner odds at +1200 and have similar ticket and handle shares; Elliott ranks third in tickets – 5.9% to Hamlin’s fifth-ranked 4.7% – and eighth in handle – 4.6% to Hamlin’s seventh-ranked 5.4%.

Their Featured Matchup betting, however, is not similar. Ninety-five percent of tickets are on Elliott to finish ahead of Hamlin, accounting for 75% of the handle.

Kyle Larson (-110) vs. Ryan Blaney (-110)

Ryan Blaney made contact with Kevin Harvick in the four-wide first turn on the 171st lap last March but maintained control en route to his fifth career Cup Series win. Now a seven-time winner coming off a most laps-lead fourth-place finish last weekend at Phoenix, he returns to Georgia with three straight top-four finishes at the track.

In a head-to-head with Kyle Larson, whose average Atlanta rating of 118.9 since 2019 is six full points higher than any other driver, Blaney has just 2% of the tickets and 4% of the handle.

Larson, one year removed from a staggering driver rating of 144.8 in last spring’s second-place finish, has also been more popular in race-winner betting; he has 18.7% of the race winner handle, nearly 12 percentage points higher than Blaney (7.5%) and more than 9 points higher than the next-highest driver, Tyler Reddick (9.6%).

Tyler Reddick (-115) vs. Chase Briscoe (-105)

Tyler Reddick and the BetMGM-sponsored No. 8 Chevy jumped to ninth in the NASCAR Cup Series standings with a third-place finish at Phoenix, his third straight week-to-week improvement after the season-opening wreck at Daytona.

Reddick finished 26th in this race last year but has had some past success, finishing no worse than 19th in six other races across the Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and Camping World Truck Series over the last seven years.

As of Wednesday, he’s commanding 99% of the tickets and 89% of the handle in a Featured Matchup with Chase Briscoe, who finished 15th and 23rd in last year’s Atlanta starts, the first of his Cup Series career.

Reddick is also featured in three pre-packaged parlays at BetMGM, including Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick to both finish in the top 10 (+165).

Bubba Wallace (-120) vs. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (+100)

Bubba Wallace has three straight finishes of 19th or worse entering this weekend and hasn’t finished better than 14th in five career races at Atlanta. He has, however, done well at superspeedways of late, finishing second, first, and second in his last three races at Daytona and Talladega.

That success may be contributing to his overwhelming ticket (93%) and handle (98%) shares against Ricky Stenhouse Jr., but Wallace is still buried in race-winner odds (+3300) and has received fewer tickets than Stenhouse (4% to 3.2%)

You can view updated Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500 odds and more NASCAR odds at the BetMGM online sportsbook.