Winners and losers from an unbelievable NASCAR Cup...

Inclement climate, crimson flags, track-clearing pileups and a last-lap go by the hometown hero — EchoPark Speedway placed on a present for the ages on Saturday night time. Some are calling it the very best race of the yr with continuous motion all through the pack, even after half the field was collected in a mid-race pileup. 

It was additionally the primary race of the five-week in-season problem, and most brackets are surely busted already. However with that being mentioned, here is a take a look at the largest winners and losers from this weekend’s thriller in Atlanta:

WINNER: Hendrick teamwork makes the dream work

On the finish of the Cup race in Atlanta, the RFK teammates overlooked one another however the Hendrick duo of Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman caught collectively. They completely timed the ultimate two laps, transferring up into second and third and leaving the race little nothing he might do. The No. 6 Ford tried to dam, however it wasn’t sufficient to cease Elliott from finishing a last-lap go for the lead. And any hope Brad Keselowski had of combating again vanished as Bowman refused to push him, allowing Elliott to snap a 44-race winless streak. 

LOSER: Brad Keselowski loses his golden ticket to the playoffs

Watch: Brad Keselowski talks ‘good effort’ in runner-up end

The one factor that would save Keselowski’s season at this level is a win. He sits twenty seventh in factors and has gone winless this yr, however Atlanta was an important alternative to rectify that. At one level, he had two teammates lined up behind him however by the point the white flag flew, they had been nowhere to be seen. Sadly, it is not the primary time Keselowski has misplaced one among these Atlanta races in a last-lap go.

WINNER: The race observe for placing on probably the greatest reveals of the yr

Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Picture by: Sean Gardner / Getty Photographs

Name it Atlanta Motor Speedway, EchoPark Speedway, or no matter you need. It does not change the truth that it simply placed on one unimaginable present. Even a 23-car pileup could not decelerate the motion because the lead modified 46 instances. 5 totally different drivers led the race within the last ten laps. The breath-taking race by no means let up with drivers continuously making enormous strikes all through the pack and it appeared like nobody might maintain the lead for lengthy. Atlanta has asserted itself as the very best drafting observe on the schedule and it is not even shut.

LOSER: Just about everybody concerned in that 23-car pileup

Picture by: Krista Jasso / Getty Photographs

May as effectively simply group everybody into this. Of the 23 drivers involved in this mess, nine were unable to continue. The second stage had barely gotten underway when names like Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Joey Logano, and Ross Chastain had their automobiles destroyed. In reality, this wreck practically assured a brand new winner as seven of the 11 winners this yr had been eradicated within the wreck whereas others had been wounded.

WINNER: Ty Dillon with the in-season match upset

Ty Dillon, Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

Picture by: Sean Gardner / Getty Photographs

Each the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds have been knocked out of the in-season bracket problem, permitting the No. 31 and No. 32 seeds to advance. Most surprisingly, Ty Dillon moves on over Hamlin, giving him the chance to fight for a $1 million prize that would be the highlight of his Cup career. And he had the right response for Hamlin followers after the race, saying: “To all of the Denny followers on the market, I simply knocked your favourite driver out.”

LOSER: Ryan Blaney on the unsuitable place on the unsuitable time once more

Picture by: Sean Gardner / Getty Photographs

It is a good factor Ryan Blaney managed to win at Nashville as his season has included six DNFs within the first 18 races. Final yr, he had seven in 36 races. Blaney was once again an innocent bystander as he tried to avoid the first wreck of the night, but instead found himself slamming the outside wall. Blaney lamented the unhealthy luck, noting how he at all times appears to get “caught up in different individuals’s rubbish.” He completed fortieth (final), which is his worst lead to 5 years.

WINNER: The 18-year-old rookie for holding it clear

Picture by: David J. Griffin – Icon Sportswire – Getty Photographs

Whereas veterans had been crashing all over, 18-year-old Connor Zilisch stored his automobile clear and stayed out of bother, operating each single lap and practically scoring a prime ten end. He was the very best of the 4 Trackhouse automobiles as his three teammates did wreck whereas Zilisch positioned eleventh within the No. 87 Crimson Bull Chevrolet. He drove like somebody who has been doing this for some time, not a rookie in his fourth profession begin.

LOSER: Stenhouse battles again from a penalty, however misses out on the win

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet

Picture by: Krista Jasso / Getty Photographs

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had probably the greatest drives of anybody throughout the last run of the race. He needed to begin from the rear of the sector for the final restart attributable to a penalty, however he rapidly marched ahead. Stenhouse pulled off an excellent three-wide go for the lead with simply six laps to go, however he couldn’t maintain it because the No. 47 slipped again. He was nonetheless inside the highest 5 on the ultimate lap, however contact with the skin wall brought about him to slide again to sixth. It was nonetheless a robust end result however with how shut he was to Victory Lane, he is certainly questioning what he might have performed in a different way in these last few laps.