Pair Of Atlanta Big Ones Wipes Out Leaders

What’s Happening?

With Atlanta now essentially a superspeedway, that means superspeedway-style carnage is bound to happen. After a very boring race for most of the day with the leaders running single file up high, two separate incidents out front of all places ended the day for many serious contenders.

You Need To Know:

• The first of these incidents occurred on when as Kevin Harvick led and Ross Chastain was second in line. While in the heat of the moment it was believed that Chastain spun Harvick (considering his aggressive driving reputation), replay footage shows that Harvick just got loose as the rear of the No. 4 Busch Light Mustang spun around. Chastain was able to avoid much of the carnage that followed but others, including William Byron, Kyle Busch, Chris Buescher, and Josh Berry weren’t so lucky.
• On Lap 209, a second large crash in the front of the field was triggered as Aric Almirola, who was running on much older tires than most of the back, blew a rear tire and spun around. This second large crash collected the likes of Kyle Larson, who was running pretty well at the time despite not particularly liking superspeedway-style racing, and Tyler Reddick, who was able to continue.
• These crashes are sure to peak fan interest after well over half of the race consisting of single-file train racing up top. Unfortunately, it may not be enough to sway the opinions of this race as it feeds into the narrative that superspeedway racing at Atlanta is racing full of single-files lines, minimum runs, and crashes.

Here is footage of the first of the two Big Ones, posted by NASCAR on NBC’s Twitter page:

The second Big One via NASCAR on FOX:

The Main Characters

After getting lose in the corner, Kevin Harvick’s day came to an end. Sad for the #4EVER crew.

Over the radio, Harvick accused Ross Chastain of getting him lose.

Over the radio, as per Lee Spencer on Twitter, Chastain never touched the No. 4 of Kevin Harvick. He had no damage and was able to continue.

Aric Almirola seemed genuinely confused to find out that pushing tires to go over 70 laps isn’t such a good idea.

Around The Garage

DeLana Harvick, former NASCAR team owner and wife of Kevin Harvick, was crushed.

An ambitious crew over at NAPA Racing…

Chris Buscher does not approve of the hard pushing that early into a superspeedway race. It sure did end a lot of days prematurely.

William Byron was hoping the crash would have stayed below him. The dream didn’t come true for the 2-time 2023 winner.

Stewart-Haas Racing is crushed following the unceremonious end of their #4EVER driver after so much success at Atlanta.

In The Stands

Kenny calls the situation between Harvick and Chastain a “bump gone wrong.” Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think he ever touched him.

Brian Cooper certainly believes Chastain dumped Harvick, though.

Same goes for John Luke.

RaceDayBalto comments on the continuing bad luck for Chase Elliott’s #9 crew in his absence.

Tim Wilson wants Hamlin’s penalty overturned.

CarnationTM tweeted this hilarious picture of Ross Chastain, considering him one of the greatest threats to world peace.

Jason Carter corrects the record…Chastain DID NOT dump Harvick.

On Your Screen

Garage Guy, Chase Holden provides a eulogy for one of his Top-10 bets.

Denny Delivers of YouTube is watching some stuff go down.

Eric Estepp of Out of The Groove states that Chastain is partially at fault, even though he never touched Harvick.

Estepp was also beside himself to learn that Almirola was running on SEVENTY-TWO LAP OLD TIRES.

From The Pressbox

Jayski reports who all was involved in that first incident.

Dustin Albino reports Harvick accusing Chastain of getting him loose…

NASCAR on NBC tweets this nasty image of the wreckage.

Rob Tiongson notes that Kyle Larson masterfully avoided the first Big One. He wouldn’t be so lucky with the second…

Cathy Brown implies that Chastain might just be the one to worry about on superspeedways.

Jim Utter reports that Byron is done for the day.

Michael Palmer comments on FOX guest analyst, Tony Stewart, losing all four of his cars in the Atlanta insanity.

Dustin Albino states that Larson had nowhere to go in the second incident.

More Cathy Brown commentary on Tony Stewart in the booth…

Daniel McFadin breaks down the struggles the No. 10 Smithfield Ford team has had following Almirola postponing his retirement.

Big Ones galore on such a tiny “superspeedway” track. A lot of really good hard hitters were taken out in these two incidents.