Pressure-packed Chase fight moves to Atlanta - MotorSportsTalk

With only two regular season races remaining in the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the end of the Race to the Chase is in sight. And that means the already high tension among those still battling for a post-season bid will only keep building tonight in the Advocare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

For some involved in the Chase fight, it’s about maintaining that balance between wanting to go for a win and making sure to come away with the best finish possible. But for others, only a win will do to truly keep their playoff hopes going into the last regular season race next week at Richmond International Raceway.

Here’s how the Chase hopefuls are looking as we prepare for 500 miles in the Peach State:

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (seventh; no wins, +33 points over 11^th)
Last five results at Atlanta: 17^th, 15^th, 22^nd, 19^th, 7^th.
Has completed 99.5 percent of all the laps he’s attempted (8,034 of 8,075) at AMS in his career.

Kasey Kahne (eighth; two wins; +20 points over 11^th
Last five results at Atlanta: 1^st, 4^th, 32^nd, 34^th, 23^rd.
Nine of Kahne’s 16 career Cup wins have come on intermediate tracks (one to two miles).

Greg Biffle (ninth; one win, +17 points over 11^th)
Last five results at Atlanta: 10^th, 8^th, 36, 12^th, 15^th.
Three Top-5s, nine Top-10s in 18 Cup starts at AMS.

Joey Logano (10^th; one win, +4 points over 11^th)
Last five results at Atlanta: 22^nd, 35^th, 27^th, 24^th, 18^th.
Five consecutive Top-10s (plus the win at Michigan) has Logano, No. 22 team surging.

Brad Keselowski (11^th, no wins; -4 points out of Top 10)
Career results at Atlanta: 36^th, 25^th, 6^th, 3^rd.
Reigning Sprint Cup champion recently tested at AMS. Could that lead to a critical win tonight?

Kurt Busch (12^th, no wins; -6 points out of Top 10)
Last five results at Atlanta: 38^th, 1^st, 6^th, 4^th, 13^th.
“The Outlaw” has had past success at Atlanta (three wins) and has been solid there as of late, too.

Jeff Gordon (13^th, no wins; -11 points out of Top 10)
Last five results at Atlanta: 8^th, 18^th, 13^th, 1^st, 2^nd.
After a win and a runner-up in his last two tries at Atlanta, Gordon needs to come up big again.

Martin Truex, Jr. (14^th, one win, Wild Card #1)
Last five results at Atlanta: 26^th, 27^th, 12^th, 14^th, 4^th.
With his right wrist in a cast, Truex will have to block out the pain with his Chase hopes on the line.

Ryan Newman (15^th, one win, Wild Card #2)
Last five results at Atlanta: 9^th, 17^th, 8^th, 20^th, 35^th.
AMS has been good for him in qualifying (seven poles), but not so much on Race Day (one Top-5 in 20 starts).

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It took four attempts for Kyle Larson to win his first High Limit Sprint Car Series race in the series he co-owns with brother-in-law Brad Sweet, but once he found victory lane, he has been undefeated with his win at Eagle (Nebraska) Raceway. For the second week, Abreu led early only to fall prey to Larson.

The win was Larson’s third straight victory and the fifth consecutive top-five, giving him a perfect sweep of the season after finishing 10th in last year’s inaugural race at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Indiana.

Larson started third behind Abreu and Brent Marks but was embroiled in a fierce battle with Anthony Macri for third during the first dozen laps. Larson slipped by Macri in traffic until a red flag waved for a flip by Lachlan McHugh.

Meanwhile at the front of the pack, Marks retook the lead from Abreu on Lap 18. Larson followed one lap later and then caution waved again. Tyler Courtney lost power and fell to 24th after starting eighth.

Marks scooted away on the restart but tragedy struck in Lap 26. Leading the race, Marks hit a pothole in Turn 1, bicycled and then flipped, handing the lead to Larson.

Abreu caught Larson again during the final laps and in a reprise of their battle at Tri-City Speedway, the two threw sliders at one another for several laps until Larson built some separation and ran away to the checkers.

𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧. 𝗪𝗔𝗦. 𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗖.@EagleRaceway went above and beyond in their return to the main stage with the High Limit Sprint Car Series tonight!

pic.twitter.com/H3XKQEOpg6

— High Limit Racing (@HighLimitRacing) June 7, 2023

“I didn’t feel like my pace in [Turns] 1 & 2 slowed down a ton,” Larson said from victory lane. “I missed it once there and then I saw his nose in 3 & 4. I didn’t know if he nailed the bottom that well behind me and I think he might have slid me in the next corner, so he was definitely on the top.

“I was nervous to move up there because my car was really pogoing up in the entry of 1. I got up just in time, made a few mistakes and he threw a couple more sliders at me but he was just a little too far back and I was able to squirt around him. Then I really had to commit to hitting my marks – back my effort down a bit to avoid mistakes.”

After leading early, Abreu fell back as far as sixth, but faith in his car kept hope alive.

“I just needed to do a few things a few laps before I did and fix some angles, then my car got a whole lot better,” Abreu said. “I’m thankful for this team; they do an amazing job. They don’t give up on me. I know my car is going to be there right at the end of these races, so it’s just the discipline of being patient.”

For Abreu, it was his third near-miss this season. He was leading at Lakeside in the 2023 opener until a tire went flat in the closing laps and he lost the lead to Larson late in the Tri-City Speedway race. Abreu has finished sixth or better in his last three High Limit races with each result being progressively better until his pair of runner-up results.

Third-place finisher Scelzi was the hard charger, advancing from 17th.

“I had a very specific plan; don’t go near [the hole in Turn 1],” Scelzi said. “It worked out. No one wanted to start on the top. I think I gained a couple of rows there on the choose cone and ran the middle, which seemed to be better than right around the bottom.”

Michael “Buddy” Kofoid in fourth and Macri rounded out the top five.

World of Outlaws star and former NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne was one of 41 entrants, but he was not among the 26 starters. He failed to advance to the Main after finishing eighth in the B Main and seventh in his heat.

Feature Results

A Feature (40 Laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson[4]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu[1]; 3. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[17]; 4. 71-Michael Kofoid[5]; 5. 39M-Anthony Macri[3]; 6. 9-Chase Randall[9]; 7. 26-Zeb Wise[14]; 8. 1X-Jake Bubak[15]; 9. 8-Aaron Reutzel[10]; 10. 14D-Corey Day[18]; 11. 11-Cory Eliason[12]; 12. 5T-Ryan Timms[11]; 13. 88-Austin McCarl[13]; 14. 21H-Brady Bacon[22]; 15. 48-Danny Dietrich[16]; 16. 7S-Robbie Price[19]; 17. 21-Brian Brown[23]; 18. 22-Riley Goodno[26]; 19. 52-Blake Hahn[25]; 20. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[21]; 21. 3J-Dusty Zomer[6]; 22. 14-Cole Macedo[7]; 23. 19-Brent Marks[2]; 24. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[8]; 25. 25-Lachlan McHugh[20]; 26. 53-Jack Dover[24]

2023 High Limit Sprint Car Series

Race 1: Giovanni Scelzi wins at Lakeside Speedway
Race2: Anthony Macri wins at 34 Raceway
Race 3: Kyle Larson wins at Wayne County Speedway
Race 4: Kyle Larson wins at Tri-City Speedway

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