It’s a cool and windy 65 degrees at race time under sunny skies in Hampton, Georgia. 37 cars, led by Chase Briscoe and Ryan Blaney, are scheduled to race 325 laps. Due to weather all on-track action was cancelled on Friday. Cup practice was moved to Saturday replacing qualifying. A competition caution is scheduled for 45 of 325. The stages for today’s race are 105-105-115 on the reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway.
I wish the weather, and my schedule would’ve cooperated to allow me to attend this race. It’s entirely too chilly for me and family matters take precedence. I would like to attend the race to see if the racing is better. The television broadcasts are unwatchable frequently so it’s virtually impossible to actually watch the race develop due to the idiotic bumper, windscreen, side-panel, trunk, and blimp shots, all of which show weird video that looks irrelevant and makes it impossible to follow the race.
PRN is calling an exciting race. Television is showing a very boring event. I need a viable alternative to see the race PRN is calling.
Caution on lap 23 of 325 for a crash by Noah Gragson (16).
Restarting on lap 30 of 325 with Kyle ‘KyBu’ Busch (18) and Chase Briscoe (14) on the front row.
Competition caution on lap 45 of 325.
Restarting on lap 50 of 325.
Caution on lap 95 of 325 for a spin by Ross Chastain (1) after he tagged the wall following a flat right rear.
Caution on lap 102 of 325 for a wreck by Austin Dillon (3) which collected KyBu (18). Behind that wreck Ty Dillon (42) got loose, tagged the wall and hit by Chase Briscoe (14).
The stage ends under caution with William ‘WilliB’ Byron (24) at the front.
Restarting on lap 110 of 325.
PRN is excited because they have something to talk about. That’s been rare in recent Atlanta races in the past handful of years. They’re obsessively talking about the number of leaders. Unfortunately the lead changes are as irrelevant as when they were doing the two-car hook-ups/tandem racing at Talladega. There were a lot of lead changes too, but they weren’t really relevant and generally made for boring racing for most of the event. The same holds true for the television broadcast of this event. PRN’s guys are tripping over their tongues attempting to call what they continue to insist is an exciting race. Of course they were clear before the field took the green flag that it would be an exciting race – so they were going to be on the chip no matter what. When I get the chance to actually see some of the racing action instead of bumpers and the track and side-panels of cars, I see some racing, but it looks like what I used to see at mile-and-a-half tracks around 2009-2010. It’s busy. Maybe if the camera-work was as good as 2009 the race would look as exciting to me as PRN continues to yell that it is. I have my doubts, but maybe. Things desperately need to improve with the television broadcast of NASCAR events.
Caution on lap 146 of 325 for a wreck involving Tyler Reddick (8), Michael McDowell (34), Corey LaJoie (7), Joey Logano (22), Kyle Larson (5), Alex Bowman (48), Kurt Busch (45), Austin Cindric (2), Todd Gilliland (38), and Harrison Burton (21). Reddick said he lost a right rear tire causing his spin.
Restarting on lap 152 of 325. Tyler Reddick is sitting on pit road with a NASCAR official in front of the car holding up a hand. He is being penalized for too many crew members over-the-wall according to PRN.
Caution on lap 155 of 325 for debris.
PRN’s Wendy Venturini is still doing that weird shouting-deep-voice thing. It’s weird and too loud and sounds very painful for her throat.
Restarting on lap 162 of 325.
I find myself struggling to figure out who’s who because the car numbers are so small and the camera shots are so far away I can’t see the numbers. Sometimes I can guess why the car color, but since it’s early in the season and sometimes sponsors change that’s been a very iffy proposition.
The one advantage to the constant lead changes is that the media may be forced to talk about someone other than usual suspects. That is a positive change.
Caution on lap 201 of 325 for a crash involving Ricky Stenhouse Jr (47), Austin Cindric (2), Kevin Harvick (4), Erik Jones (43), Daniel Suarez (99). Stenhouse spins in front of Suarez after a tire goes down, then Austin Cindric (2) slams sideways into him and sending both cars up the track in front of Jones and Harvick.
Restarting on lap 207 of 325.
Caution on lap 209 of 325 for a crashing involving Kyle Larson (5) and Desperate Denny Hamlin (11).
The stage ends under yellow with Ryan Blaney (12) at the front of the field.
Restarting on lap 216 of 325.
As Chase Elliot (9) raced his way from ninth to the front of the field the television broadcast reduced the number of idiot camera shots allowing the tension of the event to be seen and experienced. It was enjoyable television, but ended by lap 245 and instead we were subjected to random shots of cars and/or drivers removing all context and continuity from the view. The broadcasts are just bad and getting worst. The segment was called ‘ones to watch’. That is a segment to definitely ignore and avoid going forward. It removes the viewer fro the race completely.
The field has single-filed out. After two dozen laps of battling for the lead, it’s a bit of a welcome relief. Unfortunately the camera shots are frenetic and seemingly thoughtless. They seem totally random.
Caution on lap 253 of 325 for Tyler Reddick (8) possibly slamming the wall. The television broadcast showed him on pit road with damage, getting a tire removed, but they were talking about ‘Clint Bowyer’s money’, and PRN’s broadcast is almost 2 laps behind the television broadcast and they went to commercial break before the caution occurred for them.
PRN’s Doug Rice says he thinks some of the bear bond peeled off Reddick’s car and fell onto the track leading to the debris caution.
Restarting on lap 259 of 325.
The majority of the field has single-filed out again with five cars on the inside lane trying to make some moves.
For unknown reasons we’re subjected to a windscreen shot of the sun until the car passes into the shade. What an irredeemable shot.
PRN’s Doug Rice explained that he tells people you know the race is exciting when you hear a lot of play-by-play. When you hear them ‘vamping’ or just chatting or on pit road a lot the racing isn’t really interesting. Currently on lap 291 of 325 they’re chatting and going to pit road. The number of cars out of the single-file line against the wall is down to three.
Caution on lap 300 of 325 for a crash by Todd Gilliland (38). Cody Ware (51) was collected and hits the inside SAFER barrier hard.
Some stay out some pit. PRN says tire wear has not been a factor today allowing for differing pit strategies.
PRN continues to repeat, ad nauseum that there were only 11 lead changes in last year’s race and giving the current lead change count to indicate how good they consider this race. It is head and shoulder above last year’s race, but it doesn’t lead me to believe it heralds an era of better.
Restarting on lap 306 of 325.
Caution on 307 of 325 for a spin by Aric Almirola (10).
Restarting on lap 312 of 325.
William Byron wins. No one was able to really mount a challenge at the end of the race. The kids were up front and just couldn’t hold it together, nor figure out the correct time to make the move. Chase Elliot (9) and Christopher Bell (20) tried to mount a challenge on the inside, but couldn’t get anyone to go with them. At the end of the race Ryan Blaney (12) made a move to push Darrell ‘Bubba’ Wallace (23) to the lead. Bubba lost control. Blaney ended up in the wall attempting to avoid running over Bubba. Big crash as they cross the finish line involving Bubba (23), Justin Haley (31) and Chris Buescher (17).
The end of the race reminds me of the crappy Talladega races in the Xfinity series of the past several years. Whether or not there was any action during the race at the end we usually ended up subject to a single-file line with no one making a move until the very end when it was too late.
That was easily the best Atlanta race in years. There was actually some racing during the event. The last segment was awful with the folks up front demonstrating their lack of knowledge about driving, about strategy, and about putting on a great race for the fans. The finish could’ve been a nail-biter, but it required more drivers with more skills in the top ten positions. The drivers with those skills like Kurt Busch, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, and Chase Briscoe were hamstrung by their positions and the lack of competitive spirit and moxie amongst the rest of the field. Everybody was playing it safe and staying in line single-file until the last possible minute guaranteeing a mediocre (at best) finish. It was a pretty good race when comparing it to recent AMS races. It was a not-great race when comparing it to AMS races around 2009-2012. In its own right, it was an okay race with a dreadful finish.