William Byron earned his third career win Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, holding off a hard-charging field after a restart with 13 laps to go.
Christopher Bell crossed the finish line in second place but was deemed by NASCAR to have passed Ross Chastain for the position beneath the double-line on the inside of the track. The rule typically implemented only at Daytona and Talladega was enforced in Atlanta due to the track’s new configuration, which promotes superspeedway-style racing. Bell was relegated to 23rd place, the final car on the lead lap.
That allowed Chastain to finish second, his third consecutive finish within the top three while still searching for his first career win. Kurt Busch finished third for his second consecutive top-five finish with 23XI Racing and Daniel Suarez was fourth for his third top-10 finish of the year. Corey LaJoie snagged his first career top-five finish driving the No. 7 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports.
Race results: Atlanta Cup results
POINTS
Chase Elliott leaves his home track with the points lead for the first time in 2022. The driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet holds a seven-point advantage over Joey Logano in the standings while Chase Briscoe, William Byron and Kurt Busch complete the top five.
Points report: Atlanta Cup driver points
