Lightning and rain stops NASCAR Cup Atlanta race just before halfway
· Yahoo Sports
About halfway through Stage 2, a lightning strike within eight miles of EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway) forced NASCAR to immediately red flag the race, bringing the field of 38 cars down pit road.
There were no incidents in the first 100 or so laps of racing and all cars are still running. The event needs to reach Lap 131 to be official as that is the halfway point of the race.
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There are thunderstorms in the area, and rain began to fall just after the cars were stopped on pit road, with drivers allowed to exit their vehicles.
Ryan Blaney was leading the race at the time of the stoppage, with Bubba Wallace second, Tyler Reddick third, Christopher Bell fourth, and Chase Elliott fifth.
Erik Jones, Kyle Larson, Carson Hocevar, Joey Logano, and Ty Gibbs fill out the remainder of the current top ten.
This caution will also give the free pass to Ross Chastain, putting 31 cars back on the lead lap.
Zane Smith, Brad Keselowski, and Todd Gilliland are currently trapped one lap down, while the cars of Noah Gragson, Cody Ware, and Chad Finchum are all two laps down. BJ McLeod runs last, three laps behind the race lead.
Along with currently leading the race, Blaney also won Stage 1, earning ten additional points in the process. Reddick, Larson, Logano, Cindric, Hocevar, A. Dillon, Briscoe, Elliott, and Wallace all earned stage points in the first stage as well.
Once the race resumes, the entire field will pit for fuel and tires as they were almost all the way through that stint before the yellow flag flew.
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