NASCAR takeaways: 3-hour rain delay can't stop Ryan Blaney at Atlanta

Ryan Blaney relayed what most people were thinking.

“Past my bedtime,” he said during his post-race interview, with the clock just 10 minutes away from 2 a.m. in Hampton, Georgia.

The Team Penske driver dominated the Quaker State 400 and shook off a three-hour weather delay in the process. He claimed the first two stages, led a race-high 171 laps and snatched the checkered flag in overtime at EchoPark Speedway.

He beat Bubba Wallace and Christopher Bell in a photo finish.

The victory kept him firmly in third place in the NASCAR Cup Series standings.

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Blaney enjoyed a huge night. His win was Ford’s 750th in the Cup Series. It was Blaney’s second of the year, with the first occurring at Phoenix in March.

But Carson Hocevar was the one who jumped ahead at the beginning of overtime. He and Blaney battled throughout the two-lap shootout. Wallace and Bell also jostled near the front.

“Bubba gave me really good shoves on the restart,” he said. “We got hooked up really good. Gosh, Bubba and I got a huge run down the front straightaway. I was able to get to the outside of Carson. Wasn’t able to clear him. Then, Bubba went three-wide bottom down the back, which lined up for a really cool finish at the line. 

“I really have to shout out Christopher Bell for being right on my bumper all the way through three and four, and (he gave a) big push. He was a big reason why we won the race, so I appreciate that.”

Blaney now owns eight straight top-10 finishes. The last time he placed outside of the top 11 was April 26 at Talladega.

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Wallace had a second-place finish for about 30 seconds.

Immediately following the conclusion of the race, NASCAR penalized him for his final-lap move and dropped him to 29th, the last car on the lead lap. Officials deemed he dipped below the double-yellow line to advance his position as he went three-wide on Blaney and Hocevar.

Wallace disagreed with the call. He and his team met with officials in the NASCAR hauler afterward, but the sanction stood.

“(The rule) says ‘advancing your position,’ which I did not do,” he told reporters. “I stayed third, and I was all over the brakes to make sure I did not advance. As soon as I turned, I’m like, ‘I’m going to wreck.’ I got on the brakes. He kept underneath me. Still ended up side-by-side.

“That move should’ve propelled us to the lead, and it didn’t, because I knew it was wrong, because my car did not like that move. We’ll see what we can do. But I did not advance my position. I stayed third from entry to three all the way until 50 yards away.”

Wallace paced the field for 11 laps. With the infraction, he would’ve secured his second runner-up mark in the last four weekends.

It’s not quite the reintroduction of Chicagoland earlier this month.

That track had not seen a single NASCAR race in seven years before its revival. But NASCAR’s next stop is still making a comeback of sorts.

After hosting the All-Star Race in 2023, 2024 and 2025, North Wilkesboro Speedway will put on its first points-paying Cup Series race since 1996. Jeff Gordon took that checkered flag 30 years ago, holding off Dale Earnhardt at the end.

The upcoming event bears the name Window World 450. It will get the green flag shortly after 7 p.m. on July 19 and air on TNT. 

It also will serve as the semifinal round of the In-Season Challenge.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR takeaways: 3-hour rain delay can’t stop Ryan Blaney at Atlanta

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