What You Need To Know Today
Brad Keselowski won Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway
- An ailing Brad Keselowski won the second race of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, earning the first victory in the series for the new Ford Mustang
- Austin Cindric — driver for Team Penske in the NASCAR XFINITY Series — was on standby to replace Keselowski if needed
- Keselowski led the last 33 laps en route to the victory after obtaining the lead when the caution flag flew for an accident on pit road during a round of green flag stops
- Keselowski’s margin of victory over second-place Martin Truex Jr. was 0.218 seconds
- The win is Keselowski’s 60th victory with Team Penske (all series), breaking a tie with former driver Mark Donohue
- Third-place went to Kurt Busch, who moved to Chip Ganassi Racing from Stewart-Haas Racing over the offseason
- Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top five
- Kyle Larson led the most laps of any other driver (142 of 325) but a late-race pit road speeding penalty relegated him to a 12th-place run
- This was the first race with some of the attributes of the high-downforce, low-horsepower package NASCAR is rolling out for the 2019 season, though the full package won’t truly be in effect until next weekend’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
- There were a total of five cautions for 30 laps, including a lap 36 competition caution and the two stage breaks
- After race two of 36, Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin has the points lead, with an eight-point lead over Harvick and a nine-point lead over Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch
For more information: Full race recap … Full race results … Post-race points report
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Info from Sunday’s pre- and post-race inspections
- Garrett Smithley’s No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet failed pre-race inspection multiple times on Sunday morning at Atlanta Motor Speedway; car chief Shane Callis was ejected as a result
- Smithley finished 36th in the race
- Brad Keselowski’s No. 2 Team Penske Ford cleared post-race inspection and was officially declared the winner
- The cars of Matt DiBenedetto and Ty Dillon each had one loose lug-nut, which typically results in a $10,000.00 fine
- NASCAR took the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of Kevin Harvick (finished fourth) back to the R&D center
For more information: Story on Smithley’s car chief and others ejected over the weekend … In-race penalty report … Full story on post-race inspection on NASCAR.com
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Documents from DC Solar’s pending criminal case reveal “Ponzi scheme”
- Kickin’ The Tires owner Jerry Jordan published a story on Sunday revealing the tangled web of legal and financial trouble that former NASCAR sponsor DC Solar has found themselves in
- DC Solar was a sponsor of Chip Ganassi Racing’s as well as a sponsorship partner for multiple racetracks until the FBI raided the corporate office on December 18th
- Ross Chastain lost a full-time XFINITY Series ride with CGR for 2019 due to the company’s legal issues
- FBI documents obtained by Jordan reveal the flow of money from DC Solar, to third parties, investors, etc., in order to create the illusion of generating revenue and to take advantage of tax breaks
For more information: Full story from Jerry Jordan … Story from MartinezGazette.com regarding DC Solar’s decision to file bankruptcy … Story on Ross Chastain’s revised 2019 XFINITY Series plans
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Hagan, Torrence, Coughlin victorious in NHRA Arizona Nationals
- Matt Hagan bested J.R. Todd in Funny Car with a 3.890 for his third victory in five years at the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park
- Jeg Coughlin’ Jr. earned his 81st career victory in Pro Stocks in Arizona, after Matt Hartford was given the red light for leaving 0.24 second too soon
- Billy Torrence earned the victory in the Top Fuel final, beating Leah Pritchett with a run of 3.965 seconds at 326.40 mph
For more information: Pro Stock results from NHRA.com … Funny Car results from NHRA.com … AP story via SeattleTimes.com
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Has Fernando Alonso’s car number for the Indianapolis 500 been inadvertently revealed?
- Two-time Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso will be competing in the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this May with McLaren Racing
- Though the car number has not been officially announced, IMS recently listed some Alonso merchandise on their website that included the No. 66, a number that Alonso has not raced at any point during his career
- IMS may have removed the items from public viewing as the merchandise in question was not found on the track’s online store as of Sunday night
- Alonso made his IndyCar Series debut in the 101st running of the Indy 500 back in May of 2017, leading 27 laps before an engine failure ended his race with 21 laps remaining
- To date, the 2017 Indy 500 is Alonso’s only IndyCar Series start
For more information: Story from motor.es’ Adrian Fernandez (Spanish) … Story from BeyondTheFlag.com’s Asher Fair … Fernando Alonso’s career statistics
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