In Daytona, it was a race where drivers floored the gas pedal and hoped for the best.  Most all the cars had a shot at winning if they could stay out of the wrecks that were bound to happen.  The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Folds of Honor race in Atlanta was a different story.  Teams had to plan their strategy as the track conditions and threatening weather changed during the race, and the veteran drivers showed the youngsters how it was done.

Kevin Harvick led 181 of 325 laps and earned a very emotional victory.  Harvick, who replaced Dale Earnhardt Sr. following his death in 2001, won his first Cup race at Atlanta.  He honored Earnhardt Sr. with a three-finger salute as he made a victory lap. Seventeen years later, Harvick returned to Victory Lane in Atlanta, and with tears in his eyes, once again honored Earnhardt Sr. with the three-finger salute.  The win in the Cup series completed a weekend sweep as he also won the Xfinity Series race last Saturday. 

In the last five years at Atlanta, Harvick led the most laps in the race and seemed well on his way to victory until bad luck and pit road mishaps thwarted him.  For the first time in five years, Harvick led the most laps and actually scored the win.

The young guns of NASCAR had their troubles trying to figure out the 1-½ mile track.  It took a lot more than just putting the “pedal to the metal,” and staying out of trouble. The veteran NASCAR drivers showed the youngsters how it was done.  For the most part, veteran drivers were in the top 10 during the whole race.  Threatening weather caused some drivers to change strategies.  As the threat of rain loomed over Atlanta, Denny Hamlin and his team decided to gamble on less pit stops than the rest of the field.  Staying out a little longer in case the rains came, the strategy may have worked, however the rain stayed away until the cars crossed the finish line. The strategy still gave Hamlin a top five finish.

Ford was the dominant manufacturer at Atlanta for the second straight year.  Stewart/Haas Racing finished first (Harvick), third (Clint Bowyer), eighth (Kurt Busch) and 13th (Aric Almirola).  In 2017, Ford also started strong but only won one other intermediate track race the rest of the year. 

Joey Logano’s sixth-place finish was enough to take over the points lead. Ryan Blaney, Hamlin, Harvick, Bowyer, Austin Dillon, Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch, Paul Menard and Almirola complete the top 10.

Sunday’s race is in Las Vegas where 37 cars are entered in the race.