My bad on not writing a preview. Being in high school is a bit of busy thing, and it cuts into my blogging time. Why couldn’t that be school… Anyway, to my review. Atlanta was the first race to run the 2017 rules package, and many were excited to see the package on a track other than Michigan or Kentucky.

Kevin Harvick won the pole, but the biggest surprise was the other drivers near the front. Ryan Newman, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Trevor Bayne, and Chase Elliot. While Elliot is mostly expected, none of the others have been running near the front very often recently. So many questions were in the air as to what was to be expected.

When the green flag waved, Harvick was quickly well ahead of everyone. However, to the surprise of everyone, Stenhouse quickly charged to second, and began stalking Harvick. No one had seen this kind of speed out of a Roush-Fenway driver in some time. It was a pleasant sight. However, there isn’t much to say about the first segment. Kevin Harvick laid down the law on the field, and by the end of the segment, he’d lapped all but the top-17 drivers. Harvick became the first driver to win two segments in the Cup Series.

The second segment was a little bit more competitive. Chase Elliot and Brad Keslowski both showed significant speed, and both seemed capable of at least keeping pace with Harvick.

However, pit road speeding penalties became a very common occurrence. And Keslowski suffered one. Leaving Harvick untouched as he cruised to a segment two victory. Another first in the Cup Series. Ironic thing, Keslowski actually beat Harvick off pit road, but due to speeding, he found himself outside the top-10.

So as the final segment began, it seemed Elliot may be Harvick’s lone challenger. There had been no cautions other than the segment ending ones, so it seemed as though the whole final segment could well be caution free.

And that wasn’t what Chase Elliot need, because he sped on pit road in the middle of the segment. However, due to the speed he’d been showing, he managed to stay on the lead lap. And, the caution came out.

For a race which had not contained many cautions, there had been a lot of action, and a variety of drivers had worked their way into the top-10. And that competition was not helpful on the restarts. Clint Bowyer, who had race form 25th to 3rd before the caution, made contact with several drivers, and blew a tire. The result was another caution, and the end of a promising day for Bowyer.

In the absence of Keslowski and Elliot, Kyle Larson took their place as the lead challenger to Harvick. However, he was far from fast enough. Harvick seemed unbeatable. However, his lead challengers were  coming back. Both Elliot and Keslowski were gradually working their way through the field, and were returning with a vengeance.

As the frace began to come to a close, Elliot and Keslowski were close, but time was running out. However, as almost always seemed to happen, a late caution flew, courtesy of Austin Dillon’s battery failing.

Due to the tire wear, every driver hit pit road. And the day’s most important speeding penalty came on the most important pit stop. Kevin Harvick sped on pit road. And with just ten laps left, Harvick was no longer in striking distance.

This left Larson in the lead, with Matt Kenseth to his outside, and Kesloski and Elliot behind him. LArson took the green flag, and shot ahead, trying to put as much distance between himself and Keslowski as possible.

However, it’s times like these that experience and prowess pay off. Rather than recklessly pursue Larson, Keslowski slowly stalked him. When Larson went low, Brad went high. When Kyle went high, Keslowski went low. And finally, Larson made the mistake of going high three times in a row. And Brad dove below him, took the lead, and didn’t look back.

Keslowski won his second race of the year, and proved to all that Ford has come out of the gat eon fire. Brad has never won at Atlanta before, so that o is a plus. In a day where young guns were big, it paid to be the most experienced of them. Although, it’s hard to call Keslowski a young gun anymore. Either way, Brad did a pretty good job bouncing back from a rough Speedweeks.