NASCAR Notebook: Atlanta Chaos Leaves Wallace Frustrated, Larson Regretful
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Atlanta Chaos Leaves Wallace FrustratedIcon Sportswire - Getty ImagesBubba Wallace may be second in the NASCAR Cup Series driver standings after the season’s first two races, but disappointment has stalked him at both events.
First it was Daytona where he finished 10th, and then a move he made in the closing stages of the Autotrader 400 at EchoPark Speedway left him with an eighth-place finish. For the second straight week, Wallace had to watch 23XI Racing teammate Tyler Reddick drive into victory lane.
Wallace said he had to go back and watch the replay of the race’s final two laps to see what he did wrong. He was leading as the field headed to the white flag, but when he moved up to block Carson Hocevar, the Spire Motorsports driver dove to the inside of Wallace and took several cars with him. That left Wallace with no one to push him.
“I didn’t think I moved up that much to allow… to put myself up top, top of (turn) three,” said Wallace, who led 46 laps in the race that ended in double overtime. “Unfortunate, but man, what a race car we had today (Sunday). Man, what could have been. Go on to COTA (Circuit of the Americas) and pray for me there.”
Larson Takes Blame for Accident
Kyle Larson led eight times for 48 laps in the Autotrader 400’s first 160 laps, but as he approached the end of Stage 2, he made a costly mistake. He tried to move from the outside lane to the bottom, but he didn’t realize Shane van Gisbergen was on his inside.
Kyle Larson’s car gets towed off track. Icon Sportswire - Getty Images“I just messed up,” Larson said after being eliminated from the race that ended in double overtime with Tyler Reddick the victor.
“I knew the No. 45 (Reddick) was inside of me at one point of the corner, but I got clear of him. I didn’t quite realize that the No. 97 (Van Gisbergen) had gotten inside of him. So, once I was clear, I just wanted to cut distance and short-cut my way to the Stage finish. The No. 97 was out of my mirror. I just hung a quick left and ran right into him. There was nothing anyone else did wrong, it was all on me.”
While Larson had to settle for a 32nd-place finish, van Gisbergen was able to continue in the event. He eventually finished sixth, his best finish on an oval.
Busch Angry at Gragson
Kyle Busch, who won his third consecutive NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at EchoPark Speedway on Saturday, left the Cup Series race the following day an angry man due to a wreck that eliminated him.
“I just didn’t have the best of exits off of turn two and I was a little crooked getting to the wall,” Busch explained. “I just got rammed by the No. 4 (Noah Gragson). No check-up or anything. He didn’t give me an opportunity to make sure I was straight before hitting me or get into me gently to just try and get the momentum back going again. He just drove right through me. It sucks for this… team and everyone at Richard Childress Racing. We definitely would have finished better than where we were.”
Busch’s 34th-place finish left him 24th in the driver standings after two races.
Four Multi-Car Crashes Take A Toll
The superspeedway-style racing at the 1.54-mile EchoPark Speedway is mentally draining on the drivers and with the close-quarters racing at the track’s high speeds, multi-car crashes have become the norm.
During Sunday’s Autotrader 400, there were four wrecks involving seven or more cars.
The first occurred on lap 82 in turn three and involved eight cars—Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, Josh Berry, Riley Herbst, Cole Custer, John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Gibbs, and B.J. McLeod. Only Gibbs and Berry were eliminated from the race.
The second one occurred on lap 103 in turn two and gobbled up seven cars. Those involved were Austin Dillon, Todd Gilliland, Herbst, Zane Smith, Custer, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and McLeod. This time Stenhouse was eliminated.
Icon Sportswire - Getty ImagesNext came a nine-car crash on the frontstretch on lap 224. That one involved Hamlin, A.J. Allmendinger, Chris Buescher, Joey Logano, William Byron, Reddick, Alex Bowman, Michael McDowell and Connor Zilisch. That wreck eliminated Zilisch.
However, it was the 11-car pileup in turn three on lap 257 that stopped the race for 10 minutes 31 seconds and sent it into overtime. That involved Austin Cindric, Dillon, Noah Gragson, Hamlin, Logano, Byron, Gilliland, Custer, Nemechek, Erik Jones and Cody Ware. Byron accepted the blame for that accident.
“I just didn’t have much grip, so I was searching for air and got loose,” said Byron, who finished 28th. “It was on me. I was just pushing hard and had to kind of put myself in some weird spots. I didn’t have any steering, so the further I got down the track, I just kept turning to the right. When I slowed down, I was just hoping I could get back to pit road, but then I got clocked.
“It was a wild race. It was crazy, but nothing out of the ordinary.”
NASCAR Cup Series Race
Autotrader 400
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Sunday’s Results
FINISH/START/CAR/DRIVER/MANUFACTURER/LAPS
1. (1) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 271
2. (34) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 271
3. (21) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 271
4. (15) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 271
5. (12) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 271
6. (28) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 271
7. (6) Zane Smith, Ford, 271
8. (9) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 271
9. (26) Ryan Preece, Ford, 271
10. (22) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 271
11. (4) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 271
12. (19) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 271
13. (29) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 271
14. (11) Noah Gragson, Ford, 271
15. (7) Chris Buescher, Ford, 271
16. (17) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 271
17. (5) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 271
18. (2) Joey Logano, Ford, 271
19. (24) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 271
20. (71) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 271
21. (32) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 271
22. (27) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 270
23. (36) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 269
24. (23) Erik Jones, Toyota, 269
25. (35) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 258 Accident
26. (30) Austin Cindric, Ford, 257 Accident 2
27. (18) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 257 Accident
28. (13) William Byron, Chevrolet, 256 Accident
29. (33) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 256 Accident
30. (31) Connor Zilisch, Chevrolet, 223 Accident
31. (38) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, 220 Accident
32. (16) Kyle Larson Valvoline, Chevrolet, 160 Accident
33. (8) Riley Herbst, Toyota, 157
34. (14) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 124
35. (37) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, 111 Accident
36. (3) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 103 Accident
37. (25) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 81 Accident
38. (10) Josh Berry, Ford, 81 Accident
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 32 Mins, 27 Secs
Average Speed: 117.865 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.164 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 2, 23, 5, 24, 9, 45, 8, 22, 88, 12
Stage 2 Top 10: 23, 24, 19, 45, 9, 77, 60, 12, 6, 97
Fastest Lap Bonus: #41, lap 246/29.715
Failed to Qualify: None
Caution Flags: 10 for 67 laps; Laps: 62-68 (Stage 1 Conclusion [77]); 83-92 (Nos. 11, 20, 21, 35, 41, 42, 54, 78 Incident Turn 3 [77]); 104-110 (Nos. 3, 34, 35, 38, 41, 47, 78 Incident Turn 2 [None]); 126-131 (No. 8 Incident Backstretch [44]); 161-169 (Nos. 5, 97 Incident Turn 4 / Stage 2 Conclusion [34]); 200-204 (No. 97 Spin Turn 4 [34]); 225-231 (Nos. 11, 16, 17, 22, 24, 45, 48, 71, 88 Incident Frontstretch [44]); 239-243 (Nos. 22, 77 Incident Turn 4 [48]); 258-265 (Nos. 2, 3, 4, 11, 22, 24, 34, 41, 42, 43, 51 Incident Turn 3 [Red Flag 00:10:31] [48]); 267-269 (Nos. 1, 20, 23, 45, 77 Incident Turn 1 [22]).
Lead Changes: 57 among 14 drivers; T. Reddick 0; J. Logano 1; T. Reddick 2; J. Logano 3; T. Reddick 4-5; J. Logano 6-18; T. Reddick 19-23; B. Keselowski 24-28; T. Reddick 29; C. Elliott 30; B. Keselowski 31-33; T. Reddick 34; J. Logano 35-45; C. Elliott 46-53; K. Larson 54; C. Elliott 55-56; K. Larson 57; B. Wallace 58-59; A. Cindric 60-63; B. Keselowski 64; K. Larson 65-71; B. Wallace 72-79; K. Larson 80-87; S. Van Gisbergen 88; K. Larson 89-100; B. Wallace 101-102; T. Reddick 103-109; B. Wallace 110; T. Reddick 111-121; B. Wallace 122; T. Reddick 123-130; B. Wallace 131; T. Reddick 132-133; K. Larson 134-142; B. Wallace 143; K. Larson 144-149; C. Briscoe 150-155; K. Larson 156-159; B. Wallace 160-164; C. Hocevar 165; R. Blaney 166-169; Z. Smith 170; B. Keselowski 171; D. Hamlin 172-176; C. Briscoe 177-196; R. Blaney 197; C. Briscoe 198; B. Wallace 199-200; C. Hocevar 201; D. Hamlin 202-204; T. Reddick 205-206; D. Hamlin 207-208; T. Reddick 209-219; R. Blaney 220; A. Cindric 221-237; C. Bell 238-246; B. Wallace 247-269; T. Reddick 270-271.