After a rain storm moved through Atlanta, qualifying for the Autotrader 400 at EchoPark Speedway was cancelled putting Daytona 500 winner Tyler Reddick on the pole.
The skies are clear of rain but the temperatures are cooler (40’s) and the wind is gusting which could cause some problems for the drivers.
Two Cup Series drivers had inspection issues and will have to start the race from the back of the field. The number three Richard Childress Racing car driven by Austin Dillon and the number 78 Live Fast Motorsports car driven by BJ McLeod saw their cars fail the inspection process multiple times. As a result; Dillon’s car chief Ryan Chism and McLeod’s car chief Ryan Henderson have both been ejected from the speedway and both teams have lost their chance to make a pit stall selection – NASCAR will assign their pit stalls.
The starting lineup for the Autotrader 400:
Tyler Reddick
Joey Logano
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Chase Elliott
Brad Keselowski
Zane Smith
Chris Buescher
Riley Herbst
Bubba Wallace
Josh Berry
Noah Gragson
Daniel Suarez
William Byron
Kyle Busch
Carson Hocevar
Kyle Larson
Ty Dillon
Cody Ware
AJ Allmendinger
Michael McDowell
Ross Chastain
Ryan Blaney
Erik Jones
John Hunter Nemechek
Ty Gibbs
Ryan Preece
Cole Custer
Shane van Gisbergen
Denny Hamlin
Austin Cindric
Connor Zilisch
Christopher Bell
Austin Dillon
Chase Briscoe
Todd Gilliland
Alex Bowman
BJ McLeod
JJ Yeley
With no practice and no qualifying, the race is the first time the drivers will get on the track.
Stage one of the race is 60 laps with stages two and three lasting 100 laps for a total of 260 laps around the 1.5 mile track. The drivers can run around 70 laps on a single load of fuel.
Tyler Reddick brings the field down for the green flag start of the race with Joey Logano alongside. Reddick edges out for the initial lead on the inside lane but Joey Logano leads lap one before Reddick moves up on the outside lane to take the lead.
The top five are Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chase Elliott, and Zane Smith.
Lap three, Joey Logano takes the lead as he and Tyler Reddick continue to swap the lead back and forth.
Lap six, Joey Logano leads the race with Tyler Reddick in second; Brad Keselowski, Josh Berry, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr round out the top five.
There is a great deal of movement throughout the field.
Lap nine, Joey Logano holds on to the lead.
Lap 13, drivers are two wide through the field with Joey Logano leading the pack; Brad Keselowski, Tyler Reddick, Josh Berry, and Chase Elliott round out the top five.
Lap 16, Joey Logano continues to lead the race with Tyler Reddick in second; Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Brad Keselowski, and Josh Berry round out the top five.
Lap 20, Tyler Reddick retakes the lead with Brad Keselowski in second; Joey Logano, Josh Berry, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr round out the top five.
Lap 25, Tyler Reddick leads the race with Brad Keselowski alongside in a battle for the lead.
Lap 27, Brad Keselowski takes the lead; Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano, William Byron, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr rounding out the top five.
Lap 29, Tyler Reddick retakes the lead briefly before Brad Keselowski gets back out in front.
Lap 30, Chase Elliott comes up to join the lead pack.
Carson Hocevar reports he thinks he has a tire going down and heads to pit road for service after slapping the wall.
Lap 33, Brad Keselowski leads the race with Chase Elliott in second; Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano, and Josh Berry round out the top five.
Lap 35, Joey Logano leads the race with Josh Berry and Tyler Reddick in a battle for the spot.
Lap 36, after starting in the back of the field, Austin Cindric is in the top five. William Byron also enters the top five with Joey Logano leading the race.
With the field being set after the race at Daytona, there were some very good drivers stuck at the back of the field and are now working their way through the field.
Lap 40, Joey Logano leads the race with Josh Berr in second; Austin Cindric, Chase Elliott, and William Byron rounding out the top five.
Lap 45, now two laps down, Carson Hocevar is moving through the field. Hocevar is in the “lucky dog” position.
Chase Elliott leads the race with Tyler Reddick in second; Joey Logano, Bubba Wallace, and Josh Berry round out the top five.
Lap 50, Chase Elliott leads the race with Tyler Reddick in second, Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, and William Byron rounding out the top five.
Lap 56, Brad Keselwoski reports that his car is very loose and has dropped back on the field.
Lap 57, Kyle Larson takes the lead with Bubba Wallace in second; Chase Elliott, Austin Cindric, and William Byron round out the top five.
Lap 58, Bubba Wallace takes the lead with Austin Cindric in second.
There have been 17 lead changes in the first stage.
Austin Cindric takes the lead to win stage one.
The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Austin Cindric
Bubba Wallace
Kyle Larson
William Byron
Chase Elliott
Tyler Reddick
Kyle Busch
Joey Logano
Connor Zilisch
Ryan Blaney
Carson Hocevar is the “lucky dog”.
Drivers come down pit road for service with Kyle Larson winning the race off of pit road. Ryan Blaney was caught speeding on pit road and will have to restart the race from the back of the field. Cody Ware was charged with pitting outside his pit box.
Kyle Larson brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two on lap 69 with William Byron alongside. Larson holds on for the lead with Bubba Wallace on his bumper.
The top five are Kyle Larson, William Byron, Bubba Wallace, Austin Cindric, and Noah Gragson.
Lap 72, Bubba Wallace takes the lead.
Drivers are getting three wide in a battle for position.
Lap 74, Bubba Wallace leads the race with William Byron in second; Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson, and Noah Gragson round out the top five.
Lap 80, getting a push from teammate William Byron, Kyle Larson passes Bubba Wallace to take the lead.
The caution flag comes out on lap 81 for a crash involving Ty Gibbs and Josh Berry. The grass under Ty Gibbs car is on fire. Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, BJ McLeod, Riley Herbst, Cole Custer, and John Hunter Nemechek were also involved.
Drivers come down pit road for service with Kyle Larson winning the race off of pit road after taking fuel only.
Todd Gilliland was caught speeding on pit road and will restart the race from the back of the field.
Carson Hocevar is the “lucky dog” and now back on the lead lap.
Kyle Larson brings the field down for the green flag restart on lap 93.
Getting a push from behind, Tyler Reddick takes the lead but Kyle Larson moves up with William Byron to take the lead.
The top five are Kyle Larson, William Byron, Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick, and Joey Logano.
All 36 cars on the track are on the lead lap.
Lap 98, Kyle Larson leads the race with teammate William Byron in second; Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, and Joey Logano round out the top five.
Lap 101, Bubba Wallace leads the race.
Lap 103, Bubba Wallace and teammate Tyler Reddick battle for the lead.
The caution flag comes out on lap 104 for a crash involving Riley Herbst, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Austin Dillon, Todd Gilliland, Zane Smith, and BJ McLeod.
Tyler Reddick is the leader.
Drivers in the back half of the field come down pit road for service; many taking fuel only. Ryan Blaney wins the race off of pit road with a fuel only stop.
Tyler Reddick brings the field down for the green flag restart with Bubba Wallace alongside on lap 111. Reddick gets out in front for the lead.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr is out of the race.
The top five are Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson, Bubba Wallace, Chase Briscoe, and Joey Logano.
Lap 112, 23XI Racing teammates are now one and two with Tyler Reddick in front and Bubba Wallace second; Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe, and William Byron round out the top five.
Lap 116, Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace battle for the lead; Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe, and Joey Logano round out the top five.
BJ McLeod takes his number 78 car to the garage.
Riley Herbst and BJ McLeod are out of the race.
Lap 121, Tyler Reddick leads the race with Bubba Wallace in second; William Byron, Chase Briscoe, and Kyle Larson rounding out the top five.
Lap 125, Kyle Busch gets into the wall hard to bring out the caution flag. He exits the car unaided. Busch becomes the sixth car out of the race.
Seventeenth place driver Ryan Blaney is the first driver to come down pit road for service; leaders stay out.
There are several reports from drivers of loose and very loose cars.
Kyle Busch has been checked and released from the infield care center.
Tyler Reddick brings the field down for the green flag restart with Bubba Wallace alongside on lap 132. Reddick takes the lead on the inside lane with Bubba Wallace in second; Chase Briscoe, Kyle Larson, and William Byron round out the top five.
Kyle Larson moves up on the outside lane to challenge for the lead.
Lap 134, Kyle Larson drops down to the inside lane to dive bomb for the lead.
Lap 137, Bubba Wallace moves up on the inside lane to battle with Kyle Larson for the lead.
The top five are Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick, Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace, and Chase Briscoe.
Lap 140, Carson Hocevar just posted the fastest lap of the race.
Kyle Larson leads the race with Bubba Wallace in second; ross Chastain, William Byron, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five.
Lap 142, Bubba Wallace retakes the lead.
Lap 144, Kyle Larson is bac out in front as the battle continues.
Just 14 laps remain in stage two and there have been 35 lead changes.
The top five are Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace, William Byron, and Chase Briscoe.
Lap 149, Melon Man Ross Chastain takes the lead briefly before Kyle Larson gets back out in front.
Drivers up front have been on the same set of tires for over 60 laps.
Lap 152, Chase Briscoe takes the lead.
Ross Chastain hits the wall and falls through the field but the track stays green.
Shane van Gisbergen is in the top five.
Carson Hocevar has tapped the wall; the track stays green.
Just six laps remain in stage two and the drivers are getting very aggressive for stage points.
Five to go, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson, and Chase Briscoe go three wide for the lead with Larson taking the spot.
William Byron pulls up to pass Kyle Larson for the lead when Bubba Wallace drops down on the inside to battle for the lead.
Bubba Wallace wins stage two.
Just as stage two was ending, Kyle Larson and Shane van Gisbergen get into a crash when Larson tries to block. Larson gets into the wall and van Gisbergen maes a run through the grass.
The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Bubba Wallace
William Byron
Chase Briscoe
Tyler Reddick
Chase Elliott
Carson Hocevar
Ryan Preece
Ryan Blaney
Brad Keselowski
Ross Chastain
Kyle Larson is out of the race.
Drivers come down pit road for service including some fresh Goodyear tires. Taking only two tires, Ryan Blaney wins the race off of pit road.
Ryan Blaney brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three with Zane Smith alongside. There are 91 laps remaining in the race.
Zane Smith leads the race but Brad Keselowski moves up to take the lead. Denny Hamlin gets out in front for the lead with William Byron in second.
The top five are Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Brad Keselowski, Chase Briscoe, and Ryan Blaney.
With 85 laps to go, Denny Hamlin leads the race.
Chase Briscoe passes for the lead.
The top five are Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, and William Byron. After contact with Kyle Larson, Shane van Gisbergen has entered the top 10. And Bubba Wallace is back in the top 10.
Kyle Larson has been checked and released from the infield care center. He says the incident on the track was his fault because he didn’t see SVG – blind spot.
Just 75 laps remain in the race; Chase Briscoe leads the race with Denny Hamlin in second; Ryan Blaney, William Byron, and Ross Chastain round out the top five.
With 68 laps remaining in the race, Chase Briscoe continues to lead the race with Denny Hamlin in second; Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick rounding out the top five.
Bubba Wallace leads the inside lane and is moving up fast.
Ryan Blaney drops down to the inside lane to lead the pack.
The caution flag comes out for Shane van Gisbergen making another run through the grass after getting loose on lap 200.
Drivers come down pit road for service with Denny Hamlin winning the race off of pit road after taking fuel only. The first eight cars off of pit road took fuel only.
Shane van Gisbergen will restart from the back of the field after pitting before pit road was open.
Denny Hamlin brings the field down for the green flag restart with 56 laps remaining in the race with Tyler Reddick alongside. Hamlin gets out in front for the lead.
The top five are Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, and William Byron.
With 55 laps remaining in the second race of the season, there has been 115 lead changes between Daytona and Atlanta.
Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin battle for the lead.
Fifty to go, Tyler Reddick leads the race with Denny Hamlin in second; Ryan Blaney, Chase Ellliott, and Chase Briscoe rounding out the top five.
With 48 to go, Ryan Blaney gets some help from Austin Cindric on the inside to battle for the lead.
The high line ahs Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin, and Bubba Wallace nose to tail.
Just 43 laps to go, Tyler Reddick and Ryan Blaney continue to battle for the lead – swapping it back and forth.
The 29 cars on the lead lap are within two seconds of each other.
Austin Cindric comes up on the inside to take the lead.
Lap 222, the top five are Austin Cindric, Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott, and Brad Keselowski.
Late in the afternoon, the sun is becoming an issue for the drivers.
Denny Hamlin makes contact with Joey Logano and hits the wall to bring out the caution flag; collecting up several drivers. Michael McDowell, Connor Zilisch, Tyler Reddick, AJ Allmendinger, Chris Buescher, and Alex Bowman.
So far there has been a record setting 54 lead changes in the race.
Austin Cindric brings the field down for the green flag restart with Ross Chastain alongside; there are 29 laps remaining in the race. Getting a push from teammate Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric takes the lead. Ross Chastain gets a push from Chase Elliott.
There are 28 cars on the lead lap.
With 25 laps to go Austin Cindric leads the race with Ryan Blaney in second; Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain, and Joey Logano round out the top five.
The caution flag comes out with 23 laps to go when Joey Logano spins out and makes a run through the grass. Logano gets moving again.
Four laps down, Alex Bowman gets one of his laps back as the “lucky dog”.
Michael McDowell will restart the race from the back of the field after having too many crew members over the wall. Alex Bowman and Joey Logano will also have to serve penalties and restart from the back of the field.
Christopher Bell brings the field down for the green flag restart with Austin Cindric alongside. There are just 17 laps remaining in the race. Bell and Cindric go side by side in a battle for the lead.
Christopher Bell gets out in front with Bubba Wallace in second; Brad Keselowski, Austin Cindric, and Ross Chastain round out the top five.
Bubba Wallace takes the lead on the outside lane with 12 to go.
The top five are Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Carson Hocevar, and Austin Cindric.
Ten to go, Bubba Wallace and Christopher Bell battle for the lead. Wallace holds on with the lead.
Eight to go, drivers are three wide.
Seven to go, Bubba Wallace leads the race with Christopher Bell in second; Tyler Reddick, Ross Chastain, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five.
Carson “Hurricane” Hocevar is all over the track weaving in and out of cars for position. He comes up to battle with Bubba Wallace for the lead.
Big crash to bring out the caution flag with four laps remaining in the race. William Byron gets into the wall and falls through the field before he collects a bunch of drivers. Joey Logano, Austin Cindric, Todd Gilliand, Cose Custer, Cody Ware, Denny Hamlin, Austin Dillon, Noah Gragson, John Hunter Nemechek, and Erik Jones were all involved.
The race goes into overtime!
NASCAR has red flagged the race.
William Byron has been checked and released from the infield care center. Byron reports that he “just got loose”.
The cars are moving again with some of the drivers coming down pit road for fresh tires.
Bubba Wallace brings the field down for the overtime shootout for the win with Christopher Bell alongside. Christopher Bell gets into the wall right after the green flag from an aggressive move by Hocevar to bring out the caution flag. Hocevar tried to get into a hole that wasn’t there.
Fourteen cars have crashed out of the race.
Bubba Wallace brings the field down for a second overtime shootout for the win with Carson Hocevar alongside. Wallace takes the lead with a push from teammate Tyler Reddic
Drivers go three wide with Tyler Reddick taking the white flag.
Tyler Reddick wins the race for back to back wins…with a wrecked car!
The unofficial results of the Autotrader 400:
Tyler Reddick
Chase Briscoe
Ross Chastain
Carson Hocevar
Daniel Suarez
Shane van Gisbergen
Zane Smith
Bubba Wallace
Ryan Preece
Ryan Blaney
Chase Elliott
AJ Allmendinger
Denny Hamlin
Noah Gragson
Chris Buescher
Ty Dillon
Brad Keselowski
Joey Logano
John Hunter Nemechek
Michael McDowell
Christopher Bell
Cole Custer
Alex Bowman
Erik Jones
Todd Gilliland
Austin Cindric
Cody Ware
William Byron
Austin Dillon
Connor Zilisch
JJ Yeley
Kyle Larson
Riley Herbst
Kyle Busch
BJ McLeod
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Ty Gibbs
Josh Berry
Tyler Reddick has the points lead with his teammate Bubba Wallace in second place!