The 2017 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on March 5, 2017, at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. Contested over 325 laps on the asphalt quad-oval intermediate speedway, it was the second race of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, and the 2,500th race in the history of the Cup Series. The race was won by the #2 Ford Fusion driven by Brad Keselowski for Team Penske.

Entry list Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 13 Ty Dillon (R) Germain Racing Chevrolet 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 15 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 Gray Gaulding (R) BK Racing Toyota 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 34 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Cody Ware Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 55 Derrike Cope Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 72 Cole Whitt Tri-Star Motorsports Chevrolet 77 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 83 Corey LaJoie (R) BK Racing Toyota 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing ChevroletOfficial entry list

Practice

First practice Ryan Newman was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 29.509 seconds and a speed of .

Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 29.509 187.875 2 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 29.531 187.735 3 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.553 187.595Official first practice results

Final practice Chase Elliott was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 29.487 seconds and a speed of . PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime124Chase ElliottHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet29.487188.01522Brad KeselowskiTeam PenskeFord29.552187.602341Kurt BuschStewart–Haas RacingFord29.556187.576Official final practice results

Qualifying

Kevin Harvick scored the pole for the race with a time of 29.118 and a speed of . He said in his last qualifying run, he "was able to carry more speed and do some things with the car that I wasn't able to do in the first two runs. At that point I just didn't want to screw it up, because I felt like I'd gotten to the green, which I didn't do in the second round. I got to the green good, I got through (Turns) 1 and 2 good. I just needed to hit the bottom and get that left front on the line so that it would hook and get up off the corner. That was by far the best of the three laps, and we saved it perfectly for the end."

Derrike Cope, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Michael McDowell, Cody Ware and Cole Whitt failed to post a timed lap because their cars didn't pass pre-qualifying inspection in time. This was a result of new procedures that require cars that fail any station of inspection to return to the garage to make adjustments.

Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 14 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 29.272 29.253 29.118 231 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 29.202 29.214 29.199 318 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.136 29.226 29.202 417 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 29.425 29.573 29.356 52 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 29.548 29.345 29.367 622 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 29.551 29.523 29.374 71 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 29.245 29.543 29.397 842 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 29.458 29.372 29.533 978 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 29.511 29.411 29.534 1011 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.252 29.390 29.544 1124 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.403 29.450 29.554 1288 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.621 29.623 29.633 1341 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 29.305 29.649 — 1421 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 29.509 29.707 — 156 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 29.341 29.710 — 1620 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.558 29.738 — 1727 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 29.545 29.743 — 1848 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.571 29.757 — 193 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 29.544 29.780 — 2047 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 29.439 29.954 — 2119 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.468 29.963 — 2232 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 29.499 29.964 — 2377 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 29.722 30.113 — 2410 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 29.687 30.344 — 2514 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 29.723 — — 2613 Ty Dillon (R) Germain Racing Chevrolet 29.787 — — 2734 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 29.919 — — 2837 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 29.928 — — 295 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.953 — — 3043 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 30.034 — — 3123 Gray Gaulding (R) BK Racing Toyota 30.401 — — 3283 Corey LaJoie (R) BK Racing Toyota 30.598 — — 3315 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 30.697 — — 3438 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 422.357 — — 3533 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 0.000 — — 3695 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 0.000 — — 3772 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 0.000 — — 3855 Derrike Cope Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 0.000 — — 3951 Cody Ware Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 0.000 — —Official qualifying results

Race Stage 1 Kevin Harvick led the field to the green flag at 2:48 p.m. Joey Logano and Jamie McMurray made contact exiting Turn 2, but both saved themselves from spinning and continued racing. A number of cars started pitting on lap 32. Harvick pitted on lap 38 and Ryan Newman took the lead. He pitted on lap 40 and the lead cycled back to Harvick. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth were given pass through penalty's for speeding on pit road.

Ryan Blaney made an unscheduled stop for a loose right-front wheel on lap 48. Earnhardt made an unscheduled stop on lap 71 for a shredded right-rear tire. Harvick won the first stage and the first caution of the race flew for the completion of the stage.

Stage 2 The race restarted on lap 94. Brad Keselowski made an unscheduled stop for a tire issue on lap 117. Two laps later, teammate Logano pitted. He was cited for speeding and served a pass through penalty. Keselowski un-lapped himself on lap 125 by passing Harvick on the high side in Turn 4. The next lap, another wave of green flag stops commenced. When Harvick pitted on lap 130, the lead cycled to Keselowski. Jimmie Johnson was given a pass through penalty for speeding on pit road.

Harvick powered by Keselowski on the backstretch to retake the lead on lap 143. Denny Hamlin made an unscheduled stop on lap 161 for a vibration. After pitting, he failed to get up to speed and reported that “something is broken.” He took his car to the garage and retired from the race with a track bar issue. Harvick won the second stage and the second caution flew on lap 171 for the end of the stage.

Final stage

The race restarted on lap 178. The next round of green flag pit stops started with 118 laps to go. Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr. were given pass through penalties for speeding.

Debris in Turn 4 brought out the third caution with 86 to go.

The race restarted with 80 to go. Gray Gaulding lost an engine in Turn 4, bringing out the fourth caution with 63 to go. Keselowski exited pit road first, but came back down pit road for a loose wheel, related to unsecure lug nuts, and Harvick assumed the lead once more.

The race restarted with 56 to go. Austin Dillon, restarting on the outside line, spun his tires and backed up the cars lined up on the outside. Clint Bowyer tagged the wall in Turn 1 and made contact with Erik Jones. With 47 to go, Bowyer suffered a left-front tire blowout and slammed the wall in Turn 1, bringing out the fifth caution. Newman, who was running fourth, was sent to the tail end of the field on the restart for a crew member being over the wall too soon when he pitted.

The race restarted with 42 to go. Two laps later, Newman came back down pit road, and subsequently went to the garage, for a battery issue. He returned to the race with 19 to go, but the same issue befell teammate Dillon with 17 to go. He was told not to pit and his car stalled on the apron in Turn 2, bringing out the sixth caution with 16 to go. Harvick exited pit road as the race leader, but was cited for speeding and sent to the tail end of the field on the restart. He said after the race that he "just made a mistake that I preach all the time that you don’t need to make – (don’t) beat yourself. Then you go out and make it yourself instead of following all the things you preach. That part is hard for me to swallow.” Kyle Larson inherited the lead.

The race restarted with 11 to go. Keselowski took second from Elliott on the restart and set his sights on Larson. With seven to go, they were side-by-side for the lead, with Keselowski emerging with the lead and scoring the victory.

Post-race

Driver comments Keselowski said in victory lane that this victory "kind of fell in our lap at the end, and my team put it all together when it counted. They gave me a great Autotrader Ford Fusion, and we were able to get by Kyle there at the end. I knew that he wasn't going to be easy to pass. His car was great, and I was able to make the right moves to get by him."

After finishing fourth despite a poor handling car early on, Kasey Kahne said he thought in the first 50 laps '"[Oh] my god, this feels just like last year.' But then suddenly we figured out how to fix [the handling problems] and that was awesome."

Infractions Post-race inspection revealed that A. J. Allmendinger's car had three insecure lug nuts. On the Wednesday after the race, he was docked 35 points, fined $65,000 and his crew chief Randall Burnett was suspended three races.

Race results

Stage results Stage 1 Laps: 85

Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 102 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 93 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 84 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 75 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 66 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 57 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 48 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 39 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 210 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1Official stage one results

Stage 2 Laps: 85