NASCAR Cup Series at Atlanta: Cold Lanta

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A chilly Sunday in Atlanta saw NASCAR take on race five of the season. Joey Logano dominated the first stage taking home the stage win. We would see Austin Cindric bring home the green and white checker at the end of stage two. Unlike the first two races of the weekend, the talent of the Cup Series was on full display again this week. There was only one caution for cause in the first two stages. The third stage was a bit wilder. In the third stage, Ross Chastain would run up on the bumper of Kevin Harvick to get the 4 loose which spun out the four in front of the field taking out several cars in the process. After that, Aric Almirola would lose a tire after staying out on an old tire and spin up infront of Kyle Larson taking him out in the process.

The last 20 laps or so would see a lot of side of by side racing with Brad Keselowski taking the lead and leading much of the remainder of the race before ultimately losing the lead to Joey Logano on the last lap. Logano would go on to win the race.

For me, this was the best race since Daytona. I have to say, I don’t know what NASCAR can do to satiate the fan base. I don’t personally don’t know how to make a race any more exciting than this weekend’s race was. I still think that these are the best teams and drivers in the world of stock car racing and that makes it so that no matter what the sanctioning body does the car will be extremely close to rolling off the truck and only have some weekends only one lap of the qualifying lap it leaves no opportunity to adjust on the car aside from the simple things that you can do on pit road.

The other thing I want to talk able is Josh Williams. Normally I don’t touch on the Xfinity Series but I could not let this pass without commenting on it. After Josh Williams had been involved in a crash and sustained damage to the nose of his car he came down pit road where the team made an attempt at a repair. However, due to the cold temperatures in Atlanta this weekend the tape they used to try and make this repair didn’t stick very well and came unstuck causing a subsequent caution. Per the NASCAR rule book Section 8.8.9.1 of the Xfinity Series Rule Book states that with the Damaged Vehicle Policy, NASCAR can order a car off the track.

“At the discretion of the Series Managing Director, if the damaged vehicle elects not to enter pit road on the first opportunity or if a damaged vehicle exits pit road before sufficient repairs had been made and thereafter causes or extends a caution (e.g. leaking fluid, debris, etc.), then said vehicle may incur a lap(s) or time penalty or may not be permitted to return to the Race.”)

Josh Williams was told to bring his car behind the was which would have ended his race for the weekend. In protest of this ruling, Josh Williams decided to park his car at the start-finish line and exit the vehicle. Josh Williams stated over the radio that he had never heard of such a call being made. In my opinion, this is a case of ignorance of the law is no excuse. I have noticed a groundswell of support for Josh Williams for both the fanbase and the garage in what I suspect is a case of stickittothemaneosis. I thought and I think I’m the only one that thought it was a pretty classless and petty thing of Josh Williams to do.

Race Results
POS	DRIVER	CAR	MANUFACTURER	LAPS	START	LED	PTS	BONUS	PENALTY
1	Joey Logano	22	Ford	260	1	140	59	19	0
2	Brad Keselowski	6	Ford	260	4	47	45	10	0
3	Christopher Bell	20	Toyota	260	10	6	39	5	0
4	Corey LaJoie	7	Chevrolet	260	31	0	34	1	0
5	Tyler Reddick	45	Toyota	260	16	0	39	7	0
6	Denny Hamlin	11	Toyota	260	14	14	40	9	0
7	Ryan Blaney	12	Ford	260	3	5	37	7	0
8	Erik Jones	43	Chevrolet	260	28	0	29	0	0
9	Ty Gibbs	54	Toyota	260	35	0	28	0	0
10	Kyle Busch	8	Chevrolet	260	17	7	31	4	0
11	Austin Cindric	2	Ford	260	2	5	45	19	0
12	Noah Gragson	42	Chevrolet	260	22	0	25	0	0
13	Ross Chastain	1	Chevrolet	260	18	5	24	0	0
14	Alex Bowman	48	Chevrolet	260	15	0	31	8	0
15	Todd Gilliland	38	Ford	260	23	0	22	0	0
16	AJ Allmendinger	16	Chevrolet	260	30	0	21	0	0
17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	47	Chevrolet	260	27	7	20	0	0
18	Josh Berry	9	Chevrolet	260	21	0	0	0	0
19	Martin Truex Jr.	19	Toyota	260	29	0	23	5	0
20	Austin Dillon	3	Chevrolet	260	13	0	17	0	0
21	Michael McDowell	34	Ford	260	12	0	16	0	0
22	Justin Haley	31	Chevrolet	260	20	0	15	0	0
23	Ty Dillon	77	Chevrolet	260	26	0	14	0	0
24	Chase Briscoe	14	Ford	259	8	0	13	0	0
25	Cody Ware	51	Ford	258	32	1	12	0	0
26	J.J. Yeley	15	Ford	258	34	0	11	0	0
27	Bubba Wallace	23	Toyota	255	19	0	10	0	0
28	Ryan Preece	41	Ford	244	24	0	9	0	0
29	Daniel Suarez	99	Chevrolet	213	25	0	10	2	0
30	Aric Almirola	10	Ford	208	5	17	7	0	0
31	Kyle Larson	5	Chevrolet	208	9	0	6	0	0
32	William Byron	24	Chevrolet	192	11	0	11	6	0
33	Kevin Harvick	4	Ford	190	6	1	4	0	0
34	Harrison Burton	21	Ford	190	33	0	3	0	0
35	Chris Buescher	17	Ford	189	7	5	10	8	0
36	B.J. McLeod	78	Chevrolet	189	36	0	1	0	0