{"id":59612,"date":"2026-07-11T20:45:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T01:45:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=59612"},"modified":"2026-07-21T19:41:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T00:41:34","slug":"nascar-atlanta-saturday-notebook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/nascar-atlanta-saturday-notebook\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR: Atlanta Saturday Notebook"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

BLANEY WINS POLE FOR SUNDAY NIGHT’S CUP RACE<\/b><\/p>\n

HAMPTON, Ga. \u2013 Ryan Blaney claimed his second pole position of the season Saturday evening at Atlanta\u2019s fast high-banked EchoPark Speedway \u2013 leading a Team Penske Ford front row sweep for Sunday night\u2019s Quaker State 400 (7 p.m. ET, TNT, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).<\/p>\n

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Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 BODYARMOR FLASH I.V. Ford, poses for photos after winning the pole award during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart at EchoPark Speedway on July 11, 2026 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Blaney\u2019s No. 12 Team Penske Ford turned in a lap of 179.912 mph around the 1.5-mile track, besting his teammate Joey Logano\u2019s No. 22 Ford by a slight .016-second in Busch Light Pole Qualifying.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the 32-year old Blaney\u2019s 14th career pole and marks the first front-row Penske sweep this year. All three Penske\u2019s advanced to Saturday\u2019s 10-car second round after dominating the top of the speed charts in round one. Austin Cindric will roll off eighth in the No. 2 Penske Ford.<\/p>\n

The typically low-key Blaney was thrilled for the result, crediting his team for the hard work. However, the 2023 series champion was quick to remind at a high-speed, drafting track such as Atlanta, he was confident starting up front doesn\u2019t automatically translate into a trip to Victory Lane.<\/p>\n

Toyota, which is enjoying a dominant season in wins, failed to place a single car into the final round of qualifying.<\/p>\n

NASCAR Cup Series championship leader Denny Hamlin will roll off 28th in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. 23XI Racing\u2019s Tyler Reddick, who trails Hamlin by 44 points in the standings, will start 31st in the No. 45 Toyota. A five-time race winner this year, Reddick won at Atlanta this February.<\/p>\n

Gibbs drivers Ty Gibbs and Christopher Bell will start 23rd and 32nd. And Reddick\u2019s 23XI teammates Bubba Wallace and Riley Herbst are 23rd and 29th on the grid.<\/p>\n

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HAMPTON, GEORGIA – JULY 11: Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 BODYARMOR FLASH I.V. Ford, enters his car during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart at EchoPark Speedway on July 11, 2026 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI feel like we\u2019ve seen that,\u2019\u2019 Blaney said of the Toyotas qualifying effort. \u201cThey don\u2019t really qualify great at these speedways, just the build of their race car. So usually that means they can probably be aggressive in the draft and get in the middle and get to the top and things like that. I\u2019m sure we\u2019re going to see them up there.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at the spring race here and Toyotas were really, really good when it came race time. Hopefully, our balance in the race is good enough to be able to either maintain the lead or if we get shuffled back to be able to go forward. You really don\u2019t know that until the race starts.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

The Chevrolets of Kyle Larson (No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports) and Austin Dillon (No. 3 Richard Childress Racing ) make up row two.<\/p>\n

Daniel Suarez will start fifth with the Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets of Alex Bowman and defending race winner Chase Elliott, Cindric, Trackhouse Racing\u2019s Ross Chastain and Brad Keselowski owner-driver of the No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Ford rounding out the top 10.<\/p>\n

The front row start is especially significant for the three-time series champion Logano who is enduring one of the most challenging seasons of his Hall of Fame-bound career. He\u2019s still not locked into the top 16 field that will ultimately settle the title in the 10-race Chase. Logano\u2019s ranked 18th, 16 points behind 16th-place Erik Jones.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe good news is the Hunt Brothers Pizza Mustang is fast and that speed you see in qualifying will usually show up in the race,\u2019\u2019 said Logano, a two-time Atlanta winner. \u201cI\u2019m proud to see the speed that\u2019s there and the handling seemed fine in qualifying.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like our team can handle these speedways really well and you can remember what happened here last Fall [he wrecked after leading laps and winning the pole position] so there\u2019s no guarantee you see the end of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut,\u2019\u2019 he added with a smile, \u201cThe speed\u2019s there and that\u2019s half the battle, so we know we have that.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

D\u00c9TENTE. \u2026 OR NOT<\/b><\/p>\n

As tends to happen during the hot summer run to the Playoffs, patience wanes and on-track incidents heat up between drivers. That\u2019s been the case for Trackhouse Racing\u2019s Shane Van Gisbergen and Richard Childress Racing\u2019s Austin Hill, who have been in some recent high-profile dust-ups over the last three years and more recently at San Diego in June and last week at Chicagoland.<\/p>\n

The two drivers were called to a pre-qualifying meeting with NASCAR Cup Series officials Saturday afternoon in the EchoPark Speedway garage. The hope from NASCAR was a reminder of proper racing decorum after the pair\u2019s in-race run-ins.<\/p>\n

Hill emerged from the NASCAR officials \u2018hauler\u201d and told reporters afterward that he hoped the on-track tete-e-tete was settled between them.<\/p>\n

Van Gisbergen \u2013 who noted it was his \u201cfirst time\u201d being called into the hauler for a discussion – did not stop to chat with reporters when he exited the meeting but later explained during his scheduled media availability that bad blood may still remain.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne person was contrite and the other was not,\u2019\u2019 Van Gisbergen said, implying Hill was still charged up about the situation, adding, \u201cOne person was more remorseful than the other.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to move on but he\u2019s not at that point,\u2019\u2019 Van Gisbergen said.<\/p>\n

BILLBOARD FUN AMONG TEAMMATES<\/b><\/p>\n

All season Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing teammates Chris Buescher and Ryan Preece have had a popular feud \u2013 all fun, full of high jinx and practical jokes. And Preece certainly raised the bar this weekend.<\/p>\n

On four billboards already purchased by EchoPark Speedway and located on the interstate highways leading to the track, Preece had one message that says \u201cVisit Prosper, TX 843 miles\u201d \u2013 a nod to the Texan Buescher\u2019s hometown. On another, a photo of Buescher with a wig on and shawl around his shoulders, the message says, \u201cCome see me race this weekend!\u201d<\/p>\n

In a video on social media shows Preece grinning and calling the signs \u201ca thing of beauty.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Buescher said he was initially convinced that the signs were fake or AI-generated when he saw Preece\u2019s posts, but was alerted multiple times by people driving in Atlanta that they had seen the billboards.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess I\u2019ve made it,\u2019\u2019 Buescher said smiling, \u201cWhen your face is on a billboard, either we\u2019ve done something real well or if you\u2019ve been hurt in a motorcycle accident, I\u2019ve got you,\u2019\u2019 Buescher said smiling, and promising he would return the favor in some way at some point.<\/p>\n

\u201cI promise it will be equally as much fun, if not more.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

The big Atlanta drafting track is a thing of beauty to Buescher, 33, who has been particularly good in this style of racing on the big tracks such as Atlanta, Daytona and Talladega, Ala. He\u2019s coming off a ninth place finish at Atlanta in February, was runner-up at Talladega in April and has been especially good at Daytona, winning the 2023 summer race there. He\u2019s finished top-10 in six of the last seven Daytona races.<\/p>\n

Buescher is the only one of the three RFK drivers currently among the playoff top-16 in points. He\u2019s ranked seventh \u2013 three-points up on last week\u2019s race winner, Joe Gibbs Racing\u2019s Chase Briscoe. He has nine top-10 finishes through the opening 19 races with a best showings of runner-up at Michigan and third place on the Watkins Glen, N.Y. road course.<\/p>\n

And Buescher knows this weekend will be especially important setting the tone for the regular season finale run.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no way we can afford to give anything,\u2019\u2019 Buescher said. \u201cYou can\u2019t be reckless. You can\u2019t give anybody an inch. We still have to perform at a high level. We still have to do our work ahead of time and come into these weekends and be prepared to put in our max effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith that, we\u2019ll be fine on making the Chase, but that\u2019s ultimately not the goal. It\u2019s realizing and I think seeing it more and more out there that if you can start the Chase in fifth or sixth spot, or better, then you have a shot to win a title and we\u2019re just outside of that, so we have to step up to be able to get to that point to where we\u2019re not just a participant but a contender at the end.”<\/p>\n

GIBBS BREAKOUT SEASON<\/b><\/p>\n

Ty Gibbs answered his 2022 NASCAR O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series championship with the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year honors and this season, not only claimed his first NASCAR Cup Series win at Bristol Motor Speedway but has maintained his first real bid toward a chance at the series title.<\/p>\n

Gibbs comes to Atlanta ranked fourth in the championship standings \u2013 a comfortable 43 points ahead of 2020 series champion Chase Elliott. It\u2019s a career-high mark for the driver of the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at this point in the season.<\/p>\n

With 14 races remaining in the season, the 23-year-old has already equaled his career best season-long mark for top-10s (12). And his seven top-five finishes is only one off his previous best full season mark. Perhaps most amazingly, he\u2019s put together the best championship run of his four-year career in NASCAR\u2019s big leagues with four DNFs. Only Trackhouse Racing rookie Connor Zilisch (seven) has more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service BLANEY WINS POLE FOR SUNDAY NIGHT’S CUP RACE HAMPTON, Ga. \u2013 Ryan Blaney claimed his second pole position of the season Saturday evening at Atlanta\u2019s fast high-banked EchoPark Speedway \u2013 leading a Team Penske Ford front row sweep for Sunday night\u2019s Quaker State 400 (7 p.m. ET, TNT, PRN, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":59616,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-fvu","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2285682580-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1743&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59612"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59634,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59612\/revisions\/59634"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}