Kyle Larson and the ENEOS Chevrolet Camaro team headed into Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS) with high hopes after last week’s strong run in Daytona. In two prior starts at AMS, Larson has finished no worse than fourth.
Larson started in fourth position after advancing through all three rounds of knockout qualifying. The 163-lap race was highlighted by several long green flag runs giving the team fewer opportunities to make adjustments to the car. Larson reported early in the race the car was getting looser with each passing lap. Past halfway, Larson’s crew made major adjustments to the handling of the car, which changed it from loose to tight.
The torrid pace set by the race leader put Larson one lap down, fortunately he was the beneficiary of the free-pass and waive-around in the late stages of the race which enabled him to remain in contention. He was able to race his way back into a top-10 position, where he would end up finishing 10th.
1. (8) No. 88 Harvick, Chevrolet Camaro
2. (1) No. 22 Logano, Ford
3. (17) No. 3 Dillion, Chevrolet Camaro
10. (4) No. 42 Larson, ENEOS Chevrolet Camaro
NOTES OF INTEREST:
• This was Larson’s third XFINITY Series start at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS)
• The race was slowed by just three cautions for 12 laps
HSMCG QUOTE BOARD
Kyle Larson – No. 42 ENEOS Chevrolet Camaro: – “I have to thank Mike (Shiplett) and all guys on the ENEOS team who didn’t give up trying to make our car better. For much of practice, qualifying and early in the race we fought a loose car. Prior to our second pit stop our car was way too loose, so we made wholesale changes under that caution and the handling improved tremendously. I am looking forward to my next XFINITY Series race at Auto Club Speedway in three weeks.
NEXT WEEK
The NASCAR XFINITY Series will move to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS) next weekend. Catch practiceFriday at 4:30 p.m. and 6:00 pm ET on FOX Sports 1 and qualifying at Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 2. The Boyd Gaming 300 will take place Mar.7, at 3:30 p.m. ET. FOX Sports 1, Sirius/XM NASCAR Channel 90 and PRN affiliated radio stations will have live coverage of the event.
HSCOTT MOTORSPORTS WITH CHIP GANASSI
HScott Motorsports, which was established in 1989 as Phoenix Racing, is owned and operated by Harry Scott Jr. and competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with technical support from Hendrick Motorsports. The team competes full time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with Justin Allgaier driving the No. 51 BRANDT Chevrolet and Michael Annett driving the Pilot Flying J Chevrolet. Scott also owns HScott Motorsports with Chip Ganassi, which fields the No. 42 Camaro in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, and is the co-owner of HScott Motorsports with Justin Marks, which fields five entries in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East. His vision is to build a championship contender by developing talented young drivers, partnering with dedicated sponsors and competing hard every week.