2019 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500

2019 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500

Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
Race 2 of 36 in the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Date	February 24, 2019 (2019-02-24)
Location	Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.54 mi (2.48 km)
Distance	325 laps, 500.5 mi (806 km)
Average speed	142.626 miles per hour (229.534 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing
Time	30.550
Most laps led
Driver	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing
Laps	142
Winner
No. 2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske
Television in the United States
Network	Fox
Announcers	Mike Joy, Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip
Nielsen Ratings	5.067 million[9]
Radio in the United States
Radio	PRN
Booth Announcers	Doug Rice and Mark Garrow
Turn Announcers	Rob Albright (1 & 2) and Pat Patterson (3 & 4)

The 2019 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race that was held on February 24, 2019, at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. Contested over 325 laps on the 1.54-mile-long (2.48 km) asphalt quad-oval intermediate speedway, it was the second race of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

The race was the first since the 2002 Protection One 400 at Kansas to feature Jamie McMurray on the grid.

Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta International Raceway) is a track in Hampton, Georgia, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It is a 1.54-mile (2.48 km) quad-oval track with a seating capacity of 111,000. It opened in 1960 as a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) standard oval. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track. In 1997, to standardize the track with Speedway Motorsports' other two 1.5-mile (2.4 km) ovals, the entire track was almost completely rebuilt. The frontstretch and backstretch were swapped, and the configuration of the track was changed from oval to quad-oval. The project made the track one of the fastest on the NASCAR circuit.

Clint Bowyer was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 30.774 seconds and a speed of 180.152 mph (289.927 km/h).^[10]

Aric Almirola scored the pole for the race with a time of 30.550 and a speed of 181.473 mph (292.052 km/h).^[11]

Clint Bowyer was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 30.954 seconds and a speed of 179.104 mph (288.240 km/h).^[12]

Stage One

Laps: 85

Stage Two

Laps: 85

Stage Three Laps: 155

• Lead changes: 26 among 9 different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 5 for 30
• Red flags: 0
• Time of race: 3 hours, 30 minutes and 33 seconds
• Average speed: 142.626 miles per hour (229.534 km/h)

The Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 was carried by Fox in the United States. Mike Joy, five-time Atlanta winner Jeff Gordon and three-time Atlanta winner Darrell Waltrip covered the race from the booth. Pit road was manned by Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum.

The race was broadcast on radio by the Performance Racing Network and simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice and Mark Garrow called the race from the booth when the field down the front stretch. Rob Albright called the race from atop a billboard outside of turn 2 when the field raced through turns 1 and 2 & Pat Patterson called the race from a billboard outside of turn 3 when the field raced through turns 3 and 4. On pit road, PRN was manned by Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan, Wendy Venturini and Doug Turnbull.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Denny Hamlin 87 12 2 Kevin Harvick 79 (–8) 3 Kyle Busch 78 (–9) 3 4 Kyle Larson 77 (–10) 3 5 Joey Logano 75 (–12) 5 6 Brad Keselowski 72 (–15) 2 7 Erik Jones 68 (–19) 16 8 Kurt Busch 63 (–24) 7 9 Clint Bowyer 60 (–27) 6 10 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 60 (–27) 10 11 Aric Almirola 58 (–29) 16 12 Martin Truex Jr. 57 (–30) 7 13 Alex Bowman 57 (–30) 1 14 Ryan Blaney 54 (–33) 2 15 Ryan Newman 49 (–38) 8 16 Jimmie Johnson 46 (–41) Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Toyota 75 2 Ford 73 (–2) 3 Chevrolet 65 (–10) Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.