HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — Ryan Blaney emerged from a three-wide battle on the final lap of overtime to cap a dominant victory in the weather-delayed NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta early Monday.
Blaney won every stage of the race after starting on the pole, but the Team Penske Ford driver had to fight off challenges from Bubba Wallace and Christopher Hill, who finished second, on the final lap. Carson Hocevar and Ty Gibbs rounded out the top four.
Wallace
was penalized for passing below the double yellow lines and finished 29th instead of second.
There was a delay of 3 hours, 9 minutes because of rain and lightning. The raced ended at 1:45 a.m. at EchoPark Speedway.
Blaney won the first two stages but brushed the wall with 29 laps remaining, causing possible damage on his right side, after he was cut off by Wallace. Blaney remained on the track despite telling his crew he felt a “terrible” vibration.
Multiple drivers, including Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe and Riley Herbst, were involved in a wreck with five laps remaining to set up the overtime.
There had been concern about approaching rain before lighting within eight miles of the 1.54-mile oval track near Atlanta led NASCAR officials to order cars off the track and advise fans to exit the grandstand. Rain began soon after the race was delayed. Following some caution laps and pit stops, the race went back to green at 12:02 a.m.
Blaney said he “took a nap and ate a little food” during the delay. Larson said the resumption of the race a few minutes before midnight “is definitely past my bedtime.”
Blaney won the pole and his Team Penske teammate Joey Logano joined him on the front row. A third Team Penske driver, Austin Cindric, moved up to third early in the race for an early strong showing for the Fords.
Cup Series points leader Denny Hamlin, who qualified 28th, finished 12th. Tyler Reddick was eighth.
Reddick, who won at EchoPark Speedway in February as part of his string of five wins in the season's first nine races, qualified only 31st on Saturday. By the 35th lap he already had moved up to fourth, proving early that he again would be a factor in Atlanta.
The weather delay was the first caution for cause in the race, a dramatic departure from the weekend’s first race.
There were a track-record 13 cautions in Saturday night’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race won by Justin Allgaier. That total included four red flag incidents, creating an ominous preview for the Cup Series race.
The first caution for an incident on the track in the Cup Series race came when AJ Allmendinger lost control of his Chevrolet with 67 laps remaining. Allmendinger blew a tire and hit the wall with 25 laps remaining to cause another caution.
This was Chase Elliott’s 10th year of his Design to Drive program with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. He gave credit to the baseball-themed design of his No. 9 Chevrolet to two patients, 8-year-old Maximus Peace and 9-year-old Noelle Springer.
The program raised $545,500 for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta in its first nine years. Elliott finished 13th.
Blaney’s Stage 1 win gave Team Penske Fords yet another strong start in Atlanta. Team Penske drivers have won Stage 1 in six of the last eight races at the track.
Blaney held off Reddick, who finished second in the first stage after qualifying 31st.
The Cup Series moves to North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, next weekend. Christopher Bell edged Joey Logano at North Wilkesboro Speedway in the NASCAR All-Star Race on May 18, 2025.
___
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
