Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500: Live highlights, updates from Atlanta

Rain delayed the start of racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but it subsided enough to let the Cup Series drivers fire things up on Sunday.

Usually, Atlanta is a place where there are less questions that at Daytona at the start of a NASCAR season, but that might not be true for the 2018 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500. Rain delayed the start of the race, which NASCAR tried to push up to beat the weather, by more than an hour on Sunday afternoon.

A lot of drivers looked fast in practice, qualifying or the other weekend races, including XFINITY Series race winner Kevin Harvick and pole-sitter Kyle Busch. Tire wear will be a factor as it always is at Atlanta — though maybe less going forward as the track is finally slated to be repaved after 20 years — which is going to test the pit crews who are still learning how to deal with having one less man over the wall.

The rain itself could also rear its head, both because it washed the initial rubber off the track and since the forecast is saying it could return before the race is finished.

2018 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 highlights

Ryan Newman, who started on the outside of Row 1, was able to pull to the front early on, leading all of the first 13 laps.

Busch was able to get past Newman to take the lead right before lap 20, but Harvick, running the bottom as expected, passed him on lap 21 and made it four Atlanta races in a row in which he has led laps.

A scheduled competition caution flew after lap 30, but the yellow flag came pretty close to flying anyway because Jeffrey Earnhardt absolutely shredded his right-front tire.

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Not much changed after the pit stops, as no one could catch Harvick. He comfortably took the Stage 1 win, nearly (but not quite) nosing past Erik Jones to lap him right before crossing the start-finish line.

Stage 1 results

1. Kevin Harvick, 10 points plus one bonus playoff point
2. Clint Bowyer, 9 pts.
3. Brad Keselowski, 8 pts.
4. Martin Truex Jr., 7 pts.
5. Aric Almirola, 6 pts.
6. Kyle Busch, 5 pts.
7. Kyle Larson, 4 pts.
8. Kurt Busch, 3 pts.
9. Denny Hamlin, 2 pts.
10. Joey Logano, 1 point

Trouble found Harvick during the pit stop, as a problem with his team’s air gun meant he had to return to the pits and ended up restarting 19th, last car on the lead lap. That meant Brad Keselowski had a chance to lead some laps, though he was soon chased down and passed by Kurt Busch.

(Trust us, that was Keselowski he passed for the lead, not Logano.)

Busch soon had to fend off a three-wide challenge for the lead from Keselowski and that guy again, Harvick.

A round of green flag pit stops followed, after which Harvick was back in front of the field again.

Would we make it through Stage 2 sans cautions? Pretty close, but someone spun around to bring out a yellow flag with less than 15 laps to go, and that someone was none other than Jimmie Johnson.

In one of the few things he had done wrong to that point, Harvick did not get off to a good restart with seven laps to go in the stage, and his misfortune worked to Keselowski’s benefit. Brad K. got out in front and was never challenged as he earned the Stage 2 win.

Stage 2 results

1. Brad Keselowski, 10 points plus one bonus playoff point
2. Kurt Busch, 9 pts.
3. Kyle Busch, 8 pts.
4. Joey Logano, 7 pts.
5. Kevin Harvick, 6 pts.
6. Denny Hamlin, 5 pts.
7. Kyle Larson, 4 pts.
8. Aric Almirola, 3 pts.
9. Clint Bowyer, 2 pts.
10. Daniel Suarez, 1 point

The drama early in the final stage was once again centered on the weather. Rain threatened to arrive before the scheduled end of the race, so the prospect of the leader turning into the winner at any time was a real one. Keselowski led the way and was even able to hold off a charging Harvick before another round of green flag pit stops.

With the rain mercifully holding off, two of NASCAR’s young guns, Daniel Suarez and Ryan Blaney, had a close call.

At the front, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano were on a different pit cycle than nearly everyone else, one that could mean they would need to make one fewer stop than the field.

The one thing that could make things interesting was another caution. And with less than 30 laps to go, Trevor Bayne’s engine gave out, producing an incredible cloud of smoke that shuffled the deck.

That turned out to not matter at all. Harvick pulled away after the final restart and easily took the checkered flag, 17 years after his first Atlanta victory.

Harvick became the second driver to most likely punch a ticket to the 2018 NASCAR playoffs, joining Austin Dillon. Both drivers made the postseason in 2017 as well, so we’re still waiting for our first real surprise as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Las Vegas to start March.