NASCAR Atlanta Sunday, March 14, 2021
ATLANTA NASCAR CUP SERIES STATS HIGHLIGHTS
2020 Atlanta
Winner pit stops & lap: Kevin Harvick (8 Stops) 27, 66, 96, 108, 159, 203, 213, 268
Longest green flag run: 108 Laps (218-325)
Top 5 Stage 1 & 2: Martin Truex Jr. (1st & 1st), Kyle Busch (2nd & 3rd), Denny Hamlin (4th & 4th)
Speeding: Keselowski (9th), Newman, McDowell, E. Jones, Ty Dillon, Byron, Bilicki, Sorenson
Rear of field: Kurt Busch (6th), Custer, LaJoie, Smithley, Hill
Best HMS: 7th Jimmie Johnson
Best JGR: 2nd Kyle Busch
Best SHR: 1st Kevin Harvick
Best TPR: 4th Ryan Blaney
3 of 4 Joe Gibbs Racing drivers finished top 5 at 2020 Atlanta
All 3 Team Penske drivers finished top 10 & led laps at 2020 Atlanta
Atlanta winners: Kurt Busch 3, Kevin Harvick 3, Kyle Busch 2, Brad Keselowski 2, Denny Hamlin 1
Champions without Atlanta win: Chase Elliott, Joey Logano & Martin Truex Jr.
1-Kurt Busch: Finished 8th or better last 5 Atlanta races – 2 Top 5 finishes
1-Kurt Busch: 2004 Champion – Worst finish of championship season: 42nd Atlanta Oct.
2-Brad Keselowski: 2 Wins last 4 Atlanta races – 3 Top 2 finishes last 4 races
2-Brad Keselowski: 6 Straight Atlanta top 10 finishes – 3 Top 2 finishes
4-Kevin Harvick: First career NASCAR Cup Series win – Atlanta 3/11/01 (3rd career NCS race)
4-Kevin Harvick: 2 Wins last 3 Atlanta races – 3 Straight top 5 finishes
4-Kevin Harvick: 6 Straight Atlanta top 10 finishes – 4 Top 5 finishes last 6 races
4-Kevin Harvick: 1111 Laps led last 7 Atlanta races – Most laps led 6 of last 7 races
9-Chase Elliott: 4 Top 10 finishes in 5 Atlanta races – Best finish: 5th (2017)
11-Denny Hamlin: 2012 Atlanta winner – 2nd straight win (Won Bristol a week earlier)
12-Ryan Blaney: 1 Top 10 finish in 5 Atlanta races – Finished 4th last year
18-Kyle Busch: Finished 7th or better last 3 Atlanta races – Finished 2nd last year
Toyota: First NASCAR Cup Series win – 3/9/08 Atlanta Kyle Busch
19-Martin Truex Jr.: Winless in 22 Atlanta races – Finished 8th or better last 6 races (3 Straight top 5 finishes)
22-Joey Logano: Winless in 14 Atlanta races – 5 Top 10 finishes last 8 races
Kevin Harvick:
2020 Atlanta winner – Started 9th, finished 5th in Stage 1 & 6th in Stage 2, 151 laps led (most)
Martin Truex Jr.: 2020 Atlanta Stage 1 & 2 winner – Finished 3rd
Martin Truex Jr. (1st & 1st), Kyle Busch (2nd & 3rd), Denny Hamlin (4th & 4th) finished top 5 in Stage 1 & 2
Atlanta speeding penalties – 2015: 5 / 2016: 1 / 2017: 13 / 2018: 1 / 2019: 4 / 2020: 8
44 Different winners in 113 NASCAR Cup Series Atlanta races
Last 6 Atlanta races won by champions – Kevin Harvick (2), Jimmie Johnson (2) & Brad Keselowski (2)
3 Winners last 6 Atlanta races – Jimmie Johnson (2), Kevin Harvick (2) & Brad Keselowski (2)
Kevin Harvick: 3 Atlanta wins – 2 Wins last 3 Atlanta races
Kevin Harvick 2nd Atlanta win came 17 years after first (3/01 & 2/18) – Most years between wins
Brad Keselowski won 2 of last 4 Atlanta races
Kevin Harvick (2) & Brad Keselowski (2) won last 4 Atlanta races
Martin Truex Jr. won 2020 Atlanta Stage 1 & 2 – Finished 3rd
Atlanta Stage 2 winner failed to win all 4 Atlanta races
Hendrick Motorsports won 14 Atlanta races with 6 different drivers
Joe Gibbs Racing: 11 Atlanta wins
Richard Childress Racing: 9 Atlanta wins
Roush Fenway Racing: 6 Atlanta wins
Team Penske: 5 Atlanta wins
Stewart-Haas Racing: 3 Atlanta wins
Chip Ganassi Racing: Winless at Atlanta
Driver starting first failed to win last 19 Atlanta races
Driver starting first won only 1 of last 38 Atlanta races – Kasey Kahne 3/06
Worst starting position of Atlanta winner: 39th – Bobby Labonte 11/01
5 Atlanta winners started 31st or worse
Consecutive Atlanta wins 14 times – Kevin Harvick won last Atlanta race
6 Won first career NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta including Kevin Harvick
Kevin Harvick led most laps 6 of last 7 Atlanta races – 2 Wins (2018 & ’20)
Kevin Harvick led 1111 of 2290 laps last 7 Atlanta races (49%)
Drivers first win of championship season came at Atlanta 4 times
Chevrolet leads all with 40 Atlanta wins
Toyota won 3 Atlanta races – Winless last 7 Atlanta races
Ford won last 4 Atlanta races – Winless in previous 10 Atlanta races
6 Atlanta races rescheduled since track reconfigured in 1997
6 Atlanta overtime finishes – Leader at scheduled distance won 5
Mid-race leader failed to win last 9 Atlanta races
5 Atlanta races settled by last lap pass
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)
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
Jeff Gordon won championship in season-finale at Atlanta 1995 & ’97
Already clinched in 1998 when he won season-finale at Atlanta
Clinched championship at Atlanta in 2001 (season ended at New Hampshire)
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
ATLANTA NASCAR XFINITY SERIES STATS HIGHLIGHTS
Atlanta 2020
Winner pit stops & lap: AJ Allmendinger (4 Stops) 43, 83, 126
Top 5 Stage 1 & 2: Ross Chastain (2nd & 3rd), Austin Cindric (1st & 1st), Danie Hemric (5th & 4th)
Speeding: Justin Haley (3rd), Justin Allgaier, Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric, Mason Massey, Joe Graf Jr.
18 Different winners in 29 Atlanta Xfinity Series races
AJ Allmendinger: 2020 Atlanta winner – Started 30th & only led final 37 laps
Noah Gragson passed for final lead change last Atlanta race – Finished 2nd
Austin Cindric led most laps 2020 Atlanta (68) – Finished 16th
Only 2 swept Atlanta NXS & NCS races – Carl Edwards 3/05 (First career win both races) & Kevin Harvick 2018
4 Won first career Xfinity Series race at Atlanta including Jeff Gordon in 1992 (20-Years-old)
Kevin Harvick (2018) & Christopher Bell (2019) won Atlanta Stage 1, 2 & race
Austin Cindric won 2020 Atlanta Stage 1 & 2 – Finished 16th
2 Won Atlanta & championship in same season – Johnny Benson (1995) & Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2012)
6 of 29 Atlanta races won from pole
Fewest laps led by Atlanta winner: 1 – Jamie McMurray (2002)
2 Atlanta races settled by last lap pass
Toyota: 3 Atlanta Xfinity Series wins (2016, ’17 & ‘19)
Joe Gibbs Racing: 3 Atlanta Xfinity Series wins (2016, ’17 & ‘19)
Team Penske: Winless at Atlanta