PAUL NEWBERRY
NASCAR Cup Series drivers Chase Elliott (9), left, and Ryan Blaney (12), right, lead the field out of Turn 4 during the NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Sunday, July 10, 2022, in Hampton, Ga. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
In wild NASCAR year, Chase Elliott is steady as a rock

By Paul Newberry Jul. 11, 2022 01:12 PM EDT
HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — Sure, it’s been a wild NASCAR Cup season, with seemingly everyone

NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Elliott (9) celebrates after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Sunday, July 10, 2022, in Hampton, Ga. (AP Photo/Bob Andres)
Elliott holds off LaJoie, giving Georgian 1st Atlanta win

By Paul Newberry Jul. 10, 2022 07:05 PM EDT
HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — With the home crowd cheering his every move, Chase Elliott wanted

A.J. Allmendinger (16) leads the field into Turn 1 during a NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Saturday, July 9, 2022, in Hampton, Ga. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Georgia's Austin Hill wins NASCAR Xfinity race in Atlanta

By Paul Newberry Jul. 09, 2022 07:59 PM EDT
HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — Georgia native Austin Hill claimed his second NASCAR Xfinity win

Driver Chase Elliott speaks to the media during a weather delay before qualifying the NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga., on Saturday, July 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Bob Andres)
Home boy: Chase Elliott hopes for breakthrough at Atlanta

By Paul Newberry Jul. 09, 2022 03:12 PM EDT
HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — Chase Elliott has accomplished so much in his young racing career

Sergio Garcia of Spain smiles as he walks off the driving range just prior to the start of the first round of the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational at the Centurion Club in St Albans, England, Thursday, June 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Column: Golf's civil war likely to produce no real winners

By Paul Newberry Jun. 13, 2022 06:00 PM EDT
Golf is in the early days of a bitter showdown between the established PGA Tour and

William Byron (24) reacts as he climbs out of his car in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga., Sunday, March 20, 2022. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
William Byron wins wild NASCAR race at remodeled Atlanta

By Paul Newberry Mar. 20, 2022 07:48 PM EDT
HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — William Byron had a freight train in his rearview mirror. A

Ty Gibbs leaps off his car as he celebrates his win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga., Saturday, March 19, 2022. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Ty Gibbs wins again in NASCAR Xfinity Series

By Paul Newberry Mar. 19, 2022 09:15 PM EDT
HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — Ty Gibbs pulled off a brilliant move after taking the white flag

Corey Heim poses with the trophy after winning a NASCAR trucks series auto race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga., Saturday, March 19, 2022. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
19-year-old Corey Heim wins NASCAR Truck race at Atlanta

By Paul Newberry Mar. 19, 2022 05:32 PM EDT
HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — Nineteen-year-old Georgian Corey Heim raced to his first NASCAR

NASCAR Cup Series driver Brad Keselowski (6) prepares for practice for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga., Saturday, March 19, 2022, (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Full-blown chaos: NASCAR preps for wild racing at Atlanta

By Paul Newberry Mar. 19, 2022 03:25 PM EDT
HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — Atlanta Motor Speedway billed its striking changes as a

Olga Tikhonova of Kazakhstan, crashes in her heat of the women's 1000-meters during the short track speedskating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Column: No need for NASCAR, WWE with short track at Olympics

By Paul Newberry Feb. 11, 2022 03:13 AM EST
BEIJING (AP) — NASCAR and pro wrestling are not sports at the Winter Olympics.

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, of the Netherlands, moves into a turn during a practice session for the F1 US Grand Prix auto race at Circuit of the Americas, Friday, Oct. 22, 2021, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Nick Didlick)
Column: F1 takes another run at conquering America

By Paul Newberry Oct. 22, 2021 04:51 PM EDT
Formula One has been down this road before. In the 1970s

FILE- In this Sept. 21, 2001, file photo, New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza wears the NYPD logo on his helmet as he takes the field in the top of the fifth inning against the Atlanta Braves in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
Column: 20 years after 9/11, sports reveals its limitations

By Paul Newberry Sep. 10, 2021 04:06 PM EDT
On that sunny morning two decades ago, in the hours and minutes and seconds

FILE- In this Feb. 17, 2019, file photo, Darrell Wallace Jr., right, prepares put on his HANS device equipped helmet before the start of the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. The lightweight head restraint co-invented by veteran sports car racer Jim Downing keeps a driver's head from snapping forward violently in a crash and has been credited with saving numerous lives in its two decades of use. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)
Column: Jim Downing, a sports hero we should never forget

By Paul Newberry Sep. 03, 2021 04:36 PM EDT
ATLANTA (AP) — There are sports heroes who roll off the tongue.

Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Keelan Doss (18) makes a catch against the Seattle Seahawks during the first half of an NFL preseason football game, Saturday, Aug. 14, 2021, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Column: Sports should require fans be vaxxed - or stay home

By Paul Newberry Aug. 20, 2021 07:31 PM EDT
The Raiders have always prided themselves on being a maverick franchise, so

FILE - Janet Guthrie poses with a toy race car at a news conference in New York, in this April 6, 1978, file photo. Janet Guthrie is still astonished at all the fan mail that pours in from around the world. And she's honored to hear that Academy Award winner Hilary Swank wants to portray her in a movie. Forty-four years after her history making run at the Indianapolis 500, Guthrie's impact on the growth of female sports is certainly a legacy worth remembering. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler, File)
Column: Guthrie paved the way, still hoping more will follow

By Paul Newberry May. 07, 2021 03:03 PM EDT
All these years after her history making run at the Indianapolis 500, Janet

NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Larson, left, talks to the owner of the NASCAR team Hendrick Motorsports, Rick Hendrick, right, before a NASCAR Cup Series at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 21, 2021, in Hampton, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Blaney wins at Atlanta after Larson fades on old tires

By Paul Newberry Mar. 21, 2021 07:14 PM EDT
HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — Ryan Blaney knew he had to let Kyle Larson go.

NASCAR driver Justin Allgaier celebrates after a win after a NASCAR Xfinity Series at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 20, 2021, in Hampton, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Allgaier holds off Truex to win Atlanta Xfinity race

By Paul Newberry Mar. 20, 2021 08:18 PM EDT
HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — Justin Allgaier snatched the lead after Martin Truex Jr.

Kevin Harvick makes a pit stop during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race Sunday, March 7, 2021, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
NASCAR returns to its roots with 1st of 2 visits to Atlanta

By Paul Newberry Mar. 20, 2021 02:14 PM EDT
HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — NASCAR is returning to its roots. Even

Empty stands are viewed during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Sunday, June 7, 2020, in Hampton, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Harvick cherishes Atlanta win, looks to help off the track

By Paul Newberry Jun. 07, 2020 07:43 PM EDT
HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — After another dominant performance at one of his favorite

Chase Elliott (9), Aric Almirola (10) and Joey Logano (22) drive during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Sunday, June 7, 2020, in Hampton, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
NASCAR vows to do better job addressing racial injustice

By Paul Newberry Jun. 07, 2020 04:33 PM EDT
HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — Bubba Wallace donned a black T-shirt with the words “I Can