by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Josh Williams picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Ambetter 400 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway when his #16 Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet was eliminated in a multi-car accident after 2 of 260 laps.

The finish came in Williams’ fourth series start. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 18th for the #16, the 663rd from a crash, and the 852nd for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 38th for the #16, the 1,365th from a crash, and the 1,926th for Chevrolet.

As featured in yesterday’s article, Williams struggled in Saturday’s XFINITY Series race. A cut left-rear tire forced the first of a series of green-flag stops on Lap 5, ultimately leaving him 37th in the 38-car field, ten laps down. This continued a difficult start to the best deal of his career with Kaulig Racing, which so far saw him finish 34th after crash damage in Daytona, and run the fastest lap of all DNQs in the season-opening Clash.

Williams would return to Cup competition for the first time since the Clash in Atlanta, fresh off A.J. Allmendinger’s 6th-place run with the team in the Daytona 500. Williams secured 30th on the starting grid for Sunday with a lap of 175.083mph (31.665 seconds).

Securing the 37th and final spot on the grid was Erik Jones, whose #43 Advent Health Toyota was a full 1.3 seconds slower than 36th-place B.J. McLeod in his unsponsored #78 Chevrolet. The weekend had seen NASCAR confiscate roof rail deflectors from Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Ryan Preece in the #41 HaasTooling.com Ford and Noah Gragson in the #10 Black Rifle Coffee / Ranger Boats Ford. While penalties are forthcoming, neither were sent to the back on Sunday, and would roll off 20th and 15th, respectively.

But on Sunday came a surprising penalty for outside-polesitter Joey Logano, who was discovered to be using unauthorized webbing between the thumb and forefinger of his black driving gloves, which NASCAR categorized as a “safety violation.” This would force Logano to start at the back and serve a pass-through penalty after the green flag. Curiously, the polesitter on Sunday was Michael McDowell, who in his 467th career start scored his first pole one week after Logano bested him for the Daytona 500 pole.

Prior to the green flag, Logano – now wearing red gloves – was instructed to start last on the outside line, but was soon told he could pull ahead of Chase Elliott’s #9 Hooters Chevrolet if he liked. Elliott had qualified 28th, but likewise was penalized for the team replacing an engine sensor on race morning. Logano declined to start ahead of Elliott, who based on intervals took the green in 33rd (2.674 seconds behind the lead) ahead of 34th-place McLeod (2.83), 35th-place Carson Hocevar in the #77 Premier Security Chevrolet (2.84), 36th-place Jones (2.996), and Logano in last (3.124). With one lap complete, Logano slowed and ducked down pit road, making sure not to speed. He began Lap 2 a full 21.826 seconds back of the lead, 19.480 seconds behind 36th-place Jones. Logano was barely back up to speed when trouble broke out in front of him.

On Lap 2, Todd Gilliland appeared to check up just past the stripe, causing the cars behind him on the outside line to bump into one another. As the bumping became more aggressive, Austin Dillon’s #3 Breztri Chevrolet was knocked out of line and sent spinning to the apron. Behind him, several other cars spun, triggering a pileup that collected a track-record sixteen different drivers. Logano missed it completely, and as he jumped to 20th place, the 37th spot fell to Tyler Reddick, whose #45 XFINITY Mobile Toyota crept onto pit road with fender damage. Most of the others involved were able to join him except Alex Bowman, whose #48 Ally Chevrolet was stranded on the apron of Turn 1 with flat tires and a bent right-front fender. Bowman took 36th on Lap 4 as he was towed to the entrance of pit road. The tow truck then stopped on the outside lane, not wanting to interfere with the other driver’s stops. This delay dropped Bowman to last on Lap 7.

Williams reportedly suffered some damage in the wreck, though when he pulled behind the wall under his own power on Lap 7, NASCAR radioed “16 to the garage, mechanical,” adding that he’ll owe a pass-through penalty if her returns to the track. Williams stopped in his garage stall, and the crew began to work under the hood. Bowman’s #48 was finally left in his pit stall by Lap 9, where the crew set to work, dropping Williams to last that time by. The moment the position changed, NASCAR changed their call, saying Williams was involved in the wreck, and thus his trip to the garage ended his race under the “Damaged Vehicle Policy.” The team then radioed, “Sorry, guys, we’re out of the race.” On Lap 10, Williams’ camera was shut off, and he was declared out on Lap 12. It was a brutally ironic ending to Williams’ race, as the same Atlanta track famously saw the driver climb from his car when NASCAR ordered him to park it for damage suffered in last spring’s XFINITY race.

“Hopefully it’s not at a track like this,” said Williams as he was interviewed about his future Cup plans. “Hopefully it’s at a place where talent means something.”

Though one full quarter of the race distance was run under the caution flag, it took some time for the Bottom Five to establish itself. Christopher Bell cleared the “Crash Clock” in his #20 DeWalt Toyota, then pulled behind the wall on Lap 12 for repairs. He returned to the track on Lap 39, a full 32 laps down, then climbed to 34th before he pulled out of the race with his crash damage. The first car he passed was Noah Gragson, who like Bell was involved in the accident and cleared the “Crash Clock,” but soon pulled off the track after 66 laps. Zane Smith took 35th after running in the Top 15 when he appeared to cut down a tire in Turns 3 and 4, then didn’t clear his own clock in the #71 City of Refuge Chevrolet. Completing the group was Brad Keselowski, whose #6 King’s Hawaiian Ford broke loose in Turn 4 on Lap 219, collecting Kyle Larson and Corey LaJoie.

Rick Ware Racing scores sixth Cup double-Top 20 in team history

After all the dust had settled following Daniel Suarez’ thrilling three-wide photo finish for a second career Cup win, it was Rick Ware Racing which also left the track on a high note. Kaz Grala recovered from a spin to finish 14th in his #15 N29 Capital Partners Ford, joined by teammate Justin Haley, who ran as high as 7th in his #51 Grady Medical Centers Ford before he slipped back to 20th at the checkered flag. This marked the first time since April 23, 2023 at Talladega that at least two Rick Ware Racing entries finished in the Top 20 in the same Cup Series points race, and the sixth time in the team’s history. Here is the full list:

October 4, 2020 at Talladega

#15-Brennan Poole finished 9th

#51-Joey Gase finished 17th

#27-Cody Ware finished 19th

February 20, 2022 at Daytona

#15-David Ragan finishes 8th

#51-Cody Ware finishes 17th

August 28, 2022 at Daytona

#51-Cody Ware finishes 6th

#15-David Ragan finishes 9th

February 19, 2023 at Daytona

#15-Riley Herbst finishes 10th

#51-Cody Ware finishes 14th

April 23, 2023 at Talladega

#51-J.J. Yeley finishes 11th

#15-Riley Herbst finishes 20th

February 25, 2024 at Atlanta

#15-Kaz Grala finishes 14th

#51-Justin Haley finishes 20th

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This was the first last-place finish for the #16 in a Cup Series race since February 26, 2023, when A.J. Allmendinger’s #16 Farm Smart Chevrolet crashed after 75 laps at Fontana. The number last finished at the back of the pack at Atlanta on March 20, 2022 when Noah Gragson’s own effort with Kaulig Racing ended with a crash after 23 laps.

*This marked the fewest laps completed by a last-place finisher of a Cup race at Atlanta since September 6, 2011, when Dave Blaney fell out with a vibration after completing two laps in the #60 Big Red Chevrolet. Blaney had swapped rides with Mike Skinner as Blaney was dealing with kidney stones.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

37) #16-Josh Williams / 2 laps / crash

36) #10-Noah Gragson / 66 laps / crash

35) #71-Zane Smith / 75 laps / dvp

34) #20-Christopher Bell / 148 laps / crash

33) #6-Brad Keselowski / 218 laps / crash / led 2 laps

2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Kaulig Racing, Spire Motorsports (1)

2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (2)

2024 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP