Raptor King of Tough 250
File:Rinnai250logo.jpg | |
NASCAR Xfinity Series | |
---|---|
Venue | Atlanta Motor Speedway |
Location | Hampton, Georgia, United States |
Corporate sponsor | Rinnai |
First race | 1992 |
Distance | 251.02 miles (403.98 km) |
Laps | 163 (Stage 1: 40 Stage 2: 40 Stage 3: 83) |
Previous names | Atlanta 300 (1992) Slick 50 300 (1993) Busch Light 300 (1994–1996) Stihl Outdoor Power Tools 300 (1997) Stihl 300 (1998) Yellow Freight 300 (1999) Aaron's 312 (2000–2005) Nicorette 300 (2006–2008) Degree Men V12 300 (2009) Great Clips 300 (2010–2011) NRA American Warrior 300 (2012) Great Clips / Grit Chips 300 (2013) Great Clips 300 benefiting Feed the Children (2014) Hisense 250 (2015) Heads Up Georgia 250 (2016) |
Most wins (driver) | Kevin Harvick (4) |
Most wins (team) | Roush Fenway Racing (7) |
Most wins (manufacturer) | Chevrolet (15) |
Circuit information | |
Surface | Asphalt |
Length | 1.54 mi (2.48 km) |
Turns | 4 |
The Rinnai 250[1] is a NASCAR Xfinity Series stock car race held at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia, a few miles south of Atlanta. This race has long served as Atlanta's lone Busch/Nationwide Series date, and has been shuffled around the schedule several times. From its inception until 2001 the 300-mile race was run as part of Atlanta's spring Winston Cup race weekend, as the then-Busch Series ended its season at a different track than the then-Winston Cup series.
Following the transfer of the season ending Cup series race from Atlanta to Homestead-Miami Speedway after the 2001 season (although due to extenuating circumstances the 2001 Atlanta fall race was not the final race of the season), the now 312-mile race was moved to Atlanta's fall race weekend where it remained until Aaron's Rental, who was sponsoring the race, chose instead to sponsor the lone Busch event at Talladega. The race gained sponsorship from GlaxoSmithKline through its Nicorette brand[2][3] and moved back to its traditional spring date.
In September 2008, NASCAR officials announced that Nicorette would not renew its corporate sponsorship for race after the 2008 season. On October 26, 2008 it was announced that Unilever's deodorant brand Degree will take over sponsorship of this race starting in 2009. It was later announced that the now-Degree V12 300 would be moving to September as part of the latest round of NASCAR realignment, which resulted in the Pep Boys Auto 500, the AMP Energy 500 at Talladega, and the Pepsi 500 at Fontana trading places. The Degree V12 300 took the place of the Camping World RV Service 300 on NASCAR's Labor Day weekend race schedule and serves as an accompanying race to the AdvoCare 500.
In 2015, the Xfinity race at Atlanta moved along with the Cup race (Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500) to the second weekend of the season and ran as a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon along with the Camping World Truck Series. The race was also reduced to 250 miles in order to make the race a doubleheader on the same day.[4]
Jeff Gordon, Mike Skinner, Jamie McMurray, and Carl Edwards got their first series wins at Atlanta.
Past winners
Year | Date | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Race Distance | Race Time | Average Speed (mph) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Laps | Miles (km) | ||||||||
1992 | March 14 | 1 | Jeff Gordon | Bill Davis Racing | Ford | 197 | 299.834 (482.536) | 2:24:36 | 124.412 |
1993 | November 13* | 2 | Ward Burton | A.G. Dillard Motorsports | Chevrolet | 197 | 299.834 (482.536) | 2:44:05 | 109.64 |
1994 | March 12 | 7 | Harry Gant | Whitaker Racing | Chevrolet | 197 | 299.834 (482.536) | 2:20:56 | 127.649 |
1995 | March 11 | 74 | Johnny Benson Jr. | BACE Motorsports | Chevrolet | 197 | 299.834 (482.536) | 2:03:45 | 145.767 |
1996 | March 9 | 5 | Terry Labonte | Labonte Motorsports | Chevrolet | 197 | 299.834 (482.536) | 2:08:15 | 139.656 |
1997* | March 8 | 60 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 197 | 299.834 (482.536) | 1:58:55 | 151.751 |
1998* | November 7 | 60 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 195 | 300.3 (483.286) | 2:10:23 | 138.193 |
1999 | March 13 | 19 | Mike Skinner | Emerald Performance Group | Chevrolet | 195 | 300.3 (483.286) | 2:33:46 | 117.178 |
2000 | March 11 | 60 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 203 | 312.62 (503.113) | 2:27:47 | 126.924 |
2001 | March 10 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | NEMCO Motorsports | Chevrolet | 203 | 312.62 (503.113) | 2:10:18 | 143.954 |
2002 | October 26 | 27 | Jamie McMurray | Brewco Motorsports | Chevrolet | 203 | 312.62 (503.113) | 2:15:09 | 138.788 |
2003 | October 25 | 7 | Greg Biffle | Evans Motorsports | Chevrolet | 203 | 312.62 (503.113) | 2:08:17 | 146.217 |
2004 | October 30 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Reiser Enterprises | Ford | 208* | 320.32 (515.505) | 2:24:08 | 133.343 |
2005 | March 19 | 60 | Carl Edwards | Roush Racing | Ford | 203 | 312.62 (503.113) | 2:23:34 | 130.651 |
2006 | March 18 | 21 | Jeff Burton | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 195 | 300.3 (483.286) | 2:20:47 | 127.984 |
2007 | March 17 | 29 | Jeff Burton | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 195 | 300.3 (483.286) | 2:21:39 | 127.201 |
2008 | March 8 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 198* | 304.92 (490.721) | 2:19:21 | 131.29 |
2009 | September 5 | 33 | Kevin Harvick | Kevin Harvick Inc. | Chevrolet | 195 | 300.3 (483.286) | 2:04:04 | 145.228 |
2010 | September 4 | 88 | Jamie McMurray | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 195 | 300.3 (483.286) | 2:04:44 | 144.452 |
2011 | September 3 | 60 | Carl Edwards | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 195 | 300.3 (483.286) | 2:15:40 | 132.811 |
2012 | September 1 | 6 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 195 | 300.3 (483.286) | 2:32:51 | 117.88 |
2013 | August 31 | 33 | Kevin Harvick | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 195 | 300.3 (483.286) | 2:08:01 | 140.747 |
2014 | August 30 | 5 | Kevin Harvick | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 195 | 300.3 (483.286) | 2:08:37 | 140.091 |
2015 | February 28 | 88 | Kevin Harvick | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 163 | 251.02 (403.977) | 1:40:32 | 149.813 |
2016 | February 27 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 163 | 251.02 (403.977) | 1:49:53 | 137.065 |
2017 | March 4 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 163 | 251.02 (403.977) | 1:57:16 | 128.435 |
- 1993: Race postponed from March to November due to Southeastern Blizzard.
- 1998: After reconfiguration of the track between the two 1997 Cup races, the track was remeasured to 1.54 miles and laps reduced to 195 laps as a result.
- 2004 and 2008: Race extended due to a green–white–checker finish.
Multiple winners (drivers)
# Wins | Driver | Years Won |
---|---|---|
4 | Kevin Harvick | 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015 |
3 | Mark Martin | 1997, 1998, 2000 |
2 | Jamie McMurray | 2002, 2010 |
Matt Kenseth | 2004, 2008 | |
Carl Edwards | 2005, 2011 | |
Jeff Burton | 2006, 2007 | |
Kyle Busch | 2016, 2017 |
Multiple winners (teams)
# Wins | Team | Years Won |
---|---|---|
7 | Roush Fenway Racing | 1997, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2012 |
3 | Richard Childress Racing | 2006, 2007, 2013 |
JR Motorsports | 2010, 2014, 2015 | |
2 | Joe Gibbs Racing | 2016, 2017 |
Manufacturer wins
# Wins | Make | Years Won |
---|---|---|
15 | Chevrolet | 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015 |
9 | Ford | 1992, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2012 |
2 | Toyota | 2016, 2017 |
Television broadcasters
References
- Racing-Reference.info – Atlanta Motor Speedway Race Results
- Rinnai to Sponsor March 4 NASCAR XFINITY Series Race at Atlanta Motor Speedway
- ^ "Rinnai to Sponsor March 4 NASCAR XFINITY Series Race at Atlanta Motor Speedway". Atlanta Motor Speedway. December 16, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
- ^ "NASCAR leaves smoking days farther behind". ESPN. 2005-01-27. Archived from the original on 2015-01-01. Retrieved 2015-01-01.
- ^ Horovitz, Bruce (2005-01-26). "Nicorette, NASCAR sign sponsorship deal". USA Today. Archived from the original on 2015-01-01. Retrieved 2015-01-01.
- ^ "NASCAR reveals 2015 schedules for national series". NASCAR. August 26, 2014. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
External links