Considering where the team has come from when they started in 2013 competing in only one race and as a part-time effort in 2015-2016, Hattori Racing has made a name for themselves and become both fan and championship favorites in 2019.
Austin Hill joined the Gander Outdoors Truck Series with the goal of just winning a race. Hill, 24, who won last week's season-opening race at Daytona for his first career win, now knows how incredible it feels to stand triumphant in victory lane.
For Sunday's Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at the 1.5 mile (2.414-kilometer) high-banked Atlanta Motor Speedway, only 37 drivers will race the scheduled 325-lap distance.
ALL ABOUT AERO: This weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway will mark the first race the new “aero” package hits the track. Chevrolet Manager – NASCAR Competition, Pat Suhy, is looking forward to what this new package will mean for all the Chevrolet Cup Series teams:
Often times following the Daytona 500, the series championship leaderboard includes names that may not stay there over the course of the season. But that’s not necessarily the case this year, as several familiar names had solid performances on Sunday.
After sporting the Motorcraft/Quick Lane colors throughout Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway, the Wood Brothers’ No. 21 Ford Mustang will be going Menards/Moen neon yellow and blue for this weekend’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Chase Elliott on racing at Atlanta: “Always nice to go race in Atlanta. It’s a special place and there's definitely a lot of fans around home so I always enjoy going back. More than that, it's a fun racetrack to drive. I've enjoyed racing there from a driver standpoint, and glad they didn't repave it. With it being the second race of the year, we can all get back to downforce racing. Big transition and an important week to see how we all stack up. I’m looking forward to getting there.”
DGR-Crosley announced today that Bakersfield, Calif. native Ryan Reed will drive the team's No. 17 Toyota Tundra in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Strat 200 at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway. Reed, a person living with Type One Diabetes, will have support from Dexcom, Inc., a leader in diabetes care and management.
Stenhouse has six career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) starts at Atlanta with an average starting position of 10.3 and average finishing position of 18.5.
Michael McDowell on Atlanta “We have a lot of momentum heading to Atlanta after our top 5 finish last weekend at Daytona. I’m excited to see how the racing will be with the new downforce package."
Roush Fenway has 261 total starts at AMS in the three major NASCAR touring series, totaling 13 wins, 59 top-fives, 110 top-10s and 10 poles, while leading 3,153 laps and turning over 100,000 miles. The team has 180 starts in MENCS action with six wins and 71 top-10s with five poles.
Ross Chastain on Racing at Atlanta: “We had a great truck in Daytona and were fortunate enough to avoid all of the carnage to come home with a third-place finish,” said Chastain. “I’m looking forward to getting on track at Atlanta and following up with another strong run this weekend.”
In this week's shoutout of the week, we'll highlight Josh Reaume who is the owner of his own team in the Truck Series, Reaume Brothers Racing, that fields the No. 33. Reaume might be the one that got lost in the shuffle when the race was all said and done at Daytona.
Starting 2019 Off Right… Toyota drivers captured the top-three finishing positions in the season-opening MENCS race at Daytona International Speedway with Camry driver Denny Hamlin winning his second Daytona 500. Busch placed second while Erik Jones finished third.
Timothy Peters on Racing at Atlanta: “I’m looking forward to Atlanta this weekend after our strong run in Daytona,” said Peters. “It’s really cool to have The Friends Of Jaclyn Foundation back on board our Silverado! Hopefully the momentum will carry into Saturday night’s race.”