The best super-speedway in NASCAR provided yet another classic race Sunday afternoon as Christopher Bell won at Atlanta. Many storylines were up front on the final restart, but NASCAR decided to let themselves control the ending.
Recently, NASCAR’s biggest issue has been finishing without controversy at a super-speedway. Regardless of the series, the officiating team continues to disappoint fans and drivers alike. Below are the highlights and lowlights from this weekend’s race.
Ambetter Health 400 Highlights
Racing Product
Atlanta produced over 40 lead changes once again. The track seems to be the only super-speedway that gives drivers a run without the draft. This helped with multiple lanes of racing, and a fantastic amount of comers and goers to the front of the field. Once Daytona’s surface wears down, then the Cup Series will be a fun watch at the World Center of Racing. Overall, Atlanta’s racing will continue to be one of the best.
Toyota
It was a bad start to the weekend for those in the Toyota camp as no Camry had a top ten qualifying spot. Now that the weekend is over, four Toyotas made the top ten, including race winner Christopher Bell. It seems the manufacturer has embodied the idea that “it does not matter where you start, only where you finish.”
Ambetter Health 400 Lowlights
Officiating
After not throwing the caution flag at the end of the Daytona 500, it seemed we finally found NASCAR’s standard for when to throw a caution. Even during Saturday’s Xfinity Series race, the officiating tower did not throw a caution during a last lap wreck. So why was the yellow flag thrown in this situation?
Well beginning the day, NASCAR told teams in the drivers meeting that no caution being thrown during the Xfinity race’s finish was “on us”. That seemed to be the mindset, but consistency is now an issue. Only two weeks into the season, and the sports biggest problem is their officiating. No matter the league, officiating is the last thing anyone wants to have a problem with.
Finally, the only fix seems to be creating a rule for the issue. NASCAR needs to set the precedent that a caution is a caution regardless of when the accident happens. Yes, it makes many fans upset that they can not race back to the line, but safety is the sports highest priority.
Carson Hocevar
The 22-year-old earned a second-place finish, a career-best. The Cup Series’ reigning rookie of the year put himself in undesirable places, but he made do. The problem for the 77 driver? He did not make any friends. Kyle Busch shared his displeasure saying he would wreck Hocevar, while Ryan Blaney and Ross Chastain also had their run ins with the Spire Motorsport’s driver. While Hocevar was racing for the win, he may have made it tougher on himself later into the season.
Unofficial Race Results
Below are the unofficial results from today’s race at Atlanta:
Fast Forward
The Cup Series heads to Austin, Texas for Circuit of the Americas. This will be the first road course of the season for NASCAR. William Byron won the race last season.
