Kurt Busch, who was suspended by NASCAR on Feb. 20, will actively pursue reinstatement. He agreed to NASCAR’s terms and conditions last Friday to begin the process.
Johnson started beyond 30th, as did 13 others who failed to even make it through tech inspection, never mind even attempting to qualify. Jeff Gordon failed four times.
Austin Dillon said at the beginning of the year that he wanted to be more aggressive and run towards the front to put himself into contention for the Championship. The sophomore competitor wouldn't get to do to that on Sunday as tire issues would plague his run towards the front of the field.
With drivers out of cars due to injury, surgery and suspension, there have been plenty of subs needed in just the first two events of the year. At Atlanta Motor Speedway, four sub-drivers took to the track and in the end, it was a rookie topping them in performance.
With several of the sport’s biggest names starting from the back of the field, from missing qualifying sessions to missing driver introductions, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 56th annual Folds of Honor Quicktrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Dave Elenz would make the right adjustments throughout Saturday afternoon and with the pit crew handing Harvick the lead off of the final round of pit stops, Harvick was able to hold off Joey Logano for the win. While it marks Harvick's 45th career XFINITY Series victory, it marks the first as a crew chief for Elenz.
Whether it's Jeff Gordon's farewell tour, domestic violence in the sport, driver safety, stolen race cars, or the qualifying fiascoes, the 2015 is quickly creating its own identity just two weeks into the eleven-month racing season.
This time, former champions could not get through inspection to qualify on Friday. Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, and Tony Stewart didn’t make the cut and will start far back in the field. Much of it had to do with camber, according to several sources. It seems that some teams were pushing the envelope.
Although it’s not uncommon for a race car to not get through pre-qualifying inspection on the first try, it is pretty uncommon for multiple race cars to miss qualifying.
The 2023 Cup Series champion from High Point, North Carolina, led a race-high 171 of 263 over-scheduled laps and capped off a dominant run from pole position by sweeping all stages and surviving an overtime attempt for his second Cup victory of 2026 at EchoPark Speedway.
Bobby Gossett (No. 44 BSI Racing) might have thought lady luck was not on his side at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park on Saturday when his provisional pole time was disallowed, but she made herself known in the race.
Daniel Hemric continued his consistent road course handiwork with a sixth-place finish on Saturday afternoon at Lime Rock Park and substantially increased his cushion on the provisional Chase cutline.
