STEWART-HAAS RACING Atlanta 400 Date: Sept. 8, 2024 Event: Atlanta 400 (Round 27 of 36) Series: NASCAR Cup Series Location: Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia (1.54-mile oval) Format: 260 laps, broken into three stages (60 laps/100 laps/100 laps)
Note: Race extended six laps past its scheduled 260-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.
Race Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford) Stage 1 Winner: Ryan Blaney of Team Penske (Ford) Stage 2 Winner: Austin Cindric of Team Penske (Ford)
● Chase Briscoe (16th with 2,006 points, 21 points below top-12 cutoff) ● Josh Berry (24th with 469 points) ● Noah Gragson (26th with 434 points) ● Ryan Preece (27th with 412 points)
Playoff Standings (with two races to go before Round of 12):
Joey Logano (2,054 points) 1 win
Ryan Blaney (2,071 points) +45 points
Christopher Bell (2,066 points) +40 points
Tyler Reddick (2,059 points) +33 points
William Byron (2,059 points) +33 points
Alex Bowman (2,053 points) +27 points
Austin Cindric (2,053 points) +27 points
Chase Elliott (2,050 points) +24 points
Daniel Suárez (2,048 points) +22 points
Kyle Larson (2,041 points) +15 points
Denny Hamlin (2,028 points) +2 points
Ty Gibbs (2,027 points) +1 point
Brad Keselowski (2,026 points) -1 point
Harrison Burton (2,011 points) -16 points
Martin Truex Jr. (2,008 points) -19 points
Chase Briscoe (2,006 points) -21 points
SHR Notes:
● Preece earned his 12th top-20 of the season and his second top-20 in eight career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Atlanta. ● Preece led once for two laps, increasing his laps-led total at Atlanta to three.
Race Notes:
● Joey Logano won the Atlanta 400 to score his 34th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his second of the season and his second at Atlanta. His margin of victory over second-place Daniel Suárez was .212 of a second.
● This was Ford’s 736th all-time NASCAR Cup Series victory, its seventh of the season and its third straight. Ford driver Harrison Burton won Aug. 24 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and Briscoe won last Sunday at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
● This was Ford’s 37th NASCAR Cup Series victory at Atlanta. The manufacturer won its first race at Atlanta with NASCAR Hall of Famer Fred Lorenzen on July 9, 1961.
● There were eight caution periods for a total of 44 laps.
● Thirty of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
Sound Bites:
“That’s NASCAR. You can be on top one week and you can be at the very bottom of the mountain the next week. It’s unfortunate. I thought our car was an adjustment away from being pretty good. We weren’t very good at all, balance-wise, and I still felt like I was able to kind of run right there around the seventh- to 12th-place guys. You’re hanging on, for sure. This place is hard. You’re just on the ragged edge. I know, for me, I was almost spinning out a lot and that’s why I kept telling my guys that I needed to make it to the first pit stop to get our car better and, unfortunately, we didn’t get that opportunity. These guys are on pins and needles, I can assure you. I was watching my outside getting into (turn) one because somebody kept trying to get to my outside and was probably a little late just trying to see the 5 car (Kyle Larson) wrecking. I didn’t expect anybody to wreck because they weren’t really two-wide, and then I saw the smoke and tried slowing down. I knew he was coming down the racetrack and just kept trying to feed the thing left and slow it down and I couldn’t get left quick enough, and then he kind of started sliding back down the track at the very last minute, so I tried to turn back right to avoid him and just KO’d him. It was a big hit. One of the biggest hits I’ve had in a long time. I’m glad I’m alright and we just have to go win. That’s what we had to do at Darlington and I know we’re capable of doing it again, so we’ll just have to go to Watkins Glen and Bristol and try to do the same.” – Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Compact Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse
“We struggled with grip all day and just couldn’t find what I needed to get the speed needed to drive up front. It’s a bummer, for sure, to qualify so well and not make the most of it, but this group will take a bad day on the chin and reset for the next week. I can’t thank Decisely enough for coming on board this week and supporting the No. 4 program. It’s really special to have friends of the team want to get involved and I’m just appreciative of them. We will go at it again next week at Watkins Glen.” – Josh Berry, driver of the No. 4 Decisely Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Go Bowling at The Glen on Sunday, Sept. 15 at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. The second race in the 10-race NASCAR Playoffs starts at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Ford Performance Notes and Quotes NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 | Atlanta Motor Speedway Sunday, September 8, 2024
JOEY LOGANO PUNCHES TICKET TO ROUND OF 12 WITH ATLANTA VICTORY
Joey Logano won his second race of the season with today’s victory, not including his win in the All-Star Race.
The win is Ford’s third straight and advances Logano into the Round of 12.
The win is Logano’s 34th of his Cup Series career and 32nd with Ford.
Those 32 wins put him 4th on the all-time Ford win list.
Today’s win is Ford’s 736th all-time in NASCAR Cup Series competition.
It also marks Team Penske’s 98th series win with Ford.
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Autotrader Ford Mustang Dark Horse – VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW – WHAT IS IT ABOUT YOU AND THIS TEAM THAT CAN STEP UP AND MAKE IT TO THE NEXT ROUND? “We didn’t last year and it hurt a lot, but they just give me really fast cars on superspeedways and we always find ourselves towards the front of them, we just end up wrecking more times than not. So, to be able to finally capitalize on a fast race car and win here in Atlanta again, I lived right over there in condo 805 for a long time, waking up dreaming of just racing on this racetrack, so pulling into Victory Lane here is always a special one. We had such a really good team here today. It’s awesome to get Autotrader into Victory Lane and the JL Kids Crew are here today, so it’s really cool to finally win with them here.”
HOW HARD WAS IT TO WORK THROUGH THAT PACK? “We kind of just got stuck back there and couldn’t figure out how to get myself back up there, and then I finally picked the right lanes at the right time to move myself forward. That part was good.”
HOW SPECIAL IS THIS WINNING HERE AT ATLANTA WITH ALL THE HOURS YOU PUT IN AT CONDO 805? “It was a lot of time. My dad, my family. We had so much fun. You park right over there and unload. We’d be here every Wednesday and Thursday night racing Legends cars and Bandoleros. I remember we came down here for the first time when we were moving down from Connecticut and we pulled into this place and we said, ‘Oh my God, look how awesome this place is.’ You never dream, that was almost 30 years ago, that dream and meeting Ken Ragan, David Ragan’s dad, and getting a Bandolero and racing out there for the first time with duct tape Number 10 on it to where we are today is just really, really cool.”
Ford Performance Results: 1st – Joey Logano 3rd – Ryan Blaney 10th – Austin Cindric 12th – Justin Haley 18th – Ryan Preece 19th – Brad Keselowski 22nd – Michael McDowell 27th – Todd Gilliland 28th – Josh Berry 30th – Cody Ware 31st – Harrison Burton 34th – Noah Gragson 36th – Chris Buescher 38th – Chase Briscoe
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Dent Wizard Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “Honestly, I can’t believe we got back up to where we did. The 12 boys did a really good job of fixing it. I’m surprised it didn’t have more damage than what it did. From my seat, I got drilled in the left-rear, or the door I guess where it hit me, and then the right-rear got off the fence. I didn’t know how damaged we were, but I was able to carve up through traffic and kind of get through the middle pretty good. I’m really proud of the effort. I had a thought of going three-wide on the frontstretch and I’m like, ‘Man, this is gonna be tight and we’ve already had a really good day going, great points and all that stuff,’ so third is a really good day. I appreciate Dent Wizard doing what they do, Menards, Advance Auto Parts, DEX Imaging, the Wurth group, Discount Tire. We’ll move on to Watkins Glen. I’m really happy. Like I said, this thing looks ugly, but a really good finish so I’m proud of the effort by everybody.”
AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Menards Quaker State Mustang Dark Horse – “I’m just glad a Team Penske car won it. We’ve come to so many of these speedways with cars that are capable of winning races and I’m proud of Joey and the guys to get it done. Obviously, Ryan and I worked really well together to get a ton of points to start. We just got off cycle there with a bad pit stop and just really took a long time to get back up to the front of the field. I feel like I could have made some better decisions on the last couple of restarts, but a solid effort all around with all of the challenges of pack racing.”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO GET THROUGH THIS WITH A GOOD DAY? “Yeah, just base hits all around. I’m so proud of the team. We have just a little bit left on execution, but, otherwise, happy with the result.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 King’s Hawaiian Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “It just wasn’t a super strong day. We kind of survived and we’ll live to fight another day.”
JOSH BERRY, No. 4 Decisely Insurance Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “We struggled with grip all day and just couldn’t find what I needed to get the speed needed to drive up front. It’s a bummer for sure to qualify so well and not make the most of it, but this group will take a bad day on the chin and reset for next week. I can’t thank Decisely enough for coming on board this week and supporting the No. 4 program. It’s really special to have friends of the team want to get involved and I am just appreciative of them. We will go at it again next week in Watkins Glen.”
CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “Ultimately, that’s not how we wanted to go out. I’m definitely disappointed and screwed up there. I got a really good run. I got to the bottom and we’d been able to keep really good pace on the bottom, and then just caught a bump and stepped out and ended up making a crash. I’m disappointed in myself for that one. It certainly wasn’t our typical Atlanta day, either. We’d been so good here, but I had to fight for the handling today. The team made good adjustments and good calls to get us close to the front, but I just messed it up when it counted.”
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 Mahindra Compact Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHAT HAPPENED? “That’s NASCAR. You can be on top one week and you can be at the very bottom of the mountain the next week. It’s unfortunate. I thought our car was an adjustment away from being pretty good. We weren’t very good at all balance-wise and I still felt like I was able to kind of run right there around the seventh to 12th place guys. I was watching my outside getting into one because somebody kept trying to get to my outside and was probably a little late just trying to see the 5 car wrecking. I didn’t expect anybody to wreck because they weren’t really two-wide, and then I saw the smoke and tried slowing down. I knew he was coming down the racetrack and just kept trying to feed the thing left and slow it down and I couldn’t get left quick enough and then he kind of started sliding back down the track at the very last minute, so I tried to turn back right to avoid him and just KO’d him. It was a big hit. One of the biggest hits I’ve had in a long time. I’m glad I’m alright and we just have to go win. That’s what we had to do at Darlington and I know we’re capable of doing it again, so we’ll just have to go to Watkins Glen and Bristol and try to do the same.”
HOW ARE YOU FEELING RIGHT NOW? “I’m good. My private area hurt pretty bad at first, just when I hit it was a big hit, but, other than that, I’m totally good. My head, everything feels fine. I’m glad my ankles didn’t get messed up. The brake pedal and everything went through the floorboard, so I’m thankful that I’m alright, for sure.”
A MUST-WIN AT WATKINS GLEN OR BRISTOL? “I mean, either one. I think we’re gonna be really good. Bristol, we’ve started in the top three of four there the last three times we went. We’ve obviously had really good speed. We tested there about a month-and-a-half ago, and then the road courses we’ve always been really good. With the fall off that they’re talking about at Watkins Glen, I think we’re gonna be in good shape. The slick, wore out, where we’re slipping and sliding around is typically when we’re our strongest, so I feel like we can win any of the two.”
HOW DO FEEL ABOUT THAT CHALLENGE? “I’m excited for the challenge, truthfully. I think we all knew when the Playoffs started that this was gonna be the one race where you could really dig yourself a big hole. It’s unfortunate that we dug ourselves in a big hole, but if there was two racetracks out of the 10, those are two of the ones that I would definitely pick to go run in a must-win situation, so hopefully we can do it.”
WHAT WAS THE CAR LIKE FOR YOU? “You’re hanging on, for sure. This place is hard. You’re just on the ragged edge. I know for me I was almost spinning out a lot and that’s why I kept telling my guys that I needed to make it to the first pit stop to get our car better and, unfortunately, we didn’t get that opportunity. These guys are on pins and needles, I can assure you.”
BELL, REDDICK EXTEND PLAYOFF ADVANTAGES WITH STRONG FINISHES IN ATLANTA Bell scores third straight top-five and fifth top-10 in the last six races
HAMPTON, Ga. (September 8, 2024) – Christopher Bell (fourth) and Tyler Reddick (sixth) both overcame adversity on pit road to lead Toyota with strong top-10 finishes at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday evening.
Bell earned his third straight top-five finish with his fourth place run, and moved to 40 points above the Playoff cutline, while sixth-place finisher Reddick is now 33 points to the good.
Denny Hamlin is two points up on the cut line, while Ty Gibbs moved from 15th to 12th overall – one point to the good. Martin Truex Jr. was having a good race but was involved in a wreck not of his own making. The 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion is 19 points down with two races remaining in the round.
Toyota Post-Race Recap NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) Atlanta Motor Speedway Race 27 of 36 – 260 Laps, 400.4 Miles
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS 1st, Joey Logano* 2nd, Daniel Suarez* 3rd, Ryan Blaney* 4th, CHRISTOPHER BELL 5th, Alex Bowman* 6th, TYLER REDDICK 17th, TY GIBBS 24th, DENNY HAMLIN 26th, ERIK JONES 29th, BUBBA WALLACE 33rd, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK 35th, MARTIN TRUEX JR. *non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
Strong finish, Christopher. Can you talk about your run today
“I’ll take it. To walk out of here with a top-five in probably our worst track on the schedule – that was really good and I’m proud of the effort on this Rheem Camry. We had a lot to overcome with a bad qualifying run, and then really bad pit stall selection. There was a lot of adversity that we had to fight through, and that was a freaking blast. It was so much fun. The whole race was super intense, and everybody did a good job not to wreck more.”
How was it to have Adam Stevens back on the pit box?
“It was nice to be back in rhythm and back with a normal voice up there.”
TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 Jordan Brand Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
How was your car overall?
“Our Jordan Brand Toyota Camry was really, really good in certain aspects of the race, but in others – we were a little bit off. It is what it is. I think considering the highs and lows of the day, and the unfortunate circumstances of the 99 (Daniel Suarez) being behind us – and the 22 (Joey Logano) being in front of me – just being boxed in most of the day on pit road. We didn’t even have green flag stops, so getting boxed in almost every time really hurt us.”
How chaotic was pit road?
“It was a nightmare, honestly. You just don’t want to get into too much trouble on pit road, and it seems like that was all we really had.”
It was a good points day. What are your thoughts on a top-10 finish?
“Yeah, it was about surviving. It looks like some of the guys in the 16 had issues as well, so we will see how it all shakes out, but for us, we avoided disaster and that was the most important thing today.”
TY GIBBS, No. 54 He Gets Us Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 17th
Can you talk about your finish?
“I didn’t do a good job blocking, and I take responsibility of not finishing great at all. It is my fault, but I’m glad we finished the race and got some points. It is definitely frustrating. We were up there, and didn’t finish it well, but it is part of it. I’m just glad we can walk out of this place with a good points day with our He Gets Us Camry.”
How hard is it to balance that you had a car that could win, with also needing to finish?
“It is definitely hard, because you want to stay out of the wrecks and stay up front, but it is like a light switch – I just made the best of what I had and kept momentum going and got to the front. I just didn’t do the rest of the job.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Mavis Tire Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 24th
What happened in that final crash?
“Just saw cars turning sideways in front of me. Tried to avoid wrecks all day and just got in the last one.”
Were you always waiting to the end to make a move?
“I thought at the very end we got the Mavis Tire Camry kind of where it needed to be, but by then, you were kind of dealing with a log jam of a couple of lanes that are kind of blocking things and you couldn’t go much of anywhere, so I just tried to avoid the wrecks. I was trying to get 20 points out of the day. That was my goal – just get 20 however we could, obviously, starting in the back didn’t help with that. We did the best we could, and then got in a wreck that probably cost us eight to 10 spots or so.”
Does a weekend like this concern you?
“No, not really. I did what I wanted to do and that was lay in the back most of the race, and try to see what attrition came about, again – 20 points seemed really possible, but came up a little short of that today.”
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 63,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 47 million cars and trucks at our 12 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 13th 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 29 electrified options.
NASCAR CUP SERIES ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY ROUND OF 16: RACE ONE TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT SEPTEMBER 8, 2024
Suarez Leads Chevrolet with Runner-Up Finish in 2024 Playoff Opener at Atlanta Motor Speedway Four Team Chevy Playoff Contenders Earn Top-10 Finishes
Gearing up for a campaign for his second career NASCAR Cup Series championship, Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson laid down a qualifying lap that earned the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1 team a seventh-place starting position for the first race of the Round of 16.
With just five laps complete, Larson showed early speed in his Hendrick Motorsports-prepared Chevrolet; quickly moving up into third and settling into position for much of the opening stage. While looking to capitalize on a handful of opportunities to take the lead, Larson unexpectedly took a hard hit midway through the corner; suffering damage that would end the day early for the No. 5 team.
The first caution of the day also ultimately brought the race to the end of Stage One. Team Chevy’s playoff contender Alex Bowman led the Bowtie brand to the end of the stage – collecting a third-place finish in the stage. Joining Bowman in the top-10 included Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott and William Byron in the fifth through eighth positions, respectively.
With a third-place finish in Stage One, crew chief Blake Harris called Bowman to pit road for four tires and fuel. With a quick stop by the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet pit crew, Bowman won the race off pit road to lead the field to the green flag for the start of Stage Two.
The 100-lap stage saw much of the field settle into a two-by-two formation, with Team Chevy’s other remaining playoff contenders occupying top-10 running positions. The lead pack began to shuffle positions once the stage hit 10-laps-go. Bowman went on to lead the Bowtie brand with yet another third-place result in Stage Two – leading Suarez (fourth), Byron (fifth), Stenhouse Jr. (sixth), Chastain (seventh) and Elliott (eighth).
The beginning laps of the final stage saw a handful of Team Chevy drivers looking to pull of a playoff upset, Kyle Busch and Chastain making an appearance in the top-five as the race returned to caution conditions with 53 laps to go. Sitting in the second position, crew chief Randall Burnett opted to gamble and capitalize on track position – giving Busch a front-row starting position for the green-flag with 49 laps to go.
As intensity ramped up, a strong contingency of Camaro ZL1’s occupied much of the lead pack, with Team Chevy drivers occupying six of the top-eight running positions as the race hit 25-laps to go.
Enduring a green-white-checkered finish, the track’s defending winner, Daniel Suarez, posted his third-straight podium result at Atlanta Motor Speedway – leading Chevrolet with a runner-up finish in his No. 99 Quaker State Camaro ZL1.
Four of Team Chevy’s playoff contenders drove their Camaro ZL1’s to top-10 results in the Round of 16 opening race, with Suarez leading Alex Bowman in fifth; Chase Elliott in eighth; and William Byron in ninth.
Despite an unfortunate early ending to his race, Larson’s playoff points cushion keeps the 32-year-old Elk Grove, California, native above the playoff bubble, with the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1 team heading to Watkins Glen in the 10th position and 15-points above the cutline.
TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10: POS. DRIVER 2nd Daniel Suarez 5th Alex Bowman 7th Kyle Busch 8th Chase Elliott 9th William Byron
WITH 27 NASCAR CUP SERIES RACES COMPLETE: Wins: 11 Poles: 7 Top-five finishes: 49 Top-10 finishes: 105
UP NEXT: The second race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 16 gets underway at Watkins Glen International with the Go Bowling at The Glen on Sunday, September 15, at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident in Stage One.
Finished: 37th
Larson on the accident that ended the day early for the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1 team:
“I’m OK. Thankfully everything held up well inside the car. That was a huge hit. I’m not really sure what caused it. I was actually sort of tight and loaded in the corner. And then I was pretty far around the corner and it just stepped out. I don’t know.. it all just happened really fast.”
Were you trying to save the car at that point.. was it loading weird to you on that lap?
“No, I mean I was already loaded in the corner. It just got loose, and when you’re spinning or getting ready to spin, you have to turn right. I just overcorrected, I guess. It’s just a bummer. We’ll see how everything kind of shakes out after today; go onto Watkins Glen and try to have a good day.”
Did you have any warning? Were you fighting the loose conditions the whole time?
“No, not at all. Never.. not once. If anything, I was getting tighter and tighter. So yeah, it just caught me way off guard. I was never once loose, even in that corner. And then, it just started stepping out. I corrected it and overcorrected it, I guess.”
How are you feeling right now?
“I feel fine. Thankfully, everything held up great in the car, so thank you to Hendrick Motorsports and NASCAR for the safety of these cars.”
Larson on the next two races in the Round of 16 around the cutline bubble:
“Yeah, we’ll see how the rest of the race plays out and where the points shake out. I have no idea where I sit currently, but I’ll for sure be much closer.”
Kyle Busch, No. 8 Global Industrial Camaro ZL1
Finished: 7th
Are you satisfied with the result today?
“No, we needed to win. We started pretty far off with the No. 8 Global Industrial Camaro, but we really worked on it. The guys made some good adjustments and got it to where it was driving really good. Definitely the second-half of the race and the final stage, I felt really positive about it. But then we had to go into fuel-save mode, so we weren’t really able to kind of stretch our legs there. Just played the way the cards were dealt and we came home with a top-10. Certainly felt like we had a shot to win. Felt as good, or better, than the No. 99 (Daniel Suarez), so I was just hopeful that we could keep that track position. Just lost a little bit too much there on that second-to-last restart.”
Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA / Children’s Camaro ZL1
Finished: 8th
Is there just relief getting through today?
“Yeah, for sure. It’s nice to just have a solid day. We needed a good, solid day for this No. 9 NAPA / Children’s Chevy team. I’m looking forward to getting up to Watkins Glen and seeing how it goes.”
Overall, how did you feel about the race today?
“Yeah, it was fine. I think as time goes on, everybody gets better at it, and then it makes everybody just more the same and harder to be different. So, then we just end up clogging up the lanes and you just hope you have track position. Unfortunately, we had that most of the day.”
Going into next weekend, your thoughts on that. Watkins Glen is a pretty good track for you.
“Yeah, I’m looking forward to getting up there. Just going to have to qualify well. It’s going to be really, really tough to make any ground on that track. You better bring your A-game on Saturday because I’d say the race is probably going to be lost there.”
William Byron, No. 24 Relay Payments Camaro ZL1
Finished: 9th
This round is kind of ‘survive and advance’. Do you feel like you did what you needed to do today?
“We did. We had a little bit of handling issues in the first stage, but we overcame that. We got eighth-place stage points. The second stage was pretty good. We were up towards the front. And then in the final stage, we were up in the front the whole time. We were just trying to save fuel. I feel like we did a good job, for the most part. Just the second-to-last restart, I wasn’t quite sure who to push when they were three-wide in front of me, and I got trapped three-wide bottom and lost some spots.
All-in-all, coming back and finishing ninth is a good day for the No. 24 Relay Payments Chevrolet team.”
Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1
Finished: 5th
A 48-point day for the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet team. Tell us about your race here at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and are you satisfied with today?
“Yeah, it was obviously a really good points day and a good day, overall, after the last month of so. Made a couple of moves there during that third-to-last run that just cost us a lot of track position, and we had to restart 13th there that second-to-last run. Obviously got a lot of it back, but couldn’t get it all back. I would have much rather been sitting in victory lane, but I just didn’t put myself in the best position at the end to be able to do that.
We had a great No. 48 Ally Chevy. It drove great all day. Little bummed, but definitely a good day for this team.”
Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Quaker State Camaro ZL1
Finished: 2nd
Your last three races at Atlanta, you were second, first and now third. You had a shot at the end of this one. Are you satisfied with today?
“No, definitely not satisfied. I am happy with it, but not satisfied. I lost my pusher, my teammate. He was doing a great job, and I felt like we were going to have a great shot at it. Ross was doing an amazing job of pushing, and I don’t know if he got a flat tire or something, but once I lost him, I knew it was going to be tough. But, that is part of racing, right?
I can’t thank everyone enough; Trackhouse Racing, all the men and women. I have to give a shout out here to the race track and Quaker State for helping me design this amazing race car. It was nice to run strong today, but when you are that close and obviously we had a good shot, it’s never too fun.”
About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands. 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.
Jesse Love and the No. 2 Samsara Chevrolet Team Earn Pole and Strong Sixth-Place Result at Atlanta Motor Speedway
Finish: 6th Start: 1st Points: 8th
“I’m very proud of our No. 2 Samsara Chevrolet team for the effort today at Atlanta Motor Speedway. We started on the pole, led 23 laps, and earned stage points. Danny Stockman (crew chief) made good adjustments each stop, and our pit crew was consistent on pit road. We lost some track position by design in order to save fuel for the end but were unfortunately caught up in the late race multi-car wreck. Luckily, we didn’t have heavy damage and could come to pit road for four tires and race hard to the end. Our Camaro was really good, and I felt like we put ourselves in a position to win at the end. It’s a drafting track though, so it’s hard to do by yourself. Congratulations to my teammate, Austin Hill, and the No. 21 team on the win. If we couldn’t get to Victory Lane, I’m glad RCR as a company could. Thanks to everyone at RCR and ECR for building fast cars week in and week out. We’ll keep grinding it out as we close in on the Playoffs.” -Jesse Love
Austin Hill and the No. 21 Bennett Transportation & Logistics Chevrolet Team Capture Season Sweep with Victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway
Finish: 1st Start: 4th Points: 4th
“What a win for our Bennett Transportation & Logistics team today at Atlanta Motor Speedway! To win here again at my home track, but more importantly to win in this gold No. 21 Chevrolet, celebrating Bennett’s 50th Anniversary means a lot. Bennett had over 500 people here at the track, cheering on myself and our team, so to get back in Victory Lane with them is special. We had to work hard for this one though. Our car wasn’t driving the way we wanted it to. I was out of control loose throughout the entire race and had to get elbows up on that last restart. The No. 81 was pushing – doing what he’s supposed to do – but I was honestly surprised the No. 26 went with me. I just wanted it really bad and dug deep. My family, friends, and everyone on this team needed a confidence booster and some momentum going forward. We got it done. The other three wins here seemed easy compared to this one. I’m so proud to drive for Richard Childress and represent every man and woman who works at Richard Childress Racing and ECR Engines.” -Austin Hill
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September 07, 2024: NASCAR races at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georiga. (HHP/Harold Hinson)
HAMPTON, Ga. (Sept. 7, 2024) – A multi-car crash among race leaders with less than 20 laps remaining set up the trophy dash finish that allowed Georgia native Austin Hill to take the checkered flag in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Focused Health 250 and sweep the 2024 NXS season at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Hill restarted third in his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with just 13 laps remaining, took the lead one lap later and fought off hard charges from multiple drivers to cross the finish line 0.340-of-a-second ahead of Parker Kligerman’s No. 48 Big Machine Chevrolet. He lead only the final 12 laps.
The Winston, Ga., native swept Atlanta Motor Speedway’s NASCAR Xfinity Series races this season and has won four of the six series races since the speedway was reconfigured for the 2022 season.
“I was doing everything in my power to win the race,” said Hill. “I saw the 48 didn’t have much momentum. I figured that nobody was going to get a run to get back to us. This is such a special win. We had to work for that one. The car didn’t drive the best all day but we were there when it mattered.”
AJ Allmendinger (No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet), Talking Rock, Ga.’s Chandler Smith (No. 81 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) and Marietta, Ga.’s Corey Heim (No. 26 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota) rounded out the top-five finishers. The balance of the top 10 were pole-winner Jesse Love (No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet), Sammy Smith (No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet), Josh Williams (No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet), Atlanta’s Brandon Jones (No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet), and Ryan Truex (No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota).
The late-race restart was created after contact on Lap 144 between Cole Custer, Justin Allgaier and Taylor Gray, running second through fourth, created a multi-car incident that brought out the red flag. Ryan Sieg, Riley Herbst and others were also gathered up in the late-race melee.
Allgaier, the series points leader entering the Focused Health 250, was unable to complete the race and finished 30th while Custer, second in points, suffered the same fate and finished 31st.
Stage 1 Love led the field of 37 to the green flag while RCR teammate and eventual race winner Hill quickly moved up two spots to Love’s back bumper. After a caution on Lap 12, racing resumed four laps later with the RCR drivers chased by Allgaier, Chandler Smith, and Taylor Gray.
Allgaier dove low to make a bid for the lead on Lap 23 and accomplished the feat two laps later. He would maintain that lead for the balance of the 40-lap first stage. The rest of the top 10 were Hill, Riley Herbst, Sheldon Creed, Love, Sam Mayer, Jones, Cole Custer, Smith and Gray.
Stage 2 Tire strategies during pit stops under caution after Stage 1 found Allmendinger leading the field to begin Stage 2 on Lap 48 with Sammy Smith, Allgaier, and Herbst in his immediate tow.
The field settled down as the laps clicked off with Allmendinger, Smith, Custer, Herbst and Love making up top five. Early leaders Allgaier and Hill dealt with handling issues for the majority of the stage.
The caution flag waved on Lap 77 when Mayer’s day ended early, and spectacularly, after contact with another driver and then the wall caused a large fireball to burst from the rear of his No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. He would finish 37th.
Stage 2 finished under caution on Lap 80 with Allmendinger grabbing the coveted playoff point, his first of the season. The rest of the top 10 were Sammy Smith, Custer, Herbst, Allgaier, Love, Gray, Chandler Smith, Shane Van Gisbergen, and Hill.
Other notable finishers included: Sheldon Creed, fifth in NXS points entering the weekend, finished 25th, three laps down … NXS rookie Taylor Gray, who qualified second for the Focused Health 250 and finished in the top 10 in the first two stages, was collected in the Lap 144 incident and finished 28th … Tucker, Georgia native Ryan Sieg (No. 39 RSS Racing Ford) finished 32nd after getting gathered up in the late-race melee.
Please visit www.AtlantaMotorSpeedway.com or call 877-9-AMS-TIX for Sunday’s Quaker State Available at Walmart 400.
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With his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro entry sporting a special gold scheme to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his sponsor Bennett Transportation & Logistics, Austin Hill generated a late golden performance on the track to win the Focused Health 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 7.
The 30-year-old Hill from Winston, Georgia, led the final 12 of 163-scheduled laps in an event where he started fourth place and spent the first stage period racing upfront getting shuffled within the top-10 mark throughout the second stage period. After spending most of the final stage period methodically carving his way back to the front amid the draft, Hill capitalized on the final restart period with 13 laps remaining to overtake Chandler Smith for the lead during the following lap. He then fended off a pair of final lap challenges from Chandler Smith and Corey Heim to notch his third NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the 2024 season, his fourth at his home track and his first series victory since late February.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup on Saturday, rookie Jesse Love notched his fourth Xfinity career pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 173.646 mph in 31.927 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Taylor Gray, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 173.489 mph in 31.956 seconds.
Before the event, the following names that included AJ Allmendinger, Jeremy Clements, Ryan Ellis and Brennan Poole dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Jesse Love and Taylor Gray dueled for the lead in front of two stacked lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch until the outside lane led by Love gained the advantage as Love muscled ahead with drafting help from teammate Austin Hill. As the field returned to the frontstretch, Love led the first lap in his No. 2 Samsara Chevrolet Camaro.
Over the next four laps and with the field briefly fanning out to three lanes before the majority of the filed settled in a long single-file line towards the outside wall, Love retained an early advantage ahead of teammate Hill and Justin Allgaier while Chandler Smith and Taylor Gray pursued in the top five. Behind, Sheldon Creed, Ryan Sieg, Cole Custer, rookie Shane van Gisbergen and Parker Kligerman were in the top 10 while Brandon Jones, Jeb Burton, Ryan Truex, Riley Herbst, Josh Williams, Sam Mayer, Sammy Smith, Corey Heim, Anthony Alfredo and Blaine Perkins were in the top 20 ahead of Parker Retzlaff, Brennan Poole, Kyle Sieg, AJ Allmendinger and Garrett Smithley.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Love continued to lead ahead of teammate Hill, Allgaier, Chandler Smith and Taylor Gray as the top-six competitors, including Creed, were separated by less than a second Meanwhile, the top 13 competitors were separated by within two seconds while the top 19 were separated by within three seconds.
A lap later, the event’s first caution flew when Ryan Sieg, a Playoff bubble competitor, coasted to a halt in the backstretch due to a wiring issue as he fell out of the lead lap category while needing a wrecker to have his No. 39 Sci Aps Ford Mustang entry nursed back to his pit stall. Amid Sieg’s issues, Anthony Alfredo also encountered early issues due to scraping the outside wall and damaging the right side of his No. 5 Our Motorsports entry. During the caution period, some led by Sammy Smith and including AJ Allmendinger pitted while the rest led by Love remained on the track.
When the race restarted under green on Lap 16, Sheldon Creed and Love dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Love muscled ahead from the outside lane with drafting help from Chevrolet teammates Hill and Allgaier. With Creed falling back to fourth place, Love proceeded to lead the following lap as the majority of the field migrated towards the outside wall and behind Love. Meanwhile, Parker Kligerman, who was running within the top-10 mark, was trying to form a drafting lane on the inside lane ahead of van Gisbergen, Sam Mayer and Jeb Burton before he quickly moved back up the outside lane and with the pack. Amid the shuffles and battles within the lead pack, Love proceeded to lead the Lap 20 mark.
At the Lap 25 mark, Allgaier, who spent the previous few laps dueling with Love for the lead from the inside lap despite having no drafting help, was out in front as he muscled his No. 7 Hellmann’s Chevrolet Camaro ahead of Love with the top spot and towards the outside lane. With Allgaier leading and the field behind slowly fanning out to two drafting lanes, Love was second ahead of teammate Hill, Creed and Cole Custer while Brandon Jones, Riley Herbst, Chandler Smith, Sam Mayer and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10. Shortly after, the top-nine competitors were separated by less than a second and the top 19 were separated by less than four seconds as Allgaier continued to lead by the Lap 30 mark.
Nearing the Lap 35 mark, the top 12 competitors were separated by less than two seconds as Allgaier remained out in front of Hill and Love while Herbst and Creed were scored in the top five ahead of Mayer, Brandon Jones, Custer, Chandler Smith, Taylor Gray, Ryan Truex and Corey Heim.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 40, Allgaier edged a hard-charging Hill by 0.012 seconds to score his 14th Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Hill settled in second ahead of Riley Herbst, Creed and Love while Mayer, Brandon Jones, Custer, Chandler Smith and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10. By then, 34 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap.
Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Allgaier pitted while others led by Allmendinger and Sammy Smith remained on the track. During the pit stops, Josh Williams was penalized for speeding on pit road.
The second stage period started on Lap 47 as Allmendinger and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, both dueled for the lead entering the first two turns and the backstretch as the field fanned out to three lanes. With Cole Custer fanning out to boost his way up to fourth place, Allmendinger retained the lead from the outside lane over Allgaier as the former had Sammy Smith drafting him.
Just past the Lap 50 mark, Allmendinger was leading ahead of Sammy Smith, Custer, Herbst and Mayer while Allgaier, Love, Hill, Creed and Gray were scored in the top 10 ahead of van Gisbergen, Brandon Jones, Kligerman, Chandler Smith and Ryan Truex.
Ten laps later, Allmendinger retained the lead ahead of Sammy Smith, Custer, Herbst and Mayer while Allgaier, Love, Creed, Gray and Jones followed suit in the top 10 ahead of van Gisbergen, Hill, Kligerman, Chandler Smith, Corey Heim, Truex, Jeb Burton, Parker Retzlaff, Brennan Poole and Lawless Alan. With a majority of the field running in a single-file line towards the outside wall, Allmendinger continued to lead by the Lap 79 mark as the top 14 competitors were separated by three seconds.
Then with three laps remaining in the second stage period, the caution flew after Mayer was turned across the frontstretch’s outside wall by Gray as Mayer, who hit the wall, proceeded with right-side damage to his No. 1 High Rock Vodka Chevrolet Camaro. As Mayer’s damaged car continued to zip through the frontstretch, his car then had flames bursting out from behind and Mayer proceeded to pull his car below the apron and park in the backstretch before exiting uninjured.
The caution for Mayer’s incident was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 80 to officially conclude under caution as Allmendinger notched his first Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Sammy Smith settled in second ahead of Custer, Herbst and Allgaier while Love, Taylor Gray, Chandler Smith, van Gisbergen and Creed were scored in the top 10.
During the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Allmendinger pitted for service while select names including Leland Honeyman, Jeremy Clements, David Starr and Garrett Smithley remained on the track. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, teammates Gray and Creed exited first and second on two fresh tires. Amid the pit stops, Creed was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation while teammate Ryan Truex was penalized for pitting outside of his pit box. In addition, Hill ran into the rear of van Gisbergen after entering pit road.
With 76 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Gray and Allmendinger occupied the front row. At the start, Gray and Allmendinger dueled for the top spot, with the former managing to retain the top spot. Amid the battles and with the field stacked to two lanes, Gray retained the lead with 70 laps remaining before teammate Chandler Smith would overtake him a lap later.
With 66 laps remaining, the caution returned for van Gisbergen getting into the outside wall in Turn 4 while running inside the top 10 as he proceeded to nurse his No. 97 Quad Lock Chevrolet Camaro back to his pit stall with right-side damage. During the caution period, multiple names including Hill, Allgaier, Sammy Smith, Kligerman, Corey Heim, Jeb Burton and Creed pitted while the rest led by Chandler Smith remained on the track.
The start of the following restart period with 59 laps remaining featured Chandler Smith and Gray dueling for the top spot as Smith retained the lead for the following lap. Three laps later, Smith was overtaken by Custer through the backstretch and Smith was left battling Herbst for the runner-up spot.
The caution would then return with 55 laps remaining due to Jeb Burton losing a left front tire and spinning to the bottom of the track. During the caution period, select names including Blaine Perkins, van Gisbergen, Clements and Ryan Ellis pitted while the rest led by Custer remained on the track.
As the race restarted with 48 laps remaining, Custer dueled and held off Gray to lead the field. Amid the late battles within the pack, Custer proceeded to lead with 40 laps remaining. By then, Chandler Smith was up to second ahead of Herbst, Love and Allmendinger while Josh Williams, Truex, Allgaier, Heim and Hill were in the top 10. After Custer led the next nine laps, Allmendinger overtook him with 31 laps remaining.
Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Chandler Smith, who assumed the lead two laps earlier, was out in front of Allgaier, Custer, Hill and Gray as Love, Ryan Sieg, Williams, Herbst and Jones followed suit in the top 10, with the top-16 competitors separated by a second. By then, Creed made an unscheduled pit stop under green.
With less than 20 laps remaining, Chandler Smith continued to lead ahead of Custer, Allgaier, Taylor Gray and Hill. Behind, Jones, who had tried to slide in front of Chandler Smith for the lead a few laps earlier but was unable to do so, slipped out of the top five on the inside lane, and was in seventh as the top 10 competitors were separated by less than a second. By then, Smith was also able to muscle ahead of Allgaier, who was trying to use the inside lane to slide in front of Smith but was unable to do so.
Then with 19 laps remaining, the caution flew when Allgaier, who was dueling Custer for the runner-up spot, went up the track just past the backstretch and made contact with Custer and Gray. Custer was sent for a spin before he collided with teammate Herbst and Ryan Sieg as Allgaier and Gray were pinned against one another towards the outside wall as Love barely ran into the rear of Gray. The incident was enough for the event to be placed in a red flag period for 15 minutes.
Once the red flag lifted and the field proceeded under a cautious pace, multiple names that included Love, Allmendinger, Brennan Poole, Parker Retzlaff, Clements, Nick Leitz, Blaine Perkins, Ryan Ellis, Garrett Smithley and David Starr pitted while the rest led by Chandler Smith remained on the track. Among those who pitted included Love, who had a rear bumper cover from Herbst’s car stuck atop the No. 2 Chevrolet.
With the race restarting under green with 13 laps remaining, Chandler Smith and Hill dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch before Hill muscled ahead and tried to slide in front of Smith through Turns 3 and 4. Smith, however, pulled a crossover move on Hill through the frontstretch, but Hill would prevail from the outside lane through the first two turns as he would maintain the lead through the backstretch while Smtih was battling Josh Williams and Corey Heim for second place.
Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Hill was leading ahead of Chandler Smith and Williams while the rest of the field behind followed in close pursuit amid two stacked lanes. By then, the top 12 competitors were separated by less than a second while the top 19 were separated by under two seconds.
With five laps remaining, Hill maintained a steady advantage ahead of Chandler Smith, Heim, Kligerman and Lawless Alan as the top-15 competitors were separated by less than two seconds. Allmendinger would then transition to the inside lane and try to gain a drafting run while battling Sammy Smith for sixth place, but he would then make contact with Alan and nearly send him spinning
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hill, who nearly got sideways off the front nose of Chandler Smith as Smith made a move beneath Hill to duel with him exiting Turns 3 and 4, remained as the leader on the outside lane as Heim, who elected not to draft his Toyota teammate Smith from the inside lane, drafted Hill back out front ahead of Kligerman through the frontstretch.
Then through Turns 1 and 2, Heim attempted to make a move to Hill’s outside, but Hill blocked and fended off Heim as the latter scraped his No. 26 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota Supra towards the outside wall. This allowed Hill to retain the top spot as Kligerman zipped by for second place. With Allmendinger and Chandler Smith following Kligerman and passing Heim, all four were unable to regain their momentum and catch Hill as Hill cycled his No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet Camaro back to the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag by three-tenths of a second.
With the victory, Hill notched his ninth Xfinity Series career win in his 105th series start, his seventh on a superspeedway venue and his fourth at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his home track. This season marks the first time Hill swept both Atlanta Xfinity events as he also notched the 96th Xfinity career victory for Richard Childress Racing and the 13th of the season for the Chevrolet nameplate.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“Just resilience with this whole Bennett No. 21 team,” Hill said on USA Network. “Our Bennett Chevrolet wasn’t handling great all day. It had plenty of speed. Just the handle on it was tough all day. We had to dig deep for that [win]. [Chandler Smith] got into [Turn] 3 and had me jacked up. He’s doing what he has to do to try to win. [I’m] Very surprised that [Heim] pushed me there and didn’t go with a Toyota and then, I thought that I messed up into [Turns] 1 and 2. I hate it that [Heim] got in the fence. I wasn’t trying to run him in the fence. I was just trying to get him aero-tight or get him aero-loose because that was happening to me a lot today.”
“This is insane like to win with this gold car, Bennett’s 50th anniversary. This is their biggest race of the entire year,” Hill added. “To do this for our sponsor, it means a lot. We’re gonna celebrate this one because [the win] didn’t come easy.”
With Hill winning the race, Parker Kligerman edged AJ Allmendinger by 0.004 seconds to finish in second place for the first time this season while Chandler Smith and Corey Heim rounded out the top five following their last-lap charges for the victory. To add to Hill being surprised about Heim not drafting with Chandler Smith and challenging him for the win, Smith was also left surprised and disappointed with not having the drafting help to challenge for the victory as his home track.
“I expected my Toyota teammate to come with me and that didn’t happen,” Smith said. “It is what it is. I’m kind of speechless, honestly. There’s a lot of different things I could’ve done that I could’ve been more selfish and when I got clear, went to the bottom [lane] and cover that and just control the race, for sure, but I was trying to be a good teammate. It didn’t pay off for me today, as usual.”
Rookie Jesse Love charged back up the field to finish sixth while Sammy Smith, Josh Williams, Brandon Jones and Ryan Truex finished in the top 10.
There were 12 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 36 laps. In addition, 23 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 24th event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Justin Allgaier continues to lead the regular-season standings by 34 points over Cole Custer, 67 over Chandler Smith and 71 over Austin Hill.
Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York, for the Mission 200 at The Glen. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, September 14, and air at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.
AJ ALLMENDINGER No. 16 Campers Inn RV Chevrolet Camaro
AJ Allmendinger qualified sixth for the Focused Health 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Allmendinger started at the rear of the field after making an adjustment for a power steering issue following qualifying. The first caution came on lap 23; Allmendinger was running 23rd. He reported the balance of his Chevy was good and asked for an adjustment for more rear security. The No. 16 Campers Inn RV Chevy came to pit road for four tires, fuel and adjustments. Allmendinger went on to finish the opening stage in 14th place.
Under the stage break, the No. 16 stayed out and restarted from the first position. Allmendinger maintained position for the duration of the second stage, winning it under yellow. After reporting the rear of the car was stable, Allmendinger came to pit road during the stage break for tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment.
On lap 88, the No. 16 restarted on the bottom lane. The bottom lane didn’t have momentum on the initial start, and Allmendinger fell back to 10th place. By lap 99, when the caution came out, Allmendinger was running fifth. When the caution waved again on lap 110, Allmendinger reported he was free. On lap 116, the No. 16 restarted in seventh place and took sixth place on the first lap green. On lap 132, Allmendinger took a shot for the lead, but without help on the bottom lane, he fell back to seventh. Allmendinger reported his No. 16 Chevy was sideways. By lap 136, Allmendinger was in 16th place. On lap 146, the caution came out and the red flag was displayed for track clean up. When the race resumed, Allmendinger came to pit road for adjustments and restarted in 12th place on lap 151. Allmendinger battled until the end and went on to finish in third place.
“Our Campers Inn RV Chevy was really fast. I got really free that third stage there. That was unexpected; our car had been really good. When that yellow came out, we were able to put on tires and make some adjustments; Alex Yontz and the guys did a great job there. We got to fifth with two to go and I thought if they stay in line, I was far enough back that I was going to go for the lunge for the win there. Great to get a top-five finish today. At the end of the day, we want to get to victory lane, but I’m proud of the race team. We’re making the cars faster, getting closer to making the playoffs and hopefully we’ll be ready to go when we get there.” – AJ Allmendinger
JOSH WILLIAMS No. 11 Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet Camaro
Josh Williams qualified 13th for the Focused Health 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Williams coasted just outside the top 10 for the first 12 laps of Stage 1 before a caution came out on lap 13. He restarted from 14th on lap 17 and immediately jumped into the top 10 as the pack went single file. Williams dropped back to 14th after being taken two wide as the stage’s end neared, but he remained at the tail of the lead group of cars. Gaining one more position before the green-white-checkered, Williams ended Stage 1 in 13th.
Williams pitted for fuel, tires and a slight air pressure adjustment during the first stage break, but he was caught speeding on pit road. He rolled off from the rear of the field for Stage 2 on lap 48 and began slowly moving back up through the field. On lap 79, a wreck brought out the caution that ended the second stage. Williams finished it in 19th.
After stopping in the pits for tires and fuel, Williams fired off for the final stage in 14th on lap 87 and entered the top 10 entering turn four. As the pack began shuffling, Williams found himself on the outside line battling to move forward. By the time the yellow flag was waved on lap 99, Williams had moved into 11th. He restarted from seventh with 59 laps to go, fell one spot, and then the caution once again was displayed, this time on lap 110. Williams took the green on lap 116 and hooked up with teammate AJ Allmendinger. As the intensity picked up, Williams dropped outside the top 10, and with 17 laps to go, a massive wreck brought out the yellow flag. Williams avoided it and leapt into fifth for the lap-151 restart. He tired making the bottom line work late but couldn’t find any pushers. Williams survived until the checkered flag, taking eighth place.
“We had a good racecar, and I’m happy with our finish. I think we had a lot more in us, but we just didn’t have any help at the end to get it done.” – Josh Williams
SHANE van GISBERGEN No. 97 Quad Lock Chevrolet Camaro
Shane van Gisbergen qualified 12th for the Focused Health 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Van Gisbergen quickly drove his way into the top 10 by lap two. With a caution on lap 13, the team opted to stay out to maintain track position. As the stage progressed, Van Gisbergen fought to maintain position while battling a tight-handling racecar and worn tires. The No. 97 Quad Lock Chevy Camaro took the green-white-checkered flag in 16th.
The No. 97 Quad Lock team pitted during the first stage break and started the second stage in 17th. Ten laps into the stage, Van Gisbergen drove to 10th and continued racing in the top 10 throughout. On lap 79, a caution came out, and the No. 97 team opted to pit for fresh tires and fuel. Van Gisbergen finished the stage under caution in ninth.
The No. 97 Quad Lock team started the final stage in ninth. Van Gisbergen quickly raced into the top five on lap 90 of the event and raced there for five laps. With 65 laps left, Van Gisbergen made contact with the wall, forcing him to pit quickly under caution for fresh right-side tires only. The No. 97 team opted to pit again under the same caution for repairs, fresh left-side tires and fuel. Van Gisbergen restarted the stage in 32nd with 59 laps remaining in the race. With 40 laps remaining, the No. 97 had a tire issue, forcing Van Gisbergen to pit under green. Van Gisbergen continued to battle a damaged car for the remainder of the race, ultimately taking the checkered flag in 27th.
“That was a tough one, not the way we wanted our day to go. I ran up front most of the race, but got into the wall there towards the end and caused some right side damage. Gutted for my No. 97 Quad Lock team because we had a really good car today, but going to continue to learn and get better. Looking forward to another shot at it tomorrow in the Cup car.” – Shane van Gisbergen
Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time, multi-car NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, owned by award winning entrepreneur, Matt Kaulig. Established in 2016, Kaulig Racing™ has earned 23 NXS wins, made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started, and won two regular-season championships. In 2021, the team competed in select NCS events, before expanding to a two-car, full-time NCS team in 2022 and adding a third, part-time entry during the 2023 season. Since its first NCS start in 2021, the team has earned two wins. Kaulig Racing is currently fielding two full-time entries in the NCS and continues to field three full-time NXS entries, with a part-time fourth entry at select events. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.
STEWART-HAAS RACING Focused Health 250 Date: Sept. 7, 2024 Event: Focused Health 250 (Round 24 of 33) Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series Location: Atlanta Motor Speedway (1.54-mile oval) Format: 163 laps, broken into three stages (40 laps/40 laps/83 laps)
Race Winner: Austin Hill of Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet) Stage 1 Winner: Justin Allgaier of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet) Stage 2 Winner: AJ Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet)
● Cole Custer (2nd with 832 points, 34 out of first) ● Riley Herbst (7th with 693 points, 173 out of first)
SHR Notes:
● Herbst finished third in Stage 1 to earn eight bonus points and fourth in Stage 2 to earn seven more bonus points. ● Custer finished eighth in Stage 1 to earn three bonus points and third in Stage 2 to earn eight more bonus points. ● Custer led two times for 27 laps increasing his laps led total to 29 at Atlanta.
Race Notes:
● Austin Hill won the Focused Health 250 to score his ninth career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory, his third of the season and his fourth at Atlanta. His margin over second-place Parker Kligerman was .340 of a second. ● There were six caution periods for a total of 36 laps. ● Twenty-three of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap. ● Justin Allgaier remains the championship leader after Atlanta with a 34-point advantage over second-place Custer.
Sound Bites:
“I thought we were okay. Our car wasn’t dominant, but I thought it was fast enough for a top five at least. It just felt good to get points again with my mistake from last week, but I just got ran over on that caution. Somebody didn’t listen to their spotter and made the most of it.” –Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang Dark Horse
“I haven’t heard was Justin (Allgaier) said, but I think he just blew a right-front. Looking at the replay, I just tried to come down to side draft him and we just barely touched. I mean, it didn’t have any smoke or anything and it looked like it blew its right-front, I guess. I’ve never seen that light of contact blow a tire, but it’s just part of the racing. You’re trying to side draft as hard as you can. If you don’t, he’s gonna clear you the next corner, so it’s just tough racing and close racing and just part of it.” –Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Autodesk/Haas Automation Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the Mission 200 at the Glen on Saturday, Sept. 14 at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. The race begins at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
