TC Daily Pit Stop: McDowell Records First Pole; Austin Hill Wins Again After Heartbreak for Jesse Love; Kyle Busch Scores 65th Truck Series Win; Floridian Motorsports has Successful Debut
TC Daily Pit Stop: McDowell Records First Pole; Austin Hill Wins Again After Heartbreak for Jesse Love; Kyle Busch Scores 65th Truck Series Win; Floridian Motorsports has Successful Debut
TC Daily Pit Stop: Sunday, February 25th, 2024
Michael McDowell Scores First Career NASCAR Cup Series Pole
The 467th time is a charm. Michael McDowell, a week after narrowly missing his first career pole at the Daytona 500, recorded the fastest time in Saturday’s qualifying session for Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
While McDowell takes great pride in scoring his first pole, he takes even more pride in how his team is working early in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season.
“Yes, it is for sure my first career pole in the NASCAR Cup Series. I’m proud of that, but at the same time, it’s more of a testament to the team,” McDowell stated. “I mean, this qualifying session you have to execute everything perfectly, but at the same time, having a fast race car is what it’s all about. I’m really proud of my guys.”
McDowell will share the front row with Joey Logano. Kyle Busch, Todd Gilliland, and Kyle Larson will round out the top-five starters.
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STARTING LINEUP
Austin Hill Takes Atlanta Win After Fuel Mileage Heartbreak for Jesse Love
The old saying is ‘Love will find a way’. Well, Austin Hill, Jesse Love’s teammate, is the one who truly always finds a way. Hill was able to perfectly manage the dwindling fuel in his tank over the closing laps of Saturday night’s RAPTOR King of Tough 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and when Love’s tank ran dry on an overtime finish, Hill was there to pick up the pieces.
“I just gotta thank my guys. Everyone on this No. 21 Bennett Chevrolet. We really worked through it. I really was down and out, and thought my teammate was going to win it,” Hill stated.
Hill, with the win, becomes just the fourth driver to ever start a NASCAR Xfinity Series season by winning the opening two races. Chandler Smith finished runner-up, Shane van Gisbergen came home in third, Sheldon Creed and Parker Retzlaff rounded out the top-five finishers. Love wound up 12th.
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RACE RESULTS
INSPECTION REPORT
Video: “Next Time You Touch My Racecar” Kyle Weatherman Takes Post-Race Shove After on-Track Incident with Yeley
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Kyle Busch Wins 65th Career Truck Series Race at Atlanta
Kyle Busch entered Saturday’s FR8 208 at Atlanta with the all-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series leader in wins. That lead extended by one after he collected his 65th career NASCAR Truck Series win over Ty Majeski.
Majeski had hoped he could form a run on Busch over the last lap to take the win, but when he looked in his mirror, he noticed that it was probably in his best interest to stick with Busch.
“I just felt like if I had backed up to [Corey Heim], I knew he had a teammate behind him, I was afraid they were gonna hang me [out],” said Majeski.
Heim would finish third ahead of Taylor Gray and Nick Sanchez.
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RACE RESULTS
INSPECTION REPORT
Video: Thad Moffitt, Jake Garcia Bring Out Third Caution at Atlanta
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Video: Jack Wood’s Day Ends Early After Stage Two Crash at Atlanta
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Video: Roof Flies Off of Bayley Currey’s Truck While Racing at Atlanta
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Mason Maggio Salvages 25th-Place Finish in Floridian Motorsports Debut Race
After narrowly missing the season-opening NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Daytona, Mason Maggio and Floridian Motorsports were ready for Atlanta. The pairing was in the midst of a successful debut, as Maggio had moved inside the top-15 at points.
Then, a blown tire derailed the day. Still, the team came home with a clean 25th-place finish. Now, they’ll look at where we would be a good site for them to return.