Joe Graf Jr. Atlanta Motor Speedway July NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Preview

RSS Racing | NASCAR Xfinity Series

Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway | Alsco Uniforms 250

Fast Facts

No. 38 RSS Racing Team:

Driver: Joe Graf Jr.  

Primary Partner(s): No. 38 CoverSeal® Ford Mustang

Manufacturer: Ford Mustang

Crew Chief: Steve Addington

Spotter: Joe Campbell

Engine: Roush-Yates Engines

Driver Championship Point Standings: 21st

Team Championship Point Standings: 24th

Notes of Interest:

Settling In: After spending the last three seasons with SS GreenLight Racing with Jeff Lefcourt (2020 – 2022), Joe Graf Jr. moved to RSS Racing during the offseason where he’ll spend the majority of the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season competing for the Sugar Hill, Ga.-based team.

In addition to RSS Racing, Graf will also compete in a limited NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule driving the No. 19 Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing, including next weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Welcome Aboard: Joe Graf Jr. and RSS Racing welcome back CoverSeal® as the primary partner of the team’s No. 38 Ford Mustang for Saturday night’s Alsco Uniforms 250.

The annual summer trip to the New York of the south will mark the third time the company has been represented with RSS Racing and Joe Graf Jr. this season.

CoverSeal® supported the organization in the season-opening race at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in February and at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in April.

We Have You COVERED: Racing fans know the importance of keeping cars in top-quality condition, and they can extend an unmatched level of care toward their own vehicles with CoverSeal®. 

These covers don’t just protect vehicles from nature’s damage: whether fans plan to tailgate at the track or barbecue in the backyard, CoverSeal® craftsmanship can protect grills and furniture when not in use.

The CoverSeal® weighted apron helps seal the cover to the ground on each version, making the cover easy to use and hard to beat.

Thanks For Your Support: With a little more than 48 percent of the 2023 Xfinity Series season complete, Joe Graf Jr. and RSS Racing would like to thank their associate marketing partners: ArmsList.com, AVOID, Bass Reaper Bait Company,  Bucked Up Energy Drink, EAT SLEEP RACE Apparel, fgrACCEL, G-Coin®, GTECHNIQ, JACOB Companies, Lefcourt Brothers Racing, Love Motorsports, Model Electronics and ShopRite for their continued support.  

Catch Him On The Dial: Before Joe Graf Jr. straps into his No. 38 CoverSeal® Ford Mustang on Saturday, the RSS Racing driver will be featured on “The Frontstretch” on SiriusXM Satellite Radio Channel 90 with host Pat Patterson on Saturday morning, July 8, 2023, at approximately 10:00 a.m. ET.

Graf will also spotlight a commercial featuring CoverSeal® in several spots throughout the weekend, including the full four-hour program on Sunday, July 9, 2023.  

Joe Graf Jr. Xfinity Series Atlanta Motor Speedway Stats: Joe Graf Jr. will make his seventh NASCAR Xfinity Series start at the 1.5-mile speedway on Saturday night.  

In his previous five starts, Graf has delivered a track-best of 23rd earned in the March 19, 2022, running of the Nalley Cars 250 after starting 23rd for SS GreenLight Racing with Jeff Lefcourt.

Overall, he has an average finish of 26.3 at Atlanta.

He has also completed 983 of 988 laps for a 99.5 percent lap completion.

Joe Graf Jr. Xfinity Series Career Speedway Stats: At tracks classified as a speedway, Graf has competed in 54 NASCAR Xfinity Series races. He holds an average starting position of 25.6 and an average result of 25.7.

Joe Graf Jr. NASCAR Xfinity Series Career Stats: In 109 career Xfinity Series starts since 2020, Graf has earned three top-10 finishes, including a career-best seventh-place finish in the 2023 Xfinity Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway in February. During that tenure, he also holds an average finishing position of 25.7.

Chicago Street Course | The Loop 121 Race Recap: In the most recent NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Chicago Street Course, Joe Graf Jr. and the RSS Racing team were a part of history.

Graf was one of 38 starters in the inaugural The Loop 121 at the Chicago Street Course. Aboard his No. 38 Gtechniq EXOv5 Ford Mustang, he started 35th and quickly raced into the top 30.

Unfortunately, an early pit stop put him 33rd for a restart which was then thwarted by lightning and because of adverse weather conditions Saturday and into Sunday morning, the race was never restarted and was deemed concluded after just 25 laps leaving the driver and team trapped.

Sneaker Mania: Along with the adrenaline of the Motorsports competition, Joe Graf Jr. also has a vogue for hype sneakers. In his current collection, he owns and wears at least 90 limited edition sneakers – and his collection continues to grow monthly.

The current estimated value of his collection tops $100,000.

From the Pit Box: Industry veteran Steve Addington is Joe Graf Jr.’s crew chief.

He will be crew chief for his 280th NASCAR Xfinity Series race as crew chief on Saturday and his 12th from the track nestled in the Peach State.

In his previous 279 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts, he has collected 11 wins, 10 poles, 68 top-five and 118 top-10 finishes.

 Hello From The Other Side: Graf Jr. has two teammates at RSS Racing.

Veteran Ryan Sieg will drive the No. 39 CMRroofing.com Ford Mustang and Xfinity Series rookie Kyle Sieg will make his return in the No. 28 Cedar Ridge Landscaping Ford Mustang.

Ryan Sieg is set to make his 318th career Xfinity Series start overall and 14th at Atlanta.  

Kyle Sieg is poised to make his 34th career Xfinity Series start and his fourth at Atlanta.

Follow on Social Media: For more on Joe Graf Jr. visit JoeGrafRacing.com, like him on Facebook (Joe Graf Jr.), follow him on TikTok (@JoeGrafJr), Twitter (@JoeGrafJr) and Instagram (@joegrafjr).

For more on RSS Racing, please like them on Facebook (RSS283839) and follow them on Instagram (@rss283839) and Twitter (@RSS283839).

Joe Graf Jr. Quoteboard:

On Atlanta Motor Speedway: “I am looking for some redemption for RSS Racing this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Honestly, because we had a better car than what we finished last weekend at Chicago and because we should have easily finished inside the top-15 or better in the spring at Atlanta if not for some contact with another competitor on the final restart.

“I liked Atlanta before the repave and I like it now too. Obviously, it’s two different styles of racing and the cars react differently from the spring race to the summer race because of the track temperatures.

“I learned a lot last July and hope to apply that to our No. 38 CoverSeal® Ford Mustang on Saturday night. We’ve been steady but as we approach the second half of the Xfinity Series season, we definitely want to make some improvements and be running consistently as close to the top-20 as possible and throw some top-10 finishes in there too.

“We are resilient and we will continue to fight, including Saturday night at Atlanta.”

On The 2023 Season: “We started the year off really strong between RSS Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing, but unfortunately we’ve been on a rollercoaster throughout the season.

“I know we just have to survive this stretch of unique races which includes a street course, a hybrid superspeedway, a flat track, a fast track and another road course. Hopefully in-between all the different types of tracks we’ll find a rhythm that will allow us to continue to accelerate in a positive direction.

“I just need to continue to stay focused, communicate with my team and utilize the knowledge that I’ve gained over the past three years to recover and have my best Xfinity Series season yet.”

Race Information:

The Alsco Uniforms 250 (163 laps | 251.02 miles) is the 16th of 33 NASCAR Xfinity Series races on the 2023 schedule. Qualifying begins on Sat. July 8 from 4:05 p.m. – 5:25 p.m. The 38-car field will take the green later that night shortly after 8:00 p.m. with live coverage on the USA Network, the Performance Racing Network (Radio) and SiriusXM NASCAR Channel 90 (Satellite Radio). 

About RSS Racing:

RSS Racing fields multiple entries in the NASCAR Xfinity Series led by mainstay driver Ryan Sieg.

RSS Racing has competed in NASCAR events since 2009 from its headquarters in Sugar Hill, Ga.

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