NASCAR Monday Mash-Up: Three-wide Cup Series thriller caps off Atlanta weekend
There were doubters who dismissed the reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway, and last night the NASCAR Cup Series silenced them all. It felt like stock car racing captured the sports world on Sunday night with a photo finish for the history books.
NASCAR has been no stranger to fantastic finishes before. There have been wins by the thinnest of margins on superspeedways, short tracks, intermediate tracks – but none quite like the finish we saw last night.
Drivers had to avoid wrecks throughout the afternoon and into the evening. At different points in this race, fuel mattered, tires mattered, and of course, Lady Luck had a hand in it all. Let’s get into the start of the weekend with the Truck and Xfinity Series then get to Sunday’s instant classic.
All gas, no brakes for Christian Eckes
The Craftsman Truck Series took a lot of heat in Atlanta for poor racing, and many thought we’d see a repeat this week. Daniel Dye began the weekend by claiming the pole award, first of his career, but the racing is where things got interesting.
Christian Eckes looked like he could go on to win this race, and he did win Stage 1. However, Eckes did that without any brakes on his truck and it ultimately led to him being a DNF in the race.
Bayley Currey brings back the NASCAR Convertible Series
Meanwhile, Bayley Currey, who has been impressive in his Niece Motorsports truck despite two DNFs, had an issue. After taking windshield damage, the roof on Currey’s truck ripped off in the draft.
Since Currey didn’t have a roof, NASCAR told them they were done. Another DNF for Currey but his moment is coming with Niece.
Kyle Busch shows the youngsters how it’s done
In his debut with Spire Motorsports, Kyle Busch did Kyle Busch things. Busch won Stage 2, he was in the lead pack all afternoon, and he took to the lead in the final five laps when the moment opened up.
Rowdy earned his 65th win in the Truck Series, a NASCAR record for the series. No one was brave enough to form a second line and challenge him, so Busch brought it home.
Jesse Love learns a big lesson in rookie NASCAR season
Another week, another lesson learned for Jesse Love after winning the pole again and leading a lot of laps. This race turned into a fuel-saving game at the end and a number of drivers ran out on the final restart.
Austin Hill would go on to win this race. Again, no one in the Xfinity Series race wanted to form a second line, and they paid for it as Hill sped away from the field.
Shane van Gisbergen earns career-best finish
In that same Raptor 250 Xfinity Series race, Shane van Gisbergen impressed all day. He kept a clean car, moved through the field at times, and came away with a P3 finish.
The three-time Supercars champion was “stoked” afterward to have such a successful race. Folks, this guy might just be the real deal.
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If the glove fits…
We began Sunday with some wild news. Joey Logano was hit with two penalties for an altered glove he used in qualifying.
With webbing between the index finger and thumb, Logano’s team altered a piece of safety equipment. NASCAR might step in and add additional penalties this week.
NASCAR chaos early and often in Atlanta
Drafting-style racing is going to cause issues and we had them early and often in this race. A stack-up going into Lap 2 of the Ambetter Health 400 involved 16 different cars.
Josh Williams was a DNF and a handful of others had major damage. Between the Logano penalties and this early wreck, we should have all known we were in store for something historic.
Daniel Suárez, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney – Oh, My!
Despite a race with nine cautions, Atlanta was exciting and unpredictable from start to finish. The final restart and the last few laps set up for a thrilling finish.
Just as it looked like Ryan Blaney would throw the right amount of blocks, Kyle Busch shot up the middle, Daniel Suárez on the outside. A drag race down the frontstretch and it was Suárez who picked up the win by just 0.003 seconds.
NASCAR got it right with Atlanta, onto Las Vegas
Fans and drivers were not excited about the new Atlanta. However, last season we saw flashes of what this track could be. Last night, the Cup Series showed that drivers just have to be willing to go two, three, and sometimes four wide to make this track work.
For those who don’t like the drafting, good news. Las Vegas is coming up and given the history the Next Gen has on 1.5-mile tracks, fans should be excited. Kyle Busch takes the early season points lead over William Byron, 77 points to 76.
Put this race right up there with the best in NASCAR history. For the finish alone, we will be talking about this one for a long time.