FOX NASCAR at Atlanta Motor Speedway Quotes & Programming Schedule

NASCAR 02/25/2015

After 10 days in Daytona, NASCAR heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend, with FOX Sports offering 26 hours of live coverage of the NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES, NASCAR XFINITY SERIES and NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES, with a rare Saturday doubleheader.

Atlanta provides the first look at the new rules package for intermediate tracks in the NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES, culminating with the 500-mile race live on FOX on Sunday, March 1 (1:00 PM ET), with pre-race coverage beginning at 12:30 PM ET on FOX NASCAR SUNDAY.

Mike Joy leads the FOX NASCAR booth from Atlanta with analysis from NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip and former crew chief Larry McReynolds. The trio is joined on pit road by Jamie Little, Chris Neville and Matt Yocum. Chris Myers hosts the network’s coverage alongside analyst Michael Waltrip. Myers also hosts FOX NASCAR SUNDAY from the famed Hollywood Hotel alongside Darrell and Michael Waltrip.

The packed weekend of racing kicks off Saturday, Feb. 28 on FOX Sports 1 with a unique, same-day doubleheader with the NASCAR XFINITY SERIES and NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES hitting the high backs of Atlanta Motor Speedway, one of the most storied tracks on the NASCAR circuit and a driver favorite.

Adam Alexander calls the NASCAR XFINITY SERIES race (2:00 PM ET on FOX Sports 1) alongside Michael Waltrip and 2012 NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES champion Brad Keselowski with pit reporting by Vince Welch, Little and Neville. NASCAR RACEDAY – XFINITY, FOX Sports 1’s pre-race show, airs at 1:30 PM ET on FOX Sports 1. Keselowski is one of five NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES drivers announced as part of a rotation in the FOX and FOX Sports 1 booth for FOX Sports’ coverage of the 2015 NASCAR XFINITY SERIES season. Also scheduled as guest analysts this season are reigning NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES champion Kevin Harvick, who debuted in the booth last weekend at Daytona; four-time champion Jeff Gordon; Danica Patrick; and Clint Bowyer. This season, FOX Sports adds coverage of the NASCAR XFINITY SERIES for the first 14 races of the year. FOX Sports 1 telecasts 10 of the events while FOX broadcasts the races from Phoenix, Talladega, Charlotte and Dover.

A few minutes later, Brian Till has the call for the NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES race (5:30 PM ET on FOX Sports 1) alongside Phil Parsons and Todd Bodine. Hermie Sadler and Yocum cover pit road. John Roberts hosts NCWTS SETUP (5:00 PM ET on FOX Sports 1) with analysis from Ray Dunlap.

NASCAR RACEDAY kicks off Sunday’s coverage at 11:00 AM ET on FOX Sports 1, and includes: interviews with Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne and David Ragan (substitute driver for Kyle Busch); a feature with Doug Yates on tapered spacers and their effects on engines; a look at Jeff Gordon’s first NASCAR win – a NASCAR XFINITY SERIES win at Atlanta in 1992, credited with Rick Hendrick taking notice of the young driver; a feature with President Jimmy Carter regarding his Atlanta Motor Speedway ties; and a cartoon feature explaining the new rules package at intermediate tracks in 2015.

FOX Sports GO, the critically acclaimed app that provides live streaming video of FOX Sports content at home or on the go, offers live streaming of all NASCAR programming in 2015. Customers of participating video providers may access the live streams of the race through the FOX Sports GO app for iOS devices, as well as on desktops through FOXSportsGO.com. For the latest NASCAR news and information, please visit www.FOXSports.com and follow @NASCARonFOX on Twitter.

Below are quotes from FOX NASCAR analysts Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds and pit reporter Jamie Little on the week’s headlines and the race ahead, as well as the full FOX NASCAR programming schedule from Atlanta:

LARRY MCREYNOLDS ON ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY’S INSTALLATION OF TIRE BARRIERS & LATER EXPANSION OF SAFER BARRIERS: “Atlanta installing tire barriers for this weekend is as good as they can do right now. We have been on this safety crusade for 15 years, and after 15 years, and I don’t want to hear any more about the cost of SAFER barriers, the studies regarding where cars are most likely to hit or the argument that venues must accommodate other series, hindering them from putting SAFER barriers all the way around. Those excuses are now inexcusable. In the short term, hopefully we won’t see a single wall without a tire barrier, and in the long term, hopefully we won’t see a wall without a SAFER barrier at any track. We got another wakeup call with Kyle Busch on Saturday, and shame on us if we don’t react 100-percent across the board at every single race track. If we can help keep drivers safe, shame on us if we don’t.”

JAMIE LITTLE ON ATLANTA’S INSTALLATION OF TIRE BARRIERS & THE CURRENT SAFER BARRIER CONVERSATION IN THE SPORT: “It’s unfortunate it took a driver getting injured as severely as Kyle for tracks to react. How many years has this been going on when someone gets hurt and the track makes changes, but to my knowledge, no other tracks jump on the bandwagon? Elliott Sadler had one of the hardest hits I’ve ever seen at Pocono, and the track said they’d fix it but no other tracks seemed to fix everything they should, such as gates and inside walls. We’re still injuring drivers because tracks haven’t taken it upon themselves to remedy these issues and put SAFER barriers in. I like that Atlanta and other tracks are trying quick solutions and will continue to evaluate and install SAFER barriers. But I’d like to see every single track have SAFER barriers on every single inch before I see any more projects for the fans or for the track to make money. They need to take care of the drivers.”

DARRELL WALTRIP ON KURT BUSCH’S INDEFINITE SUSPENSION (from “FOX NASCAR SUNDAY”): “All of us know, as competitors, there are tolerances. They give us tolerances on our cars. They give us tolerances on pit road speed. But the one place they will not give you any tolerance – zero tolerance – is in domestic violence. And we know that, and unfortunately, it’s what happened to Kurt.”

WALTRIP ON WHETHER KURT BUSCH WILL RETURN TO NASCAR (from “FOX NASCAR SUNDAY”): “He’s got a lot of strikes against him. There is a road to recovery. NASCAR said there is a way he can come back, but I think it’s going to be a long, hard road.”

LITTLE ON WHETHER KURT BUSCH SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO RETURN TO NASCAR: “Kurt should be allowed to compete in NASCAR again if he gets help, goes through the ‘road to recovery’ and proves it won’t happen again, or if he continues to deny that domestic violence ever occurred, that he is on the right path and his anger is in check. Kurt has some issues managing his anger. As a reporter, I’ve seen it. We’ve all seen it. If you search our names on YouTube, those incidents pop right up. I’d definitely like to see him return. I don’t think he should be blackballed from the sport forever. No way. He has worked too hard and this is something he can overcome.”

MCREYNOLDS ON WHETHER KURT BUSCH CAN RETURN TO NASCAR: “He absolutely can be reinstated by NASCAR at some point. There will be a ‘road to recovery’ no different than if a driver violates a substance abuse policy. But we are not a stick-and-ball sport. This comes in the wake of the Ray Rice/NFL incident. All Ray Rice has to do is satisfy the NFL and the owner of whatever football team that might be willing to take a chance on him. Kurt’s return to NASCAR is a lot steeper. He must not only satisfy NASCAR and the management at Stewart-Haas Racing, but also the sponsors affiliated with the team. Will a sponsor ever look at him? The layers are endless given all the sponsors involved with that organization.”

LITTLE ON WHETHER KURT BUSCH WOULD BE SUPPORTED IF ALLOWED TO RETURN: “In general, people like to forgive others when they prove they’re working to better themselves. If Kurt goes through the proper channels and gets the help he needs, and if what he says when he returns is genuine, that he will change and it won’t happen again, then there’s no reason people won’t accept him. The people who won’t accept him probably weren’t Kurt Busch fans to begin with. We all have gone through certain issues in our lives, and we like to see people come through bad times better for it. AJ Allmendinger is a perfect example of that.”

LITTLE ON THE CHALLENGES FACING KURT BUSCH IN FINDING A SPONSOR: “That’s a tough question because his owner is a wealthy man who can afford to put him in a car without a sponsor. But the question is whether or not Gene Haas will field a car for Kurt if he comes back. I think Haas would, but as far as another team or sponsor, that’s tough. Kurt has burned too many bridges and has had too many issues, whether the drunk-driving incident in Phoenix or being rude to reporters or Roger Penske, throwing things or his falling-out with Jack Roush. He has too much of a history that I think sponsors and teams may see as a black eye. Kurt deserves to come back if he takes the proper steps as outlined by NASCAR, but finding a sponsor or team may be much harder.”

MCREYNOLDS’ ASSESSMENT OF ELECTRONIC PIT ROAD OFFICIATING’S DEBUT AT DAYTONA: “We didn’t see nearly as many penalties as anticipated. I expected more than I could count, but that didn’t happen. The lower number shows NASCAR has worked hard with teams, pit crews and drivers to explain how the system operates and what’s legal and illegal. I haven’t talked to a crew chief or team that doesn’t embrace the system simply because it makes the rules black and white. And once they have a few more races under their belts, I expect we’ll see less penalties each race than we did in years past.”

LITTLE ON A TEAM’S PERFORMANCE AT ATLANTA SERVING AS AN INDICATOR OF FUTURE PERFORMANCE IN 2015: “Atlanta definitely helps predict future performance for multiple reasons. With the new rules package, NASCAR took away downforce and some horsepower. At Atlanta, we’ll start to see what these guys have and how their cars perform. The majority of races are at mile-and-a-half tracks. They’re not all cookie-cutter tracks and they’re not all the same, but Atlanta is a good indicator because several characteristics carry over from one mile-and-a-half track to another. Those who perform well at Atlanta will perform well later, especially during the Chase and on similar tracks.”

MCREYNOLDS ON WHETHER SPRINT CUP SERIES DRIVERS SHOULD RISK COMPETING IN XFINITY OR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES RACES: “If I put my crew chief hat on, absolutely not unless there’s a benefit we can gain by that driver competing on the same surface in the NASCAR XFINITY or Camping World Truck Series race the day before. But if I put on my business hat, we are a sponsorship-driven sport and sponsors are spending a ton of money. Drivers and owners must give sponsors as much bang for their buck as they can. Drivers like Kyle Busch are racers, so who am I to deny them that opportunity?”

NASCAR ON FOX & FOX SPORTS 1 AT ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY PROGRAMMING SCHEDULE

*All times live unless otherwise indicated & subject to change

Friday, Feb. 27

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES PRACTICE (10:00-11:00 AM ET) (FOX Sports 1)

NASCAR RACE HUB WEEKEND EDITION (11:00-11:30 AM ET) (FOX Sports 1)

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES FINAL PRACTICE (11:30 AM-1:00 PM ET) (FOX Sports 1)

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES PRACTICE (1:00-2:30 PM ET) (FOX Sports 1)

NCWTS FINAL PRACTICE (2:30-5:30 PM ET) (FOX Sports 1)

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES QUALIFYING (5:30-7:00 PM ET) (FOX Sports 1)

Saturday, Feb. 28

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES QUALIFYING (9:00-10:30 AM ET) (FOX Sports 1)

NCWTS QUALIFYING (10:30 AM-12:00 PM ET) (FOX Sports 1)