NASCAR Atlanta Sunday, March 8, 2020
NASCAR CUP SERIES ATLANTA STATS HIGHLIGHTS
Active Atlanta leaders:
Atlanta wins: 5 Jimmie Johnson
Atlanta top 5 finishes: 14 Jimmie Johnson
Atlanta top 10 finishes: 16 Jimmie Johnson
Atlanta laps led: 1197 Kevin Harvick
Atlanta best average finish: 10.5 Chase Elliott
3 Straight races on 1.5-mile tracks – Atlanta, Homestead-Miami & Texas
(Brad Keselowski 2019 Atlanta winner, Kyle Busch 2019 Homestead-Miami winner & champion,
Denny Hamlin 2019 Texas March winner & Kevin Harvick 2019 Texas November winner)
Champions Martin Truex Jr. (0 for 21) & Joey Logano (0 for 13) winless at Atlanta
2019 Atlanta: Scarlett’s dad Brad Keselowski became Team Penske all-time winner
passing Mark Donohue with 60th win after suffering from illness during weekend
Jimmie Johnson (2) & Brad Keselowski (2) won 4 of last 5 Atlanta races
Best Toyota at Las Vegas in February: Kyle Busch finished 15th –
First time Toyota outside top 10 on 1.5-mile track since Matt Kenseth finished 11th at Kansas 10/6/13
1-Kurt Busch finished 7th or better last 4 Atlanta races – 2 Top 5 finishes
2-Brad Keselowski: 2 Wins last 3 Atlanta races – 3 Straight top 2 finishes
2-Brad Keselowski finished 9th or better last 5 Atlanta races – 3 Straight top 2 finishes
4-Kevin Harvick: 16 Wins on 1.5-mile tracks – Jeff Gordon 2nd all-time with 17 wins
4-Kevin Harvick finished 9th or better last 5 Atlanta races – 3 Top 5 finishes
4-Kevin Harvick 2nd Atlanta win came 17 years after first (3/01 & 2/18) – Most years between wins
4-Kevin Harvick won 2019 Atlanta Stage 2 – Finished 4th
4-Kevin Harvick led most laps 5 of last 6 Atlanta races – 1 Win (2018)
4-Kevin Harvick led 960 of 1965 laps last 6 Atlanta races (49%)
9-Chase Elliott: 3 Top 10 finishes in 4 Atlanta races (Bill Elliott won 5 Atlanta races)
10-Aric Almirola: 2019 Atlanta pole sitter – 36 Laps led & finished 8th (Best Atlanta finish)
11-Denny Hamlin: 2012 Atlanta winner – Won previous race of season at Bristol
12-Ryan Blaney no top 10 finishes at next 2 tracks – Atlanta & Homestead-Miami
12-Ryan Blaney: 4 Tracks without a top 10 finish – Atlanta, Homestead-Miami, Richmond & Darlington
14-Clint Bowyer: 2 Straight Atlanta top 5 finishes – No top 5 finishes previous 17 Atlanta races
18-Kyle Busch finished 6th at 2019 Atlanta – Started rear of field (Backup)
19-Martin Truex Jr. finished 8th or better last 5 Atlanta races – 2 Straight top 5 finishes
21-Matt DiBenedetto: 1 Top 10 finish in 53 races on 1.5-mile tracks – Finished 2nd at Las Vegas Feb.
Wood Brothers Racing: Last win on 1.5-mile track – Atlanta 3/93 (Morgan Shepherd)
22-Joey Logano: 25 Career wins – 0 for 13 at Atlanta (Wins on 5 tracks that follow Atlanta – 9 Wins total)
22-Joey Logano: 3 Straight top 5 finishes on 1.5-mile tracks – Las Vegas Feb. winner
42-Kyle Larson:
Finished 12th at 2019 Atlanta – Started 7th, Stage 1 winner & finished 2nd in Stage 2, 142 laps led (most), lap 224 pit road speeding penalty
48-Jimmie Johnson: 5 Atlanta wins (Leads active drivers) – Finished 19th or worse last 3 Atlanta races (Won previous 2 races)
48-Jimmie Johnson average Atlanta finish – last 3 races: 23.3 / previous 3 races: 2.0
44 Different winners in 112 NASCAR Cup Series Atlanta races
14 Different winners in 36 NASCAR Cup Series Atlanta 1.54-mile track races
3 Winners last 5 Atlanta races – Jimmie Johnson (2), Brad Keselowski (2) & Kevin Harvick (1)
Jimmie Johnson & Bobby Labonte tied for all-time wins on 1.54-mile Atlanta track (5)
Last 5 Atlanta races won by champions
2019 Atlanta laps led: Ford 178 (6 Drivers), Chevrolet 143 (Chip Ganassi Racing #1 & #42) & Toyota 4 (Martin Truex Jr.)
Toyota laps led last 3 Atlanta races – 2017: 0 / 2018: 36 / 2019: 4
Atlanta speeding penalties – 2015: 5 / 2016: 1 / 2017: 13 / 2018: 1 / 2019: 4
Atlanta Stage 2 winner failed to win all 3 Atlanta races
Drivers won first race of season at Atlanta 44 times
Hendrick Motorsports won 14 Atlanta races with 6 different drivers
Mid-race leader failed to win last 8 Atlanta races
5 Atlanta races settled by last lap pass
Pole failed to win last 18 Atlanta races
Pole won only 1 of last 37 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 – Brad Keselowski won last Atlanta race
6 Won first career NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta including Kevin Harvick
3 Won Atlanta in first try – Bob Burdick, Kevin Harvick & Fireball Roberts
Bob Burdick won in his only Atlanta race
Most tries before first Atlanta win: Benny Parsons won in 29th try
Chevrolet leads all with 40 Atlanta wins
Toyota won 3 Atlanta races – Winless last 6 races
Toyota: First NCS win – 3/9/08 Atlanta Kyle Busch (First win with Joe Gibbs Racing)
Ford won last 3 Atlanta races – Winless in previous 10 Atlanta races
Only 2 swept Atlanta NXS & NCS races – Carl Edwards 3/05 (First career win both races) & Kevin Harvick 2018
4 Won pole in first try at Atlanta
9 Won first career pole at Atlanta
Drivers first win of championship season came at Atlanta 4 times
5 Atlanta races rescheduled since track reconfigured in 1997
8 Atlanta races postponed or delayed due to rain
*First scheduled race late 1959 not run until summer of 1960
5 Atlanta races ran shorter than scheduled distance – Darrell Waltrip won 2
6 Atlanta overtime finishes – Leader at scheduled distance won 5
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
Previous longest green-flag run to start Atlanta race: 175 Laps (11/79)
Longest green-flag run at Atlanta: 309 Laps (3/90)
Most laps led by driver failing to win Atlanta: 292 – Kevin Harvick (2017)
David Pearson (8/7/66) & Kyle Busch (3/1/15) only drivers to miss Atlanta race & win championship in same season
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
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES ATLANTA STATS HIGHLIGHTS
17 Different winners in 28 Atlanta Xfinity Series races
Kevin Harvick (4) & Kyle Busch (2) won 6 of last 7 Atlanta races – Christopher Bell won 2019
4 Won first career Xfinity Series race at Atlanta including Jeff Gordon in 1992 (20-Years-old)
Kevin Harvick (2018) & Christopher Bell (2019) won Stage 1, 2 & race
2 Won Atlanta & championship in same season – Johnny Benson (1995) & Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2012)
6 of 28 Atlanta races won from pole including 2 of last 4 by Kyle Busch
Tyler Reddick passed for final lead change last Atlanta race – Finished 5th
Fewest laps led by Atlanta winner: 1 – Jamie McMurray (2002)
Most laps led in Atlanta race: 165 – Mark Martin (2000)
Kyle Busch led most laps 4 Atlanta races – 1 Win (2016)
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
Phoenix Notes:
22-Joey Logano JoLo (Joseph Thomas Logano)
29 Years Old (5/24/90)
Middletown, CT
(2012 & ’18 Champion) Team Penske Ford
(Since 1/6/20) Crew Chief: Paul Wolfe Age: 42 (4/24/77) Milford, NY
(2/20/37) Car Owner: Roger Penske (2019 NASCAR Hall of Fame & Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient)
12th full season in NASCAR Cup Series / 8th season with Team Penske
2018 NASCAR Cup Series champion
2009 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year
6 Playoff appearances / 3 Championship 4 appearances
403rd NASCAR Cup Series race
2nd win this season – Las Vegas (Ended 22-race winless streak) & Phoenix
Wife: Brittany (12/13/14) / Son: Hudson (2)
Paul Wolfe: 8 Playoff appearances – All with Brad Keselowski
25th career win – 23rd with Team Penske
25th career win – 22 Wins total last 7 seasons
Won back-to-back races once – Charlotte 10/15, Kansas 10/15 & Talladega 10/15
Team Penske: 122 Wins / 2 This season
23rd Phoenix NCS race – 2 Wins (11/16 & Today)
2016 Phoenix Playoff race winner – Advanced to Championship 4 (3rd in Standings +1 into race)
3rd straight Phoenix top 10 finish
Team Penske: 3rd Phoenix win
Winless at Atlanta
2 Wins in 4 races this season
First time with 2 wins this early in season
Only 2 wins last season
JOEY LOGANO TOOK LEAD FOR FIRST TIME ON LAP 225 AFTER LAP 133 UNCONTROLLED TIRE
LAP 268 JACK FAILURE IN PITS DROPPING FROM LEAD TO 18TH
20 TO GO TOOK LEAD FROM TEAMMATE BRAD KESELOWSKI OF SCHEDULED DISTANCE