Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway | NASCAR Cup Series Full Race Replay

so this would ordinarily be the one to go sign as the cars come off turn number four and approach the front straightaway but instead the pace vehicle is slowing and is going to bring these cars to a halt [Music] the crew members are lined up on the pit wall as the field comes to a halt NASCAR has stopped the cars here on the front straightaway so the NASCAR president Steve Phelps can address today's competitors [Music] [Music] we're no strangers to moving fast and we know how life can have that same quality but now but now but now is the time to slow down and reflect the events of recent weeks highlight of the work we still need to do as a nation to condemn racial inequality and racism the deaths of George Florida Brianna Taylor Ahmad our Bri and countless others in the black community are heartbreaking heartbreaking are heartbreaking and can no longer be ignored process begins with us listening and learning because understanding the problem is the first step in fixing it we are committed to listening with empathy and with an open heart to better educate ourselves we will use this education to advocate for change in our nation our communities and most importantly in our own homes even after the headlines go away all of our voices they make a difference no matter how big or how small it is all of our responsibility to no longer be silent to no longer be silent we just can't stay silent we have a long road ahead of us but let's commit to make that journey together together together together our differences should not divide us it is our love for all mankind that will unite us as we work together to make real change to make real change as we work together to make real change [Music] during the moment of listening that 30 seconds of silence that NASCAR has observed we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men all men are created equal that's from the Declaration of Independence as true or truer now as it was them [Music] but as we said earlier sports live sports are our escape from everyday life so for the next couple of hours we're going to escape at nearly 200 miles an hour and entertain you with America's best drivers in America's fastest hot rods around one of America's toughest speed wins one lap to go [Music] so to get us ready to race Larry McReynolds says today's race analysis yeah Mike we mentioned it earlier 325 laps 500 miles the stages 105 the first two and 115 to the checkered flag pit road speed pay close attention 45 miles per hour the fuel window 58 to 62 laps but yes a tire window 30 to 40 laps 40 laps you'll be slowing down about two and a half seconds from fresh tires and we will have a competition caution at lap 25 and remember Mike the rules you cannot fuel the car until that competition caution Larry 13 sets of tires that's as many tires as these teams had to go 600 miles in Charlotte a couple of weeks ago Mike if you run five laps and that caution comes out it's pretty simple fresh tires this time if enough cautions come they could use every one of those sets up today Mike well [Music] all right let's take a look at today is Ford performance track facts Ford is won the last three races here at Atlanta - by Brad Keselowski and won by Kevin Harvick [Music] pace vehicle is in and Hayley Hartwig folds of Honor scholarship recipient and Baylor graduate waives the green flag were underway in Atlanta [Music] [Applause] [Music] Elliott Logano then everybody and we already saw right there at the start sometimes that outside crew is a bit of a disadvantage when you're on the front row we saw it and aric almirola when he took off there that car did not get up to speed he's already lost a couple positions Kurt Busch serving his pass-through penalty for failing inspection three times that will put him deep toward the end of the lead lap when he gets back up to speed Mike chases dad Bill Elliott won here five times that's the first lap chase has ever land in a cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway right there well remember just a week ago these two guys that are one two right now Joey Logano chase Elliott going for that win you see right there Kurt Busch coming off pit road he's going to be a lap down at the very beginning of this race that's gonna that that's a costly mistake by that team not be enough to get through inspection Erik Jones moves up to eighth here comes Jimmy Johnson he's picked up two already from the start these are the other Bush brothers I'm told the corn brothers now wait what's kevin harvick doing on the top groove that guy that guy only knows one line around here that Harvick line around the bottom and he goes by his teammate by using that top groove experimenting maybe well hey you go where the driver and the car in front of you isn't when they're punching that big of all pull in the air you need clean air and that's what makes Kevin Harvick so good it he's not really just a lot we laugh about it and we show how good he is around the bottom and he gets that clean air goes back down the bottom but he showed right there he's got a fast race car and he's willing to to get put that car wherever he needs to right behind boy Eric Jones on the move he's already picked up four spots I can't even stress to you Mike how challenging it is to blast into the corners here at 180 hundred ninety miles per hour all the bumps getting the heights right getting the balance right trying to hook that the line around the bottom and do it with absolutely no practice seek both of these guys Eric Jones a bobble you know there's a huge pump at the bottom groove through one and two you saw both of the cars of Alex Bowman and Eric Jones get sideways as they went over that bump I'm bored here with Jimmie Johnson trouble early for BJ McLeod he's coasted onto pit road in his self owned car they wrecked last week so they brought a super speedway car here great interview with Pat Patterson this morning bye BJ but all right Bubba Wallace to the outside Matt Kenseth creasing for 23rd you can see right there how difficult it is for Matt Kenseth to actually keep those left side tires on the line on the bottom he got there but he couldn't keep it there to cost him a lot of time and that that's the risk that you take Mike is that yes there's speed when you hook that paint in the grip that's on the pain that gets created as we see Christopher Bell going to the outside of Austin Dillon here but if you miss that groove if you missed that extra grip down there you're gonna lose about a half a second that laughs Wow Ryan Blaney rim riding on Jimmie Johnson that's for 12th place you know Mike you asked me about all those sets of tires we've run seven laps the pace has already slowed down a full second and you saw right there Larry I mean these guys are searching for grip they're searching all over the straight Jack trying to be really patient to get to the bottom you saw right there with Brian Blaney he went into the corner and turned three was out of the throttle nice and easy and still could not keep it on the bottom slid up the racetrack Jimmie Johnson went back by remember this is a 25 laps sprint that's the distance to the competition caution as Tyler Reddick guns it for 13 and that was very costly for Ryan Blaney as he missed that bottom lane in 3 & 4 he's now lost two positions might lose some more but he's lost a lot of momentum Kurt Busch hoping nobody gets lapped before the competition yellow he can get back up on the lead lap hometown boy chase Elliott NASCAR's most popular driver leading his first-ever laps in the Cup Series here [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] the folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 is sponsored by Toyota and by Geico 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance 14 laps complete in Atlanta if there was a hometown crowd here they'd be cheering chase Elliott leading his first Cup Series laps in Atlanta 14 complete and he has led them all you see chase Elliott leading this race and hooking that red and white line around the bottom I promise you that is not easy to do it's watch you see Bubba Wallace get a little shove from John Hunter Nemechek into turn three hooks the line perfectly but right there in the middle there's a bump and it looked like it may be loaded the front tire unloaded the rear and he almost got side was this watch Clint Bowyer do the same area almost the exact same thing that paint that it's about 12 inches why maybe 13 inches wide about the same width as the tire itself will help me here why does the left front like the line on the left rear doesn't yeah well you know you you want to get that left rear you remember this the cars are in yaw I mean they are sliding through the corners ever so slightly so there you go that's showing you the the width of that area and it does vary around this racetrack but that's the width that it's up on the banking you'll see drivers actually drive below the banking onto the apron to try to find some grip because as the rubber lays down on that red white painted stripe it will add grip to it now here comes aric almirola looking for second place from Joey Logano is around Newman moving up to 15th yeah this is a pal spin going back and forth the last few laps and look at them moving up the racetrack down and turns three and four rubber starting to lay into this racetrack all the way to the fence Kevin Harvick started ninth picked up three quickly here he is in sixth place Jamie when I talked to Rodney Childers this morning he told me after the Xfinity race yesterday he talked to their teammate chase Briscoe his crew chief and he reminded him these new tires that is the same tire in both series have a lot more stagger than last year sir Rodney took that information and tighten the car up this morning so what's Kevin fan now let's go for a ride and listen along [Music] [Applause] [Music] to the Chicago not back [Music] [Applause] [Music] in there [Applause] you cannot ride with the driver that does it better and that's why Kevin Harvick has led so many laps of this track you listen to how he he doesn't get all the way out of the throttle I don't think anybody doesn't any smoother than Kevin Harvick of transitioning out of the throttle using the brake at the same time setting that car gently into the racetrack and just getting to the line in the perfect spot as he goes by Kyle Busch me you saw what happened with the two car Brad Keselowski right in front of them as we were onboard Brad just lifts just came off that line in the tiniest bit and Kevin was patient two just wait wait wait to stay on that line longer before he picked up the throttle and he shot by yes Brad Keselowski that's a beautiful thing to watch and for me as a competitor to listen to and I could watch it over and over and over and I'm not duplicated all right were four laps from the competition caution chase Elliott has led them all and Kurt Busch has been working hard to be the first car on the lead lap and he was until just now JJ Haley's gone a lap down so Kurt's gonna have to hustle if he's going to get the free pass at the competition caution this is the most laps on Elliott has led it Atlanta since your debut in 1992 bill 102 that day yeah that was that was quite about a quiet a day a lot of history made that too he so Kurt Busch is going to have to get past JJ Yeley and Josh Palicki now to be the first car one lap down there they are mission accomplished right there with two and a half laps to go in this opening stint so Kurt Busch has pretty much undone the penalty for failing inspection three times having to start at the rear and do a pass-through down pit road on what was everybody else's green flag my boss oh he's building some confidence in his racecar because he has a good enough racecar to drive up to second place Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick working their way back to aric almirola in second panel of course we're I mean second place 2nd place in the running order you know on the track he knows he can compete with these guys once he gets back in in you know once this competition caution comes out he gets back with the field Jimmie Johnson taking 11 from Denny Hamlin maybe here maybe not well you can see how that momentum carries you from that top groove here goes Denny Hamlin to the high group it's a much longer lay you know lying around the racetrack and you give up a lot of time in the middle and entry the corner but look at what it does on the exit one when that car gets the grip off that top or if you miss the bottom look how much you can gain by watching what Denny Hamlin's doing in that top crew my shots from our Chevy onboard camera riding with seven-time as he falls in line and we should see the competition caution here with 25 complete cycles through there it is so chase Elliott led all the first 25 laps Daniel Suarez in 31st the last car on the lead lap and Kurt Busch will get the free pass so all the teams will have a chance to check things over and Larry gets to work out our credible comm race strategy well go back to the race analysis Mike the fuel window is 58 to 62 laps so if you look at the stage links of 100 500 515 all you'd have to make is one stop into each one of those stages but remember the tire window 30 to 40 laps they have 13 sets of tires actually what these teams will do they'll probably split all the stages even including this one where we've had to competition caution you'll split them into thirds try to get full advantage of those four fresh tires each time thanks Larry that fuel windows a lot for who then you're gonna want to go on tires you can go that far but you don't want to there's a Alan Gustafson ready to go not over the wall but be at the wall remember NASCAR still operating under reduced numbers of crewmen allowed at the track for each team they must sign in early in the morning that must be checked temperature checked and health checked and then allowed to enter the facility and get ready to race no practice no qualifying line them up let him rip yeah and a lot of people on pit road doing jobs they've never done before like that crew chief Alan Gustafson several others doing that same thing as they hit pit road Jamie and Shake belly we saw his crew chief pulling the tire also his engineer in the front you see Alan Gus then reaching out and told me he actually really enjoyed the bit of bonding experience for the pit crew team all working together chase Maggie wants it in the trip delusion lose the track bar adjustment four tires therefore the nine [Music] and that's something else this track is gonna change a lot got to be really careful making too many adjustments here early you don't want to get behind the race track in the adjustments but boy you got to be careful because it is gonna swing a totally different direction here Joey Logano and Kyle Busch win the race off pit road Kyle Plus three positions so 31 lead lap cars including Daniel Suarez our a nice cold coke a buckle up we are watching NASCAR on Fox [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] the folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 is sponsored by four built Ford Braun affords out in front at 29 laps here in Atlanta Joey Logano after pit stops ride heights and particularly where that splitter sits always a big deal here at Atlanta so where is the sweet spot for that front splitter yeah you can see as the air moves around the front nose of the car that low-pressure area and the distance to that splitter very critical to hold around this racetrack too low no downforce at all throw darts at it get it just right though oh yeah target hit the sweet spot you know I didn't have to deal the front splitter my 18 years as a crew chief I felt like I threw darts every single week alright ready to go Chevy Silverado makes the sharp left turn onto pit road here we go back to green at 30 laps complete [Music] three y by three Y by three wide [Music] oh one in the wall wait William Byron no this might be it either a loose we are a tire issue but he's coming to pit road yeah he definitely made contact without outside wall fourth place marked Rex tried that high side right on the restart but Kyle Busch is going to prevail and move up to fourth behind the Fords of Logano Harvick and Boyer see that contact between teammates Kyle Busch and Mark jerks Jr upset the car they the 18 car quite a bit how about Tyler Reddick coming to the top groove and coming to the front in sixth position William Byron has a flat tire he was running 14 and lose a lap here there it is on the lower right middle of your screen up against the wall the 24 yeah it's hard to say was there any contact there were a lot of three-wide racing going on in that restart did somebody make contact with him they cut the tire down we've seen a lot of that this year already but clearly he went into turn three William Byron in that 24 card it just goes up the racetrack pretty sure that's a right rear tire that's down of course it could have been a left here also and at these speeds Jeff lucky to get away with that little damage yeah I mean you know you got to have a every bit of side force and downforce on the race car at this abrasive racetrack you could see them spending some extra time on pit road to fix that damage yeah Jeff it was a left rear tire that was down yeah so that tells me there was contact between you know and between another car himself that probably caused that left rear to go down so another early race issue for William Byron as fourth-place going to heat up here in a second we have Boyer Kyle Busch and Martin Truex as we've got Blaney Bowman and Stenhouse there it looks to me like our sorry um you know the stewart-haas cars of Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick have good speed but maybe they don't take off quite as fast and we've seen that out of these cars in the past even especially for Kevin Harvick as many laps as he's led takes a little while for his car to come in right here Clint Boyer having a little bit of a handful as the jgr Toyota's go by to the inside on Clint Bowyer make those passes right behind these two and on the move tyler Redick restarted 12th he's up for 6th he made a lot of gains early in this race and that is continuing and he's continuing to show speed Tyler Eddy and he is just ahead of the pair on the right Keselowski and Elliott I'm sorry Michael I'm curious to watch the the line that Reddick uses because I think if this guy is one of those guys that puts it up on the fence and run and kind of rim rides against the fence and right now we saw he's working the bottom here goes a pass for the lead Kevin Harvick to the bottom I can't tell if that inside line painted down at the bottom of the racetrack is his friend or not he gets down there the car hooks and then it just wants to jump sideways yeah it's mean even when you you hit it right no easy thing to accomplish but how about accomplishing this Kevin Harvick just led his 10,000th lap and that's just since he's been driving for stewart-haas racing 14,000 426 lap throughout his Cup Series career now since 2014 look at all the laps he has led and I'll share if I'm Kevin Harvick I'm looking at that stat going yeah I love those last 11 I will help before wins he had to put that in perspective that's 49 percent of the laps run at Atlanta Motor Speedway in those years now here's second-place tracks coming to the front Joey not able to run that bottom you can see him he's searching up high here's another passers Bowman coming up to 14 member this this car the 88 car of Alex Bowman that car wanted at California that is abrasive racetrack even though it's in a lot different size as Atlanta Motor Speedway bit I'm gonna put my eyes on him also to see can he backup that performance that that team had earlier in the year 39 laps complete Kevin Harvick out in front of Martin Truex by a full second [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] Chevy is committed to getting you back on the open road with confidence and peace of mind visit Chevy cares calm to learn more [Music] 45 laps complete as you ride with Jimmie Johnson in 10th place 9 seconds off the lead which is held by Kevin Harvick over Martin Truex and Kyle Busch it's a good thing these drivers are in shape especially Jimmie Johnson as much as he focuses on fitness because these drivers are going to be worn out you saw a shot of Jimmie Johnson holding the steering wheel and how much he's working that steering wheel through these corners through these bumps let's look at we talked about the front splitter now obviously on the straightaway you're gonna have air pushing the rear of the spoiler down maybe even trying to lift the front of the car up but there's a as you go into the banking and it compresses into the corner you can see there's a bump for Jimmie Johnson as he goes over that bump and it just shows you how these teams have to really map that out of how much it's going to compress and how it you know gains that travel into the corners and then how it has to get over these bumps and and still create good downforce and a good platform and Jeff that didn't look like much but every time that comes up the car loses a ton of front downforce of ton a front grip and the tires well Tyler Reddick isn't losing anything in fact he just keeps marching to the front areas underneath chase Elliott [Music] here's an example chase Elliott goes to the bottom is Tyler Reddick up top note now chase Elliott he was almost left side tires to the apron he was so low but he talked about being loose and right there you saw that car get loose on him right there in the hair here's Kevin doubt the other end of the racetrack what I find with Kevin is when he misses it instead of staying in the throttle he just waits he's more patient of holding those left side tires both the left front and the left rear below that the that line almost on the apron and it's just very patient with the car before he picks up the throttle Tyler Reddick tries it again as they split Josh Palicki ahead cars 7 8 9 and frame right there and is he going to complete the pass not quite Jamie a little bit of trouble on the exit of Choo he needs to work on that make up some time there and you guys mentioned the bumps he said he's snapping loose and turns out over those funds trying to figure [Music] who does and they've got Brad Keselowski moving in how about Kurt Busch he got the free pass on the competition caution and he has made the most of it that would have put him 31st but he has climbed up to 50 right now since the restart here are usaa biggest movers including Busch and Redick the one in the 9 + 17 Mike the one in the 8 to use me that's 17 younger push on that you could I could promise you a little frustration in there right of what happened before this race started and having the issues in inspection then having to fight back to get back onto the lead lap he knows he has a fast race car and that's that's what's driving Kurt Busch right now through this field and Larry if you miss it an inspection and you don't pass inspection is it often that you are just one thing to get it back in tolerance and that puts something else out of Tolerance I think that happens more often than not Mike and again we're not talking about 18 core inches we're talking about thousands and in you know they're pushing it right to the envelope or to everything about that car so yeah you're just one thing to make it right you could certainly get another out of kilter and I think that's what happens on a pretty regular basis this is interesting watching marked rich juniors in second place running pretty equal lap times to our leader Kevin Harvick he's running a different line down here in 3 & 4 about the same thing as Kevin Harvick is doing doing a nice job probably learning a lot watching Kevin Harvick how he's hooking that line even as many laps as Church is made here you're always learning other racers but when you go down into turn one and two as we're about to enter watch what your ex just different here now of course this time he goes right around the bottom because he had to pass that lap cover at the time before that I love now he was searching around the racetrack he moved up the track and I hear that he's maybe trying to conserve tires because he feels how much they're falling on 7th place now Riddick Keselowski chase Elliott up ahead of them [Music] and Keselowski completes the pass except look at Kevin Harvick here now if I had to guess there's probably a duck that's pushing air inside the car that he's putting his hand up and maybe just getting a little feeling a little bit that cool air it's hot and humid in Atlanta today kevin harvick is your leader now that's no surprise over Martin Trix Kyle Busch Joey Logano and Clint Bowyer Harvick out front [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] since 1960 one of America's great race places Atlanta Motor Speedway Kevin Harvick is your leader now we're racing later and warmer in the year than usual and stage one is 20 laps longer than last year and look at that temperature 85 degrees we don't have the humidity but it's high and Mike you know the track slicker and it's hotter inside this race for car from what these drivers are used to they're used to working hard but in much cooler conditions Larry yeah and as a crew chief at a high speed track we're trying to do everything we can to keep air from going in the car because the more you can keep that from happening it helps the drag of the car so let's use our Ford cutaway car to show you what they're actually doing you see right here this is a NACA duct and you see these hoses run in there and right there is where Kevin was holding his hand up and what's good about an Atkins I'm the car Mike and Jeff but it didn't doesn't really hurt the drag or the straightaway speed that much now Jeff I'd imagine it's not so important for your hand to be cool as it is for it to be dry you're gonna you're gonna sweat a lot in this eating humidity yeah especially these guys working as hard as they are Kevin Harvick you know those hands are so important in that grip in the way that you hold the steer will in the feel that you have and when your hands are sweating that glove is sliding that steering wheel sliding and so obviously you know that's a feel that Kevin goes after and he puts it I think this is something he does fairly common when things started to get hot that he holds his hand up to cool it down Ryan Blaney up for 12 looking back from our advanced autoparts cam at aric almirola who's going to try to repass [Music] 12 place battle here behind Erik Jones Larry Mac I know you got plenty of fuel but how about those tires well Mike we went back racing at lap 30 so that's 75 laps to go in stage 1 again remember what I said earlier I think what some of them they do is split this in half so I look within the next four to five maybe six laps they'll start hitting pit road and once one driver comes you can't afford to stay out there because you're going to be giving up about two to two and a half seconds per lap to those older tires per push up to 13th now recovering though from that penalty thanks Larry quit half has already been on pit road he is three down and to update William Byron who's now seven laps down they said they had an issue on the competition caution pit stop and damaged the valve stem on the left rear tire you know we see this happen from time to time as the six car Ryan Newman hits pit road one of the first cars to show the rest of the field with those fresh four Goodyear tires also a little damage to the right side that so that may have waited into the decision of the six car being on pit road early but yeah Mike it's easy as they dropped the jack as others come to pit road for that tire to spin slightly as the tire changes pulling that gun back and can hit that valve stem very easily to knock it off and take all the air out of that tire Blaney on the right is on pit road Harvick is coming our Truex assumes the lead from Harvick [Music] Jamie about an attaboy to the pit crew for Kevin Harvick's fastest in 2020 so far averaging 13 point eight seconds saying the car is pretty good but then he got the lead he's been good and clean air you see the 88 of Alex Bowman in as well green flag stops at lap 66 most of the lead lap cars are either in their pit box are coming to pit road now Ryan Newman to fast entering well I'm just gonna say Mike you know another thing these drivers haven't had the chance to practice is entering pit road on hot slick tires brad keselowski for fresh good years we'll take a gas Matt DiBenedetto the same tricks now leading from Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch in the pit stop cycle ists now up to third Brad Keselowski to fast entering so under green pass-through penalty alright Truex and Kyle Busch give it up and come to pit road Jamie well frankly when you look at tricks is record a mile and a half track team that's never won in Atlanta and he has done in 2020 either kirk's it a little bit sideways in his box I'm employed he didn't have any suggestions for changing at the four-tire stop - Kyle Busch's crew goes to work when Mark trips jr. sideways in that pit box had a difficult time getting around the car that was pitted behind them so chase Elliott is unlap himself from race leader Kurt Busch from worst to first in 68 laps how about words right out of my mouth Mike and hit now Kurt Busch has come to pit road so that should cycle Kevin Harvick back to the lead and he's going to have a three and a half second advantage on Truex as you watch Brad Keselowski serve his penalty [Music] Harvick had only about a half a second lead before pit stops and seven seconds to the third place car now he's going to have a lead of almost four seconds and a larger gap to third and that's all that is is two laps my two extra laps that mark shirts was out on the racetrack with older tires versus Kevin Harvick coming in and getting four fresh Goodyear now that the hope right to fear the 19 of March our junior and James small his crew chief that strategy call will you make up that time now that you have a little bit fresher tires if you can go all the way to the end of this stage one Kevin Harvick's done the driving crew chief Rodney Childers and his team put him out front by a wider margin here at lap 70 [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] 74 laps complete in Atlanta that's Kevin Harvick disappearing off into the distance so imagine the surface here as the grill and it's 128 degrees on that surface and those are the tires that just came off looks like Clint Bowyer's car perhaps I saw 14 there on the sidewall so talk about tire wear here well this track grinds those tires it's so brace if the rocks are sticking up yeah that's that makes up the stray and it's like a cheese grater I'm not sure how you like your cheese grated mic on your nachos that's always constantly Larry that's nacho cheese you've got animations I have the real deal here like a cheese grater just grinds that rubber off I mean every lap around this racetrack it just peels the rubber off usually I used to tell my guys don't even roll the tires to the car carry them over there I can't wait to see that on your expense report hey aric almirola unscheduled stop here 29 to go in the stage and so if you think about the cheese grater that Larry Mac was just showing us there the more pressure you put on that the more it's going to tear that bet rubber off the race off the tire so think about that if you're driving faster through the corner you're pushing that tire into the racetrack harder it's only gonna grind that tire that much more so you know you got to be careful how you manage those first early laps of of these runs because if you push too hard you could fade a lot further back into the field on the long run so Harvick two seconds up on Martin Truex and ten up on Clint Boyer with 20 cars on the lead lap before today's race Jamie little spoke with coca-cola racing family driver Daniel Suarez it's much bigger than racing happening in our country right now one of the first drivers to speak out about it since the death of George Floyd was Daniel Suarez and Daniel's since you've looked around the last few days where have you seen signs of hope you know I really take this very very serious I hate seeing these things the way I am and you know me I'm not the kind of person I'm gonna be quiet about it you know it really really hurts a lot to see these situations obviously we're in the 21st century and this shouldn't happen anymore and obviously you know we we sing just a little bit of why it's actually happening in the world and in the country no every person has a cellphone and to be filming everything that is going on and and I just can't tolerate black community the Asian community Muslim community Latin community to be suffering like this is not fair I feel like it's really really time for a change we have to work together on this in today's world being no racist it's not enough that's not enough because there is millions of people in this country that does not resist but maybe they don't feel like they're in the position where they have to push and the reality that they will let the black community and all these communities to work on this by yourself nobody never the change is gonna happen so we've got to work together we have to be anti-racist to be able to help them and to help together and work together to make a better water a very county for everyone that's what we have to do and I'll be there very proud to be Mexican all these people black community action community they have to be proud to to have a different skin color and to come from different places that's what it's all about so just you know we have to work together push in the same direction really make a change obviously totally ready we have a spare a very nice paint scheme with coca-cola you know coca-cola so we support in different programs around the world in the country and this time I really is no exception than donating two point five million dollars in grant for the coca-cola foundation and also matching the employees donation so super proud to be part of this program with them and I really really hope that together we really make a change and we'll set daniel suarez at 82 laps 243 to go Kevin Harvick leading looking at Bubba Wallace who is 17th behind him Matt DiBenedetto Cole Custer and Austin Dillon has just gone a lap down the 20th place car Bubba Wallace was on Dale Junior's podcast at Katz's this week the dirty moe podcast you can listen to that great great conversation and also on Instagram ty Dillon and Bubba had a tremendous conversation watched both of those listened learned a lot and you will too that was a great moment for our sport that conversation that these two individuals had and shared with the public ty Dillon 22nd and just off the lead lap by a car or two here Chris Buescher ahead of him and his older brother Austin he is the first car one lap down aric almirola made that unscheduled pit stop for a loose wheel and that's taken the number 10 off the lead lap but he is just one lap down going around now Matt Kenseth there who is on the lead lap in the 42 how about this lead up front here Mike we've seen these fresher tires on the 19 mark trick jr. he's not saving tires anymore he has really close this gap from over four seconds behind our leader Kevin Harvick now within just a few tenths [Applause] you know even though he has those two laps fresher on it on the tires you know it there's a point that it definitely equalizes out but I think we might be seeing it's so Jeff you know this it's so dependent on how hard you run it at the beginning of a run that's gonna be the life of those tires lead change Martin Truex to the front and I know Harvick I don't think Harvick slowed down he's still 11 seconds up on the third place car but Truex right now is a rocket well he is and I think Kevin's maybe used up his tires a little bit but he's been missing that bottom line which is uncharacteristic of Kevin Harvick that's what right onboard here with Kevin as he's trying to hook that white and red line there and you see the 19 of tricks has found something in that top groove and that's where he made that pass happen Kevin Harvick slipped up Truex had the momentum and made that pass down the back straightaway but Jeff we heard earlier where Truex was running a little easier at the beginning of the run I think that's paying dividends now 18 laps to go in stage one you won't miss a minute we're going to take you Fox side-by-side [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] 91 laps complete here in Atlanta Martin Truex the race leader drawing a bead on Bubba Wallace the 17th place car let's go back and revisit that pass for the lead and we'll call it today is tied clean pass this is Kevin Harvick our leader coming off a turn to lost a lot of speed off that corner and the 19 of March Rex jr. gained a lot of speed using that top groove makes the plas nice and clean and easy and it turns three and four Matt can't really see where Kevin Harvick you made any mistake or got off the bottom a whole lot it just looked like Marc trucks Jr's got a lot more grip right now on that top groove that you're tied clean pass here's Jamie on the 4 and Kevin Harvick has led 46 laps today and he just radio to his team and told Rodney Childers after he got out adjustment in fact I think it made me worse so his car find it going away and Truex is the office good well you think Kevin could have radioed in and told Rodney happy birthday 44 today maybe didn't pre-race he just wants to bring home a trophy for his birthday but up until then it's gonna be all business Martin Truex taking a while to get past Bubba Wallace here and now makes the pass on the outside oh we've got a spin John hundred Nemechek goes around coming off a turn four and who had the lucky rabbit's foot Bubba Wallace he's the free pass car that'll be only the second caution flag of the day Nemechek was 25th [Music] was out of control as I've seen a lot of these cars I'm surprised we haven't seen this happen sooner oh yeah you could see it actually started way back in the middle of the corner was John her Nemechek was not able to be bright on the paint oh yeah he just he just gets up about it even not even a full half length in and the car comes around he also didn't have a lot of air coming to the front and over the car to create downforce because there was a car right in front of him alright so you rode with chase Elliott there how do you know if that car is going to slide up the track or come down the track yeah I mean you really just have to you know slow down but you can't jump on the brakes or you start locking up the tires you're going really fast you know but but you look at how fast or slow they spin and they're spinning slow usually they're gonna go down to the bottom if they're slowing spinning quickly they're gonna go up to the wall alright hold the phone this just in Matt DiBenedetto is the free pass car because Martin Truex had just lapped him just prior to the last scoring loop before the caution flag DiBenedetto and Papa is still on the lead lap got back out got back out front he was actually ahead of our leader when the caution came out yes and look who's on pit road there might only be ten laps to go in this stage but you want fresh rubber yeah I don't understand anybody staying out right there whatsoever so 17 lead lap cars plus DiBenedetto and again Bubba Wallace was ahead of Martin Truex so DiBenedetto the free pass car four four stars for everybody it looks like and here's the RAM race off pit road Truex Harvick not by much and four tires for everybody Jimmie Johnson picks up two spots here's how close it was at the timing line that's close yes it is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] lining up for the restart it's like a lot of cars took the wave-around as we're 12 laps from the end of this stage now watch Tyler Redick the blue and white car Erik Jones in yellow right behind him and Denny Hamlin to the outside yeah Tyler red is gonna make an evasive turn to the left here maybe just seeing his pit stall and Erik Jones has to make a move to avoid him and that sends his teammate Denny Hamlin out into the grass no contact between the 20 of Jones and the 11 of Denny Hamlin but sometimes you could pick up grass on that grill on that front grill that puts you know the air allows the air to go into the radiator so I'm sure that team had to check that on pit road so half the field roughly waved around and about 10 of them got back on to the lead lap but now just seven laps to go in this stage and a bunch of others picked up one of the laps that they were down we're going to listen to a Clint boyars team and spotter Brett Griffin on the restart Boyer restarts third behind Truex and Harvick here we go [Music] anybody lonely they'd only love it's that sense that [Music] they all play about driving away [Applause] you don't have right there you back to the four boyeur and Kyle Busch battle for second behind Truex well that's some great action there on the restart so hard not to spin your tires and when you're on that front row it's easy for those cars behind you to just roll up with maybe half a mile per hour faster speed and they can get right to your bumpers were three wide now going into turn three Denny Hamlin locked in the inside it kept Stenhouse to the inside Tyler etic Stenhouse wants those staged points from the inside he gets Reddick and so does Hamlin now chase Elliott and look at chase Elliott and Joey Logano those two just can't get away from each other [Music] Jimmy Johnson the 48 in position to get the final stage point with four to go voice 20 of Erik Jones trying to make a move on Kevin Harvick for fourth place he's going to end up losing three spots see the back of that car slide out coming off of turn four and Stenhouse keeps coming now he and Tyler etic gonna battle it out side by side as she watched Jones from Johnson 5th through 10th all under a blanket here in the closing laps of stage one yeah no saving tires Mike they know they're going to the end of this stage they're gonna put four fresh Goodyear zon so battle on that go for it now here's what's at stake here the starting line up next week is set by odor points if you're in the top dozen you get to pick in the first wave if you're 13th you have to pick in the second wave so how you leave this race in points might determine whether you start 1st or 24th it's Jones powers around Johnson for 8 Joey Logano the power moved to the inside gonna bring along Christopher Bell as they go by Tyler etic great battling a stage one draws to a close fourth place here with us Toyota's are looking good there Joe Gibbs Racing directs his first cow Busch second now Hamlin goes by Harvick for fourth of course don't forget our buddy good boy there in third place Martin Truex who was the king of stage racing when it was introduced has never won a stage at Atlanta he has never won a stage this year and all that just changed Martin Truex by three tenths of a second over Kyle Busch win stage one Boyer Hamlin Harvick the top five and Martin Truex has his first stage win of 2020 [Music] [Music] the folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 it's sponsored by credit one bank the official credit card of NASCAR perfect for race fans and by Geico 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance end of stage one Martin Truex Jr stage one winner but on this week's Friday Night Smackdown Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles meet in a dream matchup in the finals of the Intercontinental Championship Tournament you can get both Daniel and AJ as they'll be the grand marshals at the blue EMU maximum pain relief 500 for Martinsville Wednesday on fs1 7 p.m. Eastern just two days before they meet for the championship petrodes going to be open we gave you the top five as we went to break six through ten earning stage points chase Elliott Ricky Stenhouse Erik Jones Jimmie Johnson Ryan Blaney but some of those wave-around drivers are just crying for tires now that costume was perfect for them so now we're back up to 28 cars on the lead lap plus John Hunter Nemechek the free pass car Jamie Kevin Harvick in of course he didn't like that last adjustment he said he got just a little bit loose at one point gain team is in but also the 14 of Playboy they trying to make a wedge adjustment on the last stop and the wedge wrench yeah one thing I see there Jeff is a lot of drivers are not stopping very shallow in the box if they can because there's been difficult to getting out and how about Clint Boyer picking up two spots to take the lead say we dial up her stage winner there Marc tricks jr. hey Martin this is Jeff and Mike in the Fox Sports studios you got us yeah go ahead yeah well man you are the king of stage wins more wins in stages than any other drivers in past years I couldn't believe it when I saw the stage win of this season all right looking good keep it up thank you everybody no problem Martin Truex is fastest lap of the race came just four laps before the end of stage one [Music] [Music] [Music] QuikTrip 500 is sponsored by Progressive Insurance save when you bundle auto home or motorcycle insurance and by Pizza Hut order today at Pizza Hut comm we want to thank all the military families that have been tuning in and tweeting honoring today's folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 and remembering those who served and those we've lost so today at lap 113 will have a special remembrance [Music] we're at 111 laps complete about to go green for stage number 2 Clint Boyer Martin Truex the field lined up behind them on the back straightaway Kyle Busch Denny Hamlin row to chase Elliott Kevin Harvick the third row Jimmie Johnson Eric Jones and Joey Logano has made an extra pit stop to fix right side damage that he got exiting the pits we talked about how small these pit boxes are whoo it's it's there's been a lot of action trying to get in and out of those pit boxes on pit road today also they're saying he may have made contact with Matt Kenseth's car so this will begin the run for stage 2 also 105 laps long and here they come to the Geico restart zone [Music] quarterback all over your own e-bumper tandem [Music] you're driving away from pressure bottles gonna hand over been a pill about how cops can to my mental feedback to the top at quarterback coming outside Martin Truex on the outside from Clint Boyer we complete 113 laps for each of the first past five races in Atlanta Atlanta Motor Speedway and folds of Honor provided fans with a folded paper flag to hold up on the 13th lap of the race 13 is symbolic it represents the 13 original colonies and the 13 folds of a folded flag today fans have been posting their flags to show honor and respect and we salute all of them here at lap 113 [Music] the fight for clean air oh yeah well both of these guys have it because you got marked Rex jr. on the outside with a clean air clip boy you're battling on that inside lane but you're right Mike they do not want to give up that clean air so this battle continues on the Clint Bowyer's can have the advantage now in the bottom groove you see trex was able to hold his own on that outside for the first couple laps but as those tires start to lose grip each lap the bottom groove was the place to be Jamie lawyer said he doesn't have the grip that he feels like the guys around him boy really sent it into turn three trying to establish that lead and he did Hamlin now ahead of chase Elliott for third and what a bottom-feeder and chase up there rim riding well like you said might looking for that clean air you know if you go and followed Denny Hamlin to the bottom of this racetrack you're gonna lose a lot of downforce so Chase is choosing to move up the racetrack straddle one of those scenes that that make up the different lanes tires get on those seams lose a lot of grip there so you seem straddling it but getting that clean air carry the momentum off the top groove [Music] alright boy your leader Truex Hamlin Elliott and Kyle Busch has been hanging around the top five most of the day here Larry let's take a look at the right combination sponsored by Subway yeah we're gonna focus on that 18 car Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch and crew chief Adam Stevens this is their sixth season together in Cup they've already won two championships together 2015-2019 27 Cup wins together as a duo and here's a little Larry McNugget on Kyle Busch before Adam Stevens joined him Kyle's first win with Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota's first Cup win was right here to Atlanta Motor Speedway in the spring of 2008 so Kyle and Adam they hope they can find a subway right combination to get Kyle his third Atlanta win when it comes in here eighth in points Larry that's kind of an uncut - the season isn't it well it is but one thing I'm seeing Mike is that Joe Gibbs Toyota drivers they look like they are coming to life because right now I'm looking at all four of them in the top ten it's like they just keep kind of creeping up on everybody else right now and Larry I find something interesting here today is we've seen these Joe Gibbs Toyota's be very fast here and three of them in the top five this track is all corners we talked about how abrasive it is how much the tires fall off this track has bigger corners than about any other mile and a half we go to and these teams have talked about the Toyota teams talked about lacking speed well you're not lacking speed in the corners today so that's for sure last title win here 2013 seven years ago lawyer and Truex have a full second on chase Elliott third and we heard Jamie talk about in that report on that Boyer about his car just not having the grip in some of those around him as we see the battle for ninth place here Erik Jones Ryan Blaney but Clint Boyer has clean air right now and I'd love to hear what he's saying about his race car because that clean air is going to give him the grip he's been looking for [Music] Jones goes by blady and looking at the rear bumper to Alex Bowman Clint Boyer from our DeKalb corn cam I'll bet he's not talking to his crew he's probably sitting in there singing country songs [Applause] [Music] [Music] does it get any cuter than that nope we'll be watching alright I'm Simon right now yes daddy's out front by one second over martin truex 2.3 over chase elliott 2.7 over Denny Hamlin and it's not easy even when you're up front that clean air you see clip boy or the back end stepped out quite a bit through one and two ninth place Erik Jones Alex Bowman yeah this is a battle it's been going back and forth the last few laps and just in front of them the free pass car from the last caution Matt DiBenedetto has made the most of that in the 21 he sure has great run for he and that team Wood Brothers and right behind that group Kurt Busch in the one coming into play here after using a free pass to get himself back on the lead lap after being under penalty for failing inspection three times in pre-race really feel like this is a type of track that really suits Kurt Busch's driving style I would not be surprised if you see that one Monster Energy Chevrolet continue to march his way to the front biggest car on the move since the restart Christopher Bell has now picked up ten positions from 26 to 16 nice hot steamy Atlanta day oh I'd say it's about time at lap 129 to crank it up whoo let's do it [Applause] get off [Applause] [Music] flappers down the middle [Music] [Music] look into the middle lower about walking away build or cry very softly [Music] [Applause] three charge up to 27 Stan [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] 135 laps complete I wonder when brad keselowski and jeremy Bowens go out in public now do they wear a mask like we do or did they wear one that kind of covers their whole face except for their eyes because they're going to hold up another race they've stolen two recently done a great job of it hey I always say you know if you want to have good luck you put yourself in the right position take advantage of maybe others bad luck right a competitor will take it any way you can get it and listen those those wins were important to kill Brad Keselowski and Jeremy bones in that combination and now that'll give them the confidence that all right we get the car right we can put ourselves in position to get more of those yet Jeff Richard Childress always told me luck in racing is when preparation meets an opportunity theory so cheer coca-cola camera for Daniel Suarez in a time for caution Larry I'm not giving you the transistor no no no we're not ready for yet Jamie 25 to mention Erik Jones coming up with one of his best finishes of the year fit the crystal he's had some issues here today even though he holds it in 9th position right now she's had some [Music] kind of went away and now he's saying he feels it again he told his crew chief Chris Gayle and Chris said we cannot fix it at this point let's wait for fewer cars on the lead lap so we don't lose so much sufficient I can't imagine Jeb being a driver knowing your travesty but yet trying to hang on well especially at this track because this track we already hurt Clint Boyer talked about it's like there's an egg underneath that throttle pedal so if it's sticking it's so hard to run smooth around this racetrack especially on that bottom groove like Harvick does his teammate Kyle Busch trying to make a move on Kevin Harvick here for fifth and his other teammate Denny Hamlin here caught chase Elliott behind the slower car of Quinn Howell and Hamlin pounced oh yeah could have just not sure where chase Elliott was gonna go just chase Elliott didn't know who Quinn how it was going to go as he came down that straightaway I think chase Elliott was expecting to go to the outside Quinn House moved up right from he had to check up and that momentum being shifted like that it allowed Denny Hamlin to go on by Jeff all I'd asked of a lap car or a car about to be lap hold your line be predictable don't surprise me yeah and maybe that was the line he ran the last time but they came up on him so fast you know that I don't know if chase Elliott knew which line he was actually running if that's his line I'm gonna get another rod and reel and throw in a different one in the water all right we're gonna take a break here so we'll be back for green flag pit stops Clint Boyer eking a little more lead away from Martin Truex [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you [Music] throughout history Atlanta Motor Speedway has been a place where getting on to pit road getting in and out of your pits very very tricky short pit boxes no margin for error and Larry green flag pit stops in the offing well remember what we talked about with our credible calm race strategy about splitting this stage into thirds that window is open to pit right about lap 145 then you would pit again again latin-1 75 and there the leader Clint boy you're in so they're splitting us in thirds so once he's hit pit road Mike like while ago you cannot be far behind Martin Jurek stays out takes over the lead from his teammate Denny Hamlin chase Elliott Kyle Busch Kevin Harvick his boyar makes his way to his stall that's what I'm looking forward to seeing is how long the 19 stays out Jamie check that tire out in Vegas yeah as soon as Jamie said I heard something flapping and hitting the the quarter panel maybe it's the right rear tire right hiss click boy or hit pit road I don't know if that's what brought him in or if they just got really lucky in that and then it happened once he hit pit road [Music] well so far no other takers will take a look at boyars lap times as he gets back up to speed well Chase Utley oh he's up the racetrack really sideways 18 and the four going by Jamie just got confirmation I heard Johnny Boz Mayer crew chief attempt lawyers said yes he had the right rear coming apart all right good thing he stopped now boyars back up to speed yeah that actually happened on the racetrack on in three and four just as Clint Boyer was coming to pit road you can hear that that tread has now broke loose on the tire in and is flapping up inside that crush panel so the leader running 33 ATS boyer his first lap at speed a 33 10 7/10 quicker but Boyer is one lap down of course things will cycle through as it comes around the outside of here's the thing though Mike I feel like Boyer is gonna have to make another stop but if we're not seeing anybody else coming I think they've decided to split the stage in half and they should be coming in the next eight to ten laps they'll make one stop and if we don't go to caution you'll go to the end but look right here hit the right rear tire coming off Clint Bowyer's car you'll see that the tread of that tire was in big trouble trouble that's right there's a look at it right down the middle just if you know one of the chords or that that tread just kind of came apart right there I mean that that might have been a pretty lucky break for a Clint lawyer to get into pit road when he did without having more issues but I believe that that was not a scheduled stop so foyer now is the only car one lap down so he would be the free pass car should we have a caution flag Kyle Busch in 3rd 5.2 seconds off the lead behind teammates Truex and Hamlin [Music] yes Kevin Harvick the first Ford in fourth chase Elliott the first Chevy in fifth here today's Toyota top performers I would say they're performing quite well the guards Lynette Boyer with those fresher tires going by second place runner Denny Hamlin trying to get back on that lead lap he's got another about three seconds to go to catch our leader Marc tricks you neared he's been about a second of a lot faster his last couple laps he may not need the free pass we'll see how long that those new tires provide Boyer with an advantage trying to get back on the lead lap Ryan Blaney 11th [Applause] [Music] we've seen Blaney get way up close to the wall on corner exit here these last few laps yes the grip goes away Mike you're looking for anything that you can find and you you will use up every inch of this racetrack so you know you believe that there's actually a buffer and a wall of air that gets created this bubble almost effect as you get close to the wall that gives you a little extra grip a little extra downforce to the car well you see Alex Bowman and you hear Brad Keselowski and they're both slip-sliding away off the corner [Music] [Applause] there's just not many racetracks we go to Mike where you don't get full throttle until that far off the corner that just tells you how much those tires wearing in go away talked about being a cheese grater that that that grip goes right along with all that tire that's that's being pulled off the that rubbers being pulled off the tires [Applause] kind of like chase Elliott Logano Kenseth the Newman have not been able to get apart and now they will as Ryan Newman brings his Roush Fenway forward on to pit road Cole Custer behind him and these were both lead lap cars they'll go a lap down with a stop Alex Bowman coming to the pitlane we saw him sliding off the corner he's decided to do something about it and here's Austin Dillon your symbicort camera riding on car number three - pit lane downshift to second gear to get down to pit road speed Matt Kenseth in Tyler Redick in adjustment the right rear window to the 42 matt kenseth and chase Elliott headed down pit road a lot of takers now Oh black kids is going on this box right as the nine comes in Jamie in chase Elliott just makes it into his box like 26 laps today fires off a little bit tight and then it gets good [Music] Matt DiBenedetto pulls out jimmie johnson in the lane Bubba Wallace has been on the lead lap all day but for that one moment just before a caution he got lapped a nun lapped Jamie and Kevin Harvick went from having what looked like the best car in the field he's saying it's just way tighter it wants to go straight in the corners he said the car was terrible favela just on it here [Music] getting four fresh Goodyear x' Erik Jones and now Martin Truex the race leader is in can be tough for this Jones number 20 car to get out of his box out luckily he had an opening in front of him as he was sideways in that box Truex and Hamlin hand the lead to Brad Keselowski [Music] [Applause] [Music] Jamie at 792 is flying a happiest driver all day just no suggestions for changes Denny Hamlin on the right he saw the wedge wrench go in a wedge adjustment there but he's been on this splitter and he has continued to talk about it his teammates had it earlier but he set the fuse every time they come in and pit he's on this footer a little bit tight too for the 11 second stop for Bubba Wallace looks like something on the left rear maybe didn't get enough lug nuts tight tough break there Timmy Hill pulling into his pit just ahead of it now before pit stops [Music] mark tricks have 2.1 seconds on hamlin and that's now almost 3 yeah but if you go back further than that remember Boyer had the lead before he had that right rear tire issue coming down pit road will this cycle out I believe it will since he came really early that it has those fresher tires for longer out there but can he hold on to but I believe Boyer will be our leader as this thing cycles through Jeff my concern there if we stay green he's going to have to run 63 laps on those sets of tires and remember he's already had the issue at the right rear much earlier than 63 laps that would be my concern well I be hoping that that right rear tire was not due to the setup or go yeah I drove it yeah it just you know sometimes kind of freak things happen like that Brad Keselowski to the pits and Larry that'll be my question looking at that tire that we saw the came off Boyer's car did that look more like a setup issue or maybe an issue with that one tire I mean it definitely could be a one-off tire Mike but it looked like to me a race car that has on the free side and it's just it's overlooking that right rear tire okay and we definitely seen that boy you're working that steering wheel sliding that back of the car around and you know they might make an air pressure adjustment to but the problem is they didn't know that that right rear tire had an issue before they put this set of tires on least I don't believe they had enough time to adjust four tires and a piece of tape on the nose for Keselowski and that does cycle us back around to coiour as the race leader 8 seconds up on martin truex and 10 up on Kyle Busch 11 up on Denny Hamlin's and here is when each of the front five last stopped counting them down 46 to go in stage 2 of 3 at Atlanta [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Atlanta the skyline darts out from the freeways is surrounded the sprawling metropolis welcomes you to the south is home to a lot of things fun food and music are staples of every person here [Music] I bet you didn't know we have one of the world's largest aquarium everyone has a name for this place you've got the a we call it the ATL or just call it the capital of the south this is Atlanta [Music] chase Elliott talking about his home city battling right now for eight with Matt DiBenedetto [Music] Matt depend owner Matt DiBenedetto sliding up I'm doing a slide job right up in front of Chase a lady comes off of turn two yo chase for whatever is happening with chase Elliott's car today he's just not able to run that bottom groove he really has to run up high I don't know if it's you know where his splitters at or just the balance of his race car but you know he started on the pole position led laps early in this race has shown signs of having some fast speed in this car at times but right now working on that long run my shots from our Mountain Dew cam on chase Elliott's car Jimmie Johnson two cars ahead at seventh place [Music] and Johnson holding station about 12 seconds off the lead right now so Johnson no stranger knowing how to get around this racetrack with five wins you know cars change tires change competition changes and you know right now Jimmie Johnson you've been searchin to try to get back to the winner's circle but this is a track and he has confidence in that he can't find his way and he's having a nice run here today and his teammate also Alex Bowman in the position ahead of him in seventh having a nice day he saw him just past Timmy Hill who ran in all three events here at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend trucks xfinity and the Cup Series so there is Clint Boyer and there's a look at his lead which when pit stops cycled through was six seconds and now is down to two and a half Boyer has been told they want him to try to stretch it out and finish the stage well gonna be tough for him to do because you know he's been overheating that right rear tire you know we believe he's just just wearing through the center of that tire by sliding the car and then and that's really kind of separating the cord in exposing it in the center so you know he's gonna make that thing last he's gonna have to drive the car really straight which he's gonna have to give up a little bit of speed here in the early portion don't forget to remember how hard he fought for that lead that clean air with mark tricks jr. on that restart after this stage that had to make those tires man Oh II and you saw the result when the right rear came on Jamie there were blisters on it so they believed it was not air pressure related it was a tire issue okay that's way it's a abrasive track a very long fast : - high speeds it's it's like a little bit of everything but whoa man that's when as a driver you don't want to know what that looks like when you think about Blitzen or tire it's it's the same as the blister on your skin it just comes from excessive heat but a lot of times that comes from a race car being very loose at a racetrack there's some bracing so you're saying boy is gonna have a blister on the ball of his throttle foot well again he's gonna have to run 63 laps to run this thing out to the end Mike because we are still essentially 34 laps from the end of this stage remember he pitted at lap 147 I think that's doable on fuel the way the pace is slowed down but that's asking a lot out of that right rear tire and if he stops Larry there are already six cars one lap down it would be difficult to get back on the lead lap before the end of the stage right yeah with him the only one if he stopped he'd be the only one doing this on two stops and it just it's kind of put them in a box mine and Larry to me if they're gonna stop they got to stop right now they've got to take that risk but you saw how much time Boyer lost off of turn two he was trying to run that that line that white and red line and it came off to bottom and did a big slide abusing that right rear tire some more ninth place chase and Brad and Jimmy yeah clothes rape on Jimmy Johnson [Music] you know I was never good at running the bottom and wanted to mic the bumps the angle you had to enter you know just the patience that you had to have I loved running that top groove right up against the wall or straddling that seam as we've seen chase le do now here at three and four you almost have to be at the bottom to make the fastest laps I do think you can save those tires a little bit by running that very high line and a wider line you know in in turns three and four sorry it turns one and two got to be really disciplined to run that pot of lane it's watching Brad Keselowski is past Jimmie Johnson he's trying to get past chase Elliott that's Reed Sorenson in the seven up to the high side another Atlanta native Sorenson Peachtree City [Music] so now martin truex can draw a bead on clip boy he's got it down to four tenths of a second and closing but but that advantage of those new tires i'm starting to see it kind of level out a little bit for mark Turek junior because that last lap actually tricks was only about a tenth faster where he'd been six eight tenths of a second faster each lap [Music] eighth and ninth here [Music] and Eric Jones trying to come back into the top ten and I just wonder if Jimmy Johnson's feeling something in those tires as well did he overheat a tire or maybe even blister a tire because he's been losing a lot of positions these last couple of lives trying to get to the end of stage 2 which is 28 laps away the excite of the 48 of Jimmie Johnson and Ally Chevrolet coming off the turn for at Stanley Toyota number 20 Erik Jones looking to get by Jimmy Don on the bottom side does it pretty easily [Music] Ryan Blaney 12:10 closing on Johnson makes the pass yeah I mean when Jimmy Johnson you know is it's not putting up any kind of a fight for these positions I really think he's just trying to hold on to that car right now and those tires [Music] jami'a Martin Truex really happy with the car everybody had any suggestions today but now he say you guys tightened up the rear a bit too much and that's in the closet although now he's turning up the way and take over the leaf I don't think boy is gonna put up much of a fight here because again he's just trying to get to the end of this stage and take care of those tires but now what marked Rex jr. has to think about is his teammate Kyle Busch it's been moving along here at closing that gap going to go to the second place around clip Boyer Boyer just trying to stay on the lead lap to the end of the stage and to do that he can't abuse those tires any further [Music] Tourette's trying to create a little distance here say that last time by I know there's a little bit of traffic but huh Cowboys fast is calling the racetrack so the lead tightens up between the Joe Gibbs Toyota teammates [Music] [Music] [Music] yeah I mean it's a little bit frustrating honestly you know it's it's honestly it's one of my favorite tracks I love going there and you know the success has been pretty good other than you know just we haven't been able to win so you know there's been a handful of them that we probably should along so it's been a little bit frustrating from that standpoint but I love going there to great racetrack it's one of my favorites and I always look forward to to hopefully you know hopefully this time is our time [Music] Martin Truex is your leader at 191 laps but he's never won here or at Texas so Larry Truex has led 46 laps today what about that status caught your eye well we continue to monitor the toyota camp and we know this is not necessarily been their play house as you mentioned earlier they've got one here since 2013 we raced here once a year Mike and in the last three years three races the toyota camp as a whole they have led a total of 40 laps at now Martin Trix jr. has led 47 last year martin led four laps the only toyota to driver to lead a lap and that was only through the cycle of green flag stops so larry that just to me begs the question of what have they done what what have they been able to improve on because we've already documented this year has not been a really dominant year for toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing but yet here today one two and four with Hamlin they seem to be dominating this race right now they worked hard and have made some big improvement now they really have Jeff you went through it in your career I went through your mind when you get behind it's not that you lose anything it's everybody else catches up and I think that's what we saw with the Fords especially the Chevrolets and I think Joe Gibbs Racing especially but the Toyota camp they've now realized after nine races where the little behind and your point I think they went to work and they came here knowing no grip and a lot of quarters as you mentioned earlier and force thanks Larry here's Denny Hamlin in fourth place and closing up on Clint Boyer now Boyer has not slowed up that much he was keeping pace with Kyle Busch until Kyle passed him for second and now he and Denny Hamlin are tracking pretty identical speeds yeah but if I'm John Klaus my skirt see Bob said you could slow down a little bit more because we need those tires to go further than any of these guys you're racing 15 laps is a long way to grind him down and shred those tires there's Johnny now so far the longest run on a set of tires we've seen is 55 laps I think boy is going to have to go 63 [Music] [Music] as we go onboard here and look at the telemetry fur clip boy you're about the only thing Clint Boyer can do now remember he ran really hard we talked about this already in a battle with Marc tricks jr. on the restart at the start of this stage I think that did some damage to that right rear tire early in the stage this run if he's nice and smooth and doesn't slide that right rear tire as much as he did doesn't try to abuse it in the early stages I think this tire might be able to last the 63 laps he needs to get to well those three or four laps were they ran side by side for the lead and Boyer kept shoving it into turn three just as hard as he could and finally prevailed that could not have been good for those times no and you you wouldn't think that you could damage the tire early but you know a little bit of damage there and then then longevity after running on and sliding it on this abrasive track and the other thing the clinic can do right here is just try not to abuse that tires he battles with Denny Hamlin you know this is a time where you've got to run your own race race the race track not the competition so Hamlin takes over third Truex Kyle Busch and Hamlin one two three with teammates Boyer and Harvick four and five and then Bowman fifth and you know one last thing on this racetrack and tires I think of all the tracks this is probably more than any other that you can actually feel how much you're abusing those tires is that you go off into the corner and the car starts to step out you you feel it you because you can slide more around this track than you can any other track because of how abrasive it is and how much the pace drops so you know you know as a driver when you're hurting the right front tire the right rear tire now Matt DiBenedetto had climbed up a believed 1/7 and now he's lost a few Erik Jones going by now here comes Harvick oh look at borders car boy that's what you can't do [Music] this is capital L capital o capital s capital e and you know this isn't helping because you've got the 17 - chris buescher taking the air off the 14 car Clint Boyer and just bite right now sure he is not loving the grip level and how loose this race car is [Applause] [Music] so Harvick motors passed into fourth place as we come down to ten to go in stage two fighting for the last stage point chase Elliott Erik Jones and then Matt DiBenedetto 11 spinner off turn four into the grass at the start/finish line Michael McDowell we saw his teammate John Hunter Nemechek spend in that same spot earlier in this race lap 202 fourth caution flag of the day no X I came from Mike Johnny there was no contact McDowell looks like he just lost the car coming off turn number four he was 25th one lap down the black car afraid of help oh I'm sorry yes he did it was that his teammate okay I hope not I sure hope not I mean I know I don't I wouldn't say it was intentional I think you know McDowell just slid up off the bottom a little bit opened up the door and I believe that was the 3100 Nemechek that tried to squeeze to the inside made a little contact with the left or if he did make contact he made he definitely pushed the air to that left rear to force that car to go around I guess I caught it in progress when McDowell was already halfway around fourth caution flag and Larry you're gonna have well now it's eight to go in the stage will probably restart with five to go I would say yeah probably so my Kia and everybody Abbey on pit road cause as we've mentioned it has been a long time since they got four Goodyear tires so they'll be coming in here getting four tires so this is a pretty critical pit stop but it comes to maybe went in a stage or scored some stage points so we have eight cars a lap down Cole Custer's the free pass and like on the last caution prior to stage in some of those lap cars may stay out and take a wave around mark Truex leads everybody down [Music] Jamie 18 of Kyle Busch said you gave me front turn that's what I needed his car has gotten better the 14 a flip Boyer talking about relief from the driver's perspective he was so lose that remember as you talked about blisters on the right rear they will take a good hard look at that right there this time around but thankfully he has fresh tires the RAM race off pit road won by Kyle Busch whoa five Levin is the 19 attracts just doesn't want to be in that outside lane but he stacked them all up behind him by trying to back it up big winner there was Ryan Blaney picking up three spots here's how he did it see he's he's happened to get on the brakes because the four of Harvick and the 19 of Truex trying to play a little game there through the pit road all right so Kyle goes by and then it's after you know after you know after you know you go know you go [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] look at your tire engineer looking over the right rear that just came off Clint Bowyer's car oh wow and that one looking like it wouldn't have made it to the end of the stage why that cost she came out at a great time for the 14 teen 17 drivers took the wave-around Kyle Busch will be your leader on this restart I will say this might though that that problem is not going to go away for that 14 team anytime soon but look at the difference for Kyle Busch 20 19 to 20 20 through the first nine races yikes a couple of big goose eggs there they're looking at turning that stat around here today so now we restart with 29 drivers on the lead lap including those wave arounds Cole Custer got the free pass we're back under green Kyle Busch Martin Truex we saw that battle off the end of pit road and the four car Kevin Harvick was in the preferred lane but even he spun the tires and now we've got a drag race I think Marc Church jr. is gonna be pretty happy the way this start is gone now he's going to get a push from Blaney and he'll take the lead fighting hard for stage points whoa Kyle Busch sliding up the racetrack us gonna loosen positions here chase Elliott with a run and every point matters Jeff because Martin's bills starting line up his based the thon the top 12 getting the first 12 draws four wide off turn four good great Erik Jones Jones with an issue well he had a long pit stop because they were trying to fix that throttle problem he is running but not picking up speed this Coast right now my god yep that car I'm not sure if it's under power if it's a tire issue chase Elliott going after Kyle Busch here coming to one to go in this stage and the pits are closed so bad luck for Jones I squirt some rhymes ladies he's getting a second position right front flat on Jones he makes it to pit road here's the fight for eighth Boyer and Keselowski with Johnson 10th teammates battling it out here to the line Denny Hamlin Cowboys martin truex stage winner again 40th career stage win that's 8 more than any other driver [Music] stage 2 winner mtj [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] chase Elliott now 50 places in the top ten today you know to drill you get free fried pickles at Hooters on Monday and if Chase wins you get ten free boneless wings when you order any ten available at all Hooters that have safely reopened across the United States now Erik Jones had to pit with a flat tire remember that four wide coming off the corner here's another look how that rarely works yeah watch the right front of the 20 there's a Christopher Hill boy that's all it takes to cut down that right front tire and there's the result just hard racing Micah they were just racing and trying to get those positions on those wild restarts and pit road is open this time [Music] and that looks like all the lead lap cars there are now 29 of them and Brennan Poole will get the free pass the Hunt Brothers Pizza cam on Kevin Harvick's car on the right is your leader Truex Jamie aren't red jr. they work on the right side of the car they didn't get all the adjustments the last stop so they wanted to fix that this time to tighten him up it been good today he is good on pit road Kyle Busch makes his way down as well close call there now the timing line is the white line before the yellow line that's words determined and you see a camera just to the right of that mounted on top of the pit wall that is where NASCAR determines the order coming off pit road is at this white line so there's a look at it now Martin Truex is your stage winner how about we dial up the guy that crossed that line first absolutely hey Kyle Busch this is Jeff and Mike the Fox Sports 2 do you got us home Hannah you know it hasn't been the kind of season to start so far in 2020 that we expected out of you compared to last year but man today you guys look like you've got these Toyotas tuned up well you think your chances are to win this race today I think the bank seems pretty good too they definitely have pulled off speed and a little bit before we got the Boyar that it looked like you could get back out on me the best we can to try to try to win this thing yeah it looks like you and Adam Stevens are definitely make me some good adjustments on it so good luck the rest of way thanks for talking to us thank you Toyota one two in the stage they had only one stage win entering today Toyota's won both stages today and now Kyle Busch is in the lead [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] 110 laps to go in Atlanta Kyle Busch your leader let's take a look at how the coca-cola family of drivers are faring Denny Hamlin in the top 10 Joey Logano Austin Dillon in the top 20 Ryan Newman Bubba Wallace all on the lead lap Daniel Suarez currently three laps back [Music] filled forms up double file to begin stage number three the longest of the three stages at 115 lamps and something to point out Mike you know the 20 car of Eric Jones right he had to come in change that tire under green unfortunately just just couldn't limp around there and stay on the lead lap and so he's down one lap I'll be curious to see how he fights back to get back on the lead lap now how how things unfold the rest of this race in order to get him back into it only five caution flag totals so far entering stage three so most of those 13 sets of tires the team started with should be safely new tires safely in the pit box and available for use we're going to listen to Tim Fedewa Kevin Harvick spotter coming from third position as they approach the Geico restart zone matrix in I can't away five pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty I closed all mine here still there clearly [Applause] Hertz do clear versus nuclear you're clear up I think he's gonna call it around just get up there you have to block him a little bit here get your bottle probably have back trying to go top we're still clear now we got a line to the bottom you 18 new 1819 come with you still there that'll clear clear clear clear the table with you [Applause] clear all clear mark go back to July 19 I'll be in your marriage - back when you get the greener and that's how you restart third and take the lead in Atlanta what a move by Kevin Harvick the way he set up Kyle Busch to take that lead you saw him get that run down the back straightaway use a push from Kyle Busch's teammate Mark Treach jr. and then dovey the outside and got to the quarter panel and completed the pass Keselowski or they've woken up that two car started fourth third [Applause] and drops one before I can't you brad keselowski this to Teemo big slide by chase Elliott trying to cross over on Brad Keselowski is Brad slid open from but what is it about this team in this driver of this two car that knows how to fight his way back and overcome things and get himself in position for good things to happen late in this race here's that crossover move chase Elliott sees the to slide up tries to turn underneath them and loses all the downforce slides doesn't check up though middle see Elliott stayed in the gas and still was able to make that pass happen that's one of Keselowski favorite moves that top to bottom elevator shot chase trying it there second place teammates when we'd heard from Kyle Busch Adam Stephenson cow have done some great job making some good adjustments and getting the balance right on the 18 of Kyle Busch and then on the flip side March uruk's jr. looks like he and James small they've maybe gone the wrong direction the track has changed he doesn't seem to be as good right now in this stage of the race last time by Kevin Harvick's last lap was the fastest lap of the race thirty one point five seven seconds Jeff I do think this track is changing the ambient temperatures coming down which means the track temperatures coming down so this is definitely gonna go through some changes over these last hundred laps yeah great point Larry so there he is Harvick a verb that was coined here at Atlanta Motor Speedway drop the car down to that white line and ride it all the way around the corner that's Harvick it is but that's not what he's doing here in turns one and two and that's not how he took the lead so you know a great driver knows how to adapt knows how to change to the conditions and I believe that's what cow sorry Kevin Harvick has had to do it's what he did to take this lead and he's looking in his mirror now at Kyle Busch trying to figure out what I got to do to keep this clean air you see him back down to the bottom I mean I really think the preferred line in turns three or four is the bottom but you have options down here one and two you can run that very bottom or you can run about three lanes up Roger Penske teammates Blaney and Keselowski fighting it out for fifth nice to see IndyCar get their season started last night at Texas congratulations to Scott Dixon winning that race you see here and now here here's a difference down in three four you can run different grooves in three and four and you might want to search for clean air like Ryan Blaney still we're seeing a couple others do that same thing but just doesn't seem like the High Line works as good in three and four as it does down here 1 & 2 again straddling that seam I owe this bet the line I always love to run there's just something about that part of the racetrack that allows you a little more room to slide the card on the exit cuz I always found a little extra grip and that Lane versus right up against the wall you can hear the car crashing into the racetrack as it goes through those bumps in 3 & 4 and he can seek his Laos key getting loose off the corner in front of him and just sitting there going here I come yeah this is where you have to have a lot of patience you see brad slides up the racetrack that's where you've got a hold on not giving it back into the throttle too early keep it down load left sides on that paint and drive that car straight up off the corner take advantage of that looking back from our ford on-board camera from brad keselowski jamie last week mikey overcame a pit road penalty to win the race today [Music] but he takes additional vanie studies patient to push the car he's doing today thanks Jamie Keselowski in fifth now about three laps ago Kyle Busch all but caught Kevin Harvick and now very suddenly he's faded to third yeah I just don't know if maybe that pressure he put on Kevin Harvick I fused those tires a little bit maybe just change the balance on that 18 car so I very often at this racetrack you can push and slide those tires and over he won you know the right rear the right front tire and it'll take a couple laps to recover so that might be what's happening here with the 18 accomplished also might have been what happened at the very beginning of this stage for the 19 of Mark Trix jr. 28 cars on the lead lap all the way back to Corey Lajoie 14 seconds off the lead 97 to go and it's Ricky Stenhouse and Kurt Busch here for 11 [Music] a quiet date for Ricky Stenhouse jr. but doing a nice job maintaining good good running position he and Ryan Preece both on the lead lap still for JTG Dougherty expect a little bit more on a Kurt Busch after we saw those early issues but he had a fast race car to began this race but that shows you again how much the tracks change 95 laps to go Kevin Harvick out in front of Martin Truex by half a second [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] the folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 is sponsored by Ram trucks built to serve and by credit one bank the official credit card of nascar perfect for race fans 91 laps complete to go here in Atlanta Kevin Harvick out in front time for our credit one bank ones to watch well Mike I've got my eye on mark truck juniors in second place right now he's got a great long-run car he's won both stages so far in this race the last time he did that was at Martinsville and guess what he went on to win I think he gets win number one in Atlanta today Jeff Kevin Harvick got his first career win at Atlanta back in 2001 it took him 17 years to find Victory Lane again that Atlanta Motor Speedway I was a little concerned earlier but I think with at least one more pit stop to go out front leading he's going to give Rodney Childress the best birthday present you can give a crew chief [Music] manga is on he's gonna follow in his footsteps and win at Atlanta Motor Speedway Kyle Busch started the final stage with the lead he's won here for two different crew chiefs Adam Stevens could be the third for Kyle that's your credit one bank ones to watch Harvick's lead is opening up one point two seconds now and Martin Truex Matt Kenseth after some early contact see a lot of tape on the nose but he's solidly on the lead lap here in 50 [Music] twenty-eight drivers on the lead lap we've had 8 different leaders 5 caution flags for 24 laps now harvest he's looking in his beer he's seen mark Church jr. put some good laps together right now so you can see how difficult it is to hook that line even as good as Harvick isn't Harvick een it's still tough to do but he's searching around the racetrack down and turns 1 & 2 because mark trek jr. is closing in teammates fighting for fifth those Mustangs of Keselowski and Blaney [Music] let's chase Elliott just ahead of Keselowski [Music] Wednesday night we're going short tracking we're going to Martinsville on fs1 under the lights but yeah hell froze over the Eagles reunited and they put lights of Martinsville go figure but that's gonna be fun yes it can't wait we're gonna see those brake rotors glowing yep [Music] Austin Dillon in 1614 seconds off the lead as 5th place is still under discussion here [Music] you know Mike since we've gone back racing you I don't know if the drivers and the teams how much they focused on this this lineup of tracks that were coming and some of the changes in the schedule you see this battle just continue to heat up this is a great battle here that Lana Motor Speedway today a lot of this that we've seen today but they have gone to some tough tough racetracks I mean you think about opening up at Darlington you know we've gone to Bristol gone to Charlotte now we're here at Atlanta I mean this is a tough lineup it's taken a lot out of these race race drivers Josh Palicki in the middle as Keselowski and Blaney have taken their battle all the way up to chase Elliott at fourth place with 83 laps to go here's a look at your progressive race summary Kevin Harvick has led the most laps today 71 one of eight different leaders 18 lead changes 28 cars still on the lead lap Martin Truex winner of the first two stages his first two stage wins of the year [Music] Ryan Newman 21st 19 seconds back 28 lead lap cars back to tie villain [Music] who's that battle up front you can see marks Junior about every other lap he just he just chops off about a half of a tenth but Kevin Harvick's lead now Kevin Harvick now these tires have been worn down a little bit the pace starting to drop you can see him start to work that bottom lane that he does so well down to one and two chase Elliott woman the High Line three and four that loud to Keselowski yeah this lap car is going to affect his line see Suarez running the same line that chase Elliott does a nice job adapting and moving around that suarez vehicle and not losing too much time to Ryan Blaney who's he's working hard to try to make that pass on chase le it's gonna dive down to the bottom here 1 & 2 [Music] look how high on the racetrack chase Elliott's running out low Ryan Blaney is look chase is up in the Harry Gant groove now and that's one of the fun things about coming to Atlanta and watching a race is it is such a multi groove racetrack and drivers search around and find different places to run at different times during the race that's what every drivers dream is I mean yes you have to have a fast race car in a car that's not too abrasive on the tires or you know wears them out too much but you play a big role as a driver in that you play a role in the speed that you find how you navigate through traffic and what you do to treat those tires well man as a driver I loved this racetrack [Music] Larry 78 laps to go what are you thinking well normally they crunch numbers on race level fs1 at 6:00 p.m. Eastern every week I've been crunching numbers on tire windows infield windows so we went back racing with a hundred eight laps to go based on what teams were doing in that last stage if you split it right down the middle that means you need to run 54 laps pool runs so they'll basically pin around lap 271 and Mike I can't make this stuff up do you know how many laps Boyer had run earlier when that caution came out for Michael McDowell give me four laps listen if I'm Johnny class Myer I'm thinking about it how many stops is that Larry that you had for everybody else never many events three or two I want one more pond boy well again you can split this in one stop but there is a way that you could divide it in thirds not sure anybody's thinking that Jamie yeah Johnny Vaught firefighter was talking about that berry pinwheel in green about the rock fear so I talked to his titers pressure but we have not done that yet we'll think about it on this I mean the way this track is young you know new tires are so important to me if you know no cautions are coming up the faster strategy is a two-stop strategy and I love fresh tires where I don't have to worry about it but I'm not a strategist or crew chief if we only knew Kevin Harvick your leader was 75 to go [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Kevin Harvick leads the folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta was 71 laps to go he's one second ahead of Martin Truex let's have a look at today's race recap sponsored by Advance Auto Parts on the pace laps they brought the cars to a halt on the front straightaway as Steve Phelps NASCAR president addressed the competitors about the turmoil in America today and after a 30-second silence for listening they fired the engines resumed the pace laps and we got underway Kevin Harvick the early leader falling Martin Truex here with only the competition yellow and then a brief caution before the end of stage one Truex got his first stage win of the year Clint Boyer had a fast car but he kept burning up the right rear tire not once but twice that's a look at the second right rear that came off the car as they tried to stretch out the tire mileage for wide didn't work for Erik Jones in the yellow car he got up into Christopher Bell and that cut down the right front tire Jones is still a lap down only one caution in stage two for Michael McDowell spin and stage two also won by Martin Truex Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick for stage three Harvick jumped out to the lead which he has not relinquished I'm not sure advanced autoparts race weekend here your lap leaders today Harvick 86 and Counting sixth place chase Elliott Denny Hamlin we've seen today where Denny Hamlin has a good car longer runs and as we get into this portion of this run 48 about 48 laps in you can see Danny's car really starting to come to the front Jeff we've seen this in several races since we've been back racing we saw it with this 11 cart Charlotte we saw it at grips that we've seen it alive since we've been back racing over the last few weeks good on the long run well and Denny is one of those drivers I think is very good at the long runs pacing himself taking it easy on the tires in the early stages of a run but you know right now it's got to find a way to get that track position a little bit further up he and the team so that they can take advantage of that long run speed if they're gonna get the win back here a 13th Alex Bowman and Joey Logano both were figured to be frontrunners here today but for a variety of reasons Logano had some damage on pit road and still trying to work his way back up he's at 13th Bowman at 14 Matt Kenseth 15 yeah I agree Mike I mean you know if you look at the Mountain House and in the bigger tracks this year the 88 of Alex Bowman has been really strong in position to win he's won one of those then you've got Logano has won two races also one of those on on a mile and a half so yeah I expected a little bit more out of those guys and here's attending Hamlin again continuing to march forward on this run [Music] Hamlin restarted eighth is now fifth you're riding with Daniel Suarez he recently made a stop for tires Corey Lajoie ahead of leader Kevin Harvick and here comes Suarez with with those four feelgood's yes they feel great right now [Applause] Matt DiBenedetto is in the pits Austin Dillon is in Cole Custer is coming these are cars toward the tail end of the lead lap betting was 63 to go it might they're just trying to fit a little early what we call short hit to try to take full advantage of those four fresh tires and see if they can make some gains on get back closer to the legal so that'll leaving us 25 cars right now on the lead lap excuse me 23 and priests last car on the lead level every time Erik Jones gets himself in position to be the free pass another car goes a lap down ty Dillon pit road that big piece of bear bond I guess on the left front corner there earlier damaged ricky stenhouse is going to give up a top 15 position to pit and few more takers here now all of these are in the second half of the cars that are on the lead lap Ryan Newman another one Newman a lap down now and so is Suarez with these stops but so far among the leaders the top 15 cars no takers but for Jimmie Johnson who was 10 [Music] ty Dillon to fast entering pit road get a pass-through marolla it's pit road as Jimmie Johnson exits his pit stall bubble Wallace is in so now these are top 15 cars that are pitting trying to get a jump on the leaders Clint Boyer coming this time he's the eighth place car [Music] kevin harvick so far staying out as is Truex Kyle Busch Blaney and Hamlin the top five [Music] and that right-rear looked pretty good on Boyer's car I didn't see any any evidence of any blistering and we heard radio communication that car is really really tight they tighten the car up and I don't think it's using the right rear as much as it had been chase Elliott coming into his stall Kurt Busch on pit road [Music] [Music] well you saw how fast those new tires were for Daniel Suarez he was getting around the leader this is Kevin Harvick and here's Truex a second place on pit road this should bring everybody right Larry Jamie for the 19th right away you see our leader Kevin Harvick head to pit road as soon as he saw that the 19 of church is on pit road now they're coming Tyler Riddick James been solid all day each other tape on the nose Ryan Blaney takes over the lead from Joey Logano and Alex Bowman Keselowski and Hamlin in for a tough entry therefore Keselowski as he had to come around John Hunter Nemechek in his box boy Ryan Blaney locked him up coming to pit road so only three lead lap drivers left to pit Logano Bowman McDowell Joey is the leader cars with newer tires flashing past him [Music] [Music] we've seen Hall walk trying to pull this same strategy when he was crew chief or brad keselowski now he switched over here to Joey Logano see how long they decide to stay out here's the only thing they gained by doing this I mean right now there's only 12 drivers on the lead lap but the way the tires give up if we catch a caution right now even all these drivers that just put it on the green they would follow Joey Logano right down pit road again for four fresh tires if we could get a caution yeah that's exactly what they're hoping for right is that caution to fall at the right time and we've seen we've seen it happen before Alex Bowman in his pit stall and here comes Joey Logano in the Pennzoil yeah Jimmie Johnson and Clint Boyer just run 32 50s Logano was a second and a half slower than them that's just too much to give up to stay out it I mean I think it's worth risking for a few laps but not a lot longer so michael mcdowell will be the last of these lead lap cars to pit Erik Jones by virtue of this stays out and climbs back up on the lead lap at least temporarily invite what Paul Wolfe did with Joey Logano by running to lap 271 that it's exactly split that stage at half 54 laps the first run you see Paul Wolfe right there 54 laps from here to the checkered flag I thought Martin Truex Jr by coming in a lap before Kevin Harvick might be able to take advantage of that in those fresher tires and get the lead but didn't work out no two-second margin before pit stops - second margin now so a lot of you know credit to the pit stop to the pit crew of putting together two even stops and those drivers being even on pit road [Music] fifty three laps to go in Atlanta but now martin truex starting to eat into Kevin Harvick's lead just a little bit as we take you Fox side-by-side [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] that's Gerald Duke in the 92 he was from Atlanta worked at the Ford plant jumped 19 times as a paratrooper behind enemy lines in World War two came home to race stock cars and competed here in the very first race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1960 Gerald Duke past Friday aged 92 one of America's greatest generation and war heroes and racer 47 laps to go Kevin Harvick in front of Martin Truex by 2.05 seconds Kyle Busch Denny Hamlin Ryan Blaney the top five and Blaney thinks he may have a vibration he's called in to his crew to be on the alert it's always a fear you know coming to pit road you got to be careful getting on pit road you don't want to give up much time then under green flag you just and this could be the final stop and you're just trying to do everything right to get to your driver out ahead of who is competing with and sometimes that's what could cause you just hit or miss a couple of those lug nuts Jamie and Brad Keselowski before he pitted said he was too tight when he came in they looked at the tires have found spots on the rears tell them to be more careful he's saying right now the car fired off [Music] now we told you Eric Jones got back on the lead lap with everyone else pitting Jones finally did make his stop to fast entering off you know and Christopher Bell had a 25-second stop he went from 17 to 25th falling off the lead lap so 20 lead lap cars now back to Bubba Wallace with 45 to go [Music] so you're Brad Keselowski one of those drivers that then you stayed out a little bit longer than some others cut by a couple of to three laps lost some positions but you can you'll see he'll start to make those up as we run green here if it continues under green so on your right Ryan Blaney who may have a vibration on the Left Kevin Harvick low contrast in style talk about a fast steering box in nose hands working think about doing that for 500 miles good to have next up well you can see Kevin Harvick waving out the window to one of the left lapped cars and I can't wait to talk to Ryan Blaney next time and ask him why he's got two stripes on the steering wheel I have a pretty good idea that the white striper on there is where he kind of references that wheel but but you would think that the manufacturer the steer wheel could maybe take that other line out hard to say well Kevin Harvick's driving one-handed you know if he was Dick Trickle he'd have time to light up a cigarette maybe I don't know you know just just taking it easy but his lead is not growing it's 1.8 seconds over Martin Truex right now difference in steering wheel diameters - I guess that's just a matter of driver preference or it's old-school new-school bike I mean you know I've seen where a lot of these teams have been able to to get the grip in the the front geometry in these cars to work those front tires a little bit better run in a smaller wheel run in a small a faster steering box and it is a lot of a driver preference if you've got really quick hands and you like to drive it like that then then go with it because there might be a little extra speed and grip in those front tires with it but I like the old-school way of Kevin Harvick just nice big we know nice and smooth just pulls it right around the bottom and makes it look easy [Music] Austin Dillon trying to race for a top-ten spot here it's his way around twin house Wednesday night on fs1 were live in primetime at Martinsville for the blue EMU maximum pain relief 500 then Sunday NASCAR rolls into Miami homestead for the Dixie vodka 400 3:30 Eastern on Fox both races also available on the Fox Sports app double dose of NASCAR this week Mike you mentioned Austin Dillon in that 3 car sitting in the 12th position Justin Alexander brought him to pit road quite a bit earlier than most of the leaders and that did pay dividends at least in the early part of this front we'll see what it does we now that we're down to less than 40 laps to go [Music] Kevin Harvick out front by two and a half remember his second Cup race in 2001 was right here he was in that 29 for Richard Childress spot Jeff Gordon all the way to the flag scored a very emotional win for the memory of Atlanta Motor Speedway's all-time winner with nine Dale Earnhardt 2018 [Music] not exactly back-to-back well they are all sweet yes they are and well certainly never forget that 2001 race mean that that battle knows closing what 25 laps there was about four or five different cars and then it finally came down to me and Kevin and just just an awesome battle but also a very emotional day that was a huge win not just for Kevin Harvick but especially for this sport and the mourning the loss of the late Dale Earnhardt senior that was pretty epic that's one of about 10 races that I like to point to and say I'm glad I was there that day and got to call that one you and me both it's quite a day [Music] Harvick one-point-nine up right now with 36 to go on Truex Keselowski and Kurt Busch fighting for ninth and ten you got to wonder what might have happened today had Kurt Busch started in 12th the position he drew in that top 12 draw but he had to start out back when this is the best position as you can see there on the screen with the stats that this team has been in all day long I mean yeah they they started behind the 8-ball and they've been able to continue to work on this car they could track caught him off-guard at one stage in the race and then they finally made some adjustments to get this car right for Kurt Busch as he finds his way in the top 10 behind him Matt DiBenedetto about five seconds behind Kurt who was had kind of an up-and-down day [Music] up to seven that stage two currently 11 he has a cushion of about a second on Austin Dillon for that spot and Ricky Stenhouse has been in the top 15 most of today and it has been a quiet day for Ricky well some days you got to put that together you know when you talk about points how important they are especially right now how they're playing an impact on the next race that you go to I think it's extremely important for Ricky Stenhouse jr. be aggressive when you need to be aggressive but on days like today be smooth and be consistent so let's check in on our rookies first Idol Redick currently in 18th Cole Custer 21st a lap down so is Christopher Bell John Hunter Nemechek one lap down also Brennan Poole is three laps down and Quinn Hoff is nine laps back I can tell you a lot about my first day the first race is Atlanta Motor Speedway we came and tested back in the old days you could test and we were lightning fast right up until I backed it in the wall I'm up about halfway through that race that was November 92 brightest well what a historic day and moment you talk about proud to be a part of a race that I was so proud to be a part of that drivers meeting Richard Petty's final race and be a part of that event yeah that's another one on my list let's take a look at it November 92 Atlanta Motor Speedway Richard Peddie unfortunately crashed out of the race the car caught fire jeff gordon's first cup start they learn art very much in the picture and came down to Bill Elliott and Alan Kulwicki after a Davey Allison had difficulties Corky knew just what he needed to do to win that championship by leading the most laps and Counting how many laps each draw how do you count that at a hundred eighty miles an hour but Alan did and won that championship the last time that a sole owner driver has won the Cup championship in NASCAR doubt that'll ever happen again 30 laps to go Harvick that's got to be maddening to still be second by 1.8 seconds after chasing Kevin Harvick so hard but that's where Martin Truex sits with Kyle Busch Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin three four and five I spoke too soon two drivers pushing it look at Joey Logano thinking about taking the three wide all right in defense of Stenhouse ty Dillon is two laps down and these two drivers are fighting for positions on the lead lap you'll miss a minute we're gonna go box double-wide with 29 to go [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] 25 laps to go in the folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 on Fox there is the winner's trophy and all that it symbolizes this Kevin Harvick now has a lead of 2.2 seconds on Martin Truex not exactly driving away but Truex is making no inroads either Kyle Busch still four and a half back Ryan Blaney 10 and Denny Hamlin 13 seconds back there are 17 lead lap cars Mike I got some bad news for the competition as it relates to Kevin Harvick so the track started about 130 degrees it is cooled down under a hundred degrees right now and to me that is just pushing this right into Kevin Harvick's wheelhouse I think when the grip is higher as that track cools down it allows him to run that bottom groove even better and more consistent and it's just to me right now Kevin Harvick as you watch him make these laps he's just able to nail his lines and just wrap that line all the way around both ends of the racetrack we're not gonna light the candles on Rodney Childers birthday cake just yet but Larry what do we have to look forward to well Mike my trends they've been a little bit fickle here lately so I really dug deep on this when I looked at the last 10 Atlanta spring races in the last caution falls average about lap 303 22 laps to go which is exactly where we are in fact of those 10 races six times it happened in the final 20 laps and we have had three overtime finishes here in the last 10 spring races thanks Larry I wouldn't be surprised if those trends show that's probably happened while Kevin Harvick was leading to well yeah I mean Oh in the last twenty eight Atlanta races Harvick has just the one victory to show for it but he's now opened it up to two and a half [Music] and there's Kurt Busch looking back from Clint Bowyer he is he is a grinder he has fought his way to eighth place yeah I give a lot of credit Kurt Busch and Matt McCall a crew chief for not number one I think they they've called a great race and they've also made some good adjustments here for this final run to the end Jamie and you guys are talking about the track temp substantial cloud cover right now a lot of drivers on however that does not have the right for your tire we've been talking about well he's in seventh place with 20 laps to go and this is the tricky part about all this he was super tight on the last run because I think they maybe made an adjustment or that set of tires is way tighter and he didn't have a right rear issue but he couldn't go as fast as he wanted to either so they free the car back up now all of a sudden it's turning it's fast and then it's blistering the right rear tire again look at chase Elliott up on the fence down through three hit four and how much speed that carries him down the front straightaway gets Kurt Busch and here he comes after Boyer [Music] long-wear hell net top groove versus that bottom lane but boy it's working for him look at look at the run he gets off the corner so Elliott moves to 7th [Music] and that last time by JCM is actually about two tenths faster than our leader Kevin Harvick Hendrick Chevy's now sixth-seventh 15 and William Byron who had a flat tire early 35th yeah Jimmie Johnson leading in the Chevy brigade in 6th position he came in a little bit earlier cliff Daniels brought him in to three laps earlier than the rest of the field are most of them anyway and that has paid off he's been up to hold off that's six position but 17 laps to go let's see we can maintain that position Jimmy who got the engines fired up to run this race today running in sixth Nemechek just ahead one lap down and Kurt Busch trying to get back to chase Elliott you know Mike and Jeff refer Jamie little talk about air pressure changes all day long let me clarify something we're not talking about air pressure changes like when you go to the service station to put air in your tires these guys are changing air pressure in these tires quarter pound half pound it would be rare if they do more than a one pound adjustment in these tires that's how sensitive these race cars are Wow now [Music] Stenhouse 14 Ken's at 15 and Bowman is the last lead lap car there in 16th haha up 4/7 working every square inch of this racetrack to try to make this Paso chase Elliott miss the bottom right there ahead it had to go to the middle and in the top chase Elliott take advantage of that on the bottom now we talked to earlier about how points are figuring into this if Jimmie Johnson could pass three cars he would draw with the top 12 for starting positions at Martinsville based on owner points as it is right now he has to draw 13 to 24 you can hear the right rear tires come on wound again that tread blistered on cab the 14 here of clip Boyer he's gonna have to come to pit road well he said he didn't think he could make it and he hasn't no here he comes off turn four to the pit lane and Clint Boyer is going to surrender a top ten spots to get new tires so he can finish this race now there are 10 cars one lap down and so boy will be one of them won't be the first car one lap down but he will end up somewhere between 15 and 25th another blistered up right rear fortunately that has been the story of his day [Music] so boyar should be able to stay one lap down but he won't have it any chance to get the free pass and you know I'm just going to say this is one of the reasons why if you're Kevin Harvick you want to build up a sizable lead on the second place runner marked Erik's Union because as the four car of Kevin Harvick has caught some of these lap cars like Alex Bowman they're fighting to stay on the lead lap in case that caution comes out and has actually made life a little bit more difficult in his allowed tracks to close in and you know maybe about a second to that lead sure Jeff with 11 laps to go you have little to lose by battling to stay on that lead lap coming to tend to go Larry yeah I guess I've been watching these issues with Clint warrior in the 14 car Johnnie cloth smile with right rears and there's no question they have three teammates and it certainly weighs on for example Rodney Childress Kevin Harvick 240 what's going on over there at the 14 but these crew chiefs know where all of their setups are and I bet you already by now they know what was a little bit different on that 14 car that has pushed them over the edge with that right rear tire yeah no doubt Larry and if I had to guess they knew pretty early on there's probably not much they're going to be able to do to save that right rear tire from this problem happening yet every run well one time is an incident two times is a coincidence three times as a pattern next you're gonna tell me four times as a trend nine to go Alex Bowman goes a lap down that leaves us 13 cars on the lead lap and we're keeping a close eye on aric almirola in 18th because if he loses two more spots or Jimmie Johnson gains to one of them we'll get to draw for a top 12 that won't spot at Martinsville the other will not yeah because if you're 13th and owner points but you could start 25th based on that random draw and a track where track position Martinsville in the short tracks track position is huge Jimmie in six 20 seconds off the lead 21 now and about three seconds back of Kevin Hamlin excuse me Denny Hamlin Kevin Hamlin is a spot [Music] Kevin Harvick now three-point-four ahead of Martin Truex Harvick just driving away with eight laps to go yeah Harvick lost a little bit in some lap traffic but then he was able to open that back up here's that battle oh boy that gets tight 3y with ty Dillon in the middle for chase Elliott Kurt Busch but yeah once Harvick cleared him that lap traffic he really opened it back up and these two while they're battling they're gaining on Jimmie Johnson about a half a tenth of laughs here yeah in those those tires that have about three or four laps more on them for Jimmie Johnson this is this is when you really start to feel the effects of that oh boy kurt busch cutting chase elliott a break right there you could have slit up front of them and pushed the issue great battle for seventh place oh man this is fun to watch and at second place a pair of teammates Martin Truex Kyle Busch treks has now dropped to three and a half off the lead Ryan Newman just ahead one lap down we'll see if second changes hands in these final five laps how good is Kevin Harvick and how hard is he charging there's only nine other cars left on the lead lap that's unbelievable that era he's been on there goes Kyle Busch to second place true Hicks fighting back down the outside [Music] Wow [Music] just slide around in 180 190 miles per hour Mike that's all so the roush-fenway teammates Numan up our fenway teammates newman up high and his teammate Chris Buescher has gone a lap down 21st and Kurt's going after Jimmie Johnson see those fresh tires on the 14 of Clint Boyer after having that regular tire issue and he's just having fun passing cars right now taking out a little bit of his anger and frustration and with our dynamic scoring Jimmie Johnson and made it up into that top 12 in points until Kurt Busch passed him [Music] for me to go Matt DiBenedetto were told had a tire coming apart and is now on the tail end of being one lap down one this yeah I don't know it's only two laps to go but why be I'd be worried if I'm some of these guys about those tires even with two laps to go [Music] joey logano 25 seconds back is the last car on the lead lap and the white flag is waving as we have one lap to go sponsored by credit one bank and that is the mercy flag for the rest of this field this has been an impressive day Kevin Harvick was strong at times but he and Rodney Childers had to work very hard to get their car back to the front and I get Kevin a lot of credit for how hard he pushed to take the lead away from Kyle Busch we'll light that candles on Rodney Childers birthday cake because Kevin Harvick wins Atlanta 50 first career victory for Harvick who takes sole possession of 12th on the all-time nascar win list breaking a tie with Junior Johnson and Ned Jarrett second win of the year and his third in Atlanta tying him with Kurt Busch for the second most wins here among active drivers Jimmie Johnson has five [Music] as you pointed out earlier he's now let over 10,000 laps since he joined stewart-haas racing this is his seventh season with the team might find out just how much Goodyear rubbers left on these tires for Kevin Harvick as he starts to do this burnout [Music] the 44 year old Harvick becomes the oldest driver to win Atlanta since Dale Earnhardt in March of 2000 Dale was 48 when he scored that victory Ford is now on the last for Atlanta races 33rd Atlanta win for the blue oval I know there's no fans here to to cheer on Kevin Harvick right now but I think that Kevin Harvick right now still paying tribute and waving to the fans in his own way and paying tribute to Dale Earnhardt have a feelin every time he wins here Mike this is gonna be something we're gonna see out of Kevin Harvick number three salute from Kevin Harvick and remember we talked about Alan Kulwicki winning the championship here and here's a Polish victory lap Kulwicki style by Kevin Harvick sixth win this year for Ford 33rd at Atlanta for the farmers [Music] crew chief Rodney Childers gets his thirty first victories at 28 of those with Kevin Harvick on his 44th birthday I'm sure there's a big smile underneath that mask definitely chats with Bob Smith the car chief in six of the last seven races in Atlanta Kevin Harvick has led the most laps and today he leads the last one maybe today the silence won't be so deafening as it was at Darlington for race winner Kevin Harvick Jamie certainly is a special place for Kevin Harvick as he makes it three now I saw Rodney Childers making his way off the pit box Kevin Harvick gets unplugged unhooked gets that helmet off NASCAR officials standing and waiting with the flag in hand a lot of stuff to get off he's been on there for three and a half hours at this point [Music] Kevin I was just saying what a special place this is for you and you just you just went Reverse around the track with that salute what was going through your mind at that point why didn't get to show very good a couple years ago with my gloves on so I made sure I took my gloves off this year obviously first win came from me here at Atlanta and this is just a racetrack that I've taken a liking to and you always come back and have those memories and now you want to celebrate you know everything that Dale Earnhardt did for this sport and to come here and be able to do that with with wins and go to Victory Lane is pretty special so just gotta thank everybody from Bush light we've got we've got corn all over our car this week so Busch site for the farmers campaign go buy all those corn canes so we can donate a hundred grand Kevin this car wasn't a walk in the park the whole race you actually said it was terrible at one point yeah what did it take to get you guys steered in the right direction and so dominant there at the end well they had a great pit stop we got a restart on the bottom and I got my car to take off so you know I was able to get track position and then once I could get through those first ten laps and my car was freed up enough to where I could get in a rhythm and really start hitting my marks and then by about lap 25 I could start driving away so just proud of everybody from bush light and Ford stewart-haas racing thank you guys for everything Hunt Brothers Pizza Fields Mobil 1 Jimmy John's I know I'm gonna forget somebody everybody everybody who helps us on this car and you the fans we appreciate everything you guys do for us 28th win with crew chief Rodney Childers who celebrates the birthday today Mike thanks Jamie Kevin Harvick with a big celebration here in Atlanta Joe Gibbs Racing three of the top five Blaney fourth and Kurt Busch up for six the first Chevrolet Kevin Harvick salutes the memory of Dale Earnhardt [Music]

Channel: NASCAR

Views: 97,281

Rating: 4.6976075 out of 5

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Id: Ie_OUL-qmrA

Length: 222min 53sec (13373 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 09 2020