Parks Pit Report: Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500

All the attention that was on Daytona a week ago has finally ended, and now NASCAR goes back down to business at the second event of the year.

But yet the attempt to escape controversy quickly stopped long before the green flag.

The Atlanta Motor Speedway would be the first race of the new aerodynamic rules that were tested last fall and implemented for this season.  Included were new rules on the side skirts, especially in not pulling them out on pit stops.

Also included was new spoiler height, as it was dropped two inches lower than a season back.  But, more importantly, the engines went from 840 horsepower down to just 750.  All this would get the first test at the second race of the year, but it all went awry the first day.

Teams had to qualify that Friday night, but suddenly with a few minutes before qualifying was to begin, half the field wasn’t even in position to roll out onto the track.  Timing was pushed back again, and still part of the field wasn’t even in position to roll.

When the first round of qualifying ended, 25 percent of the entries never even took a lap on the track, due to the fact they failed inspection.  NASCAR pulled teams out of line that failed so they could make adjustments to pass, but had to wait till the field passed through in order to work on the car.  Minutes went by, seeming like an eternity, and in the end some big-name drivers would not even get to post a time.

Drivers like Stewart, Gordon, Johnson and others never even saw the track, leaving many calling foul.

So what happened?  The new laser-measuring system in a way did its job, but so many teams for many of the same issues, something isn’t right.  Plus, after the qualifying controversy from a week ago at Daytona, this is now two consecutive weeks that just to make the show has become a point-of-interest.

At the end of the day, one of those guys that didn’t even take a lap would end up winning, but now the focus already moves to Friday of this week, which is when qualifying will happen for Sprint Cup in Las Vegas.  The focus isn’t just who will win the pole, but now if everyone will even make the track.

Two weeks in, and the biggest story didn’t come during the race, but before it.  Hopefully there won’t be a hat trick.

RESULTS:  1-Johnson  2-Harvick  3-Earnhardt Jr.  4-Logano  5-Kenseth  6-Truex Jr.  7-Allmendinger  8-Moffitt  9-Keselowski  10-Newman

NOTABLE FINISHES:  12-Edwards  14-Kahne  30-Stewart  38-Hamlin  41-Gordon

CAUTIONS:  10 for 54 laps.  Lap 27-31 (Competition), 48-51 (Debris-BS), 61-70 (#3 Spin-T2), 95-99 (Fluid from #40-T3), 176-180 (Debris-FS), 183-186 (Debris-BS), 253-256 (Debris-T3), 258-262 (#1, 11, 24, 31 Accident-BS), 299-304 (Fluid from #35-FS), 306-311 (#14, 15, 16, 17, 34, 42 Accident-T3; Red Flag:  9 Mins, 1 Sec.).

LEAD CHANGES:  28 among 12 drivers.  Logano 1-27, Nemechek 28, Logano 29-48, Bliss 49, Logano 50-67, Bliss 68, Logano 69-86, Harvick 87-95, Logano 96, Gilliland 97, Harvick 98-138, Hamlin 139, Keselowski 140-141, Kenseth 142-147, Kenseth 148-176, Hamlin 177-189, Harvick 190-197, Johnson 198-211, Harvick 212, Johnson 213-225, Harvick 226-253, Johnson 254-261, Earnhardt Jr. 262, Johnson 263-293, Bowyer 294, Moffitt 295, Johnson 296-300, Kenseth 301-304, Johnson 305-325.

TIME OF RACE:  3 Hrs, 49 Mins, 6 Secs.

AVERAGE SPEED:  131.078 MPH

MARGIN OF VICTORY:  1.802 Seconds

POINT STANDINGS:  1. Logano, 88 points*; 2. Johnson, -1*; 3. Harvick, -2; 4. Earnhardt Jr, -4; 5. Truex Jr, -13; 6. Mears, -20; 7. Kahne, -23; 8. Allmendinger, -26; 9. Almirola, -26; 10. Bowyer, -30

*Chase Eligible