ATLANTA 1
Saturday, February 22 — NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, 1:30 p.m. ET (FS1)
Saturday, February 22 — NASCAR Xfinity Series, 5 p.m. ET (CW)
Sunday, February 23 — NASCAR Cup Series, 3 p.m. ET (NBC)
After kicking off the season last week at Daytona International Speedway, all three NASCAR touring series will descend on Atlanta Motor Speedway for three races in two days. A doubleheader featuring the NASCAR Craftsman Truck and NASCAR Xfinity Series headlines Saturday’s action while the NASCAR Cup Series drivers take to the track on Sunday.
QUALIFYING DOMINANCE
When it comes to qualifying in recent years, no manufacturer has been more dominant than Ford, which has captured the NASCAR Cup Series pole four straight times. The Blue Oval hasn’t only won the pole, but it has swept the front row in each of those qualifying sessions. Team Penske has led the way during this two-year stretch as all three drivers – Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric – have qualified in the top 10 for each race. The organization has also had at least one driver start on the front row three of the last four times. Here’s a list of Ford’s qualifying success since 2023.
FORD POLE STREAK AT AMS
- Ford has won the last four NASCAR Cup Series poles at AMS (Joey Logano, Aric Almirola and Michael McDowell twice).
- Ford has swept the front row in four straight AMS qualifying sessions (McDowell/Blaney (2024-2), McDowell/Logano (2024-1), Almirola-Blaney (2023-2), Logano/Cindric (2023-1).
- Team Penske has had at least one driver start on the front row in each of the last four races (Blaney, 2024-2; Logano, 2024-1; Blaney, 2023-2; Logano and Cindric, 2023-1)
- Ford swept the top eight spots in the 2023 spring race.
- Ford swept the top six spots in the 2023 summer race.
- Ford swept the top five spots in the 2024 summer race.
LOGANO GOING FOR TWO STRAIGHT
Defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano will be going for his second straight Atlanta win after capturing last year’s playoff opener. Logano used a restart shove from his Team Penske teammate, Ryan Blaney, to score the overtime win and automatically advance to the Round of 12. That marked Logano’s second victory in the last four Atlanta races after he won the Ambetter Health 400 in 2023. The last driver to win back-to-back Cup events at the mile-and-a-half track is Jimmie Johnson (2015-2 and 2016-1).
BLANEY ON TOP
It’s only been one week, but 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney finds himself on top of the point standings after Daytona. The Team Penske driver had a solid week, scoring three points after an eighth-place result in his Duel qualifying race last Thursday, and then registering third and first place finishes in the first two stages on Sunday (18 points). Blaney ended up being the top Ford as he came across the line seventh, giving him a total of 51 points. That capped a strong overall week for Team Penske that saw Blaney and teammates Joey Logano and Austin Cindric combine to lead 125-of-201 laps. Cindric, who started on the outside front row, led the most circuits with 59 while Logano, who captured the first stage, was second with 43.
AUSTIN CINDRIC: “I think every Atlanta race we’ve done since the repave has looked different each time, so I can’t sit here and confidently tell you that I know exactly what the race is gonna look like. From a generalization, yeah, it’s gonna be a drafting style race, no doubt, and handling is gonna be somewhat important, but to the levels of which and how it changes the racing, I think it’s been an unknown each time, which has been fun to kind of react and adapt on the fly and understand what your car is gonna need as the race goes on, and hopefully you have enough time to work on it and do those things and have that opportunity, but it’s been an exciting race, no doubt. I think the only one I didn’t leave either with a smile on my face or wanting to go back and do it again was the first one. Past that, they’ve been pretty exciting events for me.”
KESELOWSKI GETS FIRST CUP WIN FOR MUSTANG
Brad Keselowski gave Mustang its first NASCAR Cup Series victory as he held off Martin Truex Jr. at the finish line to win the Folds of Honor 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2019. Keselowski, who was battling an illness all weekend and had Austin Cindric standing by in case he needed relief, led the final 33 laps to post his 28th career victory. In all, Ford led 177 of the 325 laps and won for the third straight year at the 1.5-mile track.
TOP FIVE DEBUT FOR HAAS FACTORY TEAM
The new Haas Factory Team duo of Sam Mayer and Sheldon Creed got off to a good start last week as they finished second and third, respectively, in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway. Creed, who led three times for seven laps, leads the point standings after one week thanks in large part to finishing second and third in the first two stages while Mayer is fifth overall.
MUNIZ POSTS FIRST CAREER TOP 10 FINISH
Frankie Muniz made his full-time NASCAR debut last week at Daytona International Speedway with Reaume Brothers Racing and promptly registered a 10th-place finish. That marked his first career top-10 run in a limited career that, to this point, has seen him compete in only two NASCAR Xfinity races and five NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events. The only other full-time season Muniz has completed in his racing career came in 2023 when he finished fourth in the ARCA Menards Series final standings.
FORD’S ATLANTA CUP SERIES WINNERS
1961 – Fred Lorenzen
1962 – Fred Lorenzen
1963 – Fred Lorenzen
1964 – Fred Lorenzen and Ned Jarrett
1965 – Marvin Panch (Sweep)
1967 – Cale Yarborough and Dick Hutcherson
1968 – LeeRoy Yarbrough
1969 – LeeRoy Yarbrough
1975 – Buddy Baker
1978 – Bobby Allison
1981 – Neil Bonnett
1985 – Bill Elliott (Sweep)
1987 – Ricky Rudd and Bill Elliott
1990 – Morgan Shepherd
1991 – Mark Martin
1992 – Bill Elliott (Sweep)
1993 – Morgan Shepherd
1994 – Ernie Irvan and Mark Martin
1997 – Dale Jarrett
2002 – Kurt Busch
2005 – Carl Edwards (Sweep)
2008 – Carl Edwards
2017 – Brad Keselowski
2018 – Kevin Harvick
2019 – Brad Keselowski
2020 – Kevin Harvick
2021 – Ryan Blaney (1)
2023 – Joey Logano (1)
2024 – Joey Logano (2)
FORD’S ATLANTA XFINITY SERIES WINNERS
1992 – Jeff Gordon
1997 – Mark Martin
1998 – Mark Martin
2000 – Mark Martin
2004 – Matt Kenseth
2005 – Carl Edwards
2008 – Matt Kenseth
2011 – Carl Edwards
2012 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2018 – Kevin Harvick
FORD’S ATLANTA CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES WINNERS
2020 – Grant Enfinger
