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In The Know – Atlanta

NASCAR Cup Series Overview:

●  Event:  Atlanta 400 (Round 19 of 36)

●  Time/Date:  7 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 9

●  Location:  Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia

●  Layout:  1.54-mile oval

●  Laps/Miles:  260 laps/400 miles

●  Stage Lengths:  Stage 1: 60 laps / Stage 2: 100 laps / Final Stage: 100 laps

●  TV/Radio:  USA / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

SHR FAST FACTS:

Kevin Harvick:

Sunday’s Atlanta 400 will mark Harvick’s 36th career NASCAR Cup Series start at Atlanta – the most of any active driver – but only his fourth on the new configuration. In his 32 starts on the old layout, Harvick led the way with a series-high nine top-fives, 16 top-10s (tied with Kurt Busch), 1,348 laps led and 10,127 laps completed. Who is the all-time leader at Atlanta? That’s none other than Richard Petty. They call him “The King” for a reason: 65 career Cup Series starts at Atlanta with six wins, 22 top-fives, 33 top-10s and 1,827 laps led with 17,513 laps completed.

Aric Almirola:

Almirola has a solid record at superspeedways with two wins, six top-fives, 12 top-10s and 84 laps led. In June 2020, he scored his eighth-consecutive top-10 at Talladega to tie the track record for most consecutive top-10s – a mark first set by Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr., from April 2001 to October 2004.

Chase Briscoe:

In three starts at the superspeedway-style intermediate track in Hampton, Georgia, Briscoe has a best finish of 15th, earned in March 2022. He came home 24th in the first visit to Atlanta earlier this year.

Ryan Preece:

The No. 41 SHR Ford Mustang team has continued to improve in recent weeks and has seen more and more consistency, providing a heightened sense of motivation. Preece had a career weekend at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in April, earning his first Cup Series pole and leading a career-high 135 laps. In 18 points-paying events this season, Preece has six top-15 finishes, four of which came in the last six points-paying races – May 14 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, May 29 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, June 11 at Sonoma, and Sunday’s race in Chicago.

Our Weekly Wraps:

 

What Our Drivers Are Saying:

Kevin Harvick Driver of the No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang:

With three NASCAR Cup Series races on the reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway, the new Atlanta really isn’t all that new anymore. How would you describe the current track?

“It’s just a superspeedway race on a mile-and-a-half racetrack. Things just happen a lot faster, so the decisions have to happen faster, the cars move around a lot more, the corners come up a lot quicker. A lot more seat-of-your-pants, just, ‘Go here, go there, do this, do that.’”

Aric Almirola Driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang:

With your successful superspeedway career, do you look forward to Atlanta?

“I have always enjoyed going to Atlanta. It has been a place that we are so fast as a race team. It’s been a place where we have led a lot of laps recently and I look forward to going there knowing we can put ourselves in a position to win. Unfortunately, both times we have led laps we have been wrecked out or cut a tire from the lead toward the end of the race. Things have to go our way, eventually, and I know we can put ourselves back in that position again this weekend.”

Chase Briscoe Driver of the No. 14 Magical Vacation Planner Ford Mustang:

How important is track position at Atlanta where you don’t have a chance to practice before the field is set in qualifying?

“With this new car, track position has become very important, but you really have to have your balance figured out at Atlanta compared to some of the other big tracks we race at. As much as we like to say it races like a superspeedway, we’re more reliant on the handling at Atlanta than we would be at Daytona or Talladega. It’s always a good thing to start up front but, if the car isn’t set up right, we’re going to the back quickly and it’ll be hard to make that up.”

Ryan Preece Driver of the No. 41 Sony Mobile ES Ford Mustang:

Does the fact that this weekend’s race is a night race change anything from a driver perspective?

“As a driver, I just hope the track loses some grip for us. With the track being superspeedway-style racing, evertything is happening so fast and it’s a unique track layout. The track is just going to continue to change throughout the race. It’s definitely a superspeedway and we can really capitalize on that, but we have to be smart, too. We didn’t get the opportunity to do some of the drafting because of losing the cylinder earlier this season but we know we will have options with the different lanes at this track. It’ll be interesting but I’m looking forward to it.”