The good news for Martin Truex Jr. after a roller-coaster Daytona Speedweeks is that the next stop in the NASCAR Cup Series will be at one of his favorite tracks on the circuit.
Reflecting Daytona: “Daytona 500 was a crazy race for sure,” Allmendinger said. “We all saw that. I got to experience it and thankfully had a solid finish (third-place). I just went out there and tried to make the right moves at the right time. The way the race played out on fuel strategy, I just tried to be smart and save as much fuel as possible those last 10 or 12 laps and get the best finish possible and it all worked out. We were very fortunate.”
KAHNE AT ATLANTA: Kasey Kahne will drive the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The Enumclaw, Washington, native has captured three NASCAR Cup Series wins at the Hampton, Georgia, track. He earned his most recent Atlanta win in August 2014, which secured his spot in that season’s playoffs. In March 2006, Kahne completed the weekend sweep by winning the pole award and the 500-mile race in just his fifth start at the 1.54-mile speedway.
Ryan Reed has three starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS) in the NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) with finishes of 18th in 2014, 16th in 2015 and 15th in 2016.
Trevor Bayne will make his fourth career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) start at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend. In three previous starts at the 1.5-Mile oval, Bayne recorded a best finish of 16th in Sept. 2012.
Stenhouse has four career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) starts at Atlanta with an average starting position of 13.0 and average finishing position of 20
Ford Performance will be looking to win the first two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races of the season for the first time since 2009 when Atlanta Motor Speedway hosts Sunday’s Folds of Honor/QuikTrip 500. That also marks the last time a Ford driver captured the first two races (Matt Kenseth), and it’s something Kurt Busch will try to duplicate after winning Sunday’s Daytona 500.
One lucky winner will drive away with a 2018 Ford Mustang GT plus $5,000 in Ford Performance Parts in the eighth-annual Mustang 5.0 Fever Sweepstakes Presented by Motorcraft.
Talladega Superspeedway’s popular “Two for $88” Dale Jr. ticket package is back for the May 7 GEICO 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race in celebration of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s return to the driver’s seat this past week for the Daytona 500.
One-point-one seconds made the difference for Alex Palou to exit pit lane ahead of Felix Rosenqvist and score the victory on the streets of Long Beach.
It was a challenging day for Josh Berry and the No. 21 DEX team at Kansas Speedway, ending in a 27th-place finish in Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 after starting 30th.
