William Byron celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga. Brynn Anderson/Associated Press
HAMPTON, Ga. — William Byron won the rain-shortened NASCAR race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday night for his second win in Atlanta in the last two years and his fourth victory of the season.
The threat of rain affected strategy as drivers fought to move toward the front of the field before weather delayed or ended the race.
On lap 185, with 75 laps to go, NASCAR ordered cars to pit road due to rain and the possibility of lightning. Cars were covered while officials waited to see if the rain ended. Only six minutes later, fans were warned of severe weather within 8 miles of the track and were encouraged to leave the stadium immediately.
The race became official after 130 laps.
Daniel Suarez, looking for his first win of 2023, was second. Michael McDowell was third.
“We knew the rain was coming,” McDowell said. “We wanted to give ourselves the best chance to win the race.”
Kevin Harvick, a three-time Atlanta winner, had a spin with 89 laps remaining. Harvick was able to drive to pit road without a caution, but the spin all but ended his hopes of a win in his final Atlanta race.
The increased threat of rain placed an increased emphasis on drivers to compete for top spots in the second stage, perhaps contributing to two wrecks that knocked out Ross Chastain, Kyle Larson and Austin Hill.
Denny Hamlin and Alex Bowman were involved in another crash late in the second stage, leaving Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney at the front of the field. The stage ended under caution.
Despite the stage win, Keselowski was left with a big decision as he talked with his crew about the threat of rain and the possibility of staying on the track. He chose to pit for fuel.
A collision between Bubba Wallace and Ryan Preece caused another caution early in the final stage, leaving Byron in the lead, ahead of Suarez.
Aric Almirola, who won the pole, led the first 39 laps before being passed by Joey Logano for the first time. Blaney held off Larson to win the first stage.
Chase Elliott, still looking for his first win of the season, finished 13th. Elliott won his first race at his Atlanta home track in the 2022 summer race.
Harvick’s first NASCAR win came on March 12, 2001, at Atlanta Motor Speedway in a No. 29 Chevrolet originally built for Dale Earnhardt Sr. before Earnhardt died in a crash at the Daytona 500 weeks earlier.
The 29 returned to AMS, this time driven by grand marshal Richard Childress, 77, who was the team owner for Harvick in 2001. With Harvick’s No. 4 Ford driving beside him, Childress led the field around the track to the green flag for Sunday night’s race. Childress held up three fingers in a tribute to Earnhardt after entering pit road, just as Harvick did after winning in 2001. Some fans answered Childress with their own three-finger Earnhardt tribute.
“I couldn’t be more excited about seeing it lead the field to the green and I know how excited Richard is,” Harvick said Saturday. “I’m excited as well but Richard has been super excited to drive it and that makes me happy, too.”
FORMULA ONE: On a day when Brad Pitt joined the Formula One grid to shoot his new movie, defending champion Max Verstappen was reduced to a cameo role in his own win, with F1 fans at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone, England, gripped by the fight for second place.
Apart from losing the lead to Lando Norris at the start, and then taking it back, Verstappen’s cruise to yet another win – his sixth in a row – lacked the Hollywood-style drama of Norris’ battle with seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton for second.
That fits a pattern this season of dominant wins for the Red Bull driver and increasingly hard-fought battles behind him as Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston Martin and now McLaren jostle to be the second-fastest team.
“It’s very confusing, to be honest, because every single race it’s someone else,” Verstappen said.
Filming for Pitt’s upcoming F1-themed movie had been taking place all weekend around the F1 sessions, using black-and-gold cars from the fictional APX team. Pitt himself and co-star Damson Idris joined the grid in racing suits before the start.
Verstappen extended his overall lead to 99 points over teammate Sergio Perez. First place in a race earns 25 points.
Starting on pole position, Verstappen was overtaken off the line by McLaren’s Norris in what he later admitted was a “terrible” start, but he swept back into the lead on Lap 5 and held on until the end. Red Bull has won all 10 races this year and 11 in a row including the final race of 2022, matching the record of McLaren with 11 consecutive wins in 1988.
Norris had been expected to drop back after qualifying a surprise second on the grid, but instead remained Verstappen’s closest challenger throughout the race. After a safety-car restart, he fought wheel-to-wheel with Hamilton, who had what were in theory faster tires, but held on to second for his and McLaren’s best result since 2021. “It was an amazing fight,” Norris said.
Hamilton, who started seventh, credited the crowd for powering him to a 14th career podium finish at his home race. “I didn’t do it, the crowd did,” he said. “I felt the energy, I felt the support. This is the reason we got back up there.”
McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri was a career-best fourth ahead of Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate, George Russell, as McLaren’s upgraded car proved far more competitive than even the team had predicted.
Perez was off the podium for the fourth time in five races, finishing sixth after starting 15th.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
