HAMPTON, Ga. – A late brush with the wall wasn’t enough to send Ryan Blaney to pit row.
The decision paid off with a dominant victory in the weather-delayed NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta, which concluded early Monday morning.
Blaney emerged from a fierce three-wide battle during the final lap of overtime. He won every stage of the race, leading an impressive 171 laps after starting from the pole position. Despite challenges from competitors like Bubba Wallace and Christopher Hill, who ultimately finished second, Blaney secured the win. Carson Hocevar and Ty Gibbs rounded out the top four.
Wallace, who had a strong performance, faced a setback when he was penalized for passing below the double yellow lines, relegating him to a 29th place finish instead of second.
The race experienced a significant delay of 3 hours and 9 minutes due to rain and lightning, concluding at 1:45 a.m. at EchoPark Speedway.
Blaney’s road to victory wasn’t without its challenges. He brushed the wall with 29 laps remaining, which raised concerns about potential damage to his right side after being cut off by Wallace. Despite reporting a “terrible” vibration, Blaney chose to remain on the track.
“I tried to make a move and just got loose and hit the fence,” Blaney explained. “I think it’s just concrete in the wheels and paint, but luckily it still drove really decent. It wasn’t too bad. Luckily, it wasn’t enough damage that we couldn’t keep running.”
Blaney’s crew chief, Jonathan Hassler, noted that they analyzed photos of the car’s right side and determined that the best strategy was to stay on the track with only a few laps remaining and a multitude of cars on the lead lap.
“There were 30 cars on the lead lap at that point and not a lot of laps left,” Hassler said. “Our best chance to win was to stay out there.”
The race saw multiple drivers, including Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe, and Riley Herbst, involved in a wreck just five laps from the finish, which set up the overtime.
With rain threatening earlier in the day, NASCAR officials had to order cars off the track as lightning was detected within eight miles of the 1.54-mile oval. Rain began shortly after the delay, but after some caution laps and pit stops, the race resumed at 12:02 a.m.
During the lengthy delay, Blaney joked that he “took a nap and ate a little food.” Larson humorously noted that resuming the race just before midnight “is definitely past my bedtime.”
Blaney not only won the race but also claimed the pole position, with his Team Penske teammate Joey Logano joining him on the front row. Another Team Penske driver, Austin Cindric, bolstered the team’s performance by moving up to third early in the race.
In terms of championship standings, points leader Denny Hamlin, who started 28th, finished 12th, while Tyler Reddick, who previously won at EchoPark Speedway, finished eighth after starting in 31st place.
The race began with a clean start, a notable contrast to the earlier weekend’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race, which had a staggering 13 cautions and multiple red flags.
In the Cup Series, the first caution occurred when AJ Allmendinger lost control of his Chevrolet with 67 laps remaining, followed by another caution when he blew a tire and hit the wall with just 25 laps left.
Chase Elliott also made headlines with his Design to Drive program, now in its 10th year. The special baseball-themed design of his No. 9 Chevrolet was inspired by two young patients, Maximus Peace and Noelle Springer, and has raised $545,500 for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta over the years. Elliott finished the race in 13th place.
Blaney’s Stage 1 win exemplified Team Penske’s ongoing success at Atlanta; they have claimed Stage 1 victories in six of the last eight races at the track. Blaney held off a hard-charging Reddick to secure the top spot in the first stage.
Looking ahead, the Cup Series will head to North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, for the next race, where Christopher Bell previously edged out Joey Logano in the NASCAR All-Star Race in May 2025.
