NASCAR: Winners and losers from 2018 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta

Who are this week’s NASCAR Cup Series winners and losers from the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway? Let’s have a look.

After an iffy forecast put the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 race in jeopardy Sunday, the drivers were able to get the race in after a two and a half hour rain delay. Who are the winners and losers as the series leaves Atlanta?

Winners

Kevin Harvick: The 42-year-old Harvick doubled up this weekend. On Saturday, he won the Rinnai 250 Xfinity Series race. Sunday he was again dominant, winning stage 1 and leading 181 of the race’s 325 laps for his 38th career NASCAR win. Though he has always seemed to run well at Atlanta, this was his first win there since he captured his first Cup Series win in March of 2001.

Joey Logano: Logano has led only four laps through the first two races, but he’s also one of the few drivers who have top 10 finishes in each of the first two events. After finishing fourth at Daytona, he came home sixth on Sunday. He is now the points leader.

Denny Hamlin: The controversies Hamlin started at Daytona followed him to Atlanta. But he was able to walk those back enough early in the weekend and finished fourth. That gives him two top four finishes to start the season.

Martin Truex Jr.: The weekend started out as a nightmare for the 2017 champion and his Furniture Row Racing team. Truex Jr.’s car failed inspection three times and he wasn’t allowed to make a qualifying run. Starting 35th Sunday, he worked his way to a fifth place finish and heads to Las Vegas, where he picked up his first win of the 2017 season, with a bit of momentum.

Losers

Jimmie Johnson: Speaking of nightmares, Johnson’s will last for at least one more week. At Daytona, Johnson wrecked three cars during Speedweeks and finished the Daytona 500 in 38th place. Sunday he was already a lap down when he spun in turn 2 at roughly the halfway mark of the race. That damage to the right front of his #48 Chevrolet made him a non-factor the rest of the day.

Trevor Bayne: Bayne finished a respectable 13th place at Daytona, but he saw his engine expire on lap 292 on Sunday in Atlanta. He finished in 35th. It’s been a tough start to the season for Bayne, as his Roush Fenway Racing team are still trying to find more speed.

Darrell Wallace Jr.: A driver’s rookie season is always full of highs and lows. Wallace Jr. experienced the biggest high of his career with his runner-up finish last week at Daytona. He saw the flip side of it on Sunday in Atlanta, finishing six laps down in 32nd place.

Next: Top 10 NASCAR drivers of all-time

Next up for the Cup Series is a date in the desert in Las Vegas. There have been eight different winners in the last nine races there. Who keeps their good thing going? Who craps out in Sin City?

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