One final restart was all that was needed for John Hunter Nemechek to score the victory at Atlanta. The driver of the No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet led just eight laps, but it was the final eight laps as he scored his second career victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
Kyle Busch wins in XFINITY. The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led 119 of the 163 laps on his way to scoring his 76th career victory in the NASCAR XFINITY Series.
The Busch Brothers were going to start 1 and 2 when the green flag flew on Sunday at Atlanta, but a surprise circumstance gave the pole to Kurt. Kurt Busch won the pole in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet after posting a time of 28.938 and a speed of 191.582 mph. Brother Kyle originally won the pole, but his time was disallowed in post-qualifying inspection.
The driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet had high hopes for the Daytona 500 after scoring the pole. Those were quickly dashed on lap 20 after his car spun off the exit of turn 4 and came to a halt in the infield grass.
With Speedweeks in the rearview, let's turn our attention to "Hotlanta." This week, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rolls into the greater Atlanta area for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The 325-lap event on the 1.54-mile quad-oval intermediate speedway will be the second race of the 2016 Sprint Cup season.
Interesting things can happen after the first race of the season. Some names usually near the front find themselves as also-rans as the schedule continues on to Atlanta. No Junior. No Biffle, No Bowyer. No Patrick. Okay, I’ve gone too far, I know.
Regan Smith hasn’t raced a full season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series since 2012 but this year he's back and he isn’t wasting any time, finishing eighth in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway.
Hamlin powered his way past Matt Kenseth on the final lap, then edged Martin Truex, Jr. at the line by .010 seconds, the closest finish in Daytona 500 history, to win his first 500.
“Stay on the bottom, stay in line, and they can’t pass us.” For 199 laps, Darrell Waltrip’s observation of the 2016 Daytona 500 was dead on. Then, it became dead wrong.
Daniel Hemric has been delivering his best performances of the season when it’s mattered the most. Over the last five races, the driver of the No. 19 Motion Industries Chevrolet Silverado RST
John Hunter Nemechek has seven NASCAR Cup Series starts at Talladega, where he has earned two top-10 finishes. He finished eighth in both races in 2020.
Garrett Mitchell (a.k.a. Cleetus McFarland) is back in the No. 4 Niece Motorsports Silverado for his third NCTS start of the season at Talladega Superspeedway.
