Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500


Atlanta Motor Speedway
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race #2 of 36

Sunday, February 24, 2019
Scheduled Green Flag (approx): 2:16pm/et
Laps/Stages: 325 laps total. Stages end on laps: 85/170/325


TELEVISION / RADIO / STREAMING

Television Coverage: Time 3:30pm/et, Fox and FOX Sports GO streaming (available with participating TV provider login)
Radio Coverage (over the air and streaming): Performance Racing Network (PRN) / SiriusXM Satellite NASCAR (available with subscription)


WEEKEND SCHEDULE

On track schedule

Practices:
Friday, February 22, 11:35am-12:55pm/et, NASCAR.com streaming;
Saturday, February 23, 12:-00-1:20pm/et, TV-FS1;
Qualifying: Friday, February 22 at 5:10pm/et, TV-FS1.

Complete Event Schedule (times local to the track)

Thursday, February 21
7:00 PM 9:00 PM MENCS HAULERS ENTER (EQUIPMENT UNLOAD)

Friday, February 22
8:30 AM 7:00 PM MENCS GARAGE OPEN
10:30 AM MENCS ROOKIE MEETING, SPOTTER MEETING, & RANDOM DRAWING
11:35 AM-12:55 PM MENCS 1ST PRACTICE
5:10 PM MENCS QUALIFYING (MULTI-VEHICLE / THREE ROUNDS)

Saturday, February 23
10:30 AM-4:00 PM MENCS GARAGE OPEN
12:00 PM-1:20 PM MENCS FINAL PRACTICE

Sunday, February 24
8:30 AM MENCS GARAGE OPENS
12:00 PM MENCS DRIVER / CREW CHIEF MEETING (MEDIA CENTER)
1:20 PM MENCS DRIVER INTRODUCTIONS
2:00 PM MENCS RACE (STAGES 85/170/325 LAPS = 500.5 MILES)

MENCS = Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
SCHEDULE SUBJECT TO CHANGE


Links to race, practice, qualifying results (in pdf): (will be added as available)
Race Results
Drivers Points
Owners Points
Cumlative Race Report
Penalty Report
Pitstalls
Practice 2 Speeds
Starting Lineup
Qualifying Results
Qualifying Order
Practice 1 Speeds
Crew Rosters
Latest / Final Entry List
Preliminary Entry List


RACE RUNDOWN….News & Links

#2-Brad Keselowski won the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The win is his 1st win of 2019, 2nd win at Atlanta and 28th career win.
#19-Truex, Jr. finished 2nd followed by #1-Busch, #4-Harvick, #14-Bowyer, #18-Busch, #20-Jones, pole sitter #10-Almirola, #37-Buescher and #41-Suarez.
Stage 1 was won by #42-Larson, finished 12th.
Stage 2 was won by #4-Harvick.
There were 26 lead changes among 9 drivers and 5 cautions for 30 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was: 142.626mph.
See race details at:
Race Results (pdf)
Drivers Points Standings
Owners Points Standings
Cumulative Report
Penalty Report

Race Fast Facts – Atlanta

Brad Keselowski won the 60th Annual Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, his 28th victory in 343 Monster Energy Cup Series races.

This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in 2019.

This is his second victory and seventh top-10 finish in 11 races at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Martin Truex Jr. (second) posted his ninth top-10 finish in 21 races at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It is his first top-10 finish in 2019.

Kurt Busch (third) posted his 14th top-10 finish in 28 races at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Daniel Hemric (20th) was the highest finishing rookie.

Denny Hamlin leads the point standings by 8 points over Kevin Harvick.

(NASCAR Integrated Sports Marketing)(2-24-2019)

2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Standings after Atlanta:

#11-Denny Hamlin [1 win] 87pts
#2-Brad Keselowski [1 win] 72
#4-Kevin Harvick, 79, -8
#18-Kyle Busch, 78, -9
#42-Kyle Larson, 77, -10
#22-Joey Logano, 75, -12
#20-Erik Jones, 68, -19
#1-Kurt Busch, 63, -24
#14-Clint Bowyer, 60, -27
#17-Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 60, -27
#10-Aric Almirola, 58, -29
#19-Martin Truex Jr., 57, -30
#88-Alex Bowma, 57, -30
#12-Ryan Blaney, 54, -33
#6-Ryan Newman, 49, -38
#48-Jimmie Johnson, 46, -41
See the Drivers Points Standings and Owners Points Standings

Pit Stall Selections: The selections of pit stalls for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway have been made.
Pole winner #10-Almirola chose pit stall 3, the first one available.
Outside pole sitter #17-Stenhouse, Jr. too the 39th stall, with an opening in front of it
#14-Bowyer, starts 3rd and chose the 43rd abd final stall.
See all pit choices on Pit Stall chart.(2-23-2019)

QUALIFYING INFO, PRACTICE SPEED and ENTRIES

Happy Hour (final) practice for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway is over, after 90 scheduled minutes, the top five, slowest and notes:

#14-Bowyer 179.104
#18-Busch 178.873
#3-Dillon 178.712
#34-McDowell 178.672
#32-LaJoie 178.436
Slowest: #523-McLeod 171.678 & #51-Ware 166.412
Most laps run: #9-Elliott, 56 laps.
Best 10 consecutive lap avg (of 30 drivers): #18-Busch 177.302
See the fastest speeds, best 10 consecutive lap average, laps run on the Happy Hour Practice speeds page (pdf).(2-23-2019)

First Saturday practice for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway was canceled due to rain.(2-23-2019)

#10-Aric Almirola won the Busch pole for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway with speed of 181.473mph for his 1st pole of 2019, 1st at Atlanta and 2nd of his career.
#17-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. will start 2nd followed by #14-Bowyer, #11-Hamin, #41-Suarez, #18-Busch, #42-Larson, #1-Busch, #19-Truex, Jr., and #3-Dillon.
#14-Bowyer was fastest in the second round with a speed of 180.504mph.
#14-Bowyer was quickest in the first round with a speed of 180.733mph.
Driver(s) who will miss the race: none as 37 were entered for 40 spots
See round-by-round qualifying results on the Qualifying results page (pdf) and the complete starting lineup on the Starting Lineup page (pdf).(2-22-2019) –>

Atlanta Motor Speedway – Qualifying Fast Facts:

Aric Almirola won the Pole Award for the 60th Annual Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 with a lap of 30.55 seconds, 181.473 mph.

This is his second pole in 282 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series races. His first was for the 2012 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway where he finished 16th.

This is his first pole and second top-10 start in 2019.

This is his first pole in nine races at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (second) posted his second top-10 start of 2019 and his fifth in seven races at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Clint Bowyer (third) posted his fifth top-10 start at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It is his second in two races this season.

Ryan Preece (25th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

(NASCAR Statistics)(2-22-2019)

First practice for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway is over, after 50 scheduled minutes, the top-five, slowest and notes:

#14-Bowyer 180.152

#10-Almirola 179.988

#3-Dillon 179.772

#1-Busch 179.406

#11-Hamlin

Slowest: #52-McLeod 172.340 & #51-Ware 161.242
Most laps run: #11-Hamlin, 27 laps
Best 10 consecutive lap avg (of 2 drivers): #11-Hamlin 175.497
See the fastest speeds, best 10 consecutive lap average, laps run on the First Practice speeds (pdf) (2-22-2019)

Entry List for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway is posted, 37 teams/drivers [for 40 spots] are listed.
Some of the drivers entered include: #15-Chastain, #51-Ware, #52-McLeod, #77-Smithley, #96-Kligerman.
Since only 37 cars are entered, all drivers will make the race.
See the full entry list on the Entry List (pdf)


RACE AND TRACK NEWS AND LINKS

February 2018: see the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Race Info page

Race Festivities/Officials:
Grand Marshal: United State Marine Corps Brigadier General Julian Dale Alford
Command to start engines: United State Marine Corps Brigadier General Julian Dale Alford
Honorary Starter/Wave Green Flag: TBA
Honorary Pace Car Driver: TBA
Color Guard: TBA
Invocation: TBA
National Anthem: Billy Gilman
Flyover: TBA


WEATHER

Weather Channel
Accuweather
National Weather Service
Weather Bug
Weather Underground
Brian Neudorff @NASCAR_WXMAN
Aaron Studwell @RaceWeather


TIRE NOTES & FACTS

Tire: Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials

Set limits:
Cup: 3 sets for practice, 1 set for qualifying and 12 sets for the race;
Xfinity: 7 sets for the event

Tire Codes:
Left-side — D-4844;
Right-side — D-4682

Tire Circumference:
Left-side — 2,227 mm (87.68 in.);
Right-side — 2,245 mm (88.39 in.)

Minimum Recommended Inflation:
Left Front — 19 psi; Left Rear — 19 psi;
Right Front — 50 psi; Right Rear — 47 psi

Storyline – High-wear surface makes Atlanta a pit-stop-a-palooza: Atlanta is known for its extremely worn surface, long, sweeping turns and high speeds.  It is also the one track at which teams are most likely to pit short of their fuel window to take advantage of fresh tires.  NASCAR Cup teams will have 12 sets of tires for the race, which means that team pit stops will play a big part of the equation.  An historical note – Atlanta was the first NASCAR track at which Goodyear’s multi-zone tread technology was used back in 2013, and it remains a multi-zone tread track to this day.

     “Two things are sure about Atlanta Motor Speedway – first, it is an extremely worn track surface which is very hard on tires; and second, the racing there has been consistently entertaining,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing.  “This is the first race with NASCAR’s new rules package, and teams will have more downforce than they did a year ago, to go along with a reduction in horsepower.  With the track surface, fresh rubber will be at a premium, and the pit crews will be busy all day as teams take four tires on every stop.”

Notes – Cup, Xfinity teams debut new left-side tire at Atlanta: While teams in all three NASCAR Series will run the same right-side tire code at Atlanta this week, those in the Cup and Xfinity Series will run a different left-side code than those in the Gander Outdoors Truck Series . . . this is the first time these teams have run this left-side tire code . . . compared to what was run last year, this left-side features a construction update that will align Atlanta with what is run at other speedways . . . this right-side tire is a multi-zone tread tire, with a two-inch inboard compound designed for heat resistance and a 10-inch outboard compound to give more grip . . . this is the same right-side tire that Cup teams have run at Atlanta since 2016 and Xfinity teams since 2017 . . . Atlanta is the only track at which these teams are scheduled to run either of these two tire codes in 2019 . . . this tire set-up came out of a Goodyear test at Atlanta last October . . . teams (drivers) that participated in that test were Chip Ganassi Racing (Ross Chastain), Joe Gibbs Racing (Erik Jones), Penske Racing (Ryan Blaney) and Wood Brothers Racing (Paul Menard) . . . as on all NASCAR ovals greater than one mile in length, teams are required to run liners in all four tire positions at Atlanta . . . air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.