2019 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500

The 2019 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race that was held on February 24, 2019, at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. Contested over 325 laps on the 1.54-mile-long (2.48 km) asphalt quad-oval intermediate speedway, it was the second race of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

The race was the first since the 2002 Protection One 400 no to featuring Jamie McMurray on the starting grid.

Background
Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta International Raceway) is a track in Hampton, Georgia, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It is a 1.54 mi quad-oval track with a seating capacity of 111,000. It opened in 1960 as a 1.5 mi standard oval. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track. In 1997, to standardize the track with Speedway Motorsports' other two 1.5 mi ovals, the entire track was almost completely rebuilt. The frontstretch and backstretch were swapped, and the configuration of the track was changed from oval to quad-oval. The project made the track one of the fastest on the NASCAR circuit.

First practice
Clint Bowyer was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 30.774 seconds and a speed of 180.152 mph.

Qualifying
Aric Almirola scored the pole for the race with a time of 30.550 and a speed of 181.473 mph.

Final practice
Clint Bowyer was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 30.954 seconds and a speed of 179.104 mph.

Stage Results
Stage One Laps: 85

Stage Two Laps: 85

Final Stage Results


Stage Three Laps: 155

Race statistics

 * Lead changes: 26 among 9 different drivers
 * Cautions/Laps: 5 for 30
 * Red flags: 0
 * Time of race: 3 hours, 30 minutes and 33 seconds
 * Average speed: 142.626 mph

Television
The Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 was carried by Fox in the United States. Mike Joy, five-time Atlanta winner Jeff Gordon and three-time Atlanta winner Darrell Waltrip covered the race from the booth. Pit road was manned by Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum.

Radio
The race was broadcast on radio by the Performance Racing Network and simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice and Mark Garrow called the race from the booth when the field down the front stretch. Rob Albright called the race from atop a billboard outside of turn 2 when the field raced through turns 1 and 2 & Pat Patterson called the race from a billboard outside of turn 3 when the field raced through turns 3 and 4. On pit road, PRN was manned by Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan, Wendy Venturini and Doug Turnbull.

Standings after the race

 * Drivers' Championship standings


 * Manufacturers' Championship standings


 * Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.