MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
Folds
of Honor QuikTrip 500
Atlanta
Motor Speedway – Hampton, Georgia
Sunday,
March 5, 2017
Race
Winner: Brad Keselowski
Age:
33
Team:
No. 2 – Autotrader Ford
Owner:
Team Penske
Crew
Chief: Paul Wolfe
IN
THE WORDS OF THE WINNER
– “We had a lot of adversity today there’s no doubt
about that. These races aren’t easy. They’re 500 miles and a lot can happen and
when you think you’ve got it they slip away. I know how it goes. This one kind
of fell in our lap at the end and my team put it all together when it counted.
They gave me a great Autotrader Ford Fusion and we were able to get by Kyle
(Larson) there at the end. I knew that he wasn’t going to be easy to pass. His
car was great and I was able to make the right moves to get by him.”
- Brad Keselowski
----------------
·
Brad
Keselowski won the 58th annual Folds of Honor QuiktTrip 500 Monster
Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway Sunday afternoon. For
Keselowski, it is his 22nd victory in 271 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup
Series races.
·
It
is Keselowski’s first victory and fifth top-10 finish in nine career Monster
Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It was also
Keselowski’s first win in the last 20 races overall. Prior to today, his
most recent victory occurred on July 9 of last year at Kentucky.
·
A
Ford now has won each of the first two Monster Energy Series races of the year,
as Kurt Busch (Stewart-Haas) took the checkered flag in the season-opening
Daytona 500 last week.
·
For
Team Penske, it is their 104th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
victory and their fourth at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
·
Kyle
Larson (second) posted his second top-10 finish in four Monster Energy NASCAR
Cup Series races at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
·
Matt
Kenseth (third) posted his 17th top-10 finish in 29 Monster Energy
NASCAR Cup Series races at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
·
Erik
Jones (14th) was the highest finishing rookie.
·
For
2017, NASCAR has introduced a new stage format in all three national series
where each race is segmented into three stages. In addition to the points
awarded at the end of a race (Final Stage), points are also awarded to the
top-10 finishers of the first two stages (Stage 1 & Stage 2).
·
Kevin
Harvick, who led a race-high 292 laps today, won both Stage 1 and 2 of the Folds
of Honor QuikTrip 500.
·
Kevin
Harvick (90) leads the point standings by four points over Kurt Busch
(86). They are followed by Brad Keselowski (84), Chase Elliott (82) and
Joey Logano (80).
·
With
the win, Brad Keselowski becomes the second driver to qualify for the 2017
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, joining Kurt Busch, who won the
Daytona 500 last week. The Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 400
championship finale on November 19 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
·
In
nine career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Homestead-Miami
Speedway, Brad Keselowski has posted three top-10 finishes and two top 5s. He
finished third in the 2014 and 2015 Ford EcoBoost 400, his career-best finishes
at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Keselowski celebrated his 2012 Monster
Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
NASCAR
XFINITY SERIES
·
Kyle
Busch won the 26th annual Rinnai 250 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at
Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon. It is Busch’s 87th victory
in 329 NASCAR XFINITY Series races.
·
It
is Busch’s second victory and 10th top-10 finish in 13 XFINITY
Series races at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
·
Brad
Keselowski (second) posted his sixth top-10 finish in eight XFINITY Series
races at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
·
Kyle
Larson (third) posted his fifth top-10 finish in as many XFINITY Series races
at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
·
Elliott
Sadler (fifth) was the highest finisher among full-time XFINITY Series drivers,
while William Byron (seventh) was the highest finishing rookie
·
Brad
Keselowski won Stage 1 and Kevin Harvick won Stage 2 of the Rinnai 250.
·
Sadler
(70) leads the XFINITY Series points standings by three points over William
Byron (67). They are followed by Ryan Reed (66) and Brendan Gaughan (62).
NASCAR
CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES
·
Christopher
Bell won the 9th running of the Active Pest Control 200 NASCAR
Camping World Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway Saturday afternoon.
It is his third victory in 32 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races.
·
It
is Bell’s first victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
·
With
the win, Bell becomes the second driver to qualify for the 2017 NASCAR Camping
World Truck Series Playoffs, joining Kaz Grala, who won at Daytona last week.
The Camping World Truck Series playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 200
championship finale on November 17 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
·
Bell
also captured each of the first two Stages of the race.
·
Matt
Crafton (second) posted his ninth top-10 finish in 16 Camping World Truck
Series races at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
·
Johnny
Sauter (third) posted his third top-10 finish in seven career Camping World
Truck Series races at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
·
Grant
Enfinger (eighth) was the highest finishing rookie.
·
Bell
(93) leads the point standings by seven points over Johnny Sauter (86) and Ben
Rhodes (86).
