NASCAR Atlanta Sunday, March 13, 2022
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY NASCAR CUP SERIES STATS HIGHLIGHTS
Atlanta Motor Speedway Transformation
163 Days (5 Months)
Started after July 11, 2021 NASCAR Cup Series race & completed in December
Banking now 28º (Previously 24º)
17,000 Tons of asphalt (Previous paving 1997)
New drainage technology
116th NASCAR Cup Series Atlanta Motor Speedway race – First race: 1960 (Fireball Roberts winner)
5th of 36 races this season – 22 Races before Playoffs – 32 Races remaining this season
2nd of 9 races on 1.5-mile tracks this season
Atlanta wins:
Kurt Busch 4
Kevin Harvick 3
Kyle Busch 2, Brad Keselowski 2
Ryan Blaney 1, Denny Hamlin 1
Champions winless at Atlanta:
Chase Elliott: 7 Races – Best finish: 5th (2017)
Kyle Larson: 8 Races – Best finish: 2nd (2017 & 3/21)
Joey Logano: 16 Races – Best finish: 2nd (2013)
Martin Truex Jr.: 24 Races – Best finish: 2nd (2019)
1.5-Mile track wins:
Kevin Harvick 17
Kyle Busch 16
Brad Keselowski 14
Denny Hamlin 12
Martin Truex Jr. 12
Kurt Busch 9
Joey Logano 8
Finished top 5 both Atlanta races last season: Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman & Kyle Busch
Finished top 10 both Atlanta races last season: Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch & Martin Truex Jr.
Kyle Busch finished top 5 in Stage 1 & 2 last 3 Atlanta races
45 Different winners in 115 NASCAR Cup Series Atlanta races
Drivers won first race of season at Atlanta 46 times
Drivers first win of championship season came at Atlanta 4 times
Mid-race leader failed to win last 11 Atlanta races
5 Atlanta races settled by last lap pass
Kyle Larson led most laps at Atlanta twice – Finished 12th in 2019 & 2nd in 3/21
Atlanta speeding penalties – 2015: 5 / 2016: 1 / 2017: 13 / 2018: 1 / 2019: 4 / 2020: 8 / 3/21: 6 / 7/21: 2
3 Won Atlanta in first try – Bob Burdick, Kevin Harvick & Fireball Roberts
Driver starting first failed to win last 21 Atlanta races
Driver starting first won only 1 of last 40 Atlanta races – Kasey Kahne 3/06
Consecutive Atlanta wins 14 times – Kurt Busch won last Atlanta race
6 Won first career NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta
4 Won pole in first try at Atlanta
9 Won first career pole at Atlanta
Largest Atlanta margin-of-victory: 2 Laps – 4/5/64 Fred Lorenzen & 4/1/73 David Pearson
Longest green-flag run to start Atlanta race: 210 Laps (2016) – First 2 hours run under green conditions
Longest green-flag run at Atlanta: 309 Laps (3/90)
Most laps led by driver failing to win Atlanta: 292 – Kevin Harvick (2017)
Chevrolet leads all with 41 Atlanta wins
Toyota won 3 Atlanta races – Winless last 9 Atlanta races
Toyota: First NCS win – 3/9/08 Atlanta Kyle Busch
Ford: 5 Wins last 6 Atlanta races
Kevin Harvick 2nd Atlanta win came 17 years after first (3/01 & 2/18) – Most years between wins
Kurt Busch won Atlanta at 24, 30, 31 & 42 years old
Atlanta Stage 1 winner failed to win 5 of 6 Atlanta races
Atlanta Stage 2 winner won only 1 Atlanta race – Kurt Busch 7/21
Hendrick Motorsports won 14 Atlanta races with 6 different drivers
8/1/71 Atlanta win by Richard Petty was 5th consecutive win (Malta, Islip, Trenton, Nashville & Atlanta)
10/28/07 Atlanta win by Jimmie Johnson was 2nd win in 4-straight win streak
11/15/92 Alan Kulwicki wins championship after storybook battle with Bill Elliott
Jeff Gordon’s first NASCAR cup series race
Richard Petty’s final NASCAR Cup series race
3/11/01 Kevin Harvick first career win by .006 seconds over Jeff Gordon (Closest Atlanta finish)
3/9/08 Kyle Busch wins first NASCAR Cup Series race for Toyota (First win for Kyle Busch with Joe Gibbs Racing)
2/28/16 Jimmie Johnson 76th career win tying him with Dale Earnhardt
Close finishes:
3/12/00 Dale Earnhardt over Bobby Labonte by .01 Seconds
3/20/05 Carl Edwards over Jimmie Johnson by .028 Seconds
(First NASCAR Cup Series win for Edwards – also won first NXS race a day earlier)
Vicious Crashes:
3/7/10 Atlanta: Lap 323 Brad Keselowski vicious flip on frontstretch after Carl Edwards retaliation
3/9/97 Atlanta: Lap 284 Steve Grissom savage crash
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY NASCAR XFINITY SERIES STATS HIGHLIGHTS
Jamie McMurray
2002 Atlanta NASCAR Xfinity winner
Oct. 26, 2002
First career NXS win
13 Days after winning first career Cup race at Charlotte
100th driver to win a NXS race
Led only final lap after Joe Nemechek ran out of fuel
(Pitted 1 lap after Joe Nemechek)
First win for crew chief Jason Ratcliff
32nd NASCAR Xfinity Series Atlanta Motor Speedway race – First race: 1992 (Jeff Gordon winner)
5th of 33 races this season – 22 Races before Playoffs – 29 Races remaining this season
2nd of 9 races on 1.5-mile tracks this season
Justin Allgaier
Atlanta 3/21 winner – Started 6th, finished 3rd in Stage 1 & 2nd in Stage 2, 47 laps led
19 Different winners in 31 Atlanta Xfinity Series races
Fewest laps led by Atlanta winner: 1 – Jamie McMurray (2002)
4 Won first career Xfinity Series race at Atlanta including Jeff Gordon in 1992 (20-Years-old)
Kevin Harvick (2018), Christopher Bell (2019) & Kyle Busch (7/21) won Atlanta Stage 1, 2 & race
2 Won Atlanta & championship in same season – Johnny Benson (1995) & Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2012)
7 of 31 Atlanta races won from first starting position
Most laps led in Atlanta race: 165 – Mark Martin (2000)
Kyle Busch led most laps 5 Atlanta races – 2 Wins (2016 & 7/21)
2 Atlanta races settled by last lap pass
Toyota: 4 Atlanta Xfinity Series wins (2016, ’17, ’19 & 7/21)
Joe Gibbs Racing: 4 Atlanta Xfinity Series wins (2016, ’17, ’19 & 7/21)
Only 2 swept Atlanta NXS & NCS races – Carl Edwards 3/05 (First career win both races) & Kevin Harvick 2018