“This is the first time I will be racing a Cup car in the spring at Atlanta. I had the opportunity to race there once before with the Wood Brothers back in 2012, and we were able to run pretty well.
“Atlanta is a tough place, the car from lap one is sliding out of control. Five or 10 laps into a run you’re slipping and sliding all over the place. I like the shift from Atlanta being later in the year to earlier in the year; I think it will help a little with the tire wear.
“Atlanta is one of my favorite tracks on the circuit. It’s an older track that is rough but fast. Last year we struggled on the mile-and-a-half tracks so we worked really hard this off-season to improve our Fords so Atlanta will be a good test to see if we have made gains.
Reed has competed at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS) just once, earning an 18th -place finish after starting 12th and fighting loose conditions the entire race.
Chris Buescher makes his third career NASCAR XFINITY Series start at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend. In his two previous starts, Buescher earned two 13th-place finishes.
Wallace races the same chassis that Trevor Bayne used last season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Dover International Speedway in the spring and fall races and Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This chassis never finished lower than ninth last season, earning its best finish of second at Dover in the spring.
Elliott Sadler will make his 10th NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) start at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS) this Saturday afternoon. In Sadler’s previous nine starts, he recorded one top-five and five top-10 finishes at AMS.
Dakoda Armstrong and the No. 43 WinField team will head to Atlanta with a Top-15 finish under their belt. The team had a strong showing in the 2015 season-opening race at Daytona last weekend and will look to continue that string of success at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Richard Childress Racing's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series History at Atlanta Motor Speedway ... In 134 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Richard Childress Racing has earned nine wins and three pole awards, including Kevin Harvick's emotional victory in the Cracker Barrel 500 on March 11, 2001.
Race fans will be in for a show before the green flag is dropped for the STP 500, as Martinsville Speedway is pleased to announce the Bandit Flight Team will conduct a six-plane flyover prior to the race on March 29.
The 2023 Cup Series champion from High Point, North Carolina, clocked in a pole-winning lap at 121.485 mph in 22.225 seconds for his 16th Cup career pole and fourth of 2026 in Richmond, Virginia.
The three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, posted a pole-winning lap at 116.540 mph in 23.168 seconds to become the 151st competitor to achieve a pole position in the Truck Series division.
The 28-year-old Gragson from Las Vegas, Nevada, has inked a one-year contract extension to continue to drive the No. 4 Ford for Front Row Motorsports for the 2027 Cup Series season.
