(Motorsport-Total.com) – Since the conversion last fall, including increasing the banked curve to 28 degrees, the Atlanta Motor Speedway has been a place for turbulent races. In the spring race, which ran over 500 miles in March, there were eleven yellow phases. On Sunday, the Quaker State 400 was “only” 400 miles as the summer race. Nevertheless, this time even 13 yellow phases were counted. Two of them were due to mass crashes. (Photos: NASCAR in Atlanta)
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Third win of the season 2022 for Chase Elliott (Hendrick-Chevrolet)
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The race was won by Chase Elliott (Hendrick-Chevrolet), who hails from just outside of Atlanta. Before Elliott crossed the finish line first in the third and decisive race segment, he had also won the first two race segments. However, both Stage 2 and Stage 3 ended under yellow.
The reason for the last yellow phase, which decided the race, was a crash by surprise driver Corey LaJoie (Spire-Chevrolet) on the last lap. Thanks to a different pit stop strategy, he fought for victory, but found himself stuck in the wall on turn 1 of the last lap. (Result: NASCAR in Atlanta)
NASCAR 2022: Atlanta II
Highlights from Race 19 of 36 of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series, the Quaker State 400 in Atlanta!
The first lap of the race was also the first lap of the weekend for the 36 Cup drivers. A free practice session was not planned from the start because Atlanta has been counted as a superspeedway since the conversion. Qualifying on Saturday should have taken place but was canceled due to rain.
The starting line-up was determined using the calculation formula that was regularly used in 2021. Chase Elliott led the field into Sunday’s race. The first lap of the lead, however, went to Ross Chastain (Trackhouse-Chevrolet).
Two stage wins for Chase Elliott in mass crash
The first race segment (Stage 1) lasted 60 laps and surprisingly saw only one yellow phase. And even that was not due to an incident. It was a 25-lap competition caution imposed by NASCAR to respond to the situation of being unable to drive until the start of the race. Elliott took the Stage 1 win just ahead of Hendrick teammate Alex Bowman and ahead of Chastain.
Stage 2 consisted of 100 laps. And in this segment there was the first major incident. A nine-car mass crash was triggered when Martin Truex Jr. (Gibbs-Toyota) was flipped by Ross Chastain while driving in the top 4. Also involved were Kyle Larson, Noah Gragson, Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano, Michael McDowell and last but not least Austin Dillon, who crashed violently into the outer SAFER barrier.
Finally, Stage 2 was also won by Chase Elliott. In this case, however, he saw the stage flag at walking pace. Because on the penultimate lap of this second segment of the race, Elliott’s Hendrick teammate Alex Bowman suffered a puncture on the right rear tire and spun into the wall. This is how Stage 2 ended under Yellow. Behind Elliott, Tyler Reddick (Childress-Chevrolet) and Brad Keselowski (RFK-Ford) came across the line in second and third.
Second mass crash heralds the last race segment
The crucial third race segment (Stage 3) began with the second mass crash of the day. Garrett Smithley (Ware-Ford) went off track and was flipped by Ty Dillon (Petty/GMS-Chevrolet). Also involved in this second “Big One” were Brad Keselowski, Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, William Byron, Michael McDowell and Todd Gilliland.
Things got hot in the closing stages. At a restart with 19 laps to go, long-term leader Chase Elliott was overtaken by Martin Truex Jr. The Gibbs driver held the lead for several laps until a yellow card was issued with 15 laps to go. The trigger was, of all things, a spin by Truex’ Gibbs teammate Denny Hamlin.
Chase Elliott Takes Home Win Under Yellow – Corey LaJoie Fails
It was not the last yellow phase. Because another slip by Hamlin right after the restart, in which Joey Logano (Penske-Ford) was also involved, brought out the twelfth caution. Hamlin was thrown off track on this occasion by Ross Chastain of all people. Logano couldn’t avoid it.
In the meantime, Corey LaJoie had taken the lead at the front. Shortly before, he had not made a pit stop and thus placed himself in the leading group. LaJoie led the last restart with only three laps to go. On the penultimate lap, however, he was overtaken by Chase Elliott on the outside. At that moment, Elliott had Erik Jones (Petty/GMS-Chevrolet) behind him as a pusher.
Elliott was leading entering the final lap and a few seconds later LaJoie found the turn 1 wall while in second place. The 13th yellow phase came out. And because the white flag had already been shown for the last round, there was no overtime.
Elliott drove home his first home win at walking pace. Second went to Ross Chastain despite being involved in the day’s first mass crash. Third was Austin Cindric (Penske-Ford). Chase Elliott is now the first rider to have three wins this season.
The next stop on the 2022 NASCAR Cup calendar is the flat one-mile oval in Loudon, New Hampshire next Sunday.