(Motorsport-Total.com) – William Byron (Hendrick-Chevrolet) is the winner of the first race of the NASCAR Cup Series at the converted Atlanta Motor Speedway. Racing on the now steeper and narrower 1.5-mile oval on Sunday was very reminiscent of racing on the big superspeedways.
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William Byron (Hendrick-Chevrolet) is the fifth winner in five cup races in 2022
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No wonder: the engine and aero package for superspeedways (510 hp and 18 centimeter high rear spoiler) was used for the first time in Atlanta. The result was the pack racing so typical of Daytona and Talladega, which is now also available in Atlanta. (Photos: NASCAR in Atlanta)
46 lead changes, interrupted by eleven yellow periods, mean a new record for Atlanta. And this record is clearly due to the conversion. “It was so different, intermediate style with a bit of speedway touch,” Byron describes the new Atlanta racing in his first words. (Result: NASCAR in Atlanta)
Byron is the fifth different winner in five races in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season. Three drivers have already won in the ranks of Hendrick Motorsports. The other two winners of the season come from the Penske and Stewart/Haas camps. Conversely, this means that Toyota is still waiting for a race win in the Gen7 or next-gen era.
Because the qualifying scheduled for Friday might not take place due to the weather, the starting grid was determined using the calculation formula that had been used regularly for the past year and a half. Result: Chase Briscoe (Stewart/Haas-Ford), who clinched his first cup win in Phoenix last weekend, started the first cup race on the converted Atlanta oval from the front.
Stage wins for Byron and Blaney amidst chaos
The three race segments were almost the same length this time (105-105-115 laps). In the first, Ross Chastain (Trackhouse-Chevrolet) crashed while in the lead with a puncture and just before the stage flag a crash involving Austin Dillon (Childress-Chevrolet) and Kyle Busch (Gibbs-Toyota), which also included Ty Dillon (Petty/GMS-Chevrolet) was involved.
That was the end of the race for the Dillon Brothers. Kyle Busch initially drove on, but later had to go to the garage with consequential damage. Meanwhile, Stage 1 ended under yellow: William Byron was ahead, followed by Denny Hamlin (Gibbs-Toyota) and Daniel Suarez (Trackhouse-Chevrolet).
The second segment of the race saw Tyler Reddick (Childress-Chevrolet) crash following a puncture involving numerous other drivers including Kyle Larson (Hendrick-Chevrolet), Joey Logano (Penske-Ford) and Kurt Busch (23XI-Toyota) .
And just before the stage flag, another front runner suffered tire damage. After Ross Chastain in Stage 1, it was Ricky Stenhouse (JTG-Chevrolet) in Stage 2. Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric (Penske-Ford) was involved in the crash.
The same applies to Kevin Harvick (Stewart/Haas-Ford), who led a few laps in front of Stenhouse, and also to Erik Jones (Petty/GMS-Chevrolet). It was closing time for Stenhouse and Cindric.
After another crash – between Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin – the second segment of the race under yellow also came to an end. Ryan Blaney (Penske-Ford) was ahead, followed by Chase Elliott (Hendrick-Chevrolet) and Chase Briscoe, who started from first place on the grid. However, the tumultuous race for both Larson and Hamlin came to an end at this point.
Byron blocks final attacks – Christopher Bell punished
Tire damage (all of which occurred on the right rear this time) was also evident in the crucial third segment of the race. For this reason, Cup rookie Todd Gilliland (Front Row Ford) was hit with 25 laps to go. In an effort to avoid the spinning car, Cody Ware (Ware-Ford) crashed into the inside barrier of the backstretch.
For some, the tenth yellow phase of the day saw the last four-tire stop in the pits. At the restart, however, almost a dozen cars with worn tires were ahead. Hendrick driver William Byron led ahead of Bubba Wallace (23XI-Toyota). Aric Almirola (Stewart/Haas-Ford) and Penske driver Ryan Blaney followed in the second row.
Almirola was turned around by Ross Chastain and it was immediately yellow once more. The next restart took place 13 laps before the end – and this should actually be the last. The group with fresh tires was led by Martin Truex Jr. (Gibbs-Toyota) and Alex Bowman (Hendrick-Chevrolet). But they didn’t make it all the way to the front.
Entering the final lap, Byron was leading ahead of Wallace. A little further back, Blaney and Chase Briscoe hit the wall, but it stayed green. In the last corner, Byron blocked the attacks of Chastain and Christopher Bell (Gibbs-Toyota). The latter had overtaken Chastain on the back straight below the solid line and was penalized for it. Instead of second, Bell was classified as 23rd in the final result.
However, none of this changed anything regarding Byron’s victory. There was one last crash at the finish line, involving Wallace in the lead. Kurt Busch took third place behind Byron and Chastain, followed by Daniel Suarez and Corey LaJoie (Spire-Chevrolet). Truex Jr. finished top of those on fresh tires in P8.
First circuit race for the Gen7 car is coming up
Next Sunday, for the first time in the era of Gen7 or next-gen cars, there will be a circuit on the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, where a NASCAR race was held for the first time last year. At that time, however, this was characterized by persistent rainfall.
