RCR Race Preview: Atlanta Motor Speedway

NKP #3: Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing, BREZTRI Chevrolet Camaro

Austin Dillon and the No. 3 BREZTRI AEROSPHERE® (budesonide, glycopyrrolate, and formoterol fumarate) Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Atlanta Motor Speedway… In 15 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Austin Dillon earned a best finish of sixth in March 2021. In four NASCAR Xfinity Series and four NASCAR Truck Series races at the Hampton, Georgia track, Dillon has posted seven top-10 results and never finished worse than the 11th position. 

BREZTRI AEROSPHERE® (budesonide, glycopyrrolate, and formoterol fumarate) Team Up with Dillon… Dillon and the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing team will be supported by BREZTRI AEROSPHERE®, an AstraZeneca product, at Atlanta Motor Speedway. This partnership is about more than just racing. You can learn more about Austin Dillon and his family’s personal connection to the brand at Breztri.com. AstraZeneca is a global, science-led biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of prescription medicines in Oncology, Rare Diseases, and Biopharmaceuticals, including Cardiovascular, Renal & Metabolism, and Respiratory & Immunology. AstraZeneca operates in over 100 countries and its innovative medicines are used by millions of patients worldwide.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game with the Braves… On Friday, September 6, Dillon is scheduled to attend the Atlanta Braves game as part of NASCAR Night on behalf of BREZTRI AEROSPHERE® (budesonide, glycopyrrolate, and formoterol fumarate). Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet will make a lap on the warning track prior to the first pitch and be on display at The Battery outside of Truist Park before the game. 

Meet Dillon… Before the green flag on Sunday, September 8, fans will have two opportunities to meet Dillon in the fan midway at Atlanta Motor Speedway. At 11:50 a.m. ET, the veteran racer is scheduled to sign autographs at the RCR Merchandise Hauler. Directly after at 12:15 p.m. ET, Dillon will answer fan questions at the Team Chevrolet Display. 

AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE:

Do you like Atlanta Motor Speedway?

“I enjoy racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It’s interesting with the drafting style racing there now. Coming up with a gameplan is going to be key. When you don’t have a game plan that you can fully commit to, you can get stuck in the middle and that usually doesn’t turn out well. The track itself is still changing. RCR and ECR Engines always bring fast superspeedway cars with a lot of power though, so we need to capitalize on the weekend overall.”

Kyle Busch and the No. 8 Global Industrial Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Atlanta Motor Speedway… Kyle Busch has two victories (2008 and 2013), 10 top-five, and 14 top-10 finishes in 29 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway. In the most recent Cup Series event at the Georgia track, the Las Vegas, Nevada native scored a third-place result, finishing .007 seconds behind race winner Daniel Suarez in a thrilling three-wide photo finish. Busch is tied with Jimmie Johnson for the most laps led (586) at the 1.54-mile speedway. In addition, the veteran racer has three NASCAR Xfinity Series and seven NASCAR Truck Series wins at Atlanta. 

Riding Momentum… In the last three Cup Series events, Busch has posted three top-five finishes, including consecutive second-place results at both Daytona International Speedway and Darlington Raceway. 

Did You Know? Busch is the youngest winner in Cup Series history at Atlanta Motor Speedway, earning the 2008 spring event victory at just 22 years, 10 months, and 7 days old. Busch also leads all active drivers with 23 lead lap finishes at the 1.54-mile oval. 

Cup Series Debut for Global Industrial… This weekend marks Global Industrial’s debut as a primary partner in NASCAR’s premier series. The partnership between the Port Washington, N.Y. company and RCR began in 2021, as the value-added distributor has been a multi-race primary partner in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. 

About Global Industrial Company… Global Industrial Company (NYSE:GIC) is a value-added distributor. For 75 years, Global Industrial has gone the extra mile for its customers, currently offering hundreds of thousands of industrial and MRO products needed to run businesses and facilities. Global Industrial is committed to its customer-centric strategy, and utilizes a team of subject matter experts, Global Industrial Exclusive Brands™ products and national vendor relationships to help customers succeed. Global Industrial. “We Can Supply That®”.

KYLE BUSCH QUOTES:

One of the best complete weekends that you’ve had this season was at the spring race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Does that give you and the No. 8 team confidence going back this weekend?

“Absolutely it does. We had a game plan on what we needed to be better. We came back with more speed and a lot better car for the spring Atlanta race this year. I’m hoping that that same amount of notes and success translates to the race this weekend.” 

You have top-five finishes in the last two races at Atlanta Motor Speedway. What does it take run well there? 

“Atlanta now takes a lot of speed, but also a car that handles well. You have to pick the right line at the right time to get yourself in a spot where you can log some laps, especially in the middle stage of the race, and not get caught up in a crash when cars start to handle differently and mistakes are made.” 

Earlier this year at Atlanta Motor Speedway, you picked up a lot from the first round to second round in qualifying. How rare is that?

“I would think that qualifying and picking up speed from round to round is very rare. When you’re in speedway qualifying scenarios, it’s a little easier to pick up because all the oils and bearings get hot and everything just moves a little bit more freely, so you should go a little faster on the second round. Tire wear and fall off is not something that you’re worried about with the newer surface yet.”

Jesse Love and the No. 2 Samsara Chevrolet Camaro SS at Atlanta Motor Speedway… Jesse Love will make his second NASCAR Xfinity Series start at Atlanta Motor Speedway this Saturday. After delivering a dominating performance in February, the 19-year-old drove his No. 2 Chevrolet to a 12th-place result in his inaugural race at the Hampton, Georgia facility. 

Looking for Redemption… Earlier this season, in just his second career Xfinity Series start, Love put his speed on display at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The Menlo Park, California native earned the pole and led 157 of 169 total laps before running out of fuel in the closing laps. 

Primary Debut… In addition to serving as a full-season associate partner on Love’s No. 2 Camaro, Samsara will make their debut as a primary partner in NASCAR at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Samsara will host 40 guests for an at-track experience on Saturday. Their video-based safety, vehicle telematics, and equipment monitoring solutions have been implemented into RCR’s fleet to increase safety, efficiency, and sustainability of its operations. 

About Samsara… Samsara (NYSE: IOT) is the pioneer of the Connected Operations™ Cloud, which is a platform that enables organizations that depend on physical operations to harness Internet of Things (IoT) data to develop actionable insights and improve their operations. With tens of thousands of customers across North America and Europe, Samsara is a proud technology partner to the people who keep our global economy running, including the world’s leading organizations across construction, transportation and warehousing, field services, manufacturing, retail, logistics, and the public sector. The company’s mission is to increase the safety, efficiency, and sustainability of the operations that power the global economy. 

JESSE LOVE QUOTE: 

Describe your thoughts on returning to Atlanta Motor Speedway after your strong performance earlier this season.

“I’m excited to go back to Atlanta Motor Speedway. To think in only our second race together, we were able to win the pole, led over 150 laps and almost win the race is something for us to be proud of. It gives our No. 2 team a lot of confidence going back there again. Our expectation is to do the same this weekend though. The Richard Childress Racing Chevrolets at drafting tracks are extremely fast, and I know Danny (Stockman) and the guys have been working hard to give us another opportunity. We hope to get Samsara up front in their debut race and maybe even take them to Victory Lane.” 

Austin Hill and the No. 21 Bennett Transportation and Logistics Chevrolet Camaro SS at Atlanta Motor Speedway… Austin Hill has five career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway, earning three wins and a second-place finish while piloting the No. 21 Bennett Transportation and Logistics Chevrolet. Hill has led at least one lap in each of his five starts, totaling 206 laps pacing the field. In addition, Hill has six NASCAR Truck Series starts at the Hampton, Georgia facility, posting one pole (2019), two top-five (2020, 2021) and three top-10 results (2019-2021). 

Most Recent Race Winner… Hill enters Atlanta Motor Speedway as the most recent race winner. Earlier this season in February, the No. 21 Chevrolet started from the second position, ran inside the top-10 for the majority of the event, and captured the victory once again at Hill’s home track. This marked Hill’s second victory of the year, as the RCR driver secured the checkered flag in the first two Xfinity Series races. 

Georgia Boy Returns Home… Hill is a native of Winston, Georgia, sited 60 miles from Atlanta Motor Speedway. The 30-year-old started his motorsports career racing bandolero and legends cars on the frontstretch quarter-mile oval. Hill’s family continues to live in the Peachtree State and will be in attendance for Saturday’s race.

Going Gold for Bennett’s 50th… Located a short 15 minutes from Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bennett Transportation and Logistics’ headquarters are based in McDonough, Georgia. Celebrating their 50th Anniversary in 2024, Bennett Family of Companies will have over 400 guests on site to watch Hill compete. For the first time this season, the No. 21 Camaro will debut a special gold design that features Bennett’s special 50th anniversary logo on the hood. 

About Bennett Family of Companies… McDonough-Ga. based Bennett Family of Companies is a woman-owned, Women’s Enterprise Business Council (WBENC) certified, diversified transportation and logistics company. Through its 14 affiliated operating companies, the Bennett Family of Companies delivers integrated transportation and supply chain management solutions worldwide. Bennett has 4,625 drivers/owner-operators, over 1,000 employees and 600 agents located across the United States. For more information, visit www.bennettig.com.

AUSTIN HILL QUOTES:

What have you learned about the new track surface at Atlanta Motor Speedway? What do you expect from this race in particular, as you search for your fourth win at the track? 

“The new configuration at Atlanta Motor Speedway is nothing like the old Atlanta. It’s a drafting style track now, but it’s also a different style of drafting. The technique is different than what you need at Daytona International Speedway or Talladega Superspeedway. I’ve noticed that over each race on the new surface, the track is changing and progressing. It’s losing grip and handling is becoming more of an issue. We still want to be fully trimmed out to have the speed, but the car also needs to handle. It’s difficult on drivers to balance the want for the car to drive well and the want for the car to have speed. Earlier this year in the first race at Atlanta, my car didn’t handle well, but it had really good speed. There seems to be a lot more single file racing, and all drivers are fighting for the top lane. It’s hard to make lap time work on the bottom because you will get bogged down or the car doesn’t handle well enough to draft down there. If the temperatures are hot enough, I’m interested to see if there is a breakaway on the field – maybe the first five cars have their group and then you have the rest of the field. It will depend on how much speed your car has. We will have to wait and see if it happens, but it seems to be trending that way.” 

Bennett Transportation & Logistics is celebrating their 50th Anniversary this weekend with a special gold car. Talk about what it means to race this design.

“I’m excited to run a fully gold car to celebrate Bennett’s 50th Anniversary. It’s going to shine bright on track and hopefully we will be able to take it and the hundreds of Bennett guests to Victory Lane again. There is a lot of pressure to perform well in this car, but I expect us to run up front, led laps and be in contention at the end of the race. Bennett has been a huge supporter of my Xfinity Series career and it’s an honor to represent them on a weekly basis. To have a huge crowd of Bennett truck drivers, employees, and family members on site – at both of our home tracks – is special. Our No. 21 team is focused on winning the race trophy, but we also want the Bennett qualifying trophy too.” 

Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series at Atlanta Motor Speedway… In 163 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Richard Childress Racing has earned nine wins and four pole awards, including Kevin Harvick’s emotional victory in 2001. Dale Earnhardt won eight times at the Hampton, Ga., track under the RCR banner (1984-fall, 1986-fall, 1988-spring, 1989-fall, 1990-spring, 1995-fall, 1996-spring, 2000-spring). The Welcome, N.C., team has 31 top-five and 62 top-10 finishes at Atlanta and has led a total of 3,008 laps at the 1.54-mile oval. 

RCR in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Atlanta Motor Speedway… RCR has recorded six NASCAR Xfinity Series wins at Atlanta, led by Austin Hill’s three victories (2022-fall, 2023-spring, 2024-spring). Jeff Burton (2006 and 2007) and Kevin Harvick (2013) also secured victories at Atlanta with RCR. As an organization, RCR has piled up 17 top-five and 32 top-10 finishes over a span of 62 starts at the Peachtree State track.

Catch the Action… The Focused Health 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway will be televised live on Saturday, September 7 beginning at 3 p.m. ET on USA. The race will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. 

The Atlanta 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway will be televised live on Sunday, September 8 beginning at 3 p.m. ET on USA. The race will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

RCR PR

Spread the love