Column: In-Season Challenge Adds Spice To Return To EchoPark; Previewing Atlanta & Lime Rock Park

Column By: REID SPENCER / NASCAR – HAMPTON, GA – The final weekend of June will be one of “firsts” when it comes to NASCAR racing.

For the first time this season, the NASCAR Cup Series will race at a venue for the second time, though in the interim, Atlanta Motor Speedway has acquired new entitlement as EchoPark Speedway.

After a stellar five-race run on Amazon Prime Video, the Cup Series shifts to TNT Sports, though Dale Earnhardt Jr., Steve Letarte and Adam Alexander will remain in the broadcast booth and bring continuity to TNT’s five races.

The move to TNT Sports coincides with the debut of the In-Season Challenge for the Cup Series, pitting 32 drivers in head-to-head matchups, starting with Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at EchoPark (7 p.m. ET on TNT, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The In-Season Challenge continues throughout the TNT portion of the schedule, reducing the field by half each week until two drivers remain to compete for the $1-million winner’s prize in the Champions Round on July 27 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Racing conditions on Saturday promise to be quite different from the 50-degree temperature that greeted drivers on Feb. 23, when race winner Christopher Bell nosed ahead of Carson Hocevar before caution froze the field on the final lap.

Though the Quaker State 400 will take place under the lights, temperatures are expected to remain in the 80s until nightfall, resulting in a hot, slick track that will challenge drivers to maintain order in a close-quarters draft—style of racing that’s a by-product of the superspeedway competition package in use at EchoPark Speedway since its repaving and reconfiguration in 2022.

With nine races left in the Cup Series’ regular season, Atlanta presents the opportunity for drivers to secure a spot in the postseason with a victory. Though conventional wisdom says the pool of potential winners expands in a superspeedway setting, certain drivers tend to appear consistently at the front of the field. One of those is Joey Logano, who won last year’s second race, which was held in September.

Another is two-time Daytona 500 champion William Byron, who won at EchoPark in both 2022 and 2023.

Byron, who hasn’t won since claiming his second straight Daytona 500 in February, could use some good fortune this week. He wrecked arguably the fastest car in the field at Pocono during qualifying and finished 27th in the race after repairs to the car.

“We had a rough weekend in Pocono, but I’m proud of how the team came together to have our car ready for Sunday,” Byron said. “The strategy just didn’t work out. We’ve put that behind us though, and we’ll be ready for this weekend in Atlanta.

“We’ve had success there in the past, but there is still an unknown element after the reconfiguration. The goal remains the same though, go for the win, and if that’s not the case, maximize our points day. We just have to be there at the end.”

Byron faces Ryan Preece, another adept speedway racer, in the opening round of the In-Season Challenge. Denny Hamlin, who has finished first and second in his last two starts, is the top seed in the bracket. He’s paired against 32nd seed Ty Dillon in the first round.

Can anyone break Austin Hill’s stranglehold on EchoPark Speedway?

Jesse Love has won the pole position for the last three races at recently-christened EchoPark Speedway but hasn’t won a race there.

In fact, Love has been an excellent stalking horse for teammate Austin Hill, who has underscored Richard Childress Racing’s absolute dominance at the 1.54-mile track by winning the last three races and five of the last six—all since the repaving and reconfiguration was completed in 2022.

The only driver to have won NASCAR Xfinity Series races on all three drafting tracks—EchoPark, Daytona and Talladega—Hill, a Georgia native, will try to win his fourth straight event at his home track in Friday night’s Focused Health 250 (7:30 p.m. ET on CW, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Hill’s presence at the front of the field is a given, but what about those chasing him? Defending series champion Justin Allgaier, a winner at EchoPark in 2021, finished second to the No. 21 RCR Chevrolet in February by 0.216 seconds.

“We came close here in the spring, and I know we are going to have that same speed again with our (No. 7) Chevrolet Friday night,” said Allgaier, who leads the Xfinity Series standings by 82 points over Hill in second. “JRM (JR Motorsports) has always had really strong speedway cars, which definitely gives added confidence anytime we go to a drafting track.

“Hopefully, we can keep our nose clean all night long, work well with our teammates, and be up front fighting for the win when it counts.”

Aric Almirola, third in the February race, is back for another try in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. In a part-time role this season, Almirola has a victory at Phoenix Raceway and four top-six finishes in six Xfinity starts.

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series debuts at Lime Rock Park road course

The addition of Lime Rock Park to the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series schedule doubtless was welcome news to series leader Corey Heim.

With proven ability to succeed at any type of race track, Heim has claimed two of his 15 victories on road courses—from the pole at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 2023 and from the second starting position at Circuit of the Americas last year.

Heim will try for a third road course victory when the series visits the 1.478-mile circuit in the northwest corner of Connecticut for Saturday’s Liuna 150 (1 p.m. ET on FOX, NRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Though the runaway series leader has won the last two road course races, there’s a statistic that argues against his potential success on Saturday. No Truck Series driver has ever won three straight.

History isn’t the only obstacle. Sportscar standout Jordan Taylor, a four-time IMSA WeatherTech champion with extensive experience at Lime Rock, will make his Truck Series debut in the Liuna 150.

“I think everything will be different,” Taylor said. “The truck will be much heavier with less downforce, less braking capabilities and much higher tire degradation.

“Sportscars have been using paddle shifters for the last 10 or 15 years, so going back to the old-school H-pattern shifter with the ‘heel-toe’ technique will take some laps to get used to.”

If Taylor isn’t used to the heavier trucks, Australian Cam Waters certainly is accustomed to full-bodied cars, having won 18 times in the V8 Supercars Series in his native country. Driving the No. 66 ThorSport Racing Ford, Waters is making his first Truck Series start of the year and third overall.