In the first race of a double header Saturday, the Xfinity Series runs the Rinnai 250 from Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Chase Elliott will be joining the FOX broadcast crew in the booth for the race.
“Get ‘er done” comedian Larry the Cable Guy will give the command for engine start.
While the Monster Energy Cup Series had more than enough room for all the drivers to race, the Xfinity Series has more than enough teams with 42 drivers for 40 spots and over a third of the drivers have yet to race a lap in Atlanta.
After three rounds of qualifying, Xfinity Series rookie Christopher Bell wins the pole and will bring the field down for the green flag.
The starting lineup for the Rinnai 250:
Christopher Bell
Joey Logano
John Hunter Nemechek
Cole Custer
Kevin Harvick
Daniel Hemric
Brandon Jones
Kyle Benjamin
Austin Cindric
Elliott Sadler
Tyler Reddick
Ryan Reed
Spencer Gallagher
Matt Tifft
Ryan Truex
Ty Dillon
Justin Allgaier
Chase Briscoe
J.J. Yeley
Kaz Grala
Michael Annett
Jeremy Clements
BJ McLeod
Ross Chastain
Ryan Sieg
Tommy Joe Martins
Jeff Green
Dylan Lipton
TimmyHill
Joey Gase
Morgan Shepherd
Garrett Smithley
Alex Labbe
Chad Finchum
Spencer Boyd
David Starr
Josh Williams
Stephen Leicht
Vinnie Miller
Matt Mills
Josh Bilicki and Mike Harmon failed to qualify for the race.
Stages one and two of the race are 40 laps each with stage three lasting 83 laps.
Christopher Bell brings the field down for the green flag start of the race from the inside lane and gets out in front of the field for the lead but before the end of lap one Joey Logano takes over the lead of the race.
Lap five Christopher Bell passes Joey Logano for the lead of the race with Cole Custer in third, John Hunter Nemechek in fourth, and Kevin Harvick in fifth.
Lap nine Christopher Bell has increased his lead to nearly half a second on Joey Logano. Kevin Harvick, Kyle Benjamin, and John Hunter Nemechek round out the top five.
The first caution flag of the race comes out when Cole Custer gets loose and makes contact with John Hunter Nemechek and Elliott Sadler. Custer hits the wall and has significant damage to his car and is likely out of the race.
The teams only have four sets of tires for the race; as a result no driver will come down pit road for fresh tires this early in the race…unless there is an issue.
Christopher Bell brings the field down for the green flag restart on lap 17 and it is Kevin Harvick who takes over the lead from third place after making it three wide.
Lap 20 and Kevin Harvick has already pulled out to a lead of over a second on Joey Logano.
Cole Custer is out of the race.
Lap 22 the top five are Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, Elliott Sadler, and Tyler Reddick.
Lap 23 Kevin Harvick has pulled out to a lead of nearly a second and a helf.. Christopher Bell passes Joey Logano for second place and is slowly closing the gap.
Joey Logano is reporting a very loose issue with his car.
Lap 26 Kevin Harvick holds on to the lead with Christopher Bell in second place; Joey Logano is in third.
Lap 30 Joey Lognao passes Christopher Bell to take over second place; Elliott Sadler and John Hunter Nemechek round out the top five.
Lap 32 Kevin Harvick has a lead of over two seconds on Joey Logano with Christopher Bell in third, Elliott Sadler in fourth, and Daniel Hemric in fifth.
Lap 33 John Hunter Nemechek brings his car down pit road reporting a possible tire issue and goes a lap down.
Michael Annett also comes down pit road with a tire issue.
The caution flag comes out on lap 35 for debris on the track – pieces of tires.
Michael Annett is the “lucky dog”.
Many of the drivers bring their cars down pit road for service including fresh tires.
With the new pit crew policy, Kevin Harvick wins the race off of pit road with a four tire pit stop in 15.5 seconds.
After staying out, Joey Logano brings the field down for the green flag restart with only one lap remaining in stage one.
Restarting the race in tenth place, Kevin Harvick takes advantage of fresh tires and comes through the field to win stage one.
The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Kevin Harvick
Christopher Bell
Ryan Reed
Joey Logano
Tyler Reddick
Kyle Benjamin
Elliott Sadler
Austin Cindric
Ty Dillon
Justin Allgaier
Taking the inside lane, Kevin Harvick brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two on lap 48 and holds on to the lead of the race.
Lap 53 Kevin Harvick has a lead of three quarters of a second on Christopher Bell.
Brandon Jones brings his car down pit road on lap 55 after hitting the wall with a tire issue. The track stays green.
Lap 62 Kevin Harvick has led 42 laps and now had a lead of nearly two seconds on Christopher Bell. Joey Logano, Elliott Sadler and Ryan Reed round out the top five.
Ryan Truex and Justin Allgaier have been mixing it up on the track.
Lap 68 Kevin Harvick has pulled out to a lead of over two seconds over Christopher Bell with Joey Logano in third and Elliott Sadler in fourth. Tyler Reddick rounds out the top five.
Lap 74, stage two is quickly coming to a close and Kevin Harvick is running away with the lead. Harvick is over three seconds in front of Christopher Bell.
With only four laps remaining in stage two, leader Kevin Harvick is now over four seconds in front of Christopher Bell. There are 21 cars on the lead lap.
Kevin Harvick wins stage two in dominating fashion.
The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Kevin Harvick
Christopher Bell
Joey Logano
Elliott Sadler
Tylder Reddick
Justin Allgaier
Austin Cindric
Ty Dillon
Daniel Hemric
Ryan Reed
With a pit stop of only 14.4 seconds Kevin Harvick wins the race off of pit road.
Kaz Grala lost power in his car and had to be pushed to the garage.
Kevin Harvick brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three on lap 89 and gets out in front o hold on to his lead.
With only 18 cars on the lead lap, Kevin Harvick continues to dominate the race with a lead of over a second on Joey Logano. Christopher Bell, Elliott Sadler, and Tyler Reddick round out the top five.
Lap 97 Kevin Harvick has a lead of over a second on Christopher Bell who is now in second place after passing Joey Logano. Elliott Sadler and Tyler Reddick round out the top five.
With 57 laps remaining in the race, Kevin Harvick has led over 80 laps.
Fifty four to go and Kevin Harvick’s lead is again over two seconds ahead of Christopher Bell with Joey Logano in third, Elliott Sadler in fourth, and John Hunter Nemechek in fifth.
With 42 laps remaining in the race Kevin Harvick as the expression goes “driving it like he stole it” with a lead of nearly five seconds over Christopher Bell. Joey Logano, Elliott Sadler and John Hunter Nemechek round out the top five.
The drivers cannot finish the race without making another pit stop.
Lap 126, Kevin Harvick’s lead is now over six seconds; there are only 16 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 127 green flag pit stops begin.
Joey Logano takes over the lead of the race when Kevin Harvick comes down pit road for service.
When Joey Logano makes his pit stop, Kevin Harvick retakes the lead of the race.
Ty Dillon’s team was charged with the pit crew coming over the pit wall too soon.
Only 28 laps remaining in the race, Kevin Harvick continues to lead the race but his lead is down to less than two seconds over Christopher Bell.
Tyler Reddick’s team is reporting a possible tire issue and brings his car down pit road. Reddick is dropping a lot of debris as he makes his way to pit road but the track stays green.
Leading 121 laps so far, Kevin Harvick has a lead of two seconds on Christopher Bell with 20 laps remaining in the race. There are only 12 cars on the lead lap.
Sixteen to go and leader Kevin Harvick continues to lap traffic with a two second lead on Christopher Bell. Joey Logano, John Hunter Nemechek, and Elliott Sadler rounding out the top five.
Twelve to go and there are only 10 cars on the lead lap with Kevin Harvick out in front by nearly three seconds.
Only eight to go and Kevin Harvick has a lead of over four seconds on Christopher Bell.
With five to go Christopher Bell brushes the wall and gets passed by Joey Logano to take over second. Christopher Bell falls to third place.
Kevin Harvick has a lead of nearly four seconds on Joey Logano and nearly five seconds on Christopher Bell; the fourth place car of John Hunter Nemechek is over 20 seconds behind. There are only eight cars on the lead lap.
Kevin Harvick takes the white flag.
Kevin Harvick wins the race for his fifth win in Atlanta.
The unofficial results of the Rinnai 250:
Kevin Harvick
Joey Logano
Christopher Bell
John Hunter Nemechek
Elliott Sadler
Justin Allgaier
Austin Cindric
Kyle Benjamin
Ryan Truex
Ryan Reed
Danile Hemric
Matt Tifft
Ty Dillon
Spencer Gallagher
Chase Briscoe
Ross Chastain
Brandon Jones
Alex Labbe
Tyler Reddick
Michael Annett
Dylan Lupton
Ryan Sieg
Kaz Grala
Josh Williams
Garrett Smithley
Joey Gase
Jeremy Clements
David Ragan
Spencer Boyd
BJ McLeod
Vinnie Miller
Stephen Leicht
Tommy Joe Martins
Timmy Hill
Chad Finchum
Matt Mills
J.J. Yeley
Morgan Shepherd
Cole Custer
Jeff Green