Photo: Atlanta Motor Speedway
After the high banks of Daytona where drafting and your fate was in the hands of someone else, the NASCAR Sprint Cup series headed to Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The rookie class would get their first opportunity with the low down-force package. It was a wild weekend here is how the rookies made out.
Chase Elliott
After wrecking early on in the Daytona 500, Elliott looked to come to AMS and just get a solid finish under his belt. With speed early on in the weekend the team struggled in qualifying as track conditions weren’t as they expected. They qualified 24th but with multiple lanes for passing the team wasn’t too concerned for Sunday.
Early on in the race they worked their way into the top 20 by lap 30. Elliott was happy with the handling of the car and was taking care of his tires for later in the run. With the first 211 laps being under green the team made great adjustments on pit road and Elliott did his job on the track.
As the laps wound down they found their way in the top 10 with 100 laps to go. Solid final stops saw them challenging for the top five. On the final restart though Elliott got bottled up and wound up finishing 8th.
It was a good solid run and earned him the top rookie of the race award.
Ryan Blaney
Blaney started in 25th next to Elliott and just like Elliott, he moved forward early in the race. Had moved into the top 20 in the first 30 laps. The team reminded him to focus on conserving his tires. His first few stops saw him making gains on the handling of the car.
The long green flag run though caught Blaney a lap down running 13th on lap 170. The team would not be able to get back on the lead lap with limited cautions. Still the team battled hard to try and stay in position to get the lucky dog. With the pace the leaders were setting though they were never in contention for it or the win.
On the final restart of the day after Ryan Newman’s wreck with two laps to go, Blaney got caught up in a wreck with Regan Smith, David Ragan, and Aric Almirola. He would finish 25th.
Chris Buescher
It was another tough week for the reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion. After wrecking last week in the Daytona 500, Buescher was looking to just finish the race with a solid run. He qualified 31st on Friday but Sunday would be a struggle very early on.
For much of the race the team struggled with a tight condition for much of the first half of the race. By lap 100, Buescher was down a lap and with so many other cars lap down it would be a test to get back into contention. With the last wreck lap Buescher and his team were able to finish 28th.
Brian Scott
Scott had a terrific qualifying effort on Friday qualifying in the top 10. There day though went south early as they struggled with an ill handling race car. Battling tight conditions for much of the first two runs.
They were just inside the top 30 on lap 62, when they were lapped due to the fast pace. On lap 168 Scott radioed that he hit the wall. He immediately came to pit road but with no caution went down multiple laps.
After a long day in the race car Scott brought the car home in 31st place.
The rookie class heads west next week to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Look for the first rookie preview on Thursday.
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