STEWART-HAAS RACING
Folds of Honor 500
Date: March 20, 2022
Event: Folds of Honor 500 (Round 5 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Atlanta Motor Speedway (1.54-mile oval)
Format: 325 laps, broken into three stages (105 laps/105 laps/115 laps)
Race Winner: William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Ryan Blaney of Team Penske (Ford)
SHR Race Finish:
● Aric Almirola (Started 10th, Finished 22nd / Running, completed 325 of 325 laps)
SHR Points:
● Aric Almirola (7th with 143 points, 27 out of first)
SHR Notes:
● Almirola finished fourth in Stage 2 to earn seven bonus points.
● Almirola led once for six laps to increase his laps-led total at Atlanta to 50.
Race Notes:
● William Byron won the Folds of Honor 500 to score his third career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his first at Atlanta. His margin over second-place Ross Chastain was .145 of a second.
● There were 11 caution periods for a total of 65 laps.
● Only 23 of the 37 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Chase Elliott leaves Atlanta as the championship leader with a seven-point advantage over second-place Joey Logano.
Sound Bites:
“Man, we had such a fast Smithfield Ford all day. It handled great, too. It was nice to run up front and get some stage points. We got spun by the No. 1 car (Ross Chastain) there running up in fourth and I thought our car was fine, but we heard a rattle so we came to pit road and took tires to check on it and it looked fine. When we restarted, we just didn’t have full power and (we had) some mechanical issues and just had to ride until the checkered flag waved. I think we would’ve had a good shot at it. This 10 team will continue to fight.” – Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang.
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix on Sunday, March 27 at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas. The race begins at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.