About halfway through Stage 2, a lightning strike within eight miles of EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway) forced NASCAR to immediately red flag the race, bringing the field of 38 cars down pit road.
There were no incidents in the first 100 or so laps of racing and all cars are still running. The event needs to reach Lap 131 to be official as that is the halfway point of the race.
There are thunderstorms in the area, and rain began to fall just after the cars were stopped on pit road, with drivers allowed to exit their vehicles. The rain only got heavier after that, and if the race resumes tonight, it will be a long wait.
Ryan Blaney was leading the race at the time of the stoppage, with Bubba Wallace second, Tyler Reddick third, Christopher Bell fourth, and Chase Elliott fifth.
Erik Jones, Kyle Larson, Carson Hocevar, Joey Logano, and Ty Gibbs filled out the remainder of the current top ten.
Austin Cindric, Shane van Gisbergen, and John Hunter Nemechek are right outside the top ten.
Championship leader Denny Hamlin runs 15th during the red flag.
“I learned a lot, actually,” said Blaney during the delay. “Start of the race, you don’t really know what your car is like in race trim and in the draft — things like that. Fortunately, we were able to control that first stage and made some adjustments for the second one. I wasn’t completely satisfied with how we were in the first stage. Especially with the way my car changed from the start of the run to the end of run — was big. I think we got a little bit better at that in Stage 2, and trying to wrestle the lead away when we can. I feel like that’s where I’m best. My car has been fast enough to hold, and I’ve been good enough to get it back.
“Handling has really come into play. There’s a lot of guys kind of hanging on, some guys handling really well but they’re more draggy — there’s a lot of variation of cars out there, but our Ford Mustang is pretty decent right now.”
This caution is a break for Ross Chastain as he will receive the free pass, putting 31 cars back on the lead lap.
Zane Smith, Brad Keselowski, and Todd Gilliland are currently trapped one lap down, while the cars of Noah Gragson, Cody Ware, and Chad Finchum are all two laps down. BJ McLeod runs last, three laps behind the race lead.
Along with currently leading the race, Blaney also won Stage 1, earning ten additional points in the process. Reddick, Larson, Logano, Cindric, Hocevar, A. Dillon, Briscoe, Elliott, and Wallace all earned stage points in the first stage as well.
Once the race resumes, the entire field will pit for fuel and tires as they were almost all the way through that stint before the yellow flag flew.
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