William Byron wins 2022 Cup Series "Folds of Honor QuikTrip" 500 at Atlanta

 

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

    Becoming the first NASCAR Cup Series driver to win on a repaved and reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway, William Byron scored the victory over Ross Chastain in the 2022 "Folds of Honor QuikTrip" 500 on Sunday, March 20th.

Due to bad weather, qualifying times were canceled, and NASCAR resorted to last year's starting lineup formula. The starting positions were determined by; a driver’s finish in the last race (25%), the owner’s finish in the last race (25%), 2021 owner points (35%), and the driver’s fastest lap ranking in the previous race (15%). So, Chase Briscoe's No. 14 Ford Mustang started in the pole position.

The overall race was phenomenal, with a superspeedway type of speeds and aggression on just a 1.5-mile track. A total of 46 lead changes shared by 20 different drivers set a new track record. 

Like the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Truck Series races, there would be a lot of caution flags, but the red flag did not make an appearance in the NASCAR Cup Series event. Unfortunately, there were many drivers to be involved in multiple incidents, including 12 that did not finish the event. An interesting factor for most of the incidents, that the right-rear tire would blow out on front running drivers like: Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick, and Rick Stenhouse, Jr.

William Byron would not only score the Stage 1 victory, but he would also take the black and white checkered flag at the race end, bringing home the "hardware" for his No. 24 team. Stage 2 winner and a constant threat for the win this weekend was Ryan Blaney, who would end up being scored 17th.

Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez, the Trackhouse Racing teammates both scored a top-5 finish at the end of today's race. The two drivers both ran up front most of the day and had led some laps, showing some early strength from the young team.

It is worth noting that the No. 20 car of Christopher Bell may have crossed the start-finish line in the 2nd position, but NASCAR ruled that he made his pass under the red and white line, using the "Double-Yellow Line" rule. So, Bell would end up being accredited with a 23rd place finish, the last place on the lead lap.

Here are the complete race results for the 2022 "Folds of Honor QuikTrip" 500:

NASCAR.com