All three top level NASCAR Series took to Hampton, Georgia’s 1.54 mile Atlanta Motor Speedway over the past weekend. Kyle Larson, who led 269 of the 325 lap Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, appeared to be the runaway winner of Sunday’s Cup Series event. With eight laps to go, his #5 Camaro’s tires were used up, Ryan Blaney passed him and went on to score the victory. Blaney’s victory extends the streak of different NASCAR Cup Series winners so far this season to six. The latest results and upcoming scheduled events for XFINITY Series, Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR feeder series are also included below as well as details on all tracks mentioned in this column.
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Sun, Mar 21, Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 – Atlanta Motor Speedway – 325 laps.
– No practice or qualifying. NASCAR’s qualifying metric set the starting lineup for Sunday’s event based on race finishes, point standings and fastest race laps. This placed Denny Hamlin (#11 Toyota Camry) P1 on the starting grid. Martin Truex Jr. (#19 Toyota Camry) completed the front row in the P2 spot. #22 Joey Logano, #2 Brad Keselowski, #9 Chase Elliott, #5 Kyle Larson, #4 Kevin Harvick, #20 Christopher Bell, #24 William Byron and #12 Ryan Blaney, respectively formed the rest of the top-10 in the lineup. Did not make the 40-car field: No one, only 39 entries.
– Ryan Blaney (#12 Ford Mustang) scored his 5th victory in 204 NCS races. This is his 1st victory and 3rd top-10 finish in 2021. It is his 1st victory and 2nd top-10 finish in six races at Atlanta. Kyle Larson (2nd) posted his 4th top-10 finish in seven Atlanta races and his 5th top-10 finish in 2021. Alex Bowman (3rd) earned his 1st top-10 finish in six races at Atlanta. Chase Briscoe (23rd) was the highest finishing Sunoco Rookie of the Year (ROTY) contender. Polesitter Denny Hamlin led 27 laps and finished in 4th place.
– NCS points leader: Denny Hamlin leads the point standings by 43 points over Kyle Larson.
– TOP-16 NCS Playoff Contenders (G/L):
1. Denny Hamlin 0
2. Kyle Larson +3
3. Joey Logano 0
4. Martin Truex Jr. 0
5. Brad Keselowski -3
6. Kevin Harvick +1
7. Ryan Blaney +6
8. William Byron +1
9. Christopher Bell -1
10. Chase Elliott -4
11. Austin Dillon +1
12. Kyle Busch +3
13. Michael McDowell -2
14. Alex Bowman +3
15. Kurt Busch -5
16. Chris Buescher +2
– Next: Sun, Mar 28, Food City Dirt Race – Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt – 250 laps.
NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS)
Sat, Mar 20, EchoPark 250 – Atlanta Motor Speedway – 163 laps.
– No practice or qualifying. NASCAR’s qualifying metric set the starting lineup for Saturday’s event based on race finishes, point standings and fastest race laps. This placed Austin Cindric (#22 Ford Mustang) P1 on the starting grid. Jeb Burton (#10 Chevrolet Camaro) completed the front row in the P2 spot. #16 AJ Allmendinger, #68 Brandon Brown, #20 Harrison Burton, #7 Justin Allgaier, #98 Riley Herbst, #02 Brett Moffitt, #2 Myatt Snider and #51 Jeremy Clements, respectively formed the rest of the top-10 in the lineup. Did not make the 40-car field: #77 Ronnie Bassett Jr., #31 Jordan Anderson and #03 Andy Lally.
– Justin Allgaier (#7 Chevrolet Camaro) scored his 15th victory in 345 NXS races. This is his 1st victory and 2nd top-10 finish in 2021. It is his 1st victory and 7th top-10 finish in 11 races at Atlanta. Cup Series regular Martin Truex Jr. (2nd) posted his 2nd top-10 finish in three Atlanta NXS races. Harrison Burton (3rd) posted his 2nd top-10 finish in two races at Atlanta. Ryan Vargas (31st) was the highest ROTY contender. Polesitter Austin Cindric led 6 laps, completed all 163 laps and finished in 13th place.
– NXS points leader: Austin Cindric by 46 points over Daniel Hemric.
– TOP-12 NXS Playoff Contenders (G/L):
1. Austin Cindric 0
2. Daniel Hemric 0
3. Harrison Burton +2
4. AJ Allmendinger 0
5. Justin Haley +3
6. Jeb Burton -3
7. Myatt Snider 0
8. Justin Allgaier +3
9. Jeremy Clements +1
10. Brandon Jones -4
11. Brandon Brown -2
12. Riley Herbst 0
– Next: Fri, Apr 9, Xfinity Series Race – Martinsville Speedway – 250 laps.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NTS)
Sat, Mar 20, Fr8Auctions 200 – Atlanta Motor Speedway – 130 laps.
– No practice or qualifying. NASCAR’s qualifying metric set the starting lineup for Friday night’s event based on race finishes, point standings and fastest race laps. This placed John Hunter Nemechek (#4 Toyota Tundra) P1 on the starting grid. Cup Series regular Kyle Busch, driving the #51 Toyota Tundra, completed the front row in the P2 spot. #88 Matt Crafton, #52 Stewart Friesen, #99 Ben Rhodes, #16 Austin Hill, #21 Zane Smith, #2 Sheldon Creed, #38 Todd Gilliland and #45 Brett Moffitt, respectively formed the rest of the top-10 in the lineup. Did not make the 40-truck field: No one, only 40 entries.
– Cup Series regular Kyle Busch scored his 60th victory in 157 NTS races. This is his 1st victory and 2nd top-10 finish in 2021. It is his 6th victory and 10th top-10 finish in 14 NTS races at Atlanta. Austin Hill (2nd) posted his 3rd top-10 finish in six Atlanta races and his 2nd top-10 finish in 2021. Polesitter John Hunter Nemechek (3rd) led 21 laps and earned his 2nd top-10 finish in four races at Atlanta. Carson Hocevar (12th) was the highest finishing ROTY contender.
– NTS points leader: John Hunter Nemechek by 47 points over Ben Rhodes.
– TOP-10 NTS Playoff Contenders (G/L):
1. John Hunter Nemechek 0
2. Ben Rhodes 0
3. Sheldon Creed 0
4. Matt Crafton 0
5. Stewart Friesen +1
6. Austin Hill +6
7. Johnny Sauter +2
8. Zane Smith +6
9. Grant Enfinger -2
10. Carson Hocevar 0
– Next: Sat, Mar 27, Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt – Bristol Motor Speedway – 134 laps.
NASCAR Feeder Series
ARCA Menards Series:
Fri, Mar 12, * General Tire 150 – Phoenix Raceway – 150 laps.
Winner: Ty Gibbs – P1: Ty Gibbs ** – Points Leader: Corey Heim
Next: Sat, Apr 24, General Tire 200 – Talladega Superspeedway – 76 laps.
ARCA Menards East:
Sat, Feb 27, Pensacola 200 – Five Flags Speedway – 200 laps.
Winner: Sammy Smith – P1: Sammy Smith – Points Leader: Sammy Smith
Next: Sat, May 8, Music City 200 – Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway – 200 laps.
ARCA Menards West:
Fri, Mar 12, * General Tire 150 – Phoenix Raceway – 150 laps.
Winner: Ty Gibbs – P1: Ty Gibbs ** – Points Leader: Ty Gibbs
Next: Sat, Jun 5, General Tire 125 – Sonoma Raceway – 50 laps.
Whelen Modified Tour:
Season opener: Thu. Apr 8, Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 200 – Martinsville Speedway – 200 laps.
Pinty’s Series:
Season opener: Sun, May 23, TBA – Sunset Speedway
Peak Mexico Series:
Season opener: Sun, May 22, TBA – Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas
* Combo race between ARCA Menards and ARCA Menards West
** Qualifying rained out, pole set by fasted in lone practice
Track Details
Atlanta Motor Speedway – 1.54-mile oval – Hampton, Georgia
Bristol Motor Speedway (Dirt) – 0.533-mile – Bristol, Tennessee
Five Flags Speedway – 0.5-mile oval – Pensacola, Florida
Martinsville Speedway – 0.526-mile oval – Martinsville, Virginia
Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway – 0.596-mile oval – Nashville, Tennessee
Phoenix Raceway – 1-mile tri-oval – Avondale, Arizona
Sonoma Raceway – 2.520-mile, 12-turn road course – Sonoma, California
Sunset Speedway – 0.333-mile oval – Innisfil, Ontario
Super Ovalo Chiapas – 0.75-mile tri-oval – Tuxtla Gutierrez
Talladega Superspeedway – 2.66-mile tri-oval – Talladega, Alabama