Walmart sign causes late caution during Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway
The caution flag came out with 11 laps to go in Sunday’s Quaker State 400 at Atlanta after a Walmart sign came flying onto the track.
A caution brought to you by Walmart certainly isn’t a normal occurrence, in fact, it’s probably a first in NASCAR history.
The flying sign did add some late drama to the playoff opener, a race which had gone 45 laps caution-free up to that point. Nine laps later, Noah Gragson’s spin brought out the seventh caution of the day and made sure the race ended with a green-white-checkered in overtime.
Joey Logano wins playoff opener at Atlanta
It was Joey Logano who prevailed in overtime, picking up his 34th career win and second this season. Logano came into the postseason as the No. 9 seed but is now the first driver to advance to the Round of 12. Going for his third Cup Series championship and second in the last three seasons, it’s a great start for Logano in the first of 10 playoff races.
“A lot of time here with my dad, my family racing legends cars and bandoleros,” Logano said after the race. “I remember we came down for the first time and said oh my gosh, look how awesome it is. You never dream what will happen 20-something years later.”
Overall, it was a clean sweep for Team Penske. In addition to Logano taking the checkered flag, Ryan Blaney won Stage 1 and Austin Cindric got it done in Stage 2. Blaney finished P3, while Cindric came in 11th.
“It was definitely a huge effort by everybody,” Blaney said. “I didn’t know how damaged it was. I can’t see it, obviously. Can’t believe it ended up straightening out. I could get through traffic and yeah, had a shot to win.”