Atlanta NASCAR weekend delivers three total bangers

After another unforgettable weekend at EchoPark Speedway, the chat is that Atlanta is NASCAR’s best venue at present, and though I am hopelessly biased, I would have to agree.

The Truck Series race was an intense and remarkably disciplined affair that was compressed for time due to weather delays, with Spire teammates Carson Hocevar and Kyle Busch working together to learn the kids a thing or two, delivering yet another truck win for Busch. They did tandem burnouts that were both 10s out of 10. There were other notable performances throughout the field, though, including an impressive recovery drive on debut for Trans Am ace Adam Andretti. Also notable was the pretty average performance of last year’s champion, Corey Heim.

The O’Reilly Series race was utter insanity in the best possible way and probably the most awesome NASCAR race I have ever watched in real time. The question on everyone’s mind was, “How can we stop Austin Hill?” The answer turned out to be “using Ross Chastain.” There were so many great drives, but the most shockingly delightful was that of Sheldon Creed, who finally — after 15 second-place finishes in the series — got himself a win. The final laps of this race — as well as Creed’s celebration and post-race interview — are mandatory viewing.

Naturally, the O’Reilly race was not without its stupidities. JGR crewman Alex Morgan was fully hit by Taylor Gray’s car exiting the pit box, but he was unharmed. A significant portion of the other stupidities were caused by Corey Day. My sense of that guy is that he’s a very good dirt racer who has not yet learned to stop dirt racing.

As for the Cup race, while it wasn’t better than the first two, it was an inspiring display of where NASCAR as a whole is at right now, and you can read my full race notes from the track.