The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 is now complete.
The highly anticipated race began at exactly 3 p.m. EST at the newly refurbished 1.5 mile D-shaped Atlanta Motor Speedway, with a total of 37 entries.
Following the reconfiguring of the racing surface as well as the addition of the banking degree, many expected to witness a high-speed racing weekend. The event did not disappoint.
Chase Briscoe, the Ruoff Mortgage 500 winner, was waiting for the green flag at the pole, while the defending winner, Ryan Blaney, was on his right side, completing the front row.
However, Chase Briscoe never won the pole. The lineup was set by NASCAR’s rulebook following the cancelation of the qualifying race on Saturday after Friday’s activities were shifted to Saturday due to stormy weather.
Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney were the favorites to win this race, with odds of +1000. But as they hit the tracks, the tables turned, with William Byron driving the Chevrolet Camaro No. 24 for Hendrick Motorsports, pocketing his first checkered flag.
On Twitter, Hendrick Motorsports soaked up the moment of William Byron's victory, stating that:
"The last time the No. 24 took the in 2011. Now he and Mr. H are soaking in @WilliamByron’s victory moment."
William Byron delivered another thrilling win for team Hendrick. NASCAR has already completed five races of the event and Hendrick Motorsports is leading with three wins out of five.
NASCAR took to Twitter to congratulate William Byron on the third victory of his career.
William Byron took home the victory in the NASCAR Cup Series at Atlanta Motor Speedway
Byron took the lead from Bubba Wallace Jr. with less than 10 laps to go. Despite taking the lead, Bubba Wallace Jr. was still pressuring him. They moved a single-file before the No. 9 driver, Chase Elliott, made a play for the inside lane.
Bubba Wallace Jr's efforts to catch up with the No. 24 were thwarted by Ross Chastain, who held on to a wheel-to-wheel position at the white flag.
Though the No. 1 driver managed to edge Bubba Wallace Jr., he was unable to hold off Byron and finished as a runner-up.
The rest of the results are as follows:
1 William Byron- #24
2 Ross Chastain- #1
3 Kurt Busch- #45
4 Daniel Suarez- #99
5 Corey LaJoie- #7
6 Chase Elliott - #9
7 Chris Buescher- #17
8 Martin Truex Jr. - #19
9 Joey Logano- #22
10 Alex Bowman- #48
11 Justin Haley- #31
12 Brad Keselowski- #6
13 Bubba Wallace -#23
14 Erik Jones- #43
15 Chase Briscoe- #14
16 Josh Bilicki- #77
17 Ryan Blaney- #12
18 David Ragan- #15
19 Bj McLeod- #78
20 Greg Biffle- #44
21 Kevin Harvick- #4
22 Aric Almirola- #10
23 Christopher Bell- #20
24 Michael McDowell- #34
25 Harrison Burton- #21
26 Cody Ware- #51
27 Todd Gilliland- #38
28 Tyler Reddick- #8
29 Denny Hamlin- #11
30 Kyle Larson- #5
31 Rick Stenhouse- #47
32 Austin Cindric- #2
33 Kyle Busch- #18
34 Cole Custer- #41
35 Austin Dillon- #3
36 Ty Dillon- # 42
37 Noah Gragson- #16