By the time the checkered flag drops in Atlanta, the nearby scrapyards will be working in overtime mode. This is simply because of the number of wrecks and incidents the NASCAR race has seen, including a couple of big ones.
The second such incident came courtesy of the #42 of Ty Dillon as Garrett Smithley pointed out on his radio.
“42 just dumped us,” he said about the wreck that collected Bubba Wallace and William Byron as well.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
NOWHERE TO GO! 💥
Garrett Smithley spins, collecting William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace and more! #NASCAR
📺 : @USA_Network pic.twitter.com/fe86o9py7t
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 10, 2022
However, that wasn’t really the case, at least that’s not what the fans felt.
In fact, the fans argued that instead of Dillon, it was Smithley himself who was responsible for the second big one of the day as he seems to have lifted off the throttle at a critical moment, leading to carnage within seconds.
Fucking Garrett Smithley lifts and takes out half a dozen cars
— BrakeHard (@BrakeHardBlog) July 10, 2022
“He is so stupid sometimes” -radio traffic around Ty Dillon who some feel caused the wreck.
Dillon hot Garrett Smithley’s No. 15 who appeared to lose control entering Turn 3. #QuakerState400 https://t.co/qe5I9fVOyu
— Tom Bowles (@NASCARBowles) July 10, 2022
Garrett Smithley as always
— Rowdy (@Rowdy_70) July 10, 2022
Garrett Smithley appeared to have an issue and it stacked everyone up. https://t.co/lixcKeCaIV
— Austin Konenski (@AustinKonenski) July 10, 2022
I’ll never understand why Garrett Smithley is a NASCAR Cup Series driver.
— Dalton Good 1️⃣8️⃣🏁 (@daltongood18) July 10, 2022
Public enemy No. 1 NASCAR driver blamed for causing the first big one of the day
In the second stage of the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Ross Chastain was found guilty by fans and drivers alike for causing a wreck that ended up collecting 9 cars in total.
This was a wreck from which Chastain emerged relatively unharmed as he went on to lead the race, but one of his victims, Austin Dillon, wasn’t so lucky.
And naturally, he was pissed.
“Looks like we’re a casualty of Ross Chastain once again,” Dillon said. “I told myself we were gonna race hard all day. It wasn’t one of those things where I wanted to ride in the back and be at the end.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
“But when you’ve got guys like him out there wrecking half the field, you might as well pick a different strategy.”
Then there’s what Aric Almirola said about the Trackhouse Racing driver. Almirola too seems to have lost his patience with the #1 after an incident during the battle for the 15th and 16th place.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
“He’s a f*cking idiot, and he knows it.”