No transition for Stewart-Haas Racing after switch to Ford

Keselowski won the first 40-lap stage, while Kevin Harvick took the next 40-lap phase. Busch jumped back into the lead for good on lap 145 of 163.

So much for a transition period at Stewart-Haas Racing.

The only person that could stop Harvick, as it turned out, was Harvick.

He was poised to take advantage when Harvick blundered again. Pit road speed is 45 miles per hour with a 5 miles per hour tolerance, meaning anything over 50.00 is a penalty. I just didn’t have enough grip, or not as much as I’d hoped. “Then you go out and make it yourself instead of following all the things you preach”. He easily led the first two 85-lap stages under NASCAR’s new format. Involved in one of the many wrecks at Daytona, Johnson finished a dismal 34th.

Johnson, the seven-time Cup champion, was trying to become the first driver to win the Atlanta race three years in a row. He gave up the bottom lane in the final laps when most of the leaders had been hugging the yellow line. The common theme? None of those laps have been the last one. A great winning percentage at this level is one out of every 10 races, and one out of every 10 races, if you can pull that off, you’re a Hall of Famer.

“This place, for whatever reason, I just feel like I’m snake bitten”, Harvick said. It was my own doing (Sunday). I knew I needed to be close to pit road speed because we were having trouble getting out of the box, but I didn’t think I was pushing it that close.

When he got nailed for speeding, Harvick remarked to his crew that he thought he was being conservative. Consequently, a lucky Kurt moved past Elliott and won.

Thursday Thunder alumni Austin Dillon and Grant Enfinger finished seventh and eighth, respectively.

Despite Harvick’s penalty with just 11 laps to go, Penske and Brad Keselowski didn’t inherit the win by any means.

“As far as the repave goes, my only thing there is I’m going to enjoy this week”, Elliott said. I absolutely believe this will be a breakout season for the young driver.

The NASCAR team hasn’t slowed since switching from Chevrolet to Ford.

Larson said Keselowski’s ability to run on the high line made life hard for him throughout the race. His average finish is only 18.00, but Hamlin is capable of winning here and should make a push with the top contenders. He led 99 of 130 laps to win the Active Pest Control 200. However, cars experiencing a mechanical issue, once repaired, are eligible to return.

“We had a decent auto – top-10 vehicle – and it’s up here hanging out around seventh or eighth all day”, Hamlin said. We don’t do anything with the engines, just put them in.

Ford is now 2-0 on the season but what stood out in Sunday’s race were strong performances from all of the manufacturer’s top teams. He also has two wins, the last coming in 2013.

Not even Jimmie Johnson. “To be at the race track and already have a win for the 41 and a pole for us and everybody running good says a lot about the effort that has gone into this transition”. The aging asphalt surface is bumpy and striped with fix marks.

Since passing isn’t allowed on pit road, a burst of speed sometimes allows a auto that’s speeding up and slowing down to get ahead of others. The new pavement will be laid over the current surface. “But, we are going to be going so fast when we go back there this year”. NASCAR traditionally does not disapprove such requests from track owners. The surface is worn, the track is in bad need of a repave. While the races have been exciting on both tracks, the criticism by those actually racing on the surfaces has been anything but. “I really hate it for everybody on this Jimmy John’s Ford”. We got maybe a few too many wreck at Daytona, but after some initial hesitance, stage racing has received a mostly positive response. Here’s our picks for today’s race.