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Clint Bowyer reacts to controversial last lap caution at Atlanta

JHby:Jonathan Howard•02/23/25•

Jondean25

Christopher Bell Atlanta win
Mandatory Credit: Jason Allen-Imagn Images

Some of the hardest moments for a broadcaster are controversial finishes. Clint Bowyer had to experience that tonight in Atlanta. Already this season, last-lap cautions, or racing to the flag, has become a hot-button issue in NASCAR.

Last week at Daytona, the Cup Series raced back to the line as the field wrecked on the backstretch. Then this week in the Xfinity Series, a similar thing happened. However, NASCAR told the Cup Series field that they made a mistake in the Xfinity race and should have thrown the caution.

So when the time came to make that decision in the Cup race tonight, NASCAR hit the button. Clint Bowyer, Mike Joy, and Kevin Harvick did their best to break down the finish. It looked like we were about to get another three-wide finish as Carson Hocevar shot the middle between Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson.

It instead ended under caution with Bell declared the winner. Clint Bowyer addressed a fan on social media about NASCAR’s decision.

“Buddy, this is a difficult thing to address. Letting them race back seems so simple,” Bowyer explained. “It works until it doesn’t…And then it will be too late. What happens if they leave it green and one of them cars comes back up in front of a car running wide open and someone gets hurt bad?”

There are many NASCAR fans not happy with how things ended tonight. Clint Bowyer makes a great argument though. But why did NASCAR make it a topic of discussion by opening this can of worms last week?

Clint Bowyer brings up safety but did NASCAR make its own problem?

The safety argument is the best one to make for throwing a caution. When drivers are going up into the wall and there are more drivers coming up quickly behind them, it can get dangerous. NASCAR should throw the caution in those instances.

However, with the decision at Daytona a week ago, it felt like NASCAR set a precedent. Was the wreck at Atlanta that much worse than the Daytona wreck that it warranted the caution being thrown? It was on the backstretch going into Turn 3.

It feels like NASCAR made this a problem when they opened up this can of worms a week ago. Starting the season with an officiating controversy is not ideal.

Clint Bowyer and the FOX booth did a great job getting through the end of the race. It felt like we were going to get a Christopher Bell-Carson Hocevar-Kyle Larson instant classic. Then the caution came out. It was still another notch in the Bell-Larson rivalry this year and that we can be happy about.