Insiders rip NASCAR for Walmart sign falling on track at Atlanta

A Walmart sign fell on the track at Atlanta Motor Speedway during the NASCAR playoff race on Sunday, and two insiders have a lot to say about it. On The Teardown podcast, Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic expressed their anger for the Walmart sign having an impact on the end of the race.

“What makes me irrationally angry today is this sign because to me if you’re going to have your entire season come down to these little three-race mini playoffs and the one-race championship, every single little thing from the track standpoint has got to be buttoned up,” Gluck said. “You cannot have a situation where a sign for whatever reason is even possibly gonna fall on the track. This is the second time in three years this has happened. 2022 at The Roval in an elimination race, there was a caution called for a sign on the track and that changed the outcome of the playoffs for that year.

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“…Things happen, but if you’re going to put signage where race cars are driving by so fast that some people have fooled themselves into think there’s a vortex theory that it can control the weather, then you better have the signage locked down and secure. NASCAR cannot have something like that changing the outcome of a playoff race or the playoffs.”

More on the Walmart sign causing issues during NASCAR Atlanta race

Bianchi agreed with Gluck, saying that NASCAR should zip-tie the sign since Walmart sells zip ties. “It just can’t happen and especially on a track like this. Road course, it’s a little bit more forgivable because they set them up on the side of the course and everything like that,” he said.

“…The problem is here that the speed you’re going, if that falls and when it catches somebody on the windshield and it catches your vision, you can’t see. Or if it’s falling towards you and you’re like ‘What the hell is that thing coming towards me’ and you move. Here, the consequences could be dire. It’s a little more forgivable on road course by not so much here at the speeds and the style of track that this is. You cannot have that happen.”

The Walmart sign fell with 10 laps remaining in the Quaker State 400 at Atlanta. At that time, Daniel Suárez and Ty Gibbs were battling for the lead, but the sign falling on the rack led to a caution and Joey Logano won the race after the restart.