The playoffs of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series have commenced. What a day for Team Penske! Joey Logano has taken the first spot in the round of twelve. He held off a determined Daniel Suarez, who was eyeing a back-to-back chequered flag in Atlanta. Logano’s Penske teammate Ryan Blaney took P3 behind the Spaniard.

Late in the race, Logano, Suarez, Blaney, and Ty Gibbs all took turns leading, with Kyle Busch also getting involved in the action. But you have got to feel it for Joe Gibbs Grandson. One can assume all the uncertainties of a race that can rob you of a win. It could be a car malfunction, fuel shortage, tires getting punctured or even getting wrapped up in wrecks. However, the reason Ty Gibbs did not win the race was beyond anyone’s control.

Unforeseen factors ended Ty Gibbs’s Atlanta hopes

After starting the race in the 20th position, Ty Gibbs led for 37 laps and seemed poised to secure his first Cup win in the closing laps, but he got shuffled back and ended up finishing 18th, just ahead of Brad Keselowski. What is surprising is the reason for this. One who missed watching the race would probably assume a multi-car wreck roped him in. But no, it was a Walmart billboard that ended up on the racing surface!

Here’s what happened, The green-white-checker restart was triggered by two cautions in the final 10 laps of the scheduled 260-lap race. The first caution occurred with 10 laps to go when a Walmart sign hanging over the track fell onto the front stretch. Ty Gibbs was hit hardest by the sign’s mishap. He was leading the race with fresher tires and more fuel than his competitors but made a few poor lane choices in the final laps. Post the race, Gibbs was disappointed as he said, “Just missed it. This happened too quickly for me to see it and to hear it on my radio. I was just too late. I take full responsibility for that. I’m frustrated with that. Hopefully, learn from it.”

Although the banner did not cause a wreck, it just led to Gibbs losing the momentum that he had while leading before. He fell to ninth after the restart. However, to make matters worse, there was a second caution caused by Noah Gragson spinning on the backstretch and hitting the inside wall. As a result, he fell further down and finally finished 18th (10th among the playoff drivers).

There were several banners with NASCAR-sponsored brand names hanging over the track. To keep the race running smoothly and avoid any more interruptions, the safety crew jumped into action and took down all the banners to prevent debris cautions. However, given the chaos of racing at Atlanta, it’s surprising there weren’t more crashes after the Walmart sign landed on the track. It was later revealed that the majority of drivers didn’t even know that it fell.

Drivers react to signboard falling on the track

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There have been several instances where cautions have come up for bizarre reasons. Like in the 2013 Richmond race, Infield sprinklers came on mid-race. In the 2015 Bristol race, popped a slippery on-track rabbit that track safety workers struggled to catch. Or when a giant chunk of concrete came up the track in the 2014 Dover race, which Jamie McMurray pulverized into a fine powder as he crushed it with his car. The list of weird cautions is long and now there is this new addition of a Walmart sign falling off.

However, it went unnoticed by some of the drivers. When drivers were questioned on pit road after the race by CBS Sports, they were surprised to learn that the late-race caution was caused by a giant banner. They found it quite amusing. “That’s pretty wild,” said fifth-place. “Kevin just told me it was debris, not that it was a banner. … Glad I missed that,” said Alex Bowman, joking about his spotter, Kevin Hamlin. Ryan Blaney, who hadn’t seen the banner, laughed when he heard the reason for the caution. He suggested a different way to handle trackside advertising: “Just paint it!” 

What did you think of this bizarre incident? Let us know in the comments below.