Byron Wins at New-Look Atlanta

William Byron won the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 from the newly-reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Byron led a race-high 111 laps on Sunday, but had to defend against big runs throughout numerous restarts in the final 10 laps.

Mike Mulholland/Getty Images

Atlanta Motor Speedway was reconfigured over the offseason, with higher banking that made the racing resemble a superspeedway.

Byron said he had to manage the closing laps as if it were Daytona or Talladega.

“It was so different,” Byron said.  “The last few laps just trying to manage the gap to Bubba [Wallace] and trying to not get too far out front. Had an intermediate style with a little bit of a speedway into it.”

Byron struggled with the car’s handling during Saturday’s practice session, but said that his team worked hard overnight to give him a car capable of winning.

“This whole team...they’ve done a great job this year,” Byron said.  “Had a pretty rough practice. Worked hard overnight…and it handled well.”

Ross Chastain ran up front early, but a flat tire caused him to hit the wall while leading midway through the race. After making repairs that kept him on track, Chastain was able to recover to finish second for the second-consecutive week.

Chastain said the team worked hard to keep him running following the accident.

“Slammed the wall and thought our day was over,” Chastain said.  “Our guys went underneath the car and got the toe closer, and we got the balance back to drive it. That’s the fight in Trackhouse.”

Unofficial results:

1. William Byron

2. Ross Chastain

3. Kurt Busch

4. Daniel Suarez

5. Corey LaJoie

6. Chase Elliott

7. Chris Buescher

8. Martin Truex Jr.

9. Joey Logano

10. Alex Bowman

11. Justin Haley

12. Brad Keselowski

13. Bubba Wallace

14. Erik Jones

15. Chase Briscoe

16. Josh Bilicki

17. Ryan Blaney

18. David Ragan

19. BJ McLeod

20. Greg Biffle

21. Kevin Harvick

22. Aric Almirola

23. Christopher Bell

24. Michael McDowell

25. Harrison Burton

26. Cody Ware

27. Todd Gilliland

28. Tyler Reddick

29. Denny Hamlin

30. Kyle Larson

31. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

32. Austin Cindric

33. Kyle Busch

34. Cole Custer

35. Austin Dillon

36. Ty Dillon

37. Noah Gragson

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Kurt Busch Wins, Busch Brothers Duel in Atlanta

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kurt Busch won the Quaker State 400 from Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon to pick up his first win of the season and lock himself into the Playoffs.

It was a dominant performance by both Busch brothers, as Kurt and Kyle combined to lead 235 of 260 laps.

Kurt led a race-high 144 laps, but he found himself behind his brother following the final green-flag pit stop.  It looked as thought Kyle would run away with the victory, but he struggled to get through lapped traffic.

Ross Chastain, Kurt’s teammate, was able to hold Kyle up through Turn 4.  Kurt took the lead for good and was able to hold off Kyle to pick up the victory.

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Kurt said he enjoyed winning on Atlanta’s old surface one last time before a repave begins in the coming weeks.

“What a genuine, awesome, old-school racetrack,” Kurt said.  “I just asked the track today, ‘last time today on your old asphalt if I could have an old guy win.’”

The victory locks Kurt into the Playoffs and moves him off of the cutline.

Kurt said he was glad to get a victory during a season where they haven’t had the fastest car every weekend.

“This has been one of those years,” Kurt said.  “I knew we’d have our back up against the wall with trying to get above the cutoff line and race hard and race smart.”

Kyle said the handling went away on his car as the final run went on, and that allowed his brother to pull away.

“We just didn’t have enough front end with laps on tires,” Kyle said.  “Had everything I had there early, then just smoked it behind the 42 [of Chastain].”

“Had one valiant effort off of 2, but just didn’t have enough momentum to drag him down and make him go high in 3 and 4.  After that, the tires were smoked.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kurt Busch

2. Kyle Busch

3. Martin Truex Jr.

4. Alex Bowman

5. Ryan Blaney

6. Tyler Reddick

7. Chase Elliott

8. Christopher Bell

9. Matt DiBenedetto

10. Brad Keselowski

11. Kevin Harvick

12. Austin Dillon

13. Denny Hamlin

14. Bubba Wallace

15. Chase Briscoe

16. Chris Buescher

17. Cole Custer

18. Kyle Larson

19. Joey Logano

20. William Byron

21. Ross Chastain

22. Corey LaJoie

23. Aric Almirola

24. Erik Jones

25. Ryan Preece

26. Anthony Alfredo

27. Michael McDowell

28. Ryan Newman

29. Justin Haley

30. BJ McLeod

31. Garrett Smithley

32. Bayley Currey

33. Cody Ware

34. Josh Bilicki

35. Quin Houff

36. Daniel Suarez

37. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Blaney Wins, Larson Dominates in Atlanta

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Ryan Blaney won the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 from Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon to pick up his first victory of the year.

Kyle Larson had a dominant car throughout the race and won both stages while leading 269 of 325 laps.  Over the final run, Blaney was able to close in on Larson.  With eight laps remaining, Blaney got around Larson to pick up the victory.

Blaney said the long run at the end of the race worked to his car’s strengths.

“We had a great long-run car all day, and it took us a bit to get going,” Blaney said.  “A couple long runs at the end that let us get there.  It looked like Kyle was getting loose and I’m happy it worked in our favor.”

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

As Blaney was chasing Larson down, his teammate Joey Logano was fighting Larson to stay on the lead lap.  Logano disrupted enough of the air around Larson’s car to take the handling away.

Blaney said the lapped traffic played a role in his ability to get around Larson.

“[Larson] got stoved up behind some lapped traffic,” Blaney said.  “We’ve been good this year and had some bad breaks; it’s nice to close out a race like that.”

At one point in the race, Larson had a 10-second lead on the rest of the field, which allowed him to save his tires while keeping a safe distance on the rest of the field.

With Blaney closing in, Larson said he didn’t get a chance over the final run to save his tires and fight for the win.

“I think [Blaney] got a lot better that last stage and it kind of changed up my flow of the race,” Larson said.  “I could get out to such a big lead and then I could take care of my stuff.  He was fast there and I just wanted to maintain that gap; I had to run on the faster part of the racetrack and just used my stuff up.”

“Our HendrickCars.com Chevy was stupid fast there for a long time.  Hate to lead a lot of laps and lose, but a really good car that we brought to the track.”

Unofficial results:

1. Ryan Blaney

2. Kyle Larson

3. Alex Bowman

4. Denny Hamlin

5. Kyle Busch

6. Austin Dillon

7. Chris Buescher

8. William Byron

9. Martin Truex Jr.

10. Kevin Harvick

11. Matt DiBenedetto

12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

13. Ryan Newman

14. Ross Chastain

15. Joey Logano

16. Bubba Wallace

17. Daniel Suarez

18. Cole Custer

19. Michael McDowell

20. Aric Almirola

21. Christopher Bell

22. Austin Cindric

23. Chase Briscoe

24. Erik Jones

25. Ryan Preece

26. Tyler Reddick

27. Anthony Alfredo

28. Brad Keselowski

29. Corey LaJoie

30. Justin Haley

31. Cody Ware

32. James Davison

33. Quin Houff

34. BJ McLeod

35. Joey Gase

36. Timmy Hill

37. Josh Bilicki

38. Chase Elliott

39. Kurt Busch

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Harvick Continues Atlanta Dominance with Victory

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kevin Harvick won the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 from the Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Harvick was dominant on Sunday, and led 151 laps on his way to his second win of the season.  After struggling with his car’s handling at the midpoint of the race, Harvick was able to take the lead at the start of the race’s final stage and was able to pull away from Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. over the final run.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Harvick said his team was able to get the car dialed-in at the end of the race.

“They had a great pit stop, and we had a restart on the bottom and they got my car to take off so I was able to get track position,” Harvick said.  “I could get in a rhythm and really start hitting my marks.  By about lap 25…I could drive away.”

Harvick celebrated by driving around the track backwards while holding three fingers out the window, a call back to his very first Cup Series win in 2001 after taking over for Dale Earnhardt.

Harvick said coming to Atlanta reminds him to celebrate everything Earnhardt did for the sport.

“You always come back and have those memories, and now you want to celebrate everything that Dale Earnhardt did for this sport,” Harvick said.  “To do that with wins and go to victory lane is pretty special.”

Busch finished second after running up front for most of the day and passing teammate Truex in the final 30 laps.

Busch said his team put together a strong car that could hang with Harvick.

“We ended up not too far behind the 4 [of Harvick], who’s the best here,” Busch said.  “It’s hard to beat him when you come to his ‘home turf,’ if you will.  Hopefully we can keep building on this momentum and keep rolling.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Kyle Busch

3. Martin Truex Jr.

4. Ryan Blaney

5. Denny Hamlin

6. Kurt Busch

7. Jimmie Johnson

8. Chase Elliott

9. Brad Keselowski

10. Joey Logano

11. Austin Dillon

12. Alex Bowman

13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

14. Ryan Newman

15. Matt Kenseth

16. Tyler Reddick

17. Aric Almirola

18. Christopher Bell

19. Cole Custer

20. Clint Bowyer

21. Bubba Wallace

22. Chris Buescher

23. John Hunter Nemechek

24. Michael McDowell

25. Matt DiBenedetto

26. Ryan Preece

27. Corey LaJoie

28. Erik Jones

29. Ty Dillon

30. Brennan Poole

31. Daniel Suarez

32. Quin Houff

33. William Byron

34. Josh Bilicki

35. Garrett Smithley

36. JJ Yeley

37. Reed Sorenson

38. Joey Gase

39. Timmy Hill

40. BJ McLeod

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Keselowski Wins at Atlanta as New Rules Package Debuts

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Brad Keselowski won the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 from the Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Keselowski held off Martin Truex Jr. in the closing laps to pick up the victory.  It was the first race with NASCAR’s new rules package for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, and Keselowski said it was special that his team was able to win the first one.

“With the first race with the new rules…to be able to win it is really special,” Keselowski said.  “I know everybody here is excited about that.”

With the victory, Keselowski passed Mark Donahue for the most wins for Team Penske.  Keselowski said it was an honor to be on top of a list with some of the most legendary drivers across all racing series.

“I think any win means a lot, but [60] is a big number,” Keselowski said.  “What a tremendous honor.”

Truex fell just short of passing Keselowski.  After the race, Truex said he was frustrated with the way Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was racing the leaders in the closing laps.

“The 17 [of Stenhouse] rode in front of us forever and ever just running the bottom,” Truex said.  “I told him I needed the bottom and these cars are just so bad in dirty air.”

“Once I got around him I drove up to Keselowski in two laps; just needed one more.”

Unofficial results:

1. Brad Keselowski

2. Martin Truex Jr.

3. Kurt Busch

4. Kevin Harvick

5. Clint Bowyer

6. Kyle Busch

7. Erik Jones

8. Aric Almirola

9. Chris Buescher

10. Daniel Suarez

11. Denny Hamlin

12. Kyle Larson

13. Ryan Newman

14. Paul Menard

15. Alex Bowman

16. David Ragan

17. William Byron

18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

19. Chase Elliott

20. Daniel Hemric

21. Austin Dillon

22. Ryan Blaney

23. Joey Logano

24. Jimmie Johnson

25. Ty Dillon

26. Matt DiBenedetto

27. Bubba Wallace

28. Matt Tifft

29. Corey LaJoie

30. Parker Kligerman

31. Ross Chastain

32. BJ McLoed

33. Cody Ware

34. Landon Cassill

35. Ryan Preece

36. Garrett Smithley

37. Michael McDowell

Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Harvick Dominates in Atlanta

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kevin Harvick won the Fold of Honor QuikTrip 500 from Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Harvick dominated the race and led 173 of 325 laps.  Harvick has been one of the best drivers at Atlanta in recent years, but he hasn’t been able to find victory lane since his first career victory in 2001.

Daniel Shirey/Getty Images

Harvick said he was excited to get back to victory lane after dominating the track over the years.

“For five years it’s been so fast at this particular race track,” Harvick said.  “I love racing here, and it’s good to be back in victory lane.  It took awhile.”

Harvick was the favorite as soon as cars unloaded on Friday, and most of the field was playing catch-up throughout the weekend.  Harvick said he was glad everyone knew they had a strong car.

“It was great getting into this car and knowing that everyone knew they had to beat our car,” Harvick said.  “This is a great start to getting ourselves in the playoffs and doing everything we needed to do.”

“There were so many demons that seemed to plague us here for a long time…I’ve been waiting a long time to be able to do that.”

Brad Keselowski finished second on Sunday, but he could never get close to Harvick over the final run to challenge for the win.  Keselowski said Harvick was in a league of his own.

“I was throwing everything I could throw at [Harvick] and it wasn’t enough,” Keselowski said.  “Kevin was in a league of his own, and he deserves a lot of credit for that.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Brad Keselowski

3. Clint Bowyer

4. Denny Hamlin

5. Martin Truex Jr.

6. Joey Logano

7. Kyle Busch

8. Kurt Busch

9. Kyle Larson

10. Chase Elliott

11. Erik Jones

12. Ryan Blaney

13. Aric Almirola

14. Austin Dillon

15. Daniel Suarez

16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

17. Paul Menard

18. William Byron

19. Jamie McMurray

20. Alex Bowman

21. Kasey Kahne

22. Ryan Newman

23. David Ragan

24. Michael McDowell

25. Chris Buescher

26. Ty Dillon

27. Jimmie Johnson

28. Cole Whitt

29. AJ Allmendinger

30. Ross Chastain

31. Matt DiBenedetto

32. Darrell Wallace Jr.

33. Harrison Rhodes

34. Jeffrey Earnhardt

35. Trevor Bayne

36. Gray Gaulding Jr.

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Keselowski Wins at Atlanta When Harvick Falters

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Brad Keselowski won the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 from Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday after taking the lead following a late restart.

Keselowski ran up front for much of the race, but it seemed he would finish second after Kevin Harvick dominated throughout the day.  But Harvick was penalized for speeding on pit road during the final pit stop of the race, which sent him to the back for the following restart.  With Harvick out of the way, Keselowski ran down Kyle Larson to take the lead with seven laps remaining.

Jerry Markland/Getty Images

Keselowski said he didn’t have the best car, but his team was able to overcome their own misfortune to pick up the victory.

“Kevin was very, very strong, and probably was the guy to beat,” Keselowski said.  “We had our own issues with the tire and a loose wheel, and just fought through it all day.  We persevered.”

Keselowski said he was proud of his team for overcoming a crash in the season-opening Daytona 500 to win at Atlanta.

“I thought we were one of the cars to beat at Daytona, but kind of got wrecked out there and didn’t get to show our potential,” Keselowski said.  “Everybody kept their heads up and moved on to the next week.  This is what you get when you give that kind of effort.”

Harvick led 292 of 325 laps on Sunday, but the speeding penalty with 14 laps to go was too much to overcome.  Harvick said he was disappointed for costing his team a chance at the victory.

“I really hate it for everyone on this [team],” Harvick said.  “They put a great car under me and did everything I thought they needed to do…I was just going too fast on pit road apparently.”

Larson took the lead on the final restart, and it seemed as though he would pull away from the field to take the victory.  But after running the low line all day, Larson moved up to the top of the track in the closing laps, and that allowed Keselowski to get around him for the lead.

Larson said he tried to take Keselowski’s line away from him, but the plan backfired.

“I raced around Brad a lot throughout the day, and anytime I was in front of him on a short run he’d drive around me on the top,” Larson said.  “I knew I was going to have to take his line away on that restart.”

“I got to that high line and I just didn’t have enough grip out there in the lead.”

Unofficial results:

1. Brad Keselowski

2. Kyle Larson

3. Matt Kenseth

4. Kasey Kahne

5. Chase Elliott

6. Joey Logano

7. Kurt Busch

8. Martin Truex Jr.

9. Kevin Harvick

10. Jamie McMurray

11. Clint Bowyer

12. Trevor Bayne

13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

14. Erik Jones

15. Ty Dillon

16. Kyle Busch

17. Danica Patrick

18. Ryan Blaney

19. Jimmie Johnson

20. Cole Whitt

21. Daniel Suarez

22. Landon Cassill

23. David Ragan

24. Chris Buescher

25. Paul Menard

26. AJ Allmendinger

27. Aric Almirola

28. Matt DiBenedetto

29. Michael McDowell

30. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

31. Reed Sorenson

32. Austin Dillon

33. Jeffrey Earnhardt

34. Corey LaJoie

35. Ryan Newman

36. Derrike Cope

37. Gray Gaulding

38. Denny Hamlin

39. Cody Ware

Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Jimmie Johnson Wins at Atlanta, Ties Dale Earnhardt

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Jimmie Johnson won the Fold of Honor QuikTrip 500 from Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon after a late wreck caused the race to end under caution.

Photo courtesy Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

Johnson had to use strategy to get ahead of Kevin Harvick, who was the most dominant car all day.  When a late caution came out, Johnson’s pit crew got him out in first.  Johnson said his crew chief’s call to short-pit with 50 laps to go was what got him the victory.  

“Definitely a gutsy call,” Johnson said.  “The 4 car [of Harvick] was awfully tough and it was going to take some strategy to get by him.”

The victory was the 76th of Johnson’s career, which ties him with Dale Earnhardt.  Johnson said it was an honor to tie a legend.

“With the chaos at the end…I kind of lost sight of that,” Johnson said.  “I remembered on my victory lap coming down and had to come by and throw a ‘3’ out the window to pay respects to the man.”

“There’s a huge void in my career that I never got to race with him, but at least I was able to tie his record there.”

Harvick led a race-high 131 laps, but a bad restart at the end of the race caused him to finish sixth.  Harvick said the handling on his car changed over the last few runs.

“We had issues about the last three runs and I had to start driving the car different,” Harvick said.  “Then we had a slow pit stop and got way behind the 48 [of Johnson].  Just didn’t execute today.”

Unofficial results:

1. Jimmie Johnson

2. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

3. Kyle Busch

4. Kurt Busch

5. Carl Edwards

6. Kevin Harvick

7. Martin Truex Jr.

8. Chase Elliott

9. Brad Keselowski

10. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

11. Austin Dillon

12. Joey Logano

13. Greg Biffle

14. Casey Mears

15. Aric Almirola

16. Denny Hamlin

17. Ty Dillon

18. Paul Menard

19. Matt Kenseth

20. Danica Patrick

21. Jamie McMurray

22. Trevor Bayne

23. Kasey Kahne

24. Ryan Newman

25. Ryan Blaney

26. Kyle Larson

27. AJ Allmendinger

28. Chris Buescher

29. Matt DiBenedetto

30. Michael Annett

31. Brian Scott

32. David Ragan

33. Michael McDowell

34. Regan Smith

35. Clint Bowyer

36. Landon Cassill

37. Cole Whitt

38. Jeffrey Earnhardt

39. Josh Wise 

Photo courtesy Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images