NASCAR at Atlanta 2017 Results: Winner, Standings, Highlights and Reaction

In the second race of the NASCAR season, Brad Keselowski took the checkered flag at the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 in Atlanta on Sunday in a controversial finish. 

Kevin Harvick dominated this race, leading both stages to get 20 points, after starting on the pole. There were nine lead changes over the course of 500 miles, but this was Harvick's event to lose. 

He eventually would as a result of a speeding penalty during a late caution that knocked him off the lead, opening the door for Keselowski to steal the victory.

Here are the full results from Sunday's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, per NASCAR.com:

Position	Driver	Time Behind (Seconds)
1	Brad Keselowski	-
2	Kyle Larson	0.565
3	Matt Kenseth	1.465
4	Kasey Kahne	1.939
5	Chase Elliott	2.223
6	Joey Logano	2.4
7	Kurt Busch	3.819
8	Martin Truex Jr.	4.142
9	Kevin Harvick	4.9
10	Jamie McMurray	6.397
11	Clint Bowyer	7.611
12	Trevor Bayne	8.426
13	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	8.929
14	Erik Jones	9.211
15	Ty Dillon	23.765
16	Kyle Busch	24.109
17	Danica Patrick	27.459
18	Ryan Blaney	-
19	Jimmie Johnson	-
20	Cole Whitt	-
21	Daniel Suarez	-
22	Landon Cassill	-
23	David Ragan	-
24	Chris Buescher	-
25	Paul Menard	-
26	A.J. Allmendinger	-
27	Aric Almirola	-
28	Matt DiBenedetto	-
29	Michael McDowell	-
30	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	-
31	Reed Sorensen	-
32	Austin Dillon	-
33	Jeffrey Earnhardt	-
34	Corey LaJoie	-
35	Ryan Newman	-
36	Derrike Cope	-
37	Gray Gaulding	DNF
38	Denny Hamlin	DNF
39	Cody Ware	DNF

This was a huge race for Keselowski, who has dealt with his share of struggles dating back to last season. Sunday marked his first top-10 finish in five races and first victory since back-to-back triumphs at Daytona and Kentucky last July. 

Kyle Larson actually had the inside track to victory after Harvick's mistake. He inherited the lead but tried to drift up high instead of staying down, allowing Keselowski to surpass him for good. 

Harvick has had great success on this track and looked like he would continue to do so until his mistake. He had finished in the top six in this race each of the previous two years and still finished a respectable ninth on Sunday. 

Per NBC Sports' Dustin Long, Harvick's lead after the first stage gave him the very early edge in the overall points standings:

After finishing 22nd at Daytona last week, Harvick is certainly in a much better place now with growing confidence as long as he puts the speeding gaffe behind him. 

There was a brief moment not long before he was caught speeding when Harvick appeared to be in trouble coming off pit road, as this GIF from Fox Sports shows:

Harvick would eventually retake the lead on Lap 267, gradually extending his advantage while looking to secure his first win since last October. 

A caution on Lap 18 caused by Austin Dillon's No. 3 car losing power led to the chaotic finish, per Fox Sports:

Harvick was assessed a speeding penalty as he was going to the pits during the caution that forced him off the lead. Jeff Gluck provided the explanation given to Harvick:

The No. 4 car moved back to the 14th position for the restart with 10 laps to go, giving him no chance to win. It was a bitter end to what seemed like an easy win for Harvick and his crew. 

NASCAR tweeted out the exchange between Harvick and crew chief Rodney Childers:

Outside of the top 10, this was the second straight disappointment for Jimmie Johnson. The defending Sprint Cup champion followed up his 34th-place showing at Daytona by finishing 19th in Atlanta.

The No. 48 car had reason to be optimistic coming into the race, despite qualifying 18th. Johnson won this race each of the last two years, including starting in the 19th position last year to take the checkered flag. 

There must have been something in the Atlanta water because Johnson was assessed a one-lap penalty for speeding on pit road. 

Dale Earnhardt Jr. continued to struggle in his return from concussion symptoms last season. He came in 30th on Sunday, as he was assessed the same one-lap penalty as Johnson and battled issues with his car.

The Hendrick 88 Team tweeted out this remark from Earnhardt when he had to pit because of tire problems:

If there's a silver lining for Earnhardt and the No. 88 car, he was able to make it through the race without a crash. After being unable to finish at Daytona, he can take solace in small victories for now before the actual wins start coming.

Post-Race Reaction

After his unique come-from-behind win, Keselowski described the rigors of going through the 500-mile race, via NASCAR.com's Reid Spencer:

"

We had a lot of adversity today. There's no doubt about that. These races aren't easy. They're 500 miles, and a lot can happen, and when you think you've got it, they slip away. I know how it goes.

This one kind of fell in our lap at the end, and my team put it all together when it counted. They gave me a great Autotrader Ford Fusion, and we were able to get by Kyle there at the end. I knew that he wasn't going to be easy to pass. His car was great, and I was able to make the right moves to get by him.

"

In the same Spencer article, Larson didn't sound completely down about finishing second:

"

So, it was disappointing not to get the win, but I'm happy about our second-place run at a 1.5-mile (track) where I struggle. I had a blast today. The Target Chevy was good. I ran the bottom a lot, which is not typically something I do. So, it was a lot of fun to learn how to kind of use both feet to get around the bottom and to do a good job with that.

"

On the other side of the spectrum, per Spencer, Harvick had a more dejected attitude about how things played out. 

"Yeah, this place, for whatever reason, I just feel like I'm snake-bitten," Harvick said. "It's my own doing today. I really didn't think I was even close on pit lane. It gets to bouncing around, and I thought I was being conservative. Apparently, I wasn't. ... I was just pushing it too hard."