NASCAR First Alert

AUSTIN, TEXAS - MARCH 26: AJ Allmendinger, driver of the #16 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pit Boss 250 at Circuit of The Americas on March 26, 2022 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images) By Holly Cain NASCAR Wire Service A.J. Allmendinger was fast and agile when he needed to be Saturday afternoon negotiating the famed Circuit of The Americas and reminding the field just why he’s considered one of NASCAR’s road course superstars. Allmendinger’s No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet took the checkered flag by 2.039-seconds over Austin Hill’s No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet in the first road course race of the year. It was the 40-year-old veteran’s first NASCAR Xfinity Series win of the 2022 season and 11th of his career. He has seven road course wins on six different road course tracks (series-most). He led early and he led late, just when he needed to, holding off the field on two late, and dicey rac...

AUSTIN, TEXAS - MARCH 26: Zane Smith, driver of the #38 Speedco Ford, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series - XPEL 225 at Circuit of The Americas on March 26, 2022 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images) By Holly Cain NASCAR Wire Service Ultimately, Zane Smith was out front when it paid off Saturday afternoon at the Circuit of The Americas road course. He led only 11 of the 46 laps  – winning Stage 1, Stage 2 and then took the race lead with two laps remaining in the second overtime period to earn the victory in the XPEL 225 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. It marked Smith’s second win of the 2022 season – fifth of his career – and the second consecutive win at the 3.41-mile, 20-turn COTA circuit for his Front Row Motorsports team, who celebrated in Victory Lane last year with driver Todd Gilliland. Veteran Kyle Busch – who led a race best 31 laps – led the vast majority of the race and held the point on the start of tha...

AUSTIN, TEXAS - MARCH 26: Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford, poses in front of the signed Busch Light Pole Award backdrop after winning the pole award during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Echopark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas on March 26, 2022 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images) By Holly Cain NASCAR Wire Service Ryan Blaney wins the pole for the Circuit of The Americas Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney will start from pole position in Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) – becoming the first multi-time pole winner of the 2022 season. It’s his second pole this year and eighth in his career. Blaney’s lap of 92.759 mph around the 3.41-mile road course in the No. 12 Team Penske Ford held up to a late session charge by Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez, who edged Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer for the outside of the front row but was still just .026-seconds off ...

HAMPTON, GEORGIA - MARCH 20: William Byron, driver of the #24 Liberty University Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 20, 2022 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service It was superspeedway racing with all the trimmings. “New” Atlanta Motor Speedway produced a fifth different 2022 winner—William Byron, who managed to keep an angry pack of drafting cars behind him for the final 10 laps of Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500. In a race that produced 46 lead changes among 20 drivers—both track records—Byron crossed the finish line .109 seconds ahead of Christopher Bell and .145 seconds ahead of Ross Chastain. Bell, however, was penalized for passing below the boundary line on the backstretch on the final lap and was demoted to 23rd, the last position on the lead lap. That elevated Chastain to his second straight runner-up finish. Byron to...

HAMPTON, GEORGIA - MARCH 19: Ty Gibbs, driver of the #54 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Nalley Cars 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 19, 2022 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service With a brilliant move to the inside of leader Ryan Sieg on the final lap of a second overtime, Ty Gibbs seized control of Saturday’s Nalley Cars 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway and won by .178 seconds over runner-up Austin Hill. Overcoming a mistake on pit road, where he overshot his stall, Gibbs rallied to run near the front as the race reached the end of regulation and moved into overtime. In the second extra period, which pushed the event nine laps past its scheduled distance of 163 laps, Gibbs lined up in the outside lane behind Sieg, developed a huge run off Turn 4 and steered to the inside to take the top spot as the cars approached Turn 1 for the final time. The last lap was the o...

HAMPTON, GEORGIA - MARCH 19: Corey Heim, driver of the #51 JBL Toyota, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Fr8 208 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 19, 2022 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service Moments after taking the white flag in Saturday’s FR8 208 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Corey Heim powered to the inside of Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate Chandler Smith, got a push from teammate John Hunter Nemechek and held on to win his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. Heim’s No. 51 Toyota crossed the finish line .173 seconds ahead of the Toyota of Ben Rhodes, as Ty Majeski came home third and Smith slipped to fourth. Daytona winner Zane Smith completed the top five on the repaved and reconfigured track. “It’s awesome—I was at the right place at the right time,” said Heim, a 19-year-old from Marietta, Georgia, who won in his fifth Truck Series start. “Toyota Racing just helps us so ...

HAMPTON, GEORGIA - JULY 11: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Skittles Gummies Toyota, and Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Offerpad Awesome Different Toyota, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart at Atlanta Motor Speedway on July 11, 2021 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service NASCAR Cup drivers set to venture into the unknown at Atlanta Atlanta Motor Speedway takes center stage this weekend when the NASCAR Cup Series stars arrive for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (3 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). NASCAR last raced at 1.54-mile Atlanta on July 11, 2021, and since then, the track has been repaved and reprofiled, with the racing surface narrowed from 55 to 40 feet in the corners. Banking in the turns was increased from 24 to 28 degrees, the steepest incline of any intermediate speedway on the NASCAR circuit. The new configuration should make for exceptional high-speed racing, prom...

HAMPTON, GEORGIA - JUNE 06: Brett Moffitt, driver of the #23 Superior Essex Chevrolet, leads a pack of trucks during the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Vet Tix Camping World 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on June 06, 2020 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Next Race: Fr8 208 The Place: Atlanta Motor Speedway The Date: Saturday, March 19 The Time: 2:30 p.m. ET The Purse: $669,442 TV: FS1, 2 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 208 miles (135 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 30), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 60), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 135) 2021 Race Winner: Kyle Busch Atlanta Motor Speedway is all brand new for the Trucks  The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will return to the newly repaved and reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 19 for the Fr8 208 on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio as part of a doubleheader afternoon with the NASCAR Xfinity Series race, the Nalley Cars 250, at 5 p.m. ET.  ...