William Byron won the rain-shortened NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday night for his series-high fourth victory of 2023.
The NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway went under the red flag due to rain with 185 of 260 laps completed at the 1.54-mile quad-oval.
William Byron was deemed the winner of the Quaker State 400 available at Walmart as inclement weather hit the track during the Final Stage of Sunday’s race. Because the event was past its halfway mark, NASCAR officials deemed the event complete if unable to restart the event Sunday night.
Byron headed the field when the caution flag waved for a Ryan Preece spin at Lap 178, just before rain enveloped the 1.54-mile quad-oval. With the event past its halfway distance, NASCAR officials had the option to rule the race complete when weather did not allow the series to restart the race. The race was deemed official with 185 of a scheduled 260 laps completed.
Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suárez finished in second place ahead of AJ Allmendinger, Michael McDowell and Kyle Busch. Brad Keselowski, JJ Yeley, Ryan Blaney, Justin Haley and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. completed the top 10.
Byron spun across the frontstretch at Lap 80 after contact from Corey LaJoie to his left rear, ultimately resulting in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet falling off the lead lap. Byron received the free pass to get back onto the lead lap during the next caution when teammate Kyle Larson went for a spin in Turn 4.
As teams raced the radar, Byron was able to stretch his fuel mileage to position himself at the front of the field as the inclement weather made its way to the track in Hampton, Georgia.
A multicar crash at Lap 123 saw Corey LaJoie spin after contact with Erik Jones exiting Turn 2. LaJoie’s No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet slid high and contacted Tyler Reddick’s car before spinning sideways, collecting Ty Gibbs and Ross Chastain. Chastain, a winner two races ago at Nashville Superspeedway, was unable to get his car repaired before the eight-minute Damaged Vehicle Policy clock hit zero, ending his race early and relegating him to a 35th-place finish.
Blaney scored the Stage 1 win in a photo finish over Larson while Keselowski won Stage 2 under caution.
Chase Elliott is in must win territory for making the 2023 playoffs. He lost 5 points at Atlanta and currently sits 60 points behind the playoff cutline. Elliott missed six race this season after breaking his leg while snowboarding, and one when suspended after NASCAR ruled he deliberately wrecked Denny Hamlin.
