William Byron guards off a late charge from Bubba Wallace to win the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at the newly renovated Atlanta Motor Speedway.
HAMPTON, GA – March 20, 2022 – Anthony Holbrook
The fifth race of the NASCAR Cup Series was hosted by the Atlanta Motor Speedway, Sunday March.20th 2022. Drivers competed 325 miles on the 1.54 mile refurbished Quad Oval Asphalt intermediate track located in Hampton, Georgia.
2022 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 – Recap:
Ross Chastain attempted to make a move on Byron for the lead but was obstructed by Christopher Bell who charged the inside groove to take second on the back straightaway while Byron crossed the checkers.
NASCAR actions for Bell illegal passing/advancing below the double red line resulted into a 23rd defecate to CBell at the end of the lead lap. Ross Chastain, whom initially finished third, circulated to second finishing honors.
At lap 95, Chastain forfeited his lead due to a tire issue sending Chastain into the Turn 1 Safer barrier wall. A Two lap penalty was additional fined for improper pit fueling. Chastain, who led 42 laps regained momentum to finish into the top five.
Watching the action from his rear view mirror, Byron held on to claim the victory – his first of the year and third of his NASCAR Cup Series career. Hendrick Motorsports drivers have astonishingly won three of the season’s first five races.
Contenders Justin Haley, Bubba Wallace and Chris Buescher wrecked in a domino related affect while Ryan Blaney and Chase Briscoe contact the safer barrier simultaneously as William Byron claims the inaugural track reconfigured victory.
Kurt Busch was third, Daniel Suarez fourth, and Corey LaJoie fifth.
Rounding out the top 10 were Chase Elliott (who led 29 laps), Buescher, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, and Alex Bowman.
Byron led the most laps with 111 in a race that featured a track record 20 race leaders and 46 lead changes. There were 11 cautions for 65 laps and out of 37 cars, only 25 finished the race.
The “Hotlanta Big One “erupted on lap 145 when Tyler Reddick cut a tire off turn 4 activating the 14 car mayhem.
2022 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 – Stage 1
- William Byron
- Denny Hamlin
- Daniel Suarez
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Kurt Busch
2022 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 – Stage 2
- Ryan Blaney
- Chase Elliott
- Chase Briscoe
- Aric Almirola
- Brad Keselowski
2022 Folds of Honor QuikTip 500 – Results :
1. (12) William Byron, Chevrolet, 325 laps, 52 points.
2. (7) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 325, 36.
3. (9) Kurt Busch, Toyota, 325, 39
4. (13) Daniel Suárez, Chevrolet, 325, 46.
5. (33) Corey Lajoie, Chevrolet, 325, 32.
6. (6) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 325, 40.
7. (14) Chris Buescher, Ford, 325, 30.
8. (26) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 325, 33.
9. (3) Joey Logano, Ford, 325, 28.
10. (11) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 325, 31.
11. (22) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 325, 26.
12. (24) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 325, 31.
13. (19) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 325, 27.
14. (23) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 325, 29.
15. (1) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 325, 30.
16. (36) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 325, 0.
17. (2) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 325, 30.
18. (35) David Ragan, Ford, 325, 19.
19. (34) BJ McLeod, Ford, 325, 18.
20. (37) Greg Biffle, Chevrolet, 325, 17.
21. (8) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 325, 16.
22. (10) Aric Almirola, Ford, 325, 22.
23. (27) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 325, 15.
24. (29) Michael McDowell, Ford, 321, 13.
25. (31) Harrison Burton, Ford, 321, 12.
26. (32) Cody Ware, Ford, accident, 300, 11.
27. (25) Todd Gilliland, Ford, dvp, 297, 10.
28. (5) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, accident, 245, 12.
29. (15) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, accident, 212, 17.
30. (21) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, accident, 212, 9.
31. (28) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet, accident, 200, 13.
32. (16) Austin Cindric, Ford, accident, 200, 5.
33. (4) Kyle Busch, Toyota, accident, 171, 4.
34. (20) Cole Custer, Ford, accident, 150, 3.
35. (17) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, accident, 101, 2.
36. (18) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, accident, 101, 1.
37. (30) Noah Gragson, Chevrolet, accident, 23, 0.
Folds of Honor QuikTip 500 – Race Statistics
Average Speed of Race Winner: 126.586 mph.
Time of Race: 3 hours, 57 minutes, 14 seconds.
Margin of Victory: .145 seconds.
2022 NASCAR Cup Series Season Wins:
C.Briscoe, 1
W.Byron, 1
A.Bowman, 1
K.Larson, 1
A.Cindric, 1
The NASCAR Cup Series navigates to Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, for the first of six road races this season. Chase Elliott won the inaugural COTA race a year ago.
EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix
Sunday, March 27, 2022
3:30 P.M. E.T.
Fox
Sirius XM NASCAR 90