Auto racing
William Byron held off the freight train behind him, taking the checkered flag for his third NASCAR Cup victory while one last crash unfolded behind him in an appropriate finish Sunday to a thrilling, chaotic race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The reconfigured track – with new pavement and steeper banking – fulfilled those who predicted it would lead to frenzied pack racing at blistering speeds approaching those seen at Talladega and Daytona.
“Pretty wild,” Byron said. “I’m out of breath. It was crazy.”
The result was 47 lead changes among an Atlanta-record 20 drivers, a traffic jam of tightly bunched cars at the front of the field, wrecks taking out several top contenders, and a bunch of smashed-up race cars to lug home.
Bryon was leading off the final restart with 13 laps to go. Bubba Wallace briefly grabbed the top spot, only to have Byron pass him right back.
Wallace still seemed to be in the most enviable position, especially if he could get a helpful push for a slingshot on the final lap. But everyone behind Byron started jostling for position, all of them wanting to put themselves in position to make the winning move.
That worked out perfectly for Byron, who pulled away to win by 0.145 seconds over Ross Chastain while the final wreck of the day sent four cars – including Wallace – spinning across the line.
In one last twist, Christopher Bell actually crossed the line second, but NASCAR penalized him for dipping below the double white line on the backstretch of the last lap to get past Chastain. Bell was dropped to 23rd.
Chastain made quite a comeback after blowing a tire early in the race while leading. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. also blew a tire while running up front. Reigning series champion Kyle Larson, the front of his No. 5 Chevrolet patched with tape, had just surrendered the top spot when Denny Hamlin bumped him from behind, looking to give him a helpful push – only to send him into a spin that knocked them both out of the race.
“Everyone is kind of hanging on for dear life,” Ryan Blaney said during a caution period.
That summed up things perfectly.
Last-turn pass wins for Newgarden: Josef Newgarden used the nonexistent high line to pass Scott McLaughlin in the final turn at Texas Motor Speedway and steal the IndyCar race his teammate had dominated.
The Sunday win gave Team Penske back-to-back victories to open the season and 600 overall wins across all its platforms. Chevrolet has opened the season with consecutive wins for the first time since 2017.
McLaughlin, winner of last month’s season-opening race in St. Petersburg, Florida, started second but snatched the lead from pole-sitter Felix Rosenqvist on the opening lap. The New Zealander led 186 of the 248 laps and wasn’t challenged until Newgarden’s last-ditch charge.
The American stalked McLaughlin through traffic and tried his best to maintain his composure.
“I was fuming in the car because we had all this traffic and it wasn’t helping me,” Newgarden said. “And then right when I needed it to help me, literally last corner, last lap! I think Scott led 95% of the laps, I hate doing that to a teammate.”
The margin of victory was .669 seconds – the eighth-closest finish in 35 races at Texas.
Marcus Ericsson led Honda and Chip Ganassi Racing with a third-place finish – his first podium on an oval – and was followed by his three teammates. Scott Dixon was fifth, Jimmie Johnson sixth and reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou seventh.