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Sheldon Creed / No. 18 CW Sports Toyota GR Supra Preview – Focused Health 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway

by MikeSeptember 5, 2024

CREED AT ATLANTA: Sheldon Creed takes his summer hot streak and his CW Sports Toyota GR Supra to Atlanta this weekend for the Focused Health 250. In five starts at the track, Creed has scored one top-five, two top-10s, 55 laps led, and an average finish of 16.2. In his last start at the track earlier this season, Creed scored his best finish at Atlanta, which was a fourth-place performance.

DARLINGTON RECAP: Creed showcased one of the greatest Xfinity Series performances as well as perhaps the worst heartbreak of his career last week at Darlington. After starting second, Creed ran in the top-five for the entire day, proving to be the class of the field along with teammate Christopher Bell. After a fifth-place finish in stage one, Creed came back to score his first stage win of the year in stage two. In the final stage, Creed chased down Bell from four seconds behind to take the lead with eight laps to go before a late-race caution sent the race in overtime. Creed lost the lead on the last minute round of pit stops and could not overcome the setback in overtime, leaving him to finish third despite leading 30 laps on the day. (more…)

Atlanta Motor Speedway to Jump Start 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs

by MikeSeptember 5, 2024

Last time the NASCAR Cup Series came to Atlanta Motor Speedway, it set the closest top-three finish in series history with Daniel Suarez scantly beating Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch to the line in a photo-finish for the ages.

Now, with all the mounting pressures of the Playoffs, the NASCAR Cup Series returns to the 1.54-mile track to break-open the postseason with some high-speed, close drafting action in this Sunday’s Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart (3 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) – the first race of the 2024 Playoffs.

Atlanta Motor Speedway is the fifth different track to host the first race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. New Hampshire Motor Speedway hosted the first race of the Playoffs from 2004–2010, then Chicagoland Speedway held the first race of the Playoffs from 2011–2017, followed by Las Vegas Motor Speedway from 2018-2019 and then Darlington Raceway from 2020-2023. Prior to the 2024 season, Atlanta Motor Speedway has hosted five other Playoff races – the first event of the Playoffs’ Round of 8 (Race No. 33 of 36) from 2004-2008.

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NASCAR Xfinity Series Sets Its Eyes on Atlanta Motor Speedway

by MikeSeptember 5, 2024

After dancing with the Lady in Black last weekend, the NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to its second drafting track race in three weeks at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Focused Health 250 on Saturday, September 7 at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network, the NBC Sports App, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

The 1.54-mile track will be hosting its sixth race since its reconfiguration in 2022. Since then, Atlanta has produced five different pole winners but just three different race winners, none of which came from the first starting position.

Superspeedway ace Austin Hill has won half of the Xfinity races at Atlanta over the last three seasons, capturing the checkered flag at least once in 2022, 2023, and 2024.

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‘The Last Great Colosseum’ Up Next in the Round of 10 for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

by MikeSeptember 5, 2024September 5, 2024

For the second time this season, the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series will return to Bristol Motor Speedway. The competitors will get four weeks off to prepare and go over strategy for the UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics (Thursday, September 19 at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM Radio).

In total, this will be the sixth time Bristol has hosted a CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff Race (2019-2024). This season marks the second time that Thunder Valley will host an event in the Round of 10. Previously, the half-mile track in the mountains served as the elimination race in 2021.

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Chandler Smith – No. 81 Wheelers Toyota GR Supra Preview – Focused Health 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway

by MikeSeptember 5, 2024

SMITH AT ATLANTA: Georgia-native Chandler Smith will return to his home track this weekend as the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) races at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS). Smith has one top-five finish in three starts at AMS, which came earlier this year when he finished in second.

DARLINGTON RECAP: Smith started the latest NXS race at Darlington Raceway in fifth and struggled with handling for most of the race. The No. 81 earned an eighth-place finish.

ON THE PITBOX: Crew Chief of the No. 81, Jeff Meendering has visited Victory Lane 10 times as a NXS crew chief, most recently with Smith at Richmond in March 2024. His teams have collected 67 top-five finishes, 138 top-10 finishes, and 14 pole positions under his leadership. (more…)

Taylor Gray – No. 19 Operation 300 Toyota GR Supra Preview – Focused Health 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway

by MikeSeptember 5, 2024

GRAY AT ATLANTA: Taylor Gray started 19th and finished fourth in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway earlier this year. That race was his only experience at the 1.54-mile track so far.

GRAY XFINITY SEASON: Gray has claimed a pair of top-five finishes and three top-10s in nine NASCAR Xfinity Series starts this season. He made an incredible first impression with a third-place finish in his debut at Richmond Raceway in March. More recently, Gray posted top-five qualifying efforts in his last two starts at Pocono Raceway and Michigan International Speedway on the way to back-to-back top-10 finishes. (more…)

Harvick Accuses Ford of Wanting SHR to Lose: ‘They Want Their Cars to Win’

by MikeSeptember 5, 2024

Kevin Harvick has accused Ford of undermining Stewart-Haas Racing to favor its other teams, asserting that Ford prefers its cars to win over SHR’s. Harvick, a big figure at SHR during his NASCAR Cup Series career, offered this insight following his departure after the 2023 season and amid SHR’s struggling 2024 performance.

The 2024 season for SHR has been a challenging one, with Chase Briscoe assuming the role of leading driver after Harvick’s exit. However, Briscoe managed a vital victory at Darlington, securing a playoff spot and providing a significant morale boost to a team that needed it. (more…)

NASCAR partners with BLAST for upcoming $3 million FNCS Global Championship & RLCS World Championship 2024 events at Dickies Arena

by MikeSeptember 5, 2024

Esport entertainment company BLAST has announced a partnership with NASCAR to sponsor the FNCS Global Championship and Rocket League World Championship 2024, which are set to take place at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, on September 7-8 and 10-15 respectively.

Both competitions will be held at Dickies Arena with more than $3 million in total combined prize pool on offer across both events. Across the two championships, over 35 countries will be represented with over 148 players from around the world coming to Fort Worth to compete on a global stage. (more…)

Stewart-Haas Racing: Atlanta NXS Advance (Cole Custer | Riley Herbst)

by MikeSeptember 5, 2024

Cole Custer and the No. 00 Autodesk / Haas Automation team are hoping to build on the momentum of their runner-up finish last Saturday at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. They must first face the challenge of superspeedway-style racing in Saturday’s Focused Health 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which has provided a mixed bag of results for the team in the past. While Custer’s spot in the 12-driver Xfinity Series Playoffs field is locked in by virtue of his July 13 win at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, Custer is still racing for one more title in the final three regular-season races – regular-season champion. It’s a feat he has yet to achieve in his otherwise successful Xfinity Series career.

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Burton, DEX Imaging Team Open Playoff Bid In Quaker State 400 At Atlanta

by MikeSeptember 4, 2024

Harrison Burton and the No. 21 DEX Imaging team kick off their 2024 Playoff run this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Sunday’s Quaker State 400 is the opening race of the Round of 16, and Burton, who will be making his 100th career Cup start, enters the event 14th in points thanks to his win in the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

The three races in the opening Playoff round are at AMS, followed by Watkins Glen and Bristol Motor Speedway after which the bottom four drivers in the standings will be eliminated from championship contention. (more…)