With rain showers bearing down on Atlanta Motor Speedway William Byron used some pit strategy to score the victory in Sunday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race.
It was an unlikely win for Byron, who had to rebound from a pit road penalty at the end of segment 1 and a spin off the front bumper of Corey LaJoie on lap 80.
“Honestly, I don’t completely understand this one”, Byron said. “It’s a really good feeling. I’ve never had a rain victory like this”
When the leaders came to pit road after the end of the second segment at lap 160, Byron was among 16 cars to stay out, gambling on an oncoming storm cutting the race short of its scheduled 260 laps.
Byron took the lead from A.J. Allmendinger six laps later, and held over Daniel Suarez when the final caution flew for a spin by Ryan Preece and Bubba Wallace with 82 laps to go.
Rain started to fall over the 1.5-mile raceway while the cars circled under caution, and NASCAR brought the field to pit road under the red flag with 75 laps remaining.
Moments later, the race was called by rain, handing Byron his fourth win of the season.
“It’s cool – we went through so much throughout the night,” said Byron. “Spinning through the infield. Destroyed the bottom of the car dragging it around the apron trying to stay on the lead lap. At that point, you just don’t have the grip, so I was real edgy back in traffic. But Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) made a good call to pit there and then stay out.
“Once we got towards the front, it was OK. We could honestly make the right decisions. Got the lead from A.J. (Allmendinger) and just was able to manage the run. Just a crazy night.”
Suarez was pushing hard coming to the final caution of the night, but when the rain began to fall, he had to settle for second.
“I feel like I have mixed feelings, but overall, very proud of my No. 99 Quaker State Chevy team,” said Suarez. “It’s been a little bit rough lately because we’ve had the speed, but we haven’t had the results, so this feels good.”
Allmendinger had the lead on the final restart, and rolled home with a third place finish. Michael McDowell finished in fourth, with Kyle Busch in fifth.
Brad Keselowski, J.J. Yeley, Ryan Blaney, Justin Haley, and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. rounded out the top 10.
Dawsonville, Georgia’s Chase Elliott – the defending winner of the race – was never a factor on the night, running outside of the top 15 most of the night. In the end, he finished 13th.
The race was plagued by six cautions for on track incidents, including a couple of multi-car melees.
One of the most substantial came on lap 93, when Kyle Larson spun off of Erik Jones, gathering up Chase Briscoe and Winston, Georgia’s Austin Hill in the process.
Hill’s night was over. Larson was able to continue, but would later get into the wall, leaving his car with enough damage to sideline it for the rest of night.
Another broke out on lap 123, when Corey LaJoie spun in turn two after contact with Jones, gathering up Ty Gibbs, Ross Chastain, Todd Gilliland, and Martin Truex, Jr. All cars were able to continue.
With five laps to go in the second segment, contact between Denny Hamlin and Alex Bowman sent both spinning on the frontstretch. The ensuing caution ended the segment under the yellow flag, opening the door for the pit strategy that landed Byron in victory lane.
NASCAR Cup Series
Atlanta Motor Speedway – Hampton, GA
Quaker State 400 – July 9, 2023
1. (18) William Byron, Chevrolet, 185.
2. (26) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 185.
3. (19) A.J. Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 185.
4. (20) Michael McDowell, Ford, 185.
5. (22) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 185.
6. (11) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 185.
7. (24) J.J. Yeley(i), Ford, 185.
8. (17) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 185.
9. (2) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 185.
10. (29) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Chevrolet, 185.
11. (25) Erik Jones,Chevrolet, 185.
12. (10) Austin Cindric, Ford, 185.
13. (23) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 185.
14. (14) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 185.
15. (15) Chris Buescher, Ford, 185.
16. (9) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 185.
17. (4) Joey Logano, Ford, 185.
18. (1) Aric Almirola, Ford, 185.
19. (27) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 185.
20. (35) B.J. McLeod, Chevrolet, 185.
21. (33) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 185.
22. (3) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 185.
23. (34) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 185.
24. (13) Ryan Preece, Ford, 185.
25. (37) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 185.
26. (36) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 185.
27. (12) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 185.
28. (5) Harrison Burton, Ford, 184.
29. (16) Martin Truex, Jr., Toyota, 184.
30. (6) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 181.
31. (28) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 179.
32. (21) Cole Custer(i), Ford, 178.
33. (31) Noah Gragson #, Chevrolet, 174.
34. (7) Ty Gibbs #, Toyota, 150.
35. (30) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, DVP, 124.
36. (8) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, Accident, 111.
37. (32) Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, DVP, 92.
Average Speed: 118.475 MPH.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 24 Mins, 17 Secs. Margin of Victory: Under Caution.
Caution Flags: 7 for 43 laps.
Lead Changes: 18 among 12 drivers.
Lap Leaders: A. Almirola 1-39; J. Logano 40; A. Almirola 41-47; J. Logano 48-57; R. Blaney 58-62; B. McLeod 63; K. Larson 64-67; R. Blaney 68-81; B. Wallace 82-86; M. Truex Jr. 87-91; C. Buescher 92-130; A. Cindric 131-136; B. Keselowski 137; A. Cindric 138-141; B. Keselowski 142-145; R. Blaney 146; B. Keselowski 147-160; A. Allmendinger 161-166; W. Byron 167-185.
Stage 1 Top 10: 12, 5, 19, 22, 24, 20, 2, 34, 45, 10
Stage 2 Top 10: 6, 12, 17, 2, 16, 23, 31, 34, 20, 41
Playoff Standings: 1. William Byron – 628 (4 Wins); 2. Kyle Busch – 592 (3 Wins); 3. Martin Truex, Jr. – 607 (2 Wins); 4. Kyle Larson – 531 (2 Wins); 5. Christopher Bell – 591 (1 Win); 6. Ross Chastain – 575 (1 Win); 7. Denny Hamlin – 561 (1 Win); 8. Ryan Blaney – 553 (1 Win); 9. Joey Logano – 518 (1 Win); 10. Tyler Reddick – 475 (1 Win); 11. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. – 445 (1 Win); 12. Kevin Harvick – 530; 13. Chris Buescher – 506; 14. Brad Keselowski – 504; 15. Daniel Suarez – 407; 16. Michael McDowell – 407.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
