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Austin Hill survives wild finish for second consecutive Xfinity victory at Atlanta

By
Andrew Kim
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Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

Austin Hill flexed his superspeedway muscles and defended his home turf amid a late challenge from Parker Kligerman and the field during a two-lap shootout to win the RAPTOR King of Tough 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 18.

The 28-year-old Hill from Winston, Georgia, led three times for a race-high 103 of 163-scheduled laps, including the final 64, as he survived the track’s record 12 caution periods and on-track carnages from start to finish. Then during a two-lap shootout, Hill, who was being intimidated by Kligerman’s last-lap effort, avoided chaos himself by keeping his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing entry straight as Kligerman got bumped and was wrecking toward the finish while rubbing fenders with Hill for the win, which enabled the Georgian to capture a second consecutive Xfinity victory at his home track.

With on-track qualifying that was scheduled to occur on Friday canceled due to persistent rain, the starting lineup for Saturday’s main event was determined through a performance metric system. Based on the system, rookie Sammy Smith, winner of last weekend’s Xfinity event at Phoenix Raceway, started on pole position and was joined on the front row by teammate John Hunter Nemechek.

Prior to the event, Kyle Sieg and Joe Graf Jr. dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, teammates Sammy Smith and Nemechek dueled dead even for the lead amid two tight-packed lanes through the first two turns until Nemechek peaked ahead on the inside lane. Then through the frontstretch, Nemechek pulled his No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra in front of Smith’s No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota Supra as he led the first lap while teammate Ryan Truex battled Hill for third. During the second lap, the first caution of the event flew due to a two-car wreck involving Joey Gase and Caesar Bacarella on the frontstretch.

With the event proceeding under green on the seventh lap, Nemechek received a push from teammate Smith to pull ahead of Austin Hill and retain the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. Through Turns 3 and 4, however, Hill carved his way into second place before being locked into a battle with Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith for the spot. Amid the battles, Nemechek retained the lead in front of the pack.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Nemechek was leading by a hair over Austin Hill, rookie Chandler, Sheldon Creed and Sammy Smith while Ryan Truex, Ryan Sieg, Cole Custer, Daniel Hemric and Riley Herbst were in the top 10. Shortly after, Hill muscled his No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet Camaro into the lead after overtaking Nemechek.

Then on the 11th lap and with Hill leading ahead of teammate Creed and Nemechek, the second caution flew following a vicious three-car wreck that involved Jeffrey Earnhardt, Kaz Grala and Garrett Smithley in Turn 3.

Following an extensive caution period and a restart on Lap 24, Hill and Nemechek dueled for the lead until Hill pulled ahead entering Turns 3 and 4. In the process, Creed followed suit in second along with Chandler Smith and Custer while Nemechek fell back to fifth. He then continued to lose spots on the inside lane as Ryan Sieg, Brett Moffitt, Parker Kligerman and Ryan Truex streaked by him on the outside lane. It would not be until Lap 26 that the caution returned due to another multi-car wreck that struck in Turn 1 when Kyle Weatherman got loose and hit the outside wall with Josh Williams and Jeb Burton also sustaining damage to avoid Weatherman. During the caution period, some like Sammy Smith, Justin Haley, Sam Mayer, Gray Gaulding, Joe Graf Jr. and Blaine Perkins pitted while the ret led by Hill remained on the track.

With nine laps remaining in the first stage, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hill received a push from teammate Creed on the outside lane to retain the lead ahead of Custer, who had drafting help from Ryan Sieg on the inside lane. Nearly a lap later, the caution flew for the fifth time due to debris on the frontstretch. By then, Hill managed to remain ahead of Custer with the top spot. During the caution period, some like Ryan Truex, Josh Berry, Justin Allgaier and Sage Karam pitted while the rest led by Hill remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Josh Williams parked his car on the frontstretch and walked away from his car to the infield after being ordered by NASCAR officials.

With three laps remaining in the first stage, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hill retained the lead ahead of teammate Creed with drafting help from Custer. With Hill remaining out in front and transitioning from the outside to the inside lane for the following lap, Chandler Smith challenged Creed for the runner-up spot. Then on the final lap of the first stage, Creed launched his bid for the lead on teammate Hill after receiving a push from Nemechek through the backstretch and entering Turn 3. Then the first stage scheduled on Lap 40 concluded under caution when Chad Chastain and Patrick Emerling wrecked in Turn 4. Amid a duel between two Richard Childress Racing teammates, Hill was awarded the first Xfinity stage. Teammate Creed settled in second while Chandler Smith, Nemchek, Herbst, Moffitt, Ryan Sieg, Custer, Hemric and Kligerman were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, some of the drivers, led by Creed, pitted while the rest, led by Justin Haley and Brandon Jones, remained on the track.

The second stage started on Lap 47 as Haley and Anthony Alfredo occupied the front row. At the start, Haley and Alfredo battled for the lead in front of the pack while Nemechek launched a three-wide bid just outside of the top 10 entering Turn 1. With the field fanning out to three lanes entering the frontstretch, Alfredo made his way into the lead over Haley while Ryan Truex battled for third over Brandon Jones.

At the Lap 55 mark, the caution returned for a spin involving Chad Chastain in Turn 3. By then, Alfredo was leading over Haley, Jones, Ryan Sieg and Connor Mosack while Kligerman, Parker Retzlaff, Berry, Joe Graf Jr. and Ryan Truex were running in the top 10.

With the event restarting under green on Lap 60, Alfredo and Jones dueled for the lead with Ryan Sieg, Haley and the field following suit. As the battle for the lead ensued, the caution returned a lap later when Parker Retzlaff blew a right-front tire and slapped the Turn 1 outside wall.

During the following restart on Lap 66, Alfredo and Jones battled for the lead until Jones muscled into the lead on the inside lane while Alfredo lost the lead and lost a handful of spots on the outside lane. Behind, Kligerman launched his attack on Ryan Sieg for second as Jones remained as the leader. A few laps later, the eighth caution of the event flew amid a two-car wreck involving Connor Mosack and Hemric in Turn 4 after Mosack got loose. With the caution flying, names like Haley, Jeb Burton, Sammy Smith, Chandler Smith and Hemric pitted while the rest led by Jones remained on the track.

As the field restarted with five laps remaining in the second stage, Jones and Kligerman battled for the lead ahead of two tight-packed lanes until Jones peaked ahead through Turns 3 and 4. During the following lap, however, the ninth caution flew when Berry made contact and turned teammate Allgaier head-on into the outside wall on the backstretch, with Jeremy Clements sustaining damage while trying to dodge Allgaier’s damaged No. 7 RAPTOR Chevrolet Camaro. The multi-car wreck was enough for the second stage scheduled on Lap 80 to conclude under caution as Kligerman captured his first Xfinity stage victory of the 2023 season. Herbst settled in second followed by Brandon Jones, Creed, and Alfredo while Ryan Sieg, Berry, Hill, Custer and Joe Graf Jr. were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, names like Gray Gaulding, Patrick Emerling and Chad Chastain remained on the track while the rest led by Kligerman pitted for service. During the pit stops, Alfredo was penalized for having a crew member jump over the pit wall too soon.

With 77 laps remaining, the final stage started as Herbst and Kligerman occupied the front row. At the start, both of the front-runners dueled for the lead in front of two packs of cars, but Herbst kept his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang up front with Moffitt running towards the front. As the field fanned out to multiple lanes in the following laps, Herbst continued to lead ahead of Moffitt, Kligerman, Hemric and Brandon Jones while Creed was in sixth.

Down to the final 70 laps of the event, Hill muscled and carved his way back to the lead as the field towards the front continued to jostle for the lead. In the process, Nemechek carved his way back into the top five in fourth and Chandler Smith was in fifth while Herbst and Creed were in second and third. Six laps later, Herbst reassumed the lead from Hill while Kligerman, who fell back to sixth earlier, moved up to fourth.

With 50 laps remaining, Hill was out in front of a long line of competitors running towards the outside lane as Kligerman was in second followed by Moffitt, Chandler Smith and Ryan Truex. Behind, Hemric, Haley, Clements, Ryan Sieg and Herbst were in the top 10. Creed, meanwhile, fell off the pace from 10th place after suffering a right-front tire.

Following the event’s 10th caution period with 47 laps remaining amid a two-car wreck involving Patrick Emerling and Kyle Sieg in Turn 1, some that included Hill, Herbst, Truex, Jones, Gray Gaulding and Ryan Ellis remained on the track while the rest of the front-runners pitted.

During the following restart with 40 laps remaining, Hill peeked ahead of Brandon Jones at the start until Jones received a push from Custer to assume the lead. Hill, however, fought back on the outside lane as he had drafting help from Herbst with the pack behind locked in deep between two tight lanes. Not long after, Hill gained the momentum on the outside lane to clear Jones and assume the lead to both lanes while Herbst battled Jones for second. In the process, Custer remained in fourth while battling Truex while Ryan Sieg and Hemric battled for sixth.

With less than 35 laps remaining, Hill led in front of Herbst, Truex, Hemric and Custer on the outside lane. By then, Chandler Smith, who was running towards the front earlier, took his car to the garage due to a gearing issue. Then with 29 laps remaining, Kligerman gained a huge run on the inside lane to move his No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet Camaro all the way up to third place independently as he tried to blend in within the top-five front-runners. In the process, Hill retained the lead in front of Herbst and Truex while a majority of the field opted to remain in a long single-file line on the outside lane.

Then with nearly 20 laps of the event remaining, the battle for the lead intensified as Kligerman tried to challenge Hill for the lead while running on the inside lane. Despite receiving help from Alfredo, Jeb Burton and Haley, Hill continued to lead while defending both lanes to his control and having the clean air to his advantage. Kligerman, however, kept himself within the hunt as he battled Herbst for second.

With 15 laps remaining, the field fanned out to two tight-packed lanes as Hill continued to lead while Kligerman and Herbst battled for second. Behind, Jeb Burton and Alfredo moved into the top five while Hemric, Haley, Moffitt, Custer and Clements were scored in the top 10. By then, the top-17 competitors were separated under a second.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Hill retained the lead despite having Kligerman close to Hill’s rear bumper. Herbst was in third followed by Hemric and Alfredo while the top-19 competitors were separated by less than two seconds. Two laps later, however, the event’s 11th caution flew when Parker Retzlaff wrecked in Turn 4.

As the field restarted with two laps remaining, Hill, who received drafting help from Kligerman on the outside lane, was drafted to the lead ahead of Hemric, who restarted on the inside lane. Hill then was left on his own to fend for his lead amid Kligerman while Hemric kept the two leaders close within his sight.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hill remained as the leader in front of a hard-charging Kligerman and Hemric. Then through the backstretch and with Hemric trying to get to Hill’s rear bumper, Kligerman made his move to Hill’s outside as he tried to draw his No. 48 entry even to Hill’s No. 21 entry. Then entering Turn 4 and the frontstretch, contact from Hemric turned Kligerman into Hill, though both managed to keep their respective cars straight as they rubbed fenders and traded paint. With Hill managing to keep his car straight, Kligerman was then bumped and turned by Hemric again as he spun and ignited a multi-car wreck across the finish line while Hill managed to pull away and capture the victory by 0.085 seconds over Hemric.

With the victory, Hill became the first three-time winner of this year’s Xfinity Series season as he captured his fifth Xfinity career victory in his 53rd series start. In addition to collecting his second straight win at Atlanta, Hill has notched three consecutive top-two finishes in three Xfinity career starts at his home track.

“[This win] really does [matter],” Hill said on FS1. “Just having my whole family here, growing up in Georgia, an hour down the road and growing up racing here on this little quarter-mile racetrack. I knew it was gonna be tough today. It just seemed like guys could get really good runs, a lot different than last year’s race the way that it unfolded. [Spotter] Derek Kneeland did a hell of a job on top of the spotter’s stand. Everybody with [Richard Childress Racing] and ECR Engines did such a phenomenal job. Really good pit strategy. We were on it all night. Once I got into the lead, I knew it was wreckers or checkers. When [Kligerman] hit me in the right rear, I’m guessing he got hit or something, I thought I was heading into the outside wall but was able to gather it up, bring [the car] on home. This is so special. That was a tough one to win. I can’t wait to celebrate this with my family.”

Amid the wild two-lap shootout and the carnage at the conclusion’s event, Hemric came home in second followed by Ryan Truex while Kligerman slid backward across the finish line to grab fourth place. Herbst, who also wrecked as he hit Kligerman and slid his car toward the inside lane before clipping Haley, managed to finish fifth while Moffitt, Berry, Nemechek, Mayer and Haley finished in the top 10.

There were a record 12 cautions for 68 laps. The event featured 13 lead changes for eight different leaders.

Following the fifth event of the 2023 Xfinity Series season, race winner Austin Hill leads the regular-season standings by 46 over both John Hunter Nemechek and Riley Herbst with Chandler Smith trailing by 77, Justin Allgaier by 84 and Sam Mayer by 92.

Results.

1. Austin Hill, 103 laps led, Stage 1 winner

2. Daniel Hemric

3. Ryan Truex

4. Parker Kligerman, five laps led, Stage 2 winner

5. Riley Herbst, 11 laps led

6. Brett Moffitt

7. Josh Berry

8. John Hunter Nemechek, 10 laps led

9. Sam Mayer

10. Justin Haley, five laps led

11. Ryan Sieg

12. Cole Custer

13. Brennan Poole

14. Anthony Alfredo, 18 laps led

15. Jeremy Clements

16. Jeb Burton

17. Sammy Smith

18. Patrick Emerling

19. Brandon Jones, 10 laps led

20. Gray Gaulding, one lap led

21. Sheldon Creed

22. Blaine Perkins

23. Ryan Ellis

24. Chad Chastain

25. Joe Graf Jr.

26. Kyle Sieg, two laps down

27. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident

28. Chandler Smith – OUT, Rear Gear

29. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident

30. Connor Mosack – OUT, Accident

31. Sage Karam – OUT, Radiator

32. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident

33. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Accident

34. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Accident

35. Kaz Grala – OUT, Accident

36. Garrett Smithley – OUT, Accident

37. Joey Gase – OUT, Accident

38. Caesar Bacarella – OUT, Accident

Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ third annual trip to the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, which will also serve as the Dash 4 Cash qualifying event. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, March 25, at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.

Christian Eckes captures Craftsman Truck Series win in overtime finish at Atlanta

By
Angie Campbell
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Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

Christian Eckes captured the checkered flag in an exciting overtime finish to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Fr8 208 Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

It was the second career victory in the series and his first as a driver for Bill McAnally Racing, driving the No. 19 Chevrolet.  

Eckes, who drove for ThorSport Racing in 2022, said, “It’s been a tough off-season. I’m driving harder than I ever have. I have a lot to prove. The people know who they are.

“I’m really happy. Thanks to (crew chief) Charles (Denike), everybody on this team. They work so damn hard. This is what makes it all worth it. I’m pumped. It’s going to be a really good year. It’s what I came here and set out to do. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that it’s been a little bit emotional.”

Rev Racing driver, Nick Sanchez, the 2022 ARCA Menards Series champion, finished second, his first top-five in the Truck Series in only three starts. The runner-up finish came after recovering from contact with Corey Heim on Lap 84.  

“Our truck was good,” Sanchez said. “It was a little beat up in the back, but the nose was clean, the fenders were intact and we were able to race up front. To know that I can finally finish a race is nice and to be that close. But it makes me want it that much more.”

John H. Nemechek placed third and led a race-high 53 laps. Bayley Currey and Ben Rhodes rounded out the top five with Matt DiBenedetto, Chase Purdy, Timmy Hill, Matt Crafton and Jack Wood completing the top 10.

There were seven lead changes among nine drivers and 11 cautions for 58 laps.

Next weekend, the Craftsman Truck Series heads to Circuit of The Americas. You can tune in Saturday, March 25 at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM.

Results:

Truck-Series-results-Atlanta-March-2023-32303_UNOFFRES

Hill earns 3rd win of 2023 in thrilling fashion

By
Official Release
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Austin Hill streaks across the start/finish line to win the RAPTOR King of Tough 250. (Photo credit: Harold Hinson Photography)

HAMPTON, Ga. (March 18, 2023) – Austin Hill led for 103 of the 163 laps during the Xfinity Series RAPTOR King of Tough 250, but it was his efforts during the race’s final seconds which earned the Georgia native his second straight win at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Hill, who grew up an hour from the 1.54-mile track and raced at the venue as a junior, held off a charging pack down the homestretch. Runner-up Daniel Hemric crossed 0.085 seconds behind Hill and Ryan Truex placed third. Parker Kligerman slid into fourth with Riley Herbst holding on for fifth.

“I knew it was going to be tough today,” Hill said. “We were on it all night. Once I got the lead, I knew that it was wreck-it-or-check-it.”

Hill joined Mark Martin and Kyle Busch as the only drivers to win three of the season’s first five Xfinity Series races.

Hemric made a valiant charge into the mix on the final lap and made contact with Kligerman moments before the finish.

“Obviously, mayhem happened on the (last) corner,” Hill added. “I have no idea how I saved it.”

Filling out the top-10 were Brett Moffitt, Josh Berry, John Hunter Nemechek, Sam Mayer and Justin Haley.

A track-record 12 caution periods extended the race well into the evening hours, but the action-packed finish undoubtedly made it well worth the wait.

Racing weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway culminates Sunday with the Ambetter Health 400 (3 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Tickets remain available at AtlantaMotorSpeedway.com or by calling 877-9-AMS-TIX.

About the Ambetter Health 400:

Atlanta’s spring NASCAR weekend is headlined by the Ambetter Health 400 on Sunday, March 19, with intense, door-to-door racing around the historic high banks of Atlanta Motor Speedway.

More information on the Ambetter Health 400 weekend and ticket availability can be found online at AtlantaMotorSpeedway.com.

Follow Atlanta Motor Speedway:

Keep track of all of Atlanta Motor Speedway’s events by following on Twitter, Instagram, and become a Facebook fan. Keep up with all the latest news and information with the Atlanta Motor Speedway mobile app.

Joey Logano tops leaderboard to win Cup Series pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway

By
Angie Campbell
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Photo by Sean Gardner for Getty Images

Team Penske driver, Joey Logano, was fastest in qualifying Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway and won the Busch Light Pole Award with a 177.374 mph lap in his No. 22 Ford. It is Logano’s second pole this season, his second at Atlanta and his 28th career pole.

He described the importance of his qualifying run and the nostalgia it evoked.

“I probably put a little bit more weight on the team on this one, but, either way, it’s still cool to get a pole. I’ve never been on the front row of a superspeedway, forget a pole, and I don’t think I’ve ever done it in Xfinity or anything, so this is kind of cool, and doing it here in Atlanta is special for me.

“There are so many memories here. I lived up in one of those condos for five years and raced Legends cars out here for six years and just the memories of walking into Victory Lane a minute ago to get the Pole Award and thinking about driving my Legend’s car in there with my dad and how cool that was and always dreaming about being on the big track when I was running the quarter-mile all the time and how neat it is just to be on the big track. I guess I try to keep those thoughts up front in my mind.”

Ford dominated during qualifying to secure the top eight spots. Team Penske drivers Austin Cindric and Ryan Blaney qualified second and third, respectively, with Brad Keselowski, Aric Almirola, Kevin Harvick, Chris Buescher and Chase Briscoe rounding out the top eight.

“Congrats to everyone at Ford Performance and the Roush Yates Engine shop, everybody including Team Penske bringing lot of speed.,” Cindric said after qualifying. “I’m proud of that. Hopefully, it translates for tomorrow. I think this is as much of a handling race as it is anything else. You’ve got to have speed to keep the lead, so we’ll see what we have tomorrow to be able to race through the field, but obviously, we have the speed to stay up front.”

Kyle Larson will start ninth in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell will start the race 10th in his No. 20 Toyota.

Sunday’s Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET  on FOX with radio coverage by PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Starting Lineup:

Cup-Series-starting-lineup-Atlanta-March-2023-12305_STARTROW

Toyota Racing NXS Post-Race Recap — Atlanta 3.18.23

By
Official Release
-

RYAN TRUEX SCORES TOP-THREE IN HIS GR SUPRA
Truex Claims Second Top-Five of 2023 Xfinity Series Season

HAMPTON, Ga. (March 18, 2023) – Ryan Truex battled through a record number of caution flags in Saturday night’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway to claim a third-place finish. Truex claimed the runner-up finish in last week’s race at Phoenix Raceway and continues his streak of top-three finishes with today’s performance in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota GR Supra.

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Race 5 of 33 – 251 miles, 163 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Austin Hill*
2nd, Daniel Hemric*
3rd, RYAN TRUEX
4th, Parker Kligerman*
5th, Riley Herbst*
8th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
17th, SAMMY SMITH
30th, CONNOR MOSACK
35th, KAZ GRALA
37th, JOEY GASE
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

RYAN TRUEX, No. 19 Toyota Genuine Parts Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 3rd

What did you see on that final lap coming to the checkered flag?

“I saw cars wrecking and I just didn’t lift. I saw a lane, but if it was like Talladega and the start-finish line was down there, I probably would have won. That’s racing. It was a crazy race. I didn’t expect it to be the way it was. Man, Parker Kligerman’s car was so good. We were riding single file there for a while and he just made his lane by himself and drove all the way to the front. That’s what pulled everyone with him. I ended up getting shuffled out and getting pushed to the back. Our GR Supra was fast enough to drive back through the field. I pushed Brett (Moffitt), my old buddy, as hard as I could that whole last lap. I never got off his bumper and I thought we would have had a chance at a side-by-side finish for the win. All in all, it was a good day. Glad we brought home another good finish.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs more than 48,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 45 million cars and trucks at our 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 20 electrified options, with more in showrooms later this year.

Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

Eckes ekes out Fr8 208 overtime victory

By
Official Release
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Christian Ekes takes the checkered flag in Saturday's Fr8 208. (Photo courtesy: Harold Hinson Photography)

HAMPTON, Ga. (March 18, 2023) – Christian Eckes took the checkered flag in thrilling fashion to capture the Fr8 208 Saturday afternoon at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The win marked the 22-year-old’s third top-10 showing in as many races and second among the top five finishers.

“It’s what I came here and set out to do,” said Eckes. “I’d be lying if I didn’t say that it’s been a little bit emotional.”

Eckes edged second-place Nick Sanchez, who closed out regulation with the lead, by 0.078 seconds. Behind Sanchez were John Nemechek (+0.206), Bayley Currey (+0.435) and Ben Rhodes (+0.810) in the top five. The silver finish for Sanchez, the leader through regulation, was tops for his three career starts in the series. Nemechek led a race-best 53 laps.

Eckes’ first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win on the season – and second of his career – was bolstered by leading 35 of the 137 laps. He secured the checkered as the caution waved for a series of crashes that broke out as he crossed the finished line.

The overtime-forcing 10th caution of the race came out with five laps remaining and Sanchez in the lead, ultimately leading to Eckes prevailing out of turn 4 en route to hoisting the hardware.

Jack Wood spun out from the lead with 23 laps to go. He would finish 10th. Truck Series points leader Zane Smith’s started at the poll and crossed 20th among the field. Reigning Fr8 208 winner Corey Heim’s day ended when he jammed up behind Sanchez on a restart, completing only 83 laps.

Following Saturday afternoon’s Xfinity Series RAPTOR King of Tough 250 (5 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM), the Ambetter Health 400 (3 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will conclude race weekend on Sunday.

Tickets and camping options for Sunday remain available at AtlantaMotorSpeedway.com or by calling 877-9-AMS-TIX.

Follow Atlanta Motor Speedway:

Keep track of all of Atlanta Motor Speedway’s events by following on Twitter, Instagram, and become a Facebook fan. Keep up with all the latest news and information with the Atlanta Motor Speedway mobile app.

Logano tops the charts, earns Ambetter Health 400 pole

By
Official Release
-
Joey Logano earned the Ambetter Health 400 pole award with his qualifying effort Saturday. (Photo credit: Harold Hinson Photography) At Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, GA. (HHP/Harold Hinson)

HAMPTON, Ga. (March 18, 2023) – Defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano earned his second Busch Light Pole of the season Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway with Team Penske sweeping the first three spots on Sunday’s grid.

Logano’s top-billing pole speed of 177.374 mph was followed by teammates Austin Cindric and Ryan Blaney in 2nd and 3rd. Brad Keselowski and Aric Almirola rounded out the top five, with Cup Series points leader Kevin Harvick landing the sixth spot.

“It was probably a lot more exciting than any of us expected with guys spinning out and hitting the walls,” Logan said of Saturday’s qualifying. “Team Penske had a great day today and we’ll try to continue that tomorrow.”

Logano now aims to parlay his 28th career pole into his 32nd career win, which would tie him with Dale Jarrett for 27th on the all-time list.

“For me, it’s always been a dream to win on this race track,” added Logano, who lived in Atlanta Motor Speedway’s track-side condos for five years and cut his teeth on the track’s ¼ mile Thunder Ring.

Logano’s No. 22 will lead the field to the green flag in Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 (3 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Truck Series points leader Zane Smith’s No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford is on the pole for Saturday afternoon’s Fr8 208 and Sammy Smith will start on pole for the Xfinity Series’ RAPTOR Tough 250 Saturday evening.

Tickets and camping options for the weekend remain available at AtlantaMotorSpeedway.com or by calling 877-9-AMS-TIX.

About the Ambetter Health 400 weekend:

Atlanta’s spring NASCAR weekend is headlined by the Ambetter Health 400 on Sunday, March 19, with intense, door-to-door racing around the historic high banks of Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The race weekend also features Atlanta’s same-day NASCAR doubleheader on Saturday, March 18, 2022. The thrills of the Fr8 208 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race and the RAPTOR King of Tough 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race all happen in one action-packed day that race fans look forward to every year.

More information on the March 17-19, 2023, Ambetter Health 400 weekend and ticket availability can be found online at AtlantaMotorSpeedway.com.

Follow Atlanta Motor Speedway:

Keep track of all of Atlanta Motor Speedway’s events by following on Twitter, Instagram, and become a Facebook fan. Keep up with all the latest news and information with the Atlanta Motor Speedway mobile app.

Ford Performance NASCAR: Logano Wins Atlanta Pole as Ford Sweeps Top 8 Spots

By
Official Release
-

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series at Atlanta Motor Speedway
ambetter 400 Qualifying | Saturday, March 18, 2023

FORD DOMINATES CUP QUALIFYING SWEEPING THE TOP 8 SPOTS

Team Penske swept the top three spots for the first time in its NASCAR history and Ford took the first eight positions in qualifying for tomorrow’s Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Joey Logano won the pole with Austin Cindric second and Ryan Blaney third.

Both RFK Racing Fords ended up in the Top 10 as well with Brad Keselowski fourth and Chris Buescher seventh.

Ford Qualifying Results:
1st – Joey Logano
2nd – Austin Cindric
3rd – Ryan Blaney
4th – Brad Keselowski
5th – Aric Almirola
6th – Kevin Harvick
7th – Chris Buescher
8th – Chase Briscoe
12th – Michael McDowell
23rd – Todd Gilliland
24th – Ryan Preece
32nd – Cody Ware
33rd – Harrison Burton
34th – JJ Yeley

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Autotrader Ford Mustang – POLE-WINNING PRESS CONFERENCE

TELL US ABOUT YOUR RUN? “It was probably a little bit more interesting than a lot of us expected with cars spinning out and hitting the wall. We’re thinking this is superspeedway qualifying and just keep it pinned all the way around, but the guys gave me a great Autotrader Mustang that seems like it goes fast by itself at least and hopefully handles well when the race starts. Nobody really knows what they have for handling yet, but hopefully we have a little bit of both in this thing and we can control the race. Obviously, Team Penske had a great day today and we’ll try to continue that tomorrow.”

IT SEEMED TODAY WAS MORE DRIVER THAN USUAL WITH DIFFERENT LINES BEING USED. WOULD YOU AGREE WITH THAT EVALUATION? “There are definitely more options and anytime a car is at its grip limit, it opens up the window for the driver to be more involved than what the driver is at Daytona or Talladega. Obviously, when you’re wide-open all the way around it’s more car than driver today, if I’m being honest, but it still opens up the door to where I can at least be impactful on what the car is doing, on the line that I’m running. It’s just the little details that stack up eventually, so we made some decent changes between runs and able to get the balance a little bit closer for me to where I could have a little bit more of an aggressive line and try to find some more speed that way. A total team effort. I probably put a little bit more weight on the team on this one, but, either way, it’s still cool to get a pole. I’ve never been on the front row of a superspeedway forget a pole, and I don’t think I’ve ever done it in Xfinity or anything, so this is kind of cool, and doing it here in Atlanta is special for me. There are so many memories here. I lived up in one of those condos for five years and raced Legends cars out here for six years and just the memories of walking into Victory Lane a minute ago to get the Pole Award and thinking about driving my Legend’s car in there with my dad and how cool that was and always dreaming about being on the big track when I was running the quarter-mile all the time and how neat it is just to be on the big track. I guess I try to keep those thoughts up front in my mind.”

THE FORDS HAD 8 IN THE TOP 10. WHY SO STRONG AND IS THAT SPEED TRANSFERABLE TO THE RACE? “I’m hoping it’s transferable to the race. I think it’s pretty obvious at this point throughout the field where certain manufacturers have gone over the offseason with some of their changes to the noses and what-not. It’s pretty obvious that this is kind of our wheelhouse – when you come to superspeedways or bigger racetracks like Fontana, Michigan, Atlanta, Talladega, Daytona. I think those will probably be our strongest racetracks and it kind of showed again today.”

HOW MUCH HAS NOT WINNING A CUP RACE AT THIS TRACK BOTHERED YOU? “In those races that we’ve been so close and races that we had the dominant race car and had issues happen, that was before they repaved it, but we were capable of winning and you definitely want to say you’ve won. For me, it’s a dream to always win on this racetrack. That’s something that’s always been stuck in my mind. I look at it as kind of a second home track to me. Loudon is always gonna be special because that’s where I’m from, but living down here for the amount of time that I did and the amount of time and the memories on the quarter-mile right there, I can’t come here and not think about growing up as a kid racing. I just saw a couple kids in Victory Lane that race Bandoleros and I just wanted to talk to them for 10 minutes. I don’t know. The memories and hearing them and their dad talk about it and what racing is like now, I just think that’s special. Honestly, it’s the most special times of racing in my career. You don’t realize it when you’re a kid, but you realize it when you get a little bit older how cool that really is, especially now that my son is getting a little bit older. Whatever he ends up doing, who knows what we’ll do, but those memories will be very special as well.”

DID YOU PRACTICE GETTING ON PIT ROAD IN TURN 3 DURING EITHER LAP AND DO YOU HAVE TO BE MORE CONSERVATIVE ON PIT ROAD BECAUSE IF YOU SPEED IT’S PROBABLY A 2-LAP PENALTY? “At least that. I practiced rolling time around the corner. They had that on for the first run, they had the timing lines on, but the second run they don’t, so we did the rolling time. We didn’t run a hot pit road entry for some reasons that we thought about that made sense not to do, but we’ll go back and look at some of the cars that did and try to find a decent breaking marker if we get to that situation in the race. I think a couple did from what I hear.”

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Menards/Knauf Ford Mustang – “Obviously, Ford domination. Congrats to everyone at Ford Performance and the Roush Yates Engine shop. Everybody including Team Penske bringing lot of speed. I’m proud of that. Hopefully, it translates for tomorrow. I think this is as much of a handling race as it is anything else. You’ve got to have speed to keep the lead, so we’ll see what we have tomorrow to be able to race through the field, but obviously we have the speed to stay up front.”

CHEVROLET NCS AT ATLANTA – Qualifying Report

By
Official Release
-

NASCAR CUP SERIES
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
AMBETTER HEALTH 400
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING REPORT
MARCH 18, 2023

TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL STARTING LINEUP:
POS. DRIVER
9th Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1
11th William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1
13th Austin Dillon, No. 3 Andy’s Frozen Custard Camaro ZL1
15th Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1
17th Kyle Busch, No. 8 Lenovo Camaro ZL1
18th Ross Chastain, No. 1 Advent Health Camaro ZL1
20th Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1
21st Josh Berry, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1
22nd Noah Gragson, No. 42 Sunseeker Resort Camaro ZL1
25th Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Camaro ZL1
26th Ty Dillon, No. 77 Ferris Commercial Mowers Camaro ZL1
27th Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger / Nature Valley Camaro ZL1
28th Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Camaro ZL1
30th AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Camaro ZL1
31st Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Celsius Camaro ZL1
36th BJ McLeod, No. 78 B’laster Camaro ZL1

TOP-FIVE UNOFFICIAL STARTING LINEUP:
POS. DRIVER
1st Joey Logano (Ford)
2nd Austin Cindric (Ford)
3rd Ryan Blaney (Ford)
4th Brad Keselowski (Ford)
5th Aric Almirola (Ford)

· With no practice session on the schedule for this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the NASCAR Cup Series hit the track for the first time this weekend for a single-car qualifying session.

· Kyle Larson and the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1 team led Chevrolet in qualifying, securing a ninth-place starting position for tomorrow’s Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

· FOX will broadcast the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 on Sunday, March 18, at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can also be found on the PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

 

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

CHEVROLET NCS AT ATLANTA – William Byron Press Conference Transcript

By
Official Release
-

NASCAR CUP SERIES
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
AMBETTER HEALTH 400
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
MARCH 18, 2023

WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Press Conference Transcript:

Your thoughts on the penalties this week and how you thought NASCAR handled things?

“Look, I can’t say the details of the penalty, of what goes on there. But certainly excited for the appeal and everything that comes with that. Just ready for this weekend. We’ve got more to prove and we’ll just keep going. It’s good to get two in a row the last couple of weeks. I feel like we’re on a good role. This is a really good race track for us; won here last year.

I was excited hearing Chad’s (Knaus) comments yesterday and all that was good, so looking forward to the appeal.”

Can you describe what the impact of the 100 points and 10 playoff points are? And also, what have you been doing this week to get acquainted to your interim crew chief?

“Yeah, certainly the points is something that we just adjust to. It’s early in the season. The cars are extremely fast. We obviously had the pace last week to win regardless, so I think that’s going to continue. I think with that pace, we’re just going to use that to our advantage to makeup points.

We didn’t intend on really relaxing after a win anyways this year. So I think going into the next however many weeks that we’ve got until the playoffs, we’re going to push really hard. I think we’re just going to give it everything, every week. We had a good week of preparation; lots of time in the sim, lots of time at the shop. Just excited for all of that to continue. That’s as far as the points go.

And then as far as the interim crew chief – Brian (Campe) is going to be great. I work with him a lot in the shop through our competition meetings and spend a lot of time with him, so excited to have him on top of the pit box. My engineer, Brandon McSwain, we’ve worked together since the JRM days in 2017. He was my engineer at JRM when we won the championship and he’ll be a bigger factor, bigger role, throughout the weekend. I’m excited for that because we know each other really well. We probably exchange texts about 10 times a week on the car, so excited to have him in a bigger role.”

William, you spoke last weekend that after back-to-back wins, you were really confident, really motivated. And then you guys get hit with a really big penalty, but you said a minute ago that you have more to prove. So when you get hit with a penalty like that, does it knock your confidence or knock you for a loop at all? Instead, it seems like you come here with more motivation.

“Absolutely. Look, I really get excited about coming to the race track right now. I was just excited in the off-season with the group I know we have. So yeah if anything, it just shows that we’re not there yet. We have more to prove and we have more to go out there and accomplish. I think that’s a dangerous thing, right? We’re going out there with a goal in mind; a specific goal to win every week. We’re going to keep pushing for that every single week. Really, it starts during the week. A lot of the weekend stuff is a result of what we do and our processes back at the shop and communicating with one another. I think that process started on Monday as soon as we got back from Phoenix (Raceway).. what could we have done better at Phoenix because that’s a really important race track. There were certainly things we could have done better there. I thought the No. 4 car (Kevin Harvick) was the best car. I thought we were second or third-best; kind of right there with the No. 5 (Kyle Larson). So I think there were things last week that we could have done better. We addressed all of that Monday and Tuesday, and Tuesday night turned the page to focus on Atlanta (Motor Speedway). Obviously this track has been good for us in the past, but July wasn’t quite as good. So we looked at a lot of the things that Chase (Elliott) and the No. 9 team were doing really well here in July and tried to apply that to this weekend for us.”

I’m curious on your thoughts about Josh Berry. How he has come in and his approach to jumping into this car; his growth over the last couple of weeks and what he’s brought to Hendrick Motorsports.

“I think Josh (Berry) has been great. It’s a very unique circumstance for him. Last weekend, we had 50 minutes of practice, but he doesn’t have the 10 test sessions that we all had last off-season to get comfortable with this car; learn what it needs and things like that. So he’s at a very big deficit, in terms of experience, with this car. I mean it’s not like anything else that you drive. When I go race a super late model and then go race the Xfinity car – those are in the same ballpark. When you go run the Cup car, you might as well go drive a Trans Am car or go drive a sportscar to adjust.

I think there are so many things he’s having to learn, and I think he’s doing a great job with it all. He’s brought a new perspective to the debriefs. Being such a clean slate, there are some things that he says that you don’t even realize that go on with this car and it’s cool to hear. Excited to have him.”

Here this weekend, obviously this is the third race on this surface. I’m curious how much things change from the first one last year to the second, and what you kind of expect for change-wise this weekend.

“Yeah, I mean it’s really hard to say. It’s really cold this weekend, so I don’t know how that’s going to factor into the way the race plays out. The groove is wide here because it’s drafting and you’re not at the edge of grip throughout the whole corner. There are certain parts of the corner that you can be on edge of grip and have to lift, which I think is what we all like about it. It does have some element of having to drive because you are out of the gas. So I think that’s what’s cool about the new Atlanta (Motor Speedway). But I don’t know if it’s going to be a similar race to the summer race because that’s obviously really hot and slick.

I’m not really sure what we’re going to see, but I’d say it would be maybe closer to the July race just because the track is starting to age. So curious how that will play a factor.”

Before you won your appeal on your penalty last year, you had a 25-point fine and $50,000 fine with the incident with (Denny) Hamlin at Texas Motor Speedway. Denny got the same thing this past week. Do you look at your incident with him – under caution, what happened there and what he did with Ross (Chastain) – as equal penalties?

“I don’t know if they’re equal. I don’t know how to answer that part, but I do think that it’s unfortunate. You’re going to have a game of poker, right? Because now guys aren’t going to be able to say what happened. There are a lot of guys that fake it in interviews and us drivers know that. So it’s unfortunate that those are the guys that get away with it.”

How do they get away with it then if the drivers know about it? You guys have the memories that stay with you, so it’s not like you guys forget. How is this not resolved because now guys can’t say anything?

“Yeah, I mean it will just be handled on the track. I think that’s the way it is. Things are always handled on the race track, but yeah I guess nobody else will know.”

 

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

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