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How NASCAR’s Next-Gen Car Made Historic Atlanta Finish Possible

Srijan Mandal
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Why Atlanta Is The Most Mentally Taxing Race On The NASCAR Calendar

The race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway last weekend saw some incredible racing, underlined by the fact that there were a total of 48 lead changes throughout its duration. However, the highlight of the race was the photo finish that took place between eventual race winner Daniel Suarez, defending champion Ryan Blaney, and the two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch. It was a time difference of 0.003 and 0.007 seconds from the race leader, allowing for one of the closest race finishes of all time.

Meanwhile, speaking about how this incredibly tight finish came to fruition, NASCAR analyst Kyle Petty shared, “When it came down to that last lap we do not have this finish without this Next Gen car. This Next Gen car is what made this finish possible. Also Bubba Wallace made this finish possible and Austin Cindric.”

He then elaborated, “We go into turn 1 Bubba Wallace behind Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric behind Daniel Suarez, they get a run… Kyle Busch goes to the outside, Daniel Suarez goes further to the outside. We go into turn 3 three wide, Bubba washes up slows down the rest of the pack.”

“So it’s three wide side by side and with this car because of the aerodynamics that we all complain about they stall out. And they come to the line side by side, zero zero three thousands of a second you could throw a blanket over em. That’s it.”

Kyle Petty believes the Atlanta finish will replace the first Daytona 500’s three-wide finish photo

Sure last weekend’s race was amazing to witness and may have been one of the closest finishes in NASCAR history. But as per Petty, it may have been significant enough to replace the picture taken way back in 1959 during the first-ever Daytona 500 race.

He said, “This photo is going to replace the Lee Petty, Johnny Beauchamp and Joe Weatherly photo from Daytona. Yes that’s a historic photo, but this will be a milestone and a mile marker to take us forward in this sport.” Well, the Atlanta photo finish might not exactly replace the significance of the 1959 image, but it can perhaps be considered on par with that one.

Post Edited By:Srijan Mandal

About the author

Srijan Mandal

Srijan Mandal

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Srijan Mandal is the Lead NASCAR Editor and Strategist at The Sportsrush with a wealth of experience and expertise in the world of motorsports. With several thousand articles under his belt over the years, he has established himself as a leading authority on all things racing. His passion for motorsports started at a young age, and he has dedicated his career to covering the sport in all its forms. He is an expert in various disciplines, including stock car racing, American motorsports, Formula 1, IndyCar, NHRA, MotoGP, WRC, WEC, and several more. But Srijan's love for racing goes beyond his writing. He actively competes in professional open-wheel sim racing, using '88' as his racing number. While he mostly participates in GT Endurance classes, he also ventures into Stock Car racing from time to time. In case, you wish to contact Srijan, kindly send an email to him at srijan.mandal@sportsrush.com or just DM him on Twitter.

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