Atlanta Pit Road Drama: William Byron & Michael McDowell Wreck Amid Brutal Speeding Penalty Barrage

The second race of the Cup Series schedule is following a similar pattern that we saw at Daytona last week. Both events had plenty of drama, with early melees stunning the field and the community largely.

Also, just like pole-sitter Joey Logano was out of the race last week, this week it was Michael McDowell, the Front Row Motorsports driver, who had to bow out on a sour note. Despite getting the pole for the very first time in his Cup Series career, trouble found McDowell on lap 135 while entering the pit lane.

NASCAR Atlanta race and the insane pit lane theatrics

The Daytona 500 champ was pretty much the only one who dodged the bullet with wrecks and cautions flying from every direction, but that doesn’t mean he had a smooth ride. He got tangled up with Michael McDowell on their way to the pits during the green, leaving Byron with some battle scars and a lap behind. Still, he managed to claw his way back to a decent 17th-place finish, holding strong at second in both points and power rankings. McDowell, on his end, pulled off a bit of a comeback too, landing in the 8th spot.

Both he and HMS’ pride, William Byron, spun off while attempting to enter the pit road, cutting short the Daytona victor’s shot at back-to-back wins. Penalties were the name of the game in the NASCAR Atlanta race. Josh Berry, 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Kyle Busch, and Ross Chastain were all caught by the sanctioning body for going over the prescribed speed limit.

Speeding and pit penalties in Atlanta

Atlanta Motor Speedway has a unique setup when it comes to pit stops. Unlike most tracks where the drivers can slow down at the tail end of turn 4, at Atlanta they have got to make up their minds by the start of turn 3, a twist they threw in after the 2022 race with the track’s new layout. Once they cross the commitment line and decide on pitting under green, they have got to keep it at 90 mph until they hit the old pit entry after turn 4. That’s where they tend to drop to the standard pit road speed of 45 mph.

This unique pit stop strategy at Atlanta is definitely something to remember when the Cup Series rolls back into town for the playoff’s kickoff race in September. Not to mention, it wasn’t just Byron and McDowell stirring up drama on pit road; it seemed like the pit road crew had their hands full with drivers testing the limits all race long.

At the Atlanta races, NASCAR officials were pretty busy handing out what felt like speeding tickets left, right, and center to the Cup Series drivers. During the same pit stop frenzy that saw McDowell and Byron tangle, six drivers found themselves in hot water for pushing the speed limit on pit road. Josh Berry, Ross Chastain, and B.J. McLeod were all caught on lap 136, while Kyle Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Bubba Wallace joined the speeding club on lap 140.

But speeding wasn’t the only no-no on pit road that day. A handful of teams found themselves in a bit of a pickle with some pit lane penalties:
1. On lap 30, Daniel Hemric and his #31 crew were sent packing to the back of the line for having one too many hands on deck during a pit stop under yellow.

2.  Then on lap 140, Erik Jones’ #43 team let a tire slip away during a green flag pit stop, landing Jones a drive-through penalty.

3. And as if McDowell’s pit road crash wasn’t enough drama, he later got bumped to the back for making his pit stop outside his box during a yellow flag period.

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