NASCAR Cup Series

After taking on the high banks of Daytona to kick off the season, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series are off to Atlanta Motor Speedway for a tripleheader weekend. Check out the tentative full schedule below, subject to change.

36. Damn, and I was so looking forward to saying nothing but positive things this season. 36. That is the number of entries slated to run at Atlanta on Sunday. 36. The last time we had that small a field, it was 1996 in Martinsville. Rusty Wallace and Jeff Gordon were the race winners at that venue. 36.

The nature of the Daytona 500 is for everyone to shine at some point during the race. This year, that was especially true of the new class of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup drivers, a group of twenty-somethings who have become the status quo in the sport.

Even after starting second and finishing third in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway, Denny Hamlin was not happy after the race when he and Darrell Wallace Jr. had a post-race confrontation.

When Paul Menard driver of the Wood Brothers’ No. 21 Menards/Moen Ford Fusion, talks about the racing surface at Atlanta Motor Speedway, site of this weekend’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, he uses terms like old, worn out and hard on tires.

Austin Dillon passed Aric Almirola on the backstretch of the final lap in NASCAR overtime to win the 60th running of the Daytona 500. Dillon returned the No. 3 Chevrolet to Victory Lane in The Great American Race 20 years to the weekend the man who made the No. 3 car famous – Dale Earnhardt – won his lone Daytona 500.

Richard Childress Racing's Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series History at Atlanta Motor Speedway... In 143 Monster Energy NASCAR 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. Dale Earnhardt won eight times at the Hampton, Georgia-based track under the RCR banner.

Daytona Recap: Denny Hamlin finished third in Sunday’s Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, overcoming a pit road penalty and avoiding a number of multi-car wrecks to position himself and the #11 FedEx Express Toyota for a shot at the 2018 ‘Daytona 500 Champion’ title. Hamlin grabbed ahold of the lead with only two laps remaining in the 200-lap event, but a caution simultaneously appeared for a single-car incident, forcing the field to an overtime restart.

Atlanta Special Place for Toyota… Atlanta Motor Speedway will always be remembered as an important piece of Toyota Racing’s history, the location of its first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) victory during the 2008 season – won by Kyle Busch. Toyota would go on to win nine more races that season, including eight total by Busch, one by Denny Hamlin and former Toyota driver Tony Stewart winning one as well.

RACING AT ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY: “Atlanta (Motor Speedway) is a really fun racetrack,” Allmendinger said. “We all begged them not to repave the racetrack and they didn’t. So, it’s about conserving tires. A car and driver that can be a little easier on their tires is definitely a huge advantage at Atlanta. Comparing last year’s Atlanta race to this year is really difficult. Our race cars are a lot different. I think the Camaro ZL1 body is going to be a big benefit to all Chevrolet teams. For us as a team, Chris Buescher had a good test at Las Vegas (Motor Speedway) in January and I think we’re going to use some of those notes heading into this weekend."