>> darrell: can't even put up a fight. has to move out of people's way. he's running so slow he has to get over. if he only needs one more stop and this race goes to conclusion and everybody else needs two more stops, it could get very interesting. >> it could the. >> mike: joey logano coming as well. >> he was happy with it. no changes and then he made an air pressure change and now he's got the car on the tight side. you can see how the temperature has changed the racetrack, jamie. >> jamie: the 22 in his box now, just a little bit loose off the corner. no major issues for joey. a four-tire stop and filled up with fuel and see if the strategy paid off. >> mike: kevin harvick will

assume the lead. >> darrell: there goes harvick at about the start-finish line now. >> mike: keselowski, the busch brothers, suarez. bowyer, larson and truex. 98 laps to go. weather permitting. your heart doesn't only belong ♪to you. bye grandpa. and if you have heart failure, entrusting your heart to entresto may help. entresto is a heart failure medicine that helps improve your heart's ability to pump blood to the body. in the largest heart failure study ever, entresto was proven superior at helping people stay alive and out of the hospital compared to a leading heart failure medicine. don't take entresto if pregnant. it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren. if you've had angioedema while taking an ace or arb medicine, don't take entresto.

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and things just got bigger. f-150 is now motor trend's 2018 truck of the year. this is the new 2018 ford f-150. it doesn't just raise the bar, pal. it is the bar. try one of my delicious $10 chicken shares at kfc. get nine extra crispy tenders, twelve hot wings, popcorn nuggets, or six pieces of kentucky fried chicken. $10 chicken share at kfc. ♪it's finger lickin' good >> mike: kevin harvick is your leader in atlanta. 17 years ago. first victory in his cup career came in atlanta, and this is only atlanta victory. time for a monster energy raceway. watching with you, michael waltrip and chris myers, exciting racing the rain from a delayed start all the way through, and that's what's going on with 93 laps to go.

quick recap and kevin harvick who has dominated atlanta despite not having won since the first career victory. led early and won the first stage and had pit problems. >> something was wrong with the gun and couldn't get the job done so they had to come back in and make sure the lugs were tight. >> more than 100 laps led today. 105 is currently leading keselowski. jimmie johnson, won two of the last three atlanta races but trouble. >> he spun around in the corner. tough weekend again for jimmie johnson. >> keselowski wins stage two and martin truex jr. with an air gun problem on pit road. >> a lot of speed out of the 78 car. started the back and got all the way on the front and another pit issue. >> and there's the keselowski in the two car currently running right behind and kyle busch and kurt busch with 92 laps to go. your leader is jimmie joy john'

ford. >> they rolled the dice. i guarantee you, chris, there's a science and computer program that tells them if they are able to run a certain lap time from now until the end of the race they can win. denny is on newest tires, as it logano. faster than the leaders and won't come to pit road again. i don't think that this is a whim. i think they have it figured out that they can make it work. >> already had more leaders than lead changes in this race than the entire race last year. that was dominated by harvick and keselowski who wound up winning it and we've had five previous atlanta races that were shortened because of rain. kurt busch was the winner of the last one in 2002. he's currently running fourth, and that is your monster energy raceway. you're watching nascar on fox live from atlanta motor speedway and we'll have more in a moment. . with fitness... food... and the pill that starts with f. farxiga, along with diet and exercise,

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calls for coke. you know it. grab yourself a coke. it's tailgating 101. >> mike: the foldsp honor quik trip 500 is sponsored by coca-cola. the official fan refreshment of nascar. 85 laps to go. kevin harvick is back to the lead. he has seven seconds on brad keselowski now and just put a lap on brad's teammate. ryan blaney. kyle busch in third and clint bowyer and kurt busch. meanwhile denny hamlin and joey logano capable of running 1.5 to 2 seconds faster than the leader, but as michael was exactly right. they are running to a pace between .21 and .5 faster than harvick every lap trying to stretch it tout and stay with the plan. >> jeff: i think this is going to be fascinating to watch because they know they need to stretch this out as much as possible to have those pressure

tires at the end of this race and only pit one more time. >> mike: and now the quick word from duracell. let's take a look at our power to the finish presented by duracell. larry mac. >> larry: let me lay the elements out here. remember the fuel window is 48 to 58 laps but the tire window seems the strategy is 35 to 40 laps. now we've only had four cautions today. and these teams have made six stops including two six green flag stops. when i look at trends, the final caution came with 25 laps to go and in those ten races we've had three overtimes. even if we're getting set up for an overtime, they will hit pit road for four president bush tires so the team that has those

four fresh tires in the final stop and more than anything make no mistake. that will be the teams that power to finish. >> mike: thanks, larry. 82 laps to go. harvick up almost eight seconds on keselowski now. >> darrell: mike, if you can't outrun kevin harvick, don't have the speed to outrun him. you've got to come up with a plan and a strategy and apparently they have come up with one that they think will work. >> jeff: so far the only flaw that i've seen in what kevin harvick does here is when he has the number two of brad keselowski in front of him with a car that was very comparable, kevin couldn't get by him, so that 2 car has to figure out how to get back in front of him. execution on pit road. >> mike: you can see harvick and joey logano just go by and behind denny hamlin. hamlin and logano have gotten

themselves back on the lead lap. they are fractionally quicker than the race leader in trying to let this play out in their favor. >> darrell: right now the 1 is coming off turn two. only the distance of the back straightaway separate the 4 car from the 11 to have them a lap down. the 11 and the 22 are both running faster lap times than kevin harvick and even if it's only .2 or .3 of a second. >> mike: bubba wallace, two laps down, had a visit from hall of famer wendall scott's family pre-race this morning. talked a lot about harvick and keselowski. how about kyle busche in third 18 seconds back of the leader.

>> grabbing the bottom and pulling it in off the bottom. might need an adjustment. see where it goes here. >> jeff: i find that really interesting. he realizes if he's going to move off that top line. he's here with the top line with the setup and driving style and if they are going to change that at all. that means they have to change the set money and make some adjustments which we all know how long that takes on a pit stop. >> i can't get over the influence that harvick has had on this entire field. normally we see a bunch of guys riding up high and scraping the wall. 42 car and the day. everybody is going to run that harvick line and i'm going to discipline myself. that's what we're going to do. they all say the regular season starts here and ten races on mile and a half tracks and this is entirely different animal than daytona. look at last week's top ten at

daytona. only hamlin hand logano are in the top ten today. >> darrell: i think bubba is doing exactly what he wanted to do today, run all the laps. get some experience and learn the cars and learn the process. >> jeff: and where i'll back that up next week when he go to las vegas, the top ten that we have right now, come out of this race, probably a pretty good chance to be the top ten in las vegas. >> darrell: we're seeing kyle larson hitting pit road and the window is oh. you still have to make one more stop. well, the 42 of kyle larson from inside the top ten said the balance is maybe the best it's been all day, but they just now don't feel like they have have the speed that they want to do. air pressure of the number 42 of

larson. >> i think a lot that have grip is because a lot has cooled and the temps are way down. vince. >> vince: the 12 of ryan blaney will pit again. fighting the balance. loose and tight throughout the course of the day. air pressure and wedge throughout the day. >> jamie: they wanted to undo the adjustments. air pressure and wedge on the last stop and they may or may not make the adjustment and because of the time that it will take. i don't see a wrench in the hand. meanwhile his older brother with a four-car stop. a little bit better and a little confusion on the front of the 18. >> mike: air hose in the front of the slitter that cost them a second or two. >> darrell: got all the left side lug nuts tight. >> mike: fired up bernie from our super computer from 1979, whatever it is. our computer has run the map.

>> the 10 of aric almirola finishing up with a four-tire adjustment. matt. >> matt: it seems like it takes off differently on the tires when it's a yellow versus the green flag stop. and left side is going on. and up on the wall and waiting for the four car and he needs to do something different this run over the last run and he can make the change and puts the 4 in victory lane. they were talking about a chassis adjustment and going in the back window and seeing an air pressure change on the 4. >> jeff: you saw the 2 car came in a lap early just like kevin harvick did to them the last time they created the green flag start from happening and let's see if keselowski can leapfrog the 4. a little trouble on the right

front of the 4 pit stop. >> mike: show it to you again. clint bowyer finishes up. >> jeff: keep your eye on the right front. he had to hit two lug nuts in extra time. >> mike: sparks flying. harvick is back out, but denny hamlin assumes the lead. we fired up our super computer, and it says if this plays out. hamlin may have a winning strategy. harvick stopped at 15.7 and keselowski 1.4 seconds quicker on the pit stop. how will it all play out? denny hamlin and joey logano back out front after green flag stops. like the crisp, cold refreshment of busch. but some things should... like john's lack of awareness. main menu... operator: to hear the options again press four.

main menu... operator: i'm sorry. i didn't get that. to make a payment... representative. representative. operator: i'm sorry. i didn't quite get that. speak to a representative. just give me the phone. (off camera) representative. time and a place. "buschhhhhhhh" oh! there's one.a "the sea cow"" manatees in novelty ts? surprising. what's "come at me bro?" it's something you say to a friend. what's not surprising? how much money matt saved by switching to geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. comihamlin's in second.way, moving up high on the inside. watch the inside. hamlin makes his move! ♪ denny hamlin is expected to come out strong today

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$10 chicken share at kfc. ♪it's finger lickin' good >> mike: 66 laps to go and here's today's bush race summary. denny hamlin is your leader. first of ten cars on the lead lap. seven leaders and 19 lead changes. we have a competition caution. two stage-ending cautions. only yellow flag for incidents is when jimmie johnson spun at turn two on lap 159. denny hamlin and joey logano hand maybe now two, chase elliott who is in fourth and did not stop with the rest of the leaders around lap 25 it.

elliott finished top ten in every nascar race he's ever been in here, jamie. two in the cup series and two in xfinity and once in the truck series. >> jamie: kind of has been an eye opener and dealing with this new car and now he had to talk with chase this morning and i know you've had this database in your mind, expectations you want in this car and because it's new it all goes ow the window. reneed to restep and be patient today. worked his way into the top ten and now the top five. they are looking to pit mike in about five laps. >> mike: thanks, jamie. joey logano like denny hamlin is on pace trying to run the rest of the race with one less pit stop of the others. >> jeff: if denny hamlin wins this race i'll be so impressed with mike wheeler and the plan that he has and the space that he's run.

from the time he went back out on track after his last pit stop he never tried to run a super fast lap and it's been a pretty nice flat line that he's been able to maintain so far. >> darrell: the strategy is you can be proactive and come up a strategy or be reactive and react to somebody else's strategy. i think 11 is making a lot of guys second guess like the 9 car, second guessing their strategy. >> mike: nothing but wide open space between hamlin and harvick now. 3.5 seconds, and with the time that harvick is running. the lead should change here in about three laps. >> jeff:ia. i think right now they are not focused on kevin harvick at all. they are focused on when our next stop is going to come, and if the caution does not come out the rest of the way. >> darrell: kind of what i was asking larry about earlier. where you wanted to stop and how to get to the end. >> jeff: let's go back to jamie

chasing elliott in the 9 car. pitted lap 213 so if they run to lap 269 which would be 56 to go, they are right there and splitting it down the middle. i just think that they made -- they should have made this bed earlier. they should have either went to one strategy or the other. this might buy them a good finish. i don't think it will be a race-winning move. >> jeff: be proactive and make up a winning strategy and be reactive. >> you can't gaining gears in the middle of the stream. with 10 or 20 to go. should have told me that when he started. >> he's a tweener, in between a two-stop and three-stop strategy. >> mike: 52 laps on those tires. harvick draws a beat on the race leader. >> darrell: that's the beautiful thing about a 500-mile race. it's a long race. look at all the different strategies. fast car, 11 car and everybody's got a plan.

chase elliott to pit road and a new leader is kevin harvick. jamie. >> jamie: chase elliott was fifth. no adjustments, a four-tire stop. the car has been pretty decent and hasn't taken a swing for the worse here in the second half. it's been balanced. >> darrell: evident >> larry: evidently they can run it become wards and go to the end. >> jeff: one other factor, when cautions maybe come at the end of the ration, they might be thinking we might be going all the way to the end and we might be going to the caution with eight or ten to go and we talked about that earlier. last ten atlantic spring places. >> darrell: we have a few less cars in the field than we normally have. only started 36 cars. that's not a big deal but it can

change your trend. >> mike: brad keselowski has taken third from joey logano. still about seven seconds behind. denny hamlin currently in second, two seconds back of kevin harvick now. >> darrell: >> right now they have added an extra five laps to their window and at this point they can go to a long lap. 280 before they have to pit and then have a short run to the finish. >> mike: the advantage to having a short run to the finish would be you can go all out with those tires. they won't be on there that long. >> darrell: he'd have to push it because he's losing way too much time. >> jeff: that's still 45 laps. that's not had a short run. >> darrell: catch me if you can. >> mike: if you're denny hamlin from our aerial coverage provided by goodyear. those who live up to their names

make one for themselves. goodyear. more driven. 56 to go. let's show you the top five. when they last stopped with hamlin and logano on a completely different strategy as larry mac is well documented. harvick, keselowski and kyle busch. another stop in the offing. keep it right here and you won't miss a pass.

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>> denny hamlin and joey logano split run in half hand will have to make this set of tires go 50 laps to make it to the finish. 50 to go in atlanta. kevin harvick leading brad keselowski by almost 11 seconds. have a look at our tide clean pass, and it is kevin harvick. battling denny hamlin on the laptop computers of the team's strategists. hamlin running to a pace and harvick racing to a win and perhaps an extra tide clean pass. the. >> darrell: probably saying go on. go as fast as can you g.

>> jeff: wear those tires out. >> mike: layer, did this look like a change in strategy perhaps for mike wheeler? >> larry: i felt like they were giving him too much time. came in what they said it should have done. split the thing down into runs and now they have to make it to the run here and the rest our leaders like carric, keselowski and bowyer, they should be on pit road somewhere in about the next 13 or 14 laps, somewhere around 36 or 37 laps and to be doing all this gambling and central artery jidsing next week, shouldn't we? >> jeff: we will. >> mike: we will. joe gibbs racing has tweeted that if harvick makes another stop under green and hamlin runs to this pace, then harvick would catch hamlin to battle for the win with ten laps to go if we

say green. >> darrell: with much fresher tires. >> jeff: i don't know if they should be releasing that information right now. >> mike: that is interesting from inside the various strategies. last lap by hamlin again. .3 of a second faster than kevin harvick and denny hamlin has been sent out running to a pace. anybody have a pencil sharpener. >> jeff: i can't tell you how hard that is as a race car driver to run to a pace because if you normally drive to the edge of the grip level and push it as hard as you can and get the most speed out of the car. so abrasive and so much fall-off like atlanta. you just have to back that down and that's part of racing that i think makes it fascinating.

>> mike: if there >> you think about what harvick is doing. backing up here off the straightaway and he was making great time. can you do that and do the same thing he was doing? >> mike: meanwhile. let's check on the third place car which is clint bowyer. 24 seconds back of the lead. >> i hear you. it's a lot to make up for. it real, really is, and it's really -- this stage i would really hate to run out of gas. >> mike: trying to save anywhere you can. >> jeff: they know how long a four-tire stop takes so two tires, if you had a short run to the end. you don't have to hit it full of fuel so you can save time on pit road and have half the grip.

>> darrell: if i'm good on fuel, give me however fuel and try that. well, i just hope mother nature looks in southwest georgia and we can see how that plays out. >> jeff: our hoping right now that he is a lap down and trying to chase down kevin harvick to get the lap back and either get the lap back from harvick or when harvick makes the pit stop he'll get back on the lead lap. >> mike: not very many. >> jeff: i think you've got to give kevin harvick so much time for the race that he's run and how good he's been and he just doesn't make mistakes. >> mike: the last lap, hamlin 32-47 and harvick 33-79. that's 1.4 second and hamlin is quicker. hamlin coming through three or four and harvick is all the way

down to three or four. >> darrell: when we started this race it was overcast and now it's cloud ed and cool out there. went through an incredible change in the track alone. you would think that would mess up somebody. >> mike: hamlin is still quicker but not as much that time. >> the next three or four or five laps and we'll start seeing some of the other leaders and you know harvick with an 11-second lead. he can wait it out a lap or two. >> mike: vince? >> vince: the 42 of kyle larson pitting from fifth. last one on the lead lap. he thinks he used up the tires early in the run and he'll make the four-tire change and getting enough fuel to get to the end. a little bit of a air pressure adjustment for the 4 of it larson and see what he can do the rest of the way and finished

a runner up. >> mike: erik jones, kasey kahne, alex bowman, blaney, bubba wallace. >> kevin harvick wouldn't xfinity race and here he is if things go according to his plan. his plan, he may win again today. >> mike: back to vince. >> vince: the 106 almirola thought the same thing and could not get the grip he need. no side bimpts the right rear is gone. four fresh ones and some air pressure for the 10 of almirola. jamie? >> jamie: martin truex jr. hasn't had the performance he's had when this comes to a mile and a half track. struggling big time. the sbl too far off and the rears are gone. matt. >> matt: already completed on the 14 of clint bowyer and hard to believe the runs he's had. never had a top five finish. teammate the 41 of kurt busch and on the way to you, jamie.

>> jamie: kurt busch sounded like he lost his mojo the last one, so solid and now it's cooled off and the track has changed a little bit. another air pressure adjustment. that's what they have been working on on this car and a four-tire stop as they work on the left stop. >> mike: here comes kevin harvick. matt? >> matt: the two of brad keselowski and kevin harvick almost flies into his pit box. no chassis adjustment on the 4. looking good this time and meanwhile the 2. brad keselowski comes in and he says this time the car is on the side and not as much grim as the previous run and he doesn't really a whole lot of change though because it's not as bad as they thought. left front going on and rear on. wait a minute. he's away. >> mike: harvick, keselowski and kyle busch all coming in with 37 laps to go and there goes kenny hamlin back to the lead.

all right. >> darrell: it's shake and bake time. >> mike: when this strategy started hamlin was running sixth so even if he does not win he's likely to come in with a better position with all of the two stops versus three stops started. >> jeff: what i like about what harvick has done here, he's built a good enough gap back to keselowski, and he was over 11 seconds ahead of him when that pit sequence started. all he had to do was get to pit road clone and get in on the box and have a nice, you know, doesn't have to be a slimy fast stop but a nice solid stop and getting the same thing off pit road to get that lead back and now it's just all about what that strategy of the 11 does. >> mike: yeah. allmendinger slow in the backstretch.

looks like -- right rear tire is down. >> jeff: coming apart. >> something leaning and something is smoking and it finally blew out. >> mike: and for the lead here comes harvick. that didn't take until ten to go. allmendinger makes it to pit road and we stayed green. 35 to go. >> i think it's safe to say that the entire field would love to see a yellow flag except for kevin harvick. kevin harvick is going to say see you, wouldn't want to be you. >> mike: logano trying to hold off his teammate keselowski who just stopped for tires so that won't be much of a battle.

. >> mike: kevin harvick is back to the lead and let's go side by side. >> grab an ice cold coke and buckle up. you're watching nascar on box. e. e. but without the white knuckles this time. 'cuz his new 2018 ford f-150 has blis with trailer coverage. it's brainiac smart. not only does it watch your f-150's blind spots, it's got your trailer covered too. just another reason why ford f-series is america's best-selling truck for 41 straight years. ♪ this is the new 2018 ford f-150. it doesn't just raise the bar, pal. it is the bar.

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>> mike: kevin harvick out in front. >> darrell: trouble turn two. >> mike: and trevor bayne. >> that changes everything.

>> mike: with 28 laps to go trevor bayne blows up and rodney childress' race has changed. everybody has a shot. remember the trend. that's pretty close to 25 to go. >> it's not a lot of trouble but he has trouble on the restarts, so that's something we've got to pay close attention to. >> mike: so kurt busch who drives for carl hass, -- carl haas. >> jeff: gene haas. >> mike: see what happens when you try to when you try to fix something. should have let it g. kind of like trevor bayne's car let go. >> jeff: pops out the right side pipe. a little smoke and that's

definitely laying some oil down on the surface. >> mike: and what happened to bubba wallace? he'll go under the damage vehicle policy and go on the 6:00 clock. was running 22nd. >> jeff: wow. wondering if he got into the oil or the smoke. that's a junior johnson that got in his hands right there. the hammer. >> mike: a couple of sawzalls. >> jeff: we know who he made contact with. >> darrell: front end and rear end damage. trying to figure out who hit who. >> mike: let's ride with bubba and see what happened here. >> check out. check out. >> jeff: we didn't tell him which way to go. >> can't see it which way to go. >> go high, gotta go high, go low, do something.

>> jeff: so hard to get on the brakes on this -- when the tires are worn out, there's just not a lot of grip. if you get on the brakes too hard you'll lock up the tires so you always want to stay in control so when you see that much smoke, you definitely have to start slowing down. i think the cars ahead of them couldn't see where they were going either. >> darrell: spotter in the middle should say go high. didn't give him a lot of direction, and this -- this 6 car. >> jeff: those a total smokescreen. >> pretty hard to see. wow, that's pretty big right there. >> mike: freddy kraft is the spotter. he couldn't see. bubba can't see. >> jeff: they can see. >> darrell: refreshing the spotters run on the roof looking down at this. they are looking at that car not through the smoke. but they are look at where that car is. they should be able to see the car. >> jeff: wow, you can't even see

the wall or how to even get around the track let alone whether somebody has stopped in front of you. >> jeff: cars are going by that we can't even tell. >> mike: both the roush fenway cars in trouble. trevor bayne's car let go, look at his cockpit full of smoke and ricky stenhouse getting run into by bubba wallace. minor damage for stenhouse. >> jeff: this is the race right here on pit road. just remember last year. there are nine lead lap cars, matt. >> matt: 292 laps.

last year kevin harvick, his car not quite as good as the beginning of the race and top of the screen back. keselowski. the car much freer this run on the bottom denny hamlin. the car much nighter and especially down in turns three and four. >> mike: harvick gets ahead out of keselowski and hamlin. >> darrell: he needs to get that inside. >> mike: elliott coming on logano. kyle busch and truex. kevin harvick wins the race on pit road. >> jeff: top teams executing at their best head to head had. i love that. >> darrell: the inside restart is great and the outside not so much and having that inside should be an advantage. >> mike: keselowski gains the spot from hamlin. >> jeff: i still think there's a slight advantage to keselowski

because kevin harvick's car does not seem to have as much pace in the first couple of laps so you're going to see keselowski working really hard to try to get to the outside or get somehow in front of harvick or hold him off. >> mike: lower left. in comparison. denny hamlin stopped .8 slower than harvick and they were about the same on the driver's side going down pit road for a one-second difference. >> i've noticed harvick's car. the pressures are really low behind the pits. >> mike: back to what we talked about at top of the show. resource management. do you run these tires as hard as you can in the first two laps or do you run to a pace expecting you're going to go 20 laps to the finish under green? >> jeff: i think you bring up a really good point, mike, because you -- i think everybody is going to be pushing extremely hard, especially the leaders up

there trying to get that lead and get that clean air, but if it goes all the way, that could cost you a lot of time. >> darrell: i think the gamble is what if there's another caution? >> jeff: then they just come and get the cars. >> mike: can we do it again? we'll have keselowski and logano, looks like, if harvey takes the bottom. we expect he will. nose to tailed and teammates on the restart. jamie? >> jamie: joey logano just came on the radio and told his team i don't feel comfortable pushing brad. i don't think i should do it right now. i'm afraid i'll get him loose so he doesn't want him sideways and gets him back on the research. >> jeff: joey is exactly right. this is not daytona and talladega where the bumpers can bush and this track is so slick and sews hard to get the tires to grip that any little bump or nudge that you get that car in front of you seems to do more harm than good. >> mike: the straightaways are short here, not even straight. go the two kicks there.

>> darrell: what logano hopes is the two takes off because if he's laid up right ron the back of him and he doesn't go or can't go and that backs out the outside line. >> jeff: we already documented this, so easy to spend the tires in the second position. you're trying to anticipate when the leader is going to take off and the only way if they jump that start, not jump it, but if they get in the gas and you're trying to play capup you instantly push the tires but drawing that down a little bit. >> mike: waiting on the lineup for the restart and let's get a recap for chris myers and michael wall strip. >> of course, we have the rain delay to start and once we hit kevin harvick for the fifth straight atlanta race has led the most laps in the race. pit problems early and he works his way back up. >> fell back to the lap car. the winner of stage one. jimmie johnson in the midst of

the longest winless streak of his career. 25 races. the tire blows off turn two and martin truex jr. truex fell to the back which is where he started and he hasn't been able to rebound. >> brad keselowski currently second behind kevin harvick winning stage two. >> and what about the restart. positioning of both harvick and keselowski. >> i think it's harvick's race to lose. i think he's better than keselowski and i love what denny hamlin and joey logano's team did. certainly in a better place when they play that strategy as he cleared keselowski, not able to do earlier in the race, chris, but if he's able to he can stop this thing. >> trying to win his second atlanta race and keselowski trying to win back-to-back. back upstairs to jeff, darrell hand mike. >> mike: harvick's race to lose on the short run?

brad keselowski down the back straightaway has had the measure of harvick and with 20 laps to go. >> jeff: if harvick spins the tires, now it gives the advantage to hamlin to possibly get to the inside of harvick and shoot that mental gap and this thing is not over. >> darrell: i think harvick is in the cat bird seat. the 2 is at straight a disadvantage and it could come up to a battle between the 4 and 11 because the 11 is right behind the 4. looking like a genius. >> jeff: yes. >> mike: there's the lineup and keselowski outside and with his teammate. logano right behind him and hamlin right behind and here's keselowski's radio. >> getting going and here with a push, joey. so if you let -- if you let joey

behind me know, that i would appreciate it. >> talked about it. he said he's not going to help. >> not going to get to your bumper. >> keselowski knows if i spin the tires and joey pushes me, we wreck. >> and the outside has not been a good lane to restart in tonight. >> not at all. >> jeff: i think what we watch here is the gap between the 4 hand 11, the gap between the 4 and 22, those guys are going to try to anticipate and get a little bit of a run on those leaders. harvick does a great job executing that. >> darrell: that's great anticipation. >> mike: four wide. >> jeff: joey logano is the one that didn't get up to speed. >> mike: chase elliott. coming up into the top five. >> jeff: denny hamlin got up off the bottom and chase elliott tried to make it three wide down the back straightaway. >> darrell: getting back here on the last 21 happens. >> mike: got a great restart.

>> darrell: >> larry: the only car that has been able to run with him all night has been the number 2 of keselowski. this they are. >> jeff: i don't think keselowski can run the tire track side by side and the 9 and 11. they have had history. don't forget. >> mike: he had to get out of gas and 11 had the big run on the outside. clearly. here comes larson in the 42 and here it comes to the 78. >> jeff: so much momentum lost there. >> mike: three fords, a toyota and chevy in the top five to try to settle this as here comes truex towards front. >> jeff: we thought he had some great short one speed earlier in the race. >> mike: i think that 4 car has whatever speed it needs. >> jeff: he's impressed me, not only on the restart. he did it perfectly and ever since he got to green. >> mike: and now joey logano

working kyle larson. that's 6 and 7. >> jeff: if you think about this. what have they worked on, long runs, saving tires and now it comes down to a 20-lap shootout and you have to go as hard as you can, the balance of the car completely different in that scenario. >> darrell: see where he's running now. he just runs so well on the top of the racetrack and they never let him get up there until the end. >> mike: saw kurt busch back on the lead lap. >> darrell: i wouldn't do that. that was dangerous right there. kyle busch in your mirror and you block him had. i wouldn't have done that. chase is bad loose. saw that. >> mike: kevin harvick opening it up. 1.4 seconds on keselowski.

>> darrell: i think the big thing now is harvick want to go to the end. he doesn't want another caution. not because of what they can do. can do the same thing and the pit crew. every pit crew is suspect and something can happen and can't get it tight and can't run over. you want to take that out of the equation, if you can. well, yesterday, harvick put on a clinic in the xfinity race and speedway president ed clark told us earlier that he went down to see harvick in victory lane and he says you do that again on sunday. i'm calling the pavers monday morning. i don't know what the number is, but call it. >> darrell: only run six laps on the restart. even if looked like we would go up in overtime or any time from here on caution, four more goodyear tires and a trip to pit road. >> darrell: i agree. tires are so valuable with five,

six laps to go. i know what i would do. kevin harvick or keselowski. i would get me two and take a chance. >> mike: got 14 lead lap cars now. every one of these top four or five drivers made their fastest lap of the race after that last restart, and i just wondered can kevin harvick use all those tires. is there anything with brad keselowski or even with clint bowyer that they can possibly run down on the last 14 laps. >> mike: last lap was .1 faster with kevin and needs more than that with 14 to go. >> darrell: wunsie get that, if he wants to death a tenth on me, he's not going to catch it. >> jeff: keselowski is running are the high line and sees clint bowyer running the high line and making it off of turn two. >> mike: that's going to be a bit of a problem for kevin

harvick. if they start running high and start cutting no that lead, what would you do? >> mike: you know the message harvick is sending. catch me at your leisure and .3 better to the two of brad keselowski. alex bowman had it sideways and gathered it up. in 20th place. 14 laps on the lead lap. you can see them on your scoring pylon, suarez, stenhouse and menard. >> darrell: i don't see that line paying any dividends. thought there might be something up there and he wasn't gaining something. >> jeff: quite honestly we haven't seen many people run high today. seems like the bottom is the way to go and just because of what harvick has done all these times. >> jeff: i think there was a little bit of speed up top through one and two through a couple of laps and just use up

the tires so fast up there and that last lap, harvick said, okay. i'm done saving. want to catch me. >> darrell: a little bit about the 14 car that's behind him. clint bowyer. you don't want to mess around and have bowyer catch hi. >> mike: there's bowyer. >> darrell: this has been a heck of a good day for bowyer. real happy with his car. so much fun in our pre-race show, and he's had a great day. good for him. >> jeff: he deserves it. he's been through the last couple of years. good to see him and the team put in a solid run together and even as we relate to harvick, i mean, think about this. harvick, yeah. we talked about his domination here hand how well he's done. he's not only won one race. 2001. the first time he ever came here so if anybody is deserving and earns to get a victory here, definitely kevin harvick. >> darrell: i think it's also a

good sign for this time. obviously harvick has helped clint bowyer. obviously he's helped kurt busch. he's helped his teammates and they have all run well today. >> jeff: somebody would tell me 99 things to do and there was the 100. i've got 99 of them but there was that one piece that was left out. >> mike: with four of the top eight spots, two of them being stuart hass cars and two for team penske. toyota's fourth and fifth and chevys ninth and tenth. >> darrell: how many laps have been led over the last five races.

>> mike: not all of them but certainly most them. >> darrell: can we count yesterday, too? >> mike: 173 today. and yesterday in the xfiniti race. all of the 22 laps and over 200 and so they say you think they attract. what do you think they say? >> jeff: at least i got another win before you did it. >> mike: his fastest lap came just after that restart as did keselowski. >> jeff: right here. this is the zone when i'm sitting is on a hot stove. i don't want to see a caution with three or four to come when i'm coming down pit road. >> mike: if i'm harvick, i would like to see this thing go to the end. >> jeff: you absolutely would have to come to pit road. too much fall-off and too much speed new versus older tires. you would absolutely have to come down to pit road.

>> darrell: what if everybody doesn't come to pit road and i do. >> mike: in the last five races here, kevin harvick has led 911 laps without a trophy. >> jeff: my gosh. >> darrell: if that caution comes and you don't come to pit road, you and i are going to fight over it in the garage. >> darrell: i'm with you. larry. i don't think you'll get any argument out of me. >> larry: harvick had this race wan last year and you can speed out of pit road and you don't get upset, takes a lot to get you upset. >> mike: one win in atlanta for kevin harvick and it was huge. he had just been tapped by richard childress to take over what became the 29