Rookie Christopher Bell put down the fastest lap in Xfinity Series qualifying for the Rinnai 250 Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, leap-frogging Joey Logano for the pole at the last minute.
NASCAR and Atlanta Motor Speedway track officials made the decision Saturday morning to move up the start time for Sunday’s Monster Energy Cup Series race due to impending inclement weather. The Accu-Weather forecast shows an 80 percent chance of rain during the day and a 67 percent chance of rain Sunday night.
Kyle Busch will have a front row seat when the field takes the green flag for Sunday's Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race after qualifying with the fastest speed of 184.652 mph at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Driving the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Busch nabbed the top spot from Ryan Newman (184.419 mph) and clinched his first career pole at the iconic 1.5-mile oval.
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Snickers Almond Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Starting Position: 1st - How did you feel your car handled today and what part of the racetrack was key to get the pole? “We seemed to be getting beat on every single run through (turns) 1 and 2. But there, during that final run, I felt we got through 1 and 2 better and I was just like don’t screw up 3 and 4."
Kyle Busch claimed his first official pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series with a speed of 184.652 mph in Friday's qualifying for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500.
Issues during technical inspection prevented Martin Truex Jr. and the No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/5-hour ENERGY Toyota from participating in qualifying for Sunday’s Folds of Honor/QuickTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Ryan Newman put his No. 31 Liberty National Camaro ZL1 on the front row with a second-place qualifying run for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Round 2 of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. Newman ran a quick time of 30.062 seconds (184.419 mph) to earn the outside front row starting spot. Newman narrowly missed earning a record setting eighth pole at Atlanta. He is currently tied for the most all-time poles at Atlanta with NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Allison, with seven each to their credit.
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Autotrader Ford Fusion – “That’s decent. We won here from fifth last year, so we’re gonna do it again. I felt like I got all I could get, but we just need to find a bit more. We’re real close.”
BRANDON JONES, No. 19 Menards Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - How was your first race with JGR at Daytona? “Our goal was to finish the race and finish top-15 doing that. We finished the race, but we didn’t actually come through with no scratches on the car."
MARTIN TRUEX JR, No. 78 Bass Pro Shops / 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing. Last year you were the king of the 1.5-mile tracks, how comfortable are you in the car right now here at Atlanta?
Atlanta Motor Speedway presented Chase Elliott with one final lucky charm Friday. Elliott, back in the No. 9 car his father, Bill, made famous, was handed a University of Georgia football jersey with his name and number on the back.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finds himself on top of the Monster Energy Cup leaderboard in Friday’s opening practice at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Larson, Wallace, Ty Dillon and Bowman round out the top-5.