NASCAR went back down south to Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia for the first night race under the new high-banked configuration.
William Byron and team battled back from some early race problems and beat the rain to collect their second win at Atlanta, and their fourth of the season.
The 25-year-old collected his eighth career win, and became the 2,000th winner for Goodyear in NASCAR, with the 1,000th winner being Jeff Gordon, who drove the same #24 that Byron drives today.
After claiming the lead on a late-race restart, Byron held off the hard-charging Daniel Suarez and A.J. Allmendinger, who were both pushing the limits for their respective first wins of the season.
In the back of everyone’s head, the notion of an official race at lap 130 was a reality. The expected rain came, as the sun set, starting with raindrops, which progressed to an ominous red flag for a heavy fall– ending the race on lap 185 out of 260.
The deciding factor was influenced by a caution caused by Ryan Preece, who spun off of Ricky Stenhouse Jr, notably collecting Bubba Wallace.
While under caution, race control made the decision to wait out the rain by running several pace laps. This is the new protocol, as race officials didn’t want to overstep the set boundary, after the massive wreck stemmed from Daytona after running in the rain last season.
With the nostalgic race to the rain action, this brought surprise finishes for teams who badly needed it.
A.J. Allmendinger in 3rd, Michael McDowell in 4th, J.J. Yeley in 7th, Justin Haley in consecutive top-10s in 8th, Ricky Stenhouse Jr in 10th, Erik Jones in 11th, Austin Cindric in 12th, Todd Gilliland in 16th, Ty Dillon in 19th, and B.J. McLeod rounding out the top-20.
Despite the letdown of a finish, this race was a great sequel to what the Streets of Chicago brought fans, and the industry; with excitement, edgy racing, and something still relatively new in the fourth race at Atlanta.
“Willy B,” as he is known in the garage area, has picked up two wins in Atlanta [March 2022 and July 2023] stretch’s his streak to consecutive years. He leads all drivers with two wins on the new configuration, and he reclaims sole ownership of most wins this season with four.
With the race to the playoffs coming to the last few weeks, the cutline drama is picking up, and this race shook it up.
Coming into the weekend, Bubba Wallace was 15th (+15) and Ty Gibbs trailed in 16th ( +6). Both Toyota teammates now sit on the outside looking in at 17th (-3), and 19th (-26).
Daniel Suarez and Michael McDowell occupy 15th and 16th currently, both three points to the good above the cutline. A.J. Allmendinger is in 18th (-13), and Austin Cindric surges ahead in 20th (-40).
Chase Elliott’s march to the playoffs continues as he gains more ground on the cut line, now sitting 23rd (-60).
Five spots remain for the playoffs, as the Cup Series heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway, with only seven regular season races up for grabs.
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The Slow Restart 