HAMPTON, Ga - It was an eventful day of racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway for Hendrick Motorsports. All in all, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott and William Byron steered clear of trouble during NASCAR Overtime to finish inside the top 10.
Atlanta proved to be one of the most impressive runs of Bowman's season. After starting from the 11th spot, the Ally Racing team scored stage points in both segments through a pair of third-place finishes. Bowman also paced the field for five circuits in stage two. Come the final restart, the Tucson, Arizona, native made a daring three-wide move on the front straightaway to move up the rankings. Ultimately, the top-five result makes a strong case for the team advancing into the Round of 12.
"It drove awesome all day, super proud of the Ally Racing No. 48 team," Bowman said of his car after the 400-mile main event. "Had a great driving car for sure; wish a couple things went different there between seven and five (laps) to go. We just got ourselves back to 13th for one of those restarts and had to be really aggressive to get back to the top five."
"Wish I could have put myself in a little bit better of a position at the end, but obviously a great points day and a great day for Hendrick Motorsports on the No. 48 team."
RELATED: More behind Bowman's stats this season
It was a ninth-place result for Elliott in the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Children's Hospital of Atlanta colors. Like Bowman, Elliott also succeeded in scoring stage points through finishes of seventh in stage one and eighth in stage two. Come the final chance at the victory, Elliott's momentum was halted by Ross Chastain on the top lane going into turn three of the last lap. Ultimately, the driver of the No. 9 entry was able to get around his competitor and earn another top 10.
RELATED: The case for Chase: Elliott's path to the title
In the final stage, Byron's No. 24 Relay Payments Chevrolet jumped to the point position and looked briefly to have the speed needed to capture a third career victory at Atlanta. Unfortunately, momentum on the bottom lane stalled out and Byron quickly fell outside the top-10 positions. On the final restart, Byron was able to avoid the carnage and finish one spot behind Elliott in ninth. However, the team also capitalized on stage points, finishing eighth and fifth in the two segments respectively.
RELATED: Banking on Byron: How the Charlotte native can win the 2024 championship
Kyle Larson was involved in an on-track incident in the opening segment. The driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com entry was credited with a 37th-place finish and sits 15 points above the projected cutline.
RELATED: Larson, by the numbers in 2024
In terms of points, Atlanta proved to be fruitful for the three drivers from Rick Hendrick's team inside the top-10 positions. The trio of Bowman (+27), Elliott (+24) and Byron (+33) each earned stage points in both segments and avoided trouble to be in an excellent position headed into Watkins Glen International.
Unfortunately for Larson, his incident resulted in a significant loss of points in regards to the cutline. That said, the driver of the No. 5 entry still enters 15 markers above where he needs to be to make the Round of 12. With victories at both Watkins Glen and Bristol Motor Speedway in the past, Larson will aim to steady the ship next weekend and recover his playoff hopes.
NASCAR CUP SERIES POINTS AFTER ATLANTA
- Joey Logano (ADV)
- Ryan Blaney (+45)
- Christopher Bell (+40)
- Tyler Reddick (+33)
- William Byron (+33)
- Alex Bowman (+27)
- Austin Cindric (+27)
- Chase Elliott (+24)
- Daniel Suarez (+22)
- Kyle Larson (+15)
- Denny Hamlin (+2)
- Ty Gibbs (+1)
___________________ - Brad Keselowski (-1)
- Harrison Burton (-16)
- Martin Truex Jr. (-19)
- Chase Briscoe (-21)
Next weekend, the Cup Series heads north to Watkins Glen for the second leg of the Round of 16. Catch all the action at 3 p.m. ET with coverage on USA Network, MRN Radio and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).