It’s time for this week’s ”Four Things” and this week, we head to Atlanta, Georgia for the second race of the season! This week, along with our four things, we will take a look at one important take away from the Daytona 500.
1: One Big Change…
One of the biggest teams in the Sprint Cup Series made a major announcement today that shocked much of the NASCAR world. Social media, fans and analysts didn’t know what to make of this bombshell or what it would mean for the 2016 season.
If you didn’t catch the big announcement, here it goes…
Stewart-Haas Racing is switching from Chevrolet to Ford starting in 2017. This major change means the end of a big alliance between SHR and NASCAR powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports. HMS supplies SHR with the chassis and engines for their teams. This alliance has been in effect since SHR’s creation in 2009.
Stewart-Haas Racing will get their engines from Roush Yates and will start building their own chassis in house.
Hendrick Motorsports released a separate statement staying they were “disappointed” in the decision made by SHR and that HMS would continue to field Chevrolet entries for the foreseeable future.
What will this announcement mean for the 2016 season? Will things change between the two racing powerhouses? I guess we will have to wait and see.

2: Martin Truex Jr. is one to watch in 2016.
After having quite the impressive season in 2015 and even making the Chase, Martin Truex Jr. and the single-car team of Furniture Row Racing took the NASCAR world by storm, impressing many along the way.
After Speedweeks and the Daytona 500, it was pretty clear that 2015 was just “good luck.” Truex Jr battled Denny Hamlin for the race win and while he came up short…by just a few inches…he proved that he and the No.78 team are starting off the season on the right foot.
Will we see the same from him this weekend at Atlanta? I guess we are about to find out.


Home / Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series / Four Things You Need To Know: Atlanta Edition

Four Things You Need To Know: Atlanta Edition

• By Katie Copple
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• Updated: February 25, 2016

It’s time for this week’s ”Four Things” and this week, we head to Atlanta, Georgia for the second race of the season! This week, along with our four things, we will take a look at one important take away from the Daytona 500.
Chevy in 2016, Ford in ’17.
1: One Big Change…
One of the biggest teams in the Sprint Cup Series made a major announcement today that shocked much of the NASCAR world. Social media, fans and analysts didn’t know what to make of this bombshell or what it would mean for the 2016 season.
If you didn’t catch the big announcement, here it goes…
Stewart-Haas Racing is switching from Chevrolet to Ford starting in 2017. This major change means the end of a big alliance between SHR and NASCAR powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports. HMS supplies SHR with the chassis and engines for their teams. This alliance has been in effect since SHR’s creation in 2009.
Stewart-Haas Racing will get their engines from Roush Yates and will start building their own chassis in house.
Hendrick Motorsports released a separate statement staying they were “disappointed” in the decision made by SHR and that HMS would continue to field Chevrolet entries for the foreseeable future.
What will this announcement mean for the 2016 season? Will things change between the two racing powerhouses? I guess we will have to wait and see.
Martin Truex Jr is here to contend again this season.
2: Martin Truex Jr. is one to watch in 2016.
After having quite the impressive season in 2015 and even making the Chase, Martin Truex Jr. and the single-car team of Furniture Row Racing took the NASCAR world by storm, impressing many along the way.
After Speedweeks and the Daytona 500, it was pretty clear that 2015 was just “good luck.” Truex Jr battled Denny Hamlin for the race win and while he came up short…by just a few inches…he proved that he and the No.78 team are starting off the season on the right foot.
Will we see the same from him this weekend at Atlanta? I guess we are about to find out.

3: Vickers is OUT… for now.
After filling in for an injured Tony Stewart in the Daytona 500, Brian Vickers won’t be behind the wheel of the No.14 this weekend in Atlanta. Instead, youngster Ty Dillon will pilot the Stewart-Haas Racing entry.
The younger Dillon drove for Levine Family Racing, piloting the No. 95 Chevy in the Daytona 500. He has seen some Sprint Cup Series seat time, driving in a handful of races between 2014 and 2015.
Vickers will be back in the No. 14 for Las Vegas. No definitive return date for Tony Stewart has been set.

4: Pit road penalties might be an issue this season.
There were 12 pit road penalties during the Daytona 500 and nine of them came from teams having men over the wall too soon. Since its inception, the most penalties given on pit road during a single race were nine (Fontana, Martinsville and Las Vegas).
One of those teams that got busted for this penalty was the No. 10 of Danica Patrick.
After making her mandatory pass through penalty, Patrick and her crew chief Billy Scott talked about the penalty. Scott and his team reviewed the pit stop and didn’t see any men over the wall too soon and were confused by the penalty.
In 2015, NASCAR went to automated put road cameras to catch a majority of the pit road infractions like men over the wall too soon. Could these cameras be off? Are they giving penalties where they aren’t warranted? Having nine of the 12 total pit road penalties be because of men over the wall too soon seems a little fishy. But we can also chalk it up to teams trying to get that little extra advantage over their competition.
It was the Daytona 500 after all.
One important takeaway from the Daytona 500:
Kyle Busch is going to be a championship contender at the end of the season. He is still riding high on the fumes of his 2015 championship win and that was evident during Speedweeks. If Busch can win a Championship after coming back from a debilitating injury AND taking care of a new baby, then what can he do this season? We have nine months to find out.

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ace fans, I’m pleased to introduce “Four Things!”  Each week (primarily on Tuesdays), I will bring you four things that you need to know before the race such as team and driver updates, track and race changes, breaking news and more!First up, let’s talk about the season opener for the Sprint Cup Series aka the Daytona 500.
Here are the four things you need to know…

1: Chase Elliott added his name to the history books more than once by capturing the pole position for the Daytona 500.
Elliott is the youngest pole sitter for the Great American Race at 20 years, 2 months and 17 days beating out the previous record holder by three years. The 2014 pole sitter, Austin Dillon, previously held that record when he won the pole at 23 years, 9 months and 27 days.
Also, Elliott and his father, legendary Bill Elliott, became only the fourth father-son combinations to have claimed the prestigious pole award. Other who have done so are:
Richard Petty, 1966 and son, Kyle Petty, 1993
Bobby Allison, 1981 and son, Davey Allison, 1991
Dale Earnhardt, 1995 and son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., 2011

Bill Elliott, 1985, 1987, 2001 and son, Chase Elliott, 2016

2: Danica Patrick’s new sponsor, Nature’s Bakery, is only six years old.

Signing a 28-race deal to replace long-standing sponsor GoDaddy, Nature’s Bakery is a fairly new company. Father-Son team Dave and Sam Marson started the fig bar company in 2010 and it currently has manufacturing facilities in two states and employs 420 people. Nature’s Bakery is one of the youngest and smallest major sponsors for a NASCAR race team.

3: NASCAR Overtime
NASCAR is following suit with many other popular sports and implementing “overtime” for its races. Overtime works like this. For each of the three major touring series, the green-white-checkered finish will feature and “overtime” line. This happens if a caution is put in to effect during the closing laps of the race.
The “overtime line” location will vary from track to track but the procedure breaks down as follows. After the leader takes the green on a restart, the leader must then pass the “overtime line” for the green-white-checkered attempt to be considered good. If the leader takes the green flag and a caution is called before the leader reaches the “overtime line,” then it will be considered an invalid attempt at a green-white-checkered and the process starts over. Multiple attempts will be made if needed.
Once the leader passes the “overtime line,” the green-white-checkered attempt is considered good and the race will finish with the next flag thrown.

4:  New Points Systems (Sorta) and New Field Sizes
All three major touring series are seeing tweaks to their field size and points systems.
The Sprint Cup Series will consist of a 40-car field (36 charter cars and 4 open team cars). The driver finishing first will be awarded 40 points, second place will receive 39 points and so on down to the driver finishing last who will be awarded one point.
The Xfinity Series is very similar with a 40-car field and the same points system. This series will also implement a seven-race season ending “Chase” for the title.
The Camping World Truck Series will have a 32-car field with the winning driver awarded 32 points and the last place driver being awarded one. This series will also implement a seven-race season ending “Chase” for the title.

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