Who Won Atlanta? Keselowski, Harvick, or Atlanta Motor Speedway?
By Kent Whitaker:
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series took to the fast, and worn out, surface of Atlanta Motor Speedway! The weekend show also include races for both the Camping World Truck Series and Xfinity Series.
One of the big story lines heading into the weekend was if Kyle Busch could sweep the weekend since he was running in all three races. That didn’t pan out as he won the Xfinity race only. The other storyline was if the racing at Atlanta would improve, from the fan’s point of view, with the new package and looming track repave in the future. With all of the story lines it’s hard to pick one after the race.
But, after thinking about it for a day – it seems obvious who won at Atlanta. Of course, Brad Keselowski took the checkered flag. But the real winner may be Harvick! It seems like things may have changed when it comes to the new point system. There may be three winners coming out of the second race of the season – Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, and AMS.
Why Brad is a Winner:
This one is kind of obvious. Brad Keselowski won the Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500. It was his first Cup win at the track and perfect for a driver that loves to hoist the American Flag following every race. Brad punched a ticket to the playoffs with the win and moved into third place in the points.
Why Kevin is a Winner:
Yep – Kevin Harvick picked a horrible time to have a speeding penalty. The driver dominated the race, until that mistake that sent him to the back, and captured both the first and second segments. That means he earned a bunch of bonus points! Kevin’s a winner because he leaves Atlanta as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points leader!
Why Atlanta is a Winner:
The last few seasons the vibe around Atlanta Motor Speedway has been rough. The stands have not been filled, the racing has been long and drawn out, and the weather has not always been perfect. The AMS staff dedicated themselves to building as much PR as possible, adding extra events, sprucing up the fan experience, and more.
In addition, NASCAR drivers talked for two weeks about how fun Atlanta was to drive. The bonus media coverage about a pending track resurfacing added to the buzz. When you combine all the above you end up with one thing – fans in the seats! And, due to the new rule changes, the long green flag runs were limited. There were cautions, blown tires, hard racing, and lead changes.
All-in-all it was a pretty good race weekend. I’m sure some people will still say it was a race with too many green flag boring runs. But, it was good to see Atlanta Motor Speedway with a nice crowd. Onto Las-Vegas!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
“Kent Whitaker, often called ‘the Deck Chef’ is a sportswriter, culinary writer, and cookbook author with fourteen titles. He covers NASCAR, racing in general, Football, barbecue, grilling, and tailgating. You can visit him on The Deck Chef .”