Hendrick Penalties Shine New Light on Atlanta
In what looked to be just another race amping up to the playoffs, Atlanta now has a whole new importance to it. In what was the largest combined fine in NASCAR history, a once dominant Hendrick team must now dig themselves out of a deep hole and get their season back on track.
The penalties involved William Byron, Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson losing 100 points and 10 playoff points. The Kaulig Racing team of Justin Haley was also issued the same penalty. Additionally, the crew chiefs for Haley, Bowman, Larson Byron, and Josh Berry (who’s subbing for Chase Elliott) were suspended for four races and fined $100,000. In terms of team penalties, the teams were docked 100 owner points and 10 playoff points.
The culprit of these penalties? The air vents on the hoods of the cars. The vents were confiscated by NASCAR after practice and the cars did not qualify or race with them.
So far this season, Chevys have won every race and head into Atalnta with even more motivation to win. This motivation is combined with the confidence of having swept the races here just one year ago.
As seen last year, the track’s new reconfiguration has completely changed the racing. The track now essentially races like a small restrictor plate track. With this, the race really becomes one that anyone can win.
The favorites for the race are pretty obvious - it’s the Hendrick drivers. The main driver to look out for out of this bunch is Larson. Larson has been close the past two weeks and if he uses his teammates the right way, he could be a force to be reckoned with on Sunday.
One large factor to look out for in the race is the new pit road commitment line. The line has been moved from the front stretch to the entrance to turn three. Drivers will have to be at pit road speed at this time and keep this speed until the exit on the front stretch. Expect to see a ton of speeding penalties with this change as drivers try to adjust. This change will also affect green flag pit stops as pit stops will take longer and increase the chances that a driver goes down a lap.
One of the determining factors in this race will be luck. This track is susceptible to large wrecks with the close pack racing that it sees but, unlike Talladega and Daytona, has very little room to avoid accidents.
In what is sure to be a chaotic race, the Cup Series will take on the high banks of Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Ambetter 400 on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. on FOX.
Ethan Ellis is a second year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email ece5133@psu.edu.
