William Byron surges to Atlanta win (NASCAR.com)

WILLIAM BYRON SURGES TO ATLANTA WIN AHEAD OF LAST-LAP CRASHES (BY REID SPENCER)

HAMPTON, Ga. – It was superspeedway racing with all the trimmings.

“New” Atlanta Motor Speedway produced a fifth different 2022 winner — William Byron, who managed to keep an angry pack of drafting cars behind him for the final 10 laps of Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500.

In a race that produced 46 lead changes among 20 drivers — both track records — Byron crossed the finish line .109 seconds ahead of Christopher Bell and .145 seconds ahead of Ross Chastain.

Bell, however, was penalized for passing below the boundary line on the backstretch on the final lap and was demoted to 23rd, the last position on the lead lap. That elevated Chastain to his second straight runner-up finish.

Byron took the lead from Bubba Wallace on Lap 316 of 325 and held it the rest of the way.

“It was so different,” said Byron, who collected his third NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his first at Atlanta, which had undergone a major repaving and reconfiguration since the series raced at the 1.54-mile track last July. “Honestly, the last few laps there and trying to manage the gap to Bubba and trying to not get too far out front. You know, my spotter Brandon (Lines), his first win, so congrats to him. Thanks to this whole team. They’ve done a great job this year.

“Lots of changes with the Next Gen car. The (No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports) Chevrolet was awesome there. Worked hard overnight. Had a pretty rough practice and worked hard on it and got it handling well, like I told you. It was kind of an intermediate style with a little bit of speedway into it, so a lot of fun.”

For the full race report, check out NASCAR.com.