Asterisk Mark Report – Atlanta #2 2022

Denny Hamlin – Denny Hamlin was a top five contender in both Atlanta races last year but ended up walking away with a pair of asterisk mark results. Last summer, Hamlin looked great but was “Chastain’ed” late with 15 laps to go while running in 4th which doomed him to a 25th. In the hot slick conditions last summer, Hamlin was mentioned to have one of the best handling cars.

William Byron – William Byron won at Atlanta last spring and was a top five contender in the summer, but he ended up walking away with an asterisk mark 30th in August. Last summer, Byron finished 5th in Stage #1, 8th in Stage #2, led 41 laps but then early in the last Stage on lap 170, Byron was caught up in a multi-car wreck that marked the end of his race.

Corey LaJoie – Corey LaJoie was a legit top five contender last summer at Atlanta but his race wasn’t incident free. In the race, LaJoie finished 10th in Stage #2, led 19 laps was contending for the win late but then on the final lap while making a move on Chase Elliott for the win, LaJoie got into the wall from a block from the #9 which led to his asterisk mark 21st.

Christopher Bell – Christopher Bell was 2 for 2 at being a top five contender last year at Atlanta but had a pair of misleading results. Last summer, Bell finished 10th in Stage #1, 6th in Stage #2 but then in the final Stage on lap 236 while running in 6th, Bell spun into the grass. Just after that he lost his tire on pit road which cemented him into his 19th place finish.