Xfinity Series Rinnai 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway

In 2015, Atlanta Motor Speedway president Ed Clark launched a new idea for his racetrack: placing both the Xfinity and Camping World Truck series races on the same day.  As it turns out, it's the Saturday after the Daytona 500, meaning that there's another occasion for all three of NASCAR's top series to get together.

Up first was the Xfinity Series Rinnai 250.  The series has raced at AMS every year, once a year, since 1992.  Jeff Gordon - driving the #1 Baby Ruth Ford for Bill Davis - was the winner of that race; months later, he would sign with Rick Hendrick and make his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut on the same track.  Carl Edwards won the 2005 event for his first career win, which he would back up with his first career Cup win the next day - still the only time that has ever occurred.  Kevin Harvick (2013-15) and Kyle Busch (2016-17) are the only race winners in the last five years.

And it was Harvick who was the only leader of this dream race early on; he led the first 48 laps, including all 40 in the first stage (based on his series-high four NXS wins at Atlanta).  Busch took over the lead on the second-stage restart.  That stage had only one caution, as Joe Nemechek spun off turn two on lap 69.  The leaders came down for the pit stops, and there Brad Keselowski beat Busch off, and held on to win stage two.  ("Brad K" has never won at AMS in the series, but his average of 6.17 as of the 2016 race was good enough to be best among all qualifiers.)

Top 10 after stage 1: Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Jamie McMurray, Kyle Busch, Greg Biffle, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Joe Nemechek, Johnny Benson, Michael Waltrip
Top 10 after stage 2: Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, Brian Scott, Paul Menard, Jamie McMurray, Clint Bowyer

A four-car crash early in stage 3 took out 1996 and '97 series champion Johnny Benson and teammate J.J. Yeley among others.  Keselowski, meanwhile, passed Busch for the lead with 17 laps to go and held on for the win.  However, Harvick's consistent day gave him the most points among all drivers.  Bobby Labonte finished third for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Past champs Austin Dillon and Martin Truex, Jr. were among those caught speeding on pit road, thereby costing them potential good finishes.

Final race results with point totals:

1. #22 Brad Keselowski - Discount Tire Ford - 50
2. #18 Kyle Busch - GameStop Toyota - 46
3. #11 Bobby Labonte - AXE Body Spray Toyota - 0*
4. #2 Kevin Harvick - Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevrolet - 51
5. #7 Geoffrey Bodine - Brandt Chevrolet - 32
6. #60 Carl Edwards - Arris Ford - 48
7. #5 Brian Vickers - Armour Meats Chevrolet - 30
8. #43 Adam Petty - Smithfield Foods Ford - 0*
9. #20 Denny Hamlin - Hisense 4K Toyota - 28
10. #33 Paul Menard - Menards/Dutch Boy Chevrolet - 30
11. #55 Clint Bowyer - Aaron's "Lucky Dog" Toyota - 27
12. #21 Austin Dillon - Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet - 25
13. #42 Jamie McMurray - ENEOS Chevrolet - 33
14. #16 Greg Biffle - Leidos Ford - 34
15. #6 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. - Roush Performance Ford - 26
16. #48 Randy LaJoie - DC Solar Chevrolet - 21
17. #99 Michael Waltrip - Aaron's "Dream Machine" Toyota - 21
18. #98 Matt Kenseth - Resers Meats Ford - 0*
19. #01 Elliott Sadler - FlexSeal Chevrolet - 18
20. #88 Mike Wallace - Hellman's Chevrolet - 17
21. #1 Martin Truex, Jr. - OneMain Financial Chevrolet - 16
22. #52 Chase Elliott - Emory Healthcare Chevrolet - 15
23. #24 Buckshot Jones - Can-Am/BRP Toyota - 14
24. #87 Joe Nemechek - Leaf Filters Chevrolet - 16
25. #8 Kenny Wallace - MillionThanks.org Chevrolet - 0*
26. #32 Brian Scott -  Shore Lodge Chevrolet - 15
27. #14 J.J. Yeley - Owens-Corning Toyota - 10
28. #39 Rob Moroso - ZombieAuto.com Chevrolet - 9
29. #44 Johnny Benson - Johnsonville Toyota - 10
30. #51 Jack Ingram - RepairableVehicles.com Chevrolet - 7
31. #40 Jeff Green - Nutrition for Life Dodge - 6
32. #78 Bobby Hamilton, Jr. - McLeod Motorsports Chevrolet - 5
33. #0 Sam Ard - JD Motorsports Chevrolet - 4
34. #90 Bill Rexford - Boomershine Auto Chevrolet - 3
35. #28 David Green - WinField United Toyota - 2
36. #4 Jimmy Spencer - FlexSeal Chevrolet - 1
37. #74 Bobby Isaac - Mike Harmon Racing Dodge - 1
38. #13 Ricky Craven - Long Motorsports Dodge - 1
39. #07 Chuck Bown - Sea Life Chevrolet - 1
40. #93 Jeff Purvis - Sieg Motorsports Chevrolet - 1

*Driver ineligible for points in this race
Top 12 in points after this race

1. Kevin Harvick - 100
2. Brad Keselowski - 84
3. Geoffrey Bodine - 73
4. Carl Edwards - 72
5. Clint Bowyer - 62
6. Greg Biffle - 61
7. Kyle Busch - 59
8. Michael Waltrip - 56
9. Austin Dillon - 55
10. Paul Menard - 55
11. Denny Hamlin - 54
12. Chase Elliott - 49

The second half will be in the next post.