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NASCAR insider: Officials 'had to throw' caution during overtime of Atlanta race

Brian Jones Profile Picby:Brian Jones•02/23/25•

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NASCAR Atlanta
Feb 16, 2025; Daytona Beach, Florida, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Alex Bowman (48), driver Christopher Bell (20) and driver Cole Custer (41) race three wide during the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images

A NASCAR insider believed the governing body made the right call when it came to throwing the caution flag during overtime of the Atlanta Cup Series race. On The Teardown podcast, Jeff Gluck of The Athletic explained why NASCAR had to throw the caution flag that led to Christopher Bell winning the race.

“They had to throw it,” Gluck said to his co-host Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic. “Here’s the thing… Everybody’s upset because this all starts with the inconsistency.”

Gluck then talked about how NASCAR threw a caution flag during the duel at Daytona when they should have let the finish play out. He also discussed the Xfinity race where there was a wreck and didn’t throw the caution until later. Gluck mentioned the Daytona 500 and how NASCAR didn’t throw the caution during overtime despite a wreck during the final lap.

“When they come in the driver’s meeting this morning and say, ‘We wish we hadn’t done that, and we’re not going to do that again,’ They had to do it,” Gluck stated. “It’s just inconsistent, and we’re seeing not just from weekend to weekend inconsistency, but race to race inconsistency. That’s where I think all this outrage is coming from.”

NASCAR insider shares more on caution flag thrown at Atlanta race

Later in the episode, Gluck shared more of his thoughts on NASCAR’s inconsistencies in throwing and not throwing caution flags at the end of races. “I’m not going to criticize NASCAR for airing on the side of safety,” he said.

“I just think the problem is yesterday it wasn’t a caution. Literally yesterday, literally one week ago, it wasn’t a caution. Then when you see this situation, and it’s like man, this would have been an awesome finish, you’re like ‘Ah!’ Again, it was the right call. Listen, I get why to everybody it sounds hypocritical, I get why people want to blame me because I threw a fit on Twitter about it. Fine. …Let’s have some sort of sanity here. If you want to blame me, whatever, it’s fine.”

During overtime, Josh Berry, Justin Haley and Ryan Preece collided on the backstretch. When the caution flag was thrown, Christoper Bell was leading, which led to him being declared the winner. The only time Bell led was during the final lap, and he beat out Carson Hocevar and Kyle Larson for the victory.