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NASCAR Fans Unhappy After Thrilling Cup Series Race At Atlanta Ends In Controversy

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William Byron won the NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday night.

Sans context, the win doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Byron is in the midst of a breakout season, with four wins at with still half a season remaining.

The 25-year-old also sits atop the series point standings despite a points penalty earlier in the season for illegally modified parts on his car.

But that’s not what has fans up in arms.

Sunday night’s race was fourth at Atlanta Motor Speedway since the track owners completely reconfigured the circuit, creating tighter, more high-paced racing.

The move has paid off in a big way, creating some of the most-entertaining races of the past two seasons. And Sunday night’s race may have been the best yet.

But there was a problem.

Impending thunderstorms meant that drivers were racing to an uncertain finish. NASCAR rules specify that a race can be ruled complete only after half the laps have been completed should rain come.

For much of the early stages of the races, Ford teams such as Penske, Stewart-Haas and Roush-Fenway-Keselowski dominated. Penske driver Ryan Blaney won the first of three stages, while Brad Keselowski took stage two for his own team.

That’s when drivers and teams faced a dilemma. Following the second stage, a number of the leading cars had limited fuel remaining. But race-ending rain was on the way. They needed to decide whether to stop for fuel or stay out and hope the rain came before they ran out.

Almost the entirety of the top 10 was forced to pit. That cycled Byron, who had crashed earlier in the race, from outside the top 10 into fourth spot to start the final stage.

The race then restarted with just under 100 laps remaining to the full scheduled distance. But only 15 laps later, a small wreck involving two cars brought out the caution.

Because the cars did not leave any debris on the track, NASCAR had the option to restart the race as quickly as possible to try to beat the rain.

Instead, with Byron leading, the series opted to run seven laps and around 10 minutes under caution. The rain then came and the race was stopped, leaving Byron as the winner.

Fans were furious.

https://twitter.com/BeeEhWBee69/status/1678217976674238464?s=20

NASCAR is back at it next Sunday from New Hampshire Motor Speedway. And the series will undoubtedly be hoping for a little less controversy.