William Byron makes win at reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway almost look easy
William Byron survived the chaos and carnage on Sunday at the newly repaved and reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway, leading a race-high 111 laps and taking the checkered flag in the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 as several cars wrecked in his rear-view mirror.
The victory was the third of Byron’s Cup Series career in his 149th start and continued the hot start to the Next Gen era for Hendrick Motorsports, as the team has now sent three different drivers to victory lane in the season’s first five races. The 24-year-old Byron is the 11th straight Cup Series winner under the age of 30, dating back to Bubba Wallace's victory last fall at Talladega Superspeedway.
Speaking of superspeedways, the 1.54-mile track in Hampton, Georgia -- a suburb about 20 miles south of Atlanta -- hadn’t been repaved since 1997, and construction crews spent 163 days laying down new asphalt and raising the banking to 28 degrees in the corners. The goal, per AMS Executive Vice President and General Manager Brandon Hutchinson, was to “create a first-of-its-kind experience on the NASCAR circuit.”
That goal was accomplished, as the steepest intermediate track on the schedule kept cars bunched together and often side-by-side, producing a product similar to what is seen twice a year at both Daytona and Talladega.
The result was a track record for the number of leaders (20) and the number of lead changes (46). There were also 11 cautions for 65 laps and a number of hard hits.
“It was kind of an intermediate style with a little bit of superspeedway to it, so it was lot of fun," Byron said after climbing from his No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet on the front stretch. "Thanks to everyone at Hendrick Motorsports. Super exciting.
“It was so different, you know, honestly, the last few laps there, just trying to manage the gap to Bubba (Wallace) and trying to not get too far out front. My spotter Brandon (Lines), it’s his first win so congrats to him and just thanks to this whole team. They’ve done a great job this year. There’s a lot of changes with the Next Gen car.”
The crowd was much larger than any at Atlanta in recent memory, and the crowded grandstands weren’t lost on race-winner Byron.
“It’s so cool. I think these fans saw one heck of a race. It was certainly long from my seat. It was mentally taxing. Just thanks to all the fans for coming out. Been an awesome weekend. I got the win last night in the Late Model too, so it’s been a lot of fun.”
Christopher Bell crossed the line in second-place, but was penalized for passing below the double white line on the final lap and was credited with a 23rd-place result.
Ross Chastain, Kurt Busch, Daniel Suarez and Corey LaJoie rounded out the top-5, while Georgia native Chase Elliott, Chris Buescher, Martin Truex, Jr., Joey Logano and Alex Bowman completed the top-10.