NASCAR’s Cup Series Playoff Opener on Sunday at Atlanta was disrupted by the sixth caution flag of the race, caused by a dislodged Walmart sign falling onto the track.
This incident led to an unplanned pit stop and a critical restart with only 11 laps remaining, significantly altering the race. Veteran driver Denny Hamlin did not hold back his criticism about the incident, voicing his frustration over NASCAR’s standards during his “Actions Detrimental” podcast aired on Monday.
Hamlin drew parallels to a similar mishap at the Charlotte Roval. He commented:
“It’s not ideal. We saw this happen at the [Charlotte] Roval as well. Just a few years ago, there was a crucial caution that happened from a sign falling down. I certainly wish we had better standards for that stuff.
“I think I saw a video of them sliding this in this contraption, but did it get anchored after it got slid in there? We don’t know, but the cars certainly cause a lot of buffering, and a lot of air gets moved around.
“So, it’s unfortunate. We don’t want lines coming up on our court that we’re playing on and causes a crucial timeout. But that’s what happened, and I think it’s just become more accepted in NASCAR that we have these freakish things happen.”
Jeff Gluck from The Athletic echoed Hamlin’s sentiments on “The Teardown” podcast, explaining:
“What makes me irrationally angry today is this sign because to me if you’re going to have your entire season come down to these little three-race mini playoffs and the one-race championship, every single little thing from the track standpoint has got to be buttoned up.
“You cannot have a situation where a sign for whatever reason is even possibly gonna fall on the track. This is the second time in three years this has happened. 2022 at The Roval in an elimination race, there was a caution called for a sign on the track. And that changed the outcome of the playoffs for that year.
“… Things happen, but if you’re going to put signage where race cars are driving by so fast that some people have fooled themselves into think there’s a vortex theory that it can control the weather, then you better have the signage locked down and secure. NASCAR cannot have something like that changing the outcome of a playoff race or the playoffs.”
Despite the chaotic turn of events, Joey Logano clinched victory in Sunday’s race, securing his advancement to the Round of 12 in the playoffs.
NASCAR Cup Series: Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway Results
- Joey Logano – Running
- Daniel Suárez – Running
- Ryan Blaney – Running
- Christopher Bell – Running
- Alex Bowman – Running
- Tyler Reddick – Running
- Kyle Busch – Running
- Chase Elliott – Running
- William Byron – Running
- Austin Cindric – Running
- Daniel Hemric – Running
- Justin Haley – Running
- Ross Chastain – Running
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr – Running
- Corey LaJoie – Running
- Carson Hocevar – Running
- Ty Gibbs – Running
- Ryan Preece – Running
- Brad Keselowski – Running
- Austin Dillon – Running
- Zane Smith – Running
- Michael McDowell – Running
- JJ Yeley – Running
- Denny Hamlin – Running
- BJ McLeod – Running
- Erik Jones – Running
- Todd Gilliland – Running
- Josh Berry – Running
- Bubba Wallace – Running
- Cody Ware – Running
- Harrison Burton – Accident
- Shane Van Gisbergen – Running
- John H. Nemechek – Running
- Noah Gragson – Accident
- Martin Truex Jr – Suspension
- Chris Buescher – Accident
- Kyle Larson – Accident
- Chase Briscoe – Accident
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