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William Byron won the latest NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his fourth victory of the season and eighth of his career. Byron recovered from a spin early in the race and guessed the rain correctly as he passed AJ Allmendinger shortly before the rain came and ended the race.
Here are three takeaways from today's NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
#3 New Atlanta the old Daytona?
After Atlanta got reconfigured after the 2021 season, many fans wondered what the track would race like. With the fourth race in the books, it's safe to say it runs a lot like the old Daytona.
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While there is still pack racing and drafting is critical, the pack isn't as tight as it is at Daytona and Talladega and the groups can get strung out a bit. This is a lot like how Daytona would race in the late 90s and early 2000s.
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If the new Atlanta will race like the old Daytona did then that would make for a fun and unique track, which is good for NASCAR.
#2 Rain makes for more exciting racing
One of the big storylines of tonight's race was rain once again. Everyone knew that rain would hit Atlanta. The question was when would it hit and would it end the race?
During Stage 2 we saw some of the best racing of the year. Drivers were fighting lap after lap to get to the front to be in the catbird seat when the rain hit.
One thing that is apparent is that when the weather is threatening a race, NASCAR drivers go crazy and the fans get rewarded.
#1 William Byron's lucky break
After springing earlier in the race and going one lap down, it looked like William Byron would have a tough time recovering. Byron got a lucky break near the end of Stage 2 when a caution came out, which forced the leader's hands at that point.
The choice was either pit for fuel or stay out and hope that it rains. They came in and Byron passed AJ Allmendinger laps before the final caution came out and the race was called.
With this win, Byron may have asserted himself as the championship favorite at this point in the season.
