Sunday, February 25, 2018

Atlanta Motor Speedway - Saturday Doubleheader Recap!

Atlanta Motor Speedway - Saturday Doubleheader Recap!
Atlanta Motor Speedway - Saturday Doubleheader Recap! #NASCAR

Kevin Harvick Wins Rinnai 250

Kevin Harvick Wins Rinnai 250 - #NASCAR


Kevin Harvick surged to the front on a one-lap shootout to end Stage 1 and rolled to a dominating win in Saturday's Rinnai 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Harvick has won the Xfinity Series race at AMS four of the last six years and five times overall.

Only seven cars finished on the lead lap as Harvick set a strong pace after starting fifth. The No. 98 car led 137 of 163 laps. 

Kevin Harvick Wins Rinnai 250 - #NASCAR


"It's just been a really good place for me," said Harvick, whose first ever Cup Series win came at Atlanta in 2001. "The race track has stayed very similar to what it's been for a number of years. It's been a great race track for us. I was frustrated last year when we didn't leave here with a trophy on either day and that's always our goal."

Joey Logano was second, but never serious challenged Harvick and finished 4.183 seconds back.

"I don't think we were even close," Logano said with a head shake. "Kevin played with us all day long. He ran a few hard laps when he needed to. It doesn't matter what car he's driving, Kevin's just really good at Atlanta.

"Second always stings a little bit."

Pole-sitter Christopher Bell, a rookie in Xfinity after winning last year's Camping World Truck Series championship, led 11 laps and ended up third. His rear tire tagged the wall with five laps to go and the No. 20 car lost a spot to Logano.

"I just got really loose there the last run," Bell said. "I don't know. I wish I would have been able to hold off a little longer and been second instead of third, but overall a really good points day for us to start out the 2018 season. This place is a ton of fun."

Chevy drivers occupied the next three spots. John Hunter Nemechek was fourth in his series debut, followed by Elliott Sadler and Justin Allgaier. Austin Cindric was seventh and the rest of the field finished a lap, or more, off the lead.

Brett Moffitt Wins Active Pest Control 200 Benefiting Children's Healthcare Of Atlanta

Brett Moffitt Wins Active Pest Control 200 Benefiting Children's Healthcare Of Atlanta - #NASCAR


Brett Moffitt slid down to the bottom edge, surged to the lead in overtime and won the Active Pest Control 200 benefiting Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Saturday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Moffitt got a chance to claim just his second Camping World Truck Series win after pole-sitter Kyle Busch had a pit miscommunication under caution.

The field pitted with six laps to go and Busch, who led 67 laps, left his pit box before the lugs on his left rear tire were secure. Busch made it off pit road and the tire fell off. He reverse to get it fixed, but a win was no longer in the cards.

Moffitt powered away from defending series champion Johnny Sauter and Noah Gragson to win in the two-lap overtime finish.

Brett Moffitt Wins Active Pest Control 200 Benefiting Children's Healthcare Of Atlanta - #NASCAR

"I knew I needed to get a good jump and get to the inside," Moffitt said. "Then I was just watching my mirror, holding it wide open for two laps straight there. Luckily they were getting smaller in the mirror.

"It's unreal to be in Victory Lane this early with such a new group. I love this place — and I love it even more now."

Gragson, who won Stage 1, finished second. Sauter jumped to the lead after a shuffle at the top to start Stage 2 and led 12 laps before Busch took control in the final stage. Only Sauter was in striking distance of Busch when Josh Reaume wrecked with six laps to go.

Under caution, teams were able to pit and that's when the door opened for Moffitt.

"I had a good launch," Sauter said. "I felt like I did it right grabbing gears. I'd love to be able to tell you I could do something different, I just don't think I could have. Wide open is wide open.

"All in a all, a decent night for our Allegiant Sunseeker Chevy. I'm proud of the guys. It's far and away the best run I've ever had here. I felt like we were in the right position and it just didn't work out. That's racing. But my pit crew was phenomenal."

Ben Rhodes struggled with his engine all night, but slogged through the difficulties to finish fourth.

"There were times during the race where I would go a second and a half without power in the corner," Rhodes said. "I mean, the motor was just completely out. I would go down to 5,000 rpm, which is absurd. Then going down the straightaways, I felt like I was on six or seven cylinders at times. For the whole race it plagued us and we could never figure out what it was. I'm really disappointed. We have a championship team and we're making championship runs."

Two-time truck champion Matt Crafton was fifth. Stewart Friesen, rookie Myatt Snider, Jesse Little, Grant Enfinger and Austin Dillon rounded out the top 10.

Snider was up front at the restart, but only got there by opting to get two tires instead of four.

"This is unbelievable to even be in a race car, much less in victory lane," Moffitt said. "We had a really good truck all night and right here I knew (Snider) was a sitting duck. I just wanted to get a good restart and hopefully they got into a battle behind me, which they did. It's pretty surreal."



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