NSCS: Atlanta Motor Speedway Testing Concludes

JOPLIN, Mo. – The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series turned laps around the Atlanta Motor Speedway on Thursday afternoon for testing. Around 45 of the 48 teams entered for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 participated in both on-track sessions.

A total of 42 drivers posted laps around 1.54-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway in the first session as it ran for one hour and 25 minutes in length. Jamie McMurray ended the session as the fastest driver. By going out as the second car, following his teammate Kyle Larson, McMurray posted a time of 28.943 seconds, 191.549 mph.

Larson found himself in the runner-up spot when the checkered flag completed the first session. Larson posted his fast time of 29.149 seconds, 190.195 mph. on his second trip around the speedway. He is one of the drivers who took advantage of the extra track time to get a better understanding of the new adjustable track bar from inside the car.

“So far when I played with it, I just thought it affected my exit at the corner,” said Larson. “I just gotta learn that kind of stuff and how far you can go with it. I think that’ll be a really neat tool that we get to use as drivers.”

With Atlanta being the second of 36 scheduled races, NASCAR will be using a new rules package for the first time. Larson told reporters on Thursday that he didn’t really feel a difference between the rule packages.

“We were all pretty anxious to get out there. This is really what I feel like the start of our season is, because this is the majority of size race track we run on,” added Larson. “I really didn’t notice anything. I thought it came up to speed pretty well. Maybe it doesn’t carry to the end of the straightaway as hard as what it did before but we have less downforce too but it still feels fast. I really didn’t notice much difference between this year vs. last year.”

Kevin Harvick ended the first session as the third fastest driver behind the wheel of the No. 4 Chevrolet. Harvick turned 21 laps around the Atlanta Motor Speedway with his fastest time posted on his third trip around the track. He turned a lap of 29.149 seconds, 189.850 mph.

Chevrolet once again dominated the second test session on Thursday afternoon after finishing inside the top six spots. When the one hour and 55-minute test session came to a close, Jeff Gordon ended the day sitting atop the leaderboard. Gordon posted a fast time of 29.423 seconds, 188.424 mph. on his fourth lap of the day. He completed 50 laps during the second session.

Ryan Newman turned 45 laps around the Atlanta Motor Speedway inside his No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet. Newman posted his fast lap of 29.424 seconds, 188.418 mph. on his third lap of the day. Newman finished ninth in the earlier session.

Kevin Harvick, who finished third in the first session, also sat third when the second and final session ended on Thursday afternoon. Harvick posted a time of 29.479 seconds, 188.066 mph. in his Stewart-Haas Racing machine. He ended the session turning 73 total laps.

If you followed the leaderboard throughout the two test sessions, you probably noticed how much the Fords were off the pace from the Toyota and Chevrolet teams. Joey Logano, who ended as the fastest Ford driver in the first session, posted the 17th fastest lap time. Greg Biffle, who posted the 12th fastest time in the second session, ended the day as the fastest Ford driver. These results will make the rest of the weekend interesting to follow.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup teams will return to the Atlanta Motor Speedway on Friday afternoon for the opening practice session for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500. The 1:00 p.m. Et. practice session will be televised on FOX Sports 1.

Brett Winningham
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