NASCAR Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Review

The NASCAR Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 saw the #48 Lowes Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson take the checkered flag and tie racing legend Dale Earnhardt Sr. with 76 total NASCAR victories. The race was a well-driven affair with only three cautions for 13 laps, two of which occurred in the last five laps of the event. The race took three hours and 15 minutes to complete and had eight different drivers that led at least one lap.

Although Kevin Harvick had the strongest car for most of the day, it was Jimmie Johnson’s crew chief Chad Knaus that made the call for an off-scheduled pit stop for four tires that turned out to be the deciding factor. Harvick’s Freaky Fast Jimmy John’s #4 Chevrolet led 131 of the 330 laps and clearly looked to be the car in control.

At lap number 276, the last lap available for Jimmie Johnson to finish the race on a full tank of gas, Chad Knaus made the call to come to the pits while Kevin Harvick decided to stay out. Johnson’s team gave the six-time NASCAR Champion a great stop and sent him back out on the raceway with four fresh tires. Harvick’s team decided to stay out for another nine laps before making their scheduled stop.

The decision to wait the nine laps allowed Johnson to make up considerable time on the Stewart Hass Chrevolet who was still downing circuits on used up tires. By the time Kevin Harvick was back out on the track with fuel and four fresh tires, the Hendrick Racing Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson had accumulated a size-able lead of over 15 seconds.

Over the next 30 laps, Kevin Harvick consistently cut into Jimmie Johnson’s lead. By the time he had whittled the 15-second lead down to six seconds it appeared that the hard charging Harvick’s tires had all but gone away. Luckily, Ryan Newman blew a tire with five laps remaining and caused the second caution of the day, allowing Harick to line-up next to Johnson on the re-start.

Not only was Kevin Harvick side by side with Jimmie Johnson but now Kyle Busch’s #18 M&M Toyota Camry and Kurt Busch’s #41 Chevrolet were right behind them. Kyle Busch had worked his way into third from the 39th starting spot and his big brother Kurt busch was the race’s pole winner.

The green flag waved with one lap to go. Jimmie Johnson raced to the front in the faster inside lane. Kyle “Rowdy” Busch was not content on cruising to a second place finish and swept to the outside to make a last bold move to overtake Johnson. It was not to be, and it opened the door for the fifth place Dale Earnhardt Jr. to squeeze in behind teammate Johnson.

Just after the lead cars passed the line on the back stretch that made the last lap official, a four car wreck evolved in the middle of the pack, bringing out the third caution of the day. Because of NASCAR’s new rules, the lead car of Johnson had passed the half way point and the race ended under the caution. Johnson and his team were victorious. Jimmie Johnson completed his backward victory lap and held three fingers out the window in honor of the racing legend Dale Earnhardt.

“It’s such an honor,” Johnson said. “With the chaos at the end and the crash and wondering about overtime and how it worked these days, I kind of lost sight of that. I remembered it on my Victory Lap coming down, and I had to come by and throw a ‘3’ out the window to pay my respects to the man. There’s a huge void in my career that I never had a chance to race with him, but at least I was able to tie his record.”

Racing Notes:

Kurt Busch led 62 laps, finished fourth, and was a fixture in the top ten all afternoon. Matt Kenseth led another 47 laps but, while arguing a rinky-dink violation from NASCAR, the #20 Dollar General Toyota ended up two laps down. Chase Elliott rebounded nicely from his early departure and finished in the eighth spot, receiving the Sunoco Rookie of the Race honors. Jimmie Johnson won his fifth NASCAR race at Atlanta and went back to back for the first time in his career at this venue. Three Hendrick Motorsport’s machines finished in the top 10 and received the MAHLE CLEVITE Engine Builder of the Race Award.

NASCAR Fold of Honor QuikTrip 500 Results:

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Point Standings: