After contact with Corey LaJoie early in the second stage, Byron received damage to his #24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and fell a lap down.
Thanks to some more cautions and quick repairs, Byron returned to the lead lap and stayed on the track between Stages 2 and 3 to move towards the front of the field.
Two laps following the start of the final stage, Byron swept around A.J. Allmendinger to take the lead and was still out front when rain forced NASCAR to halt the race after 185 of the scheduled 260 laps.
The win is Byron’s series-leading fourth of the season and eighth of his career.
"It was just all teamwork," Byron said of his recovery-turned-victory. "To be honest, I don't completely understand this one. It's a really good feeling. I've never had a rain victory like this.
"It's cool. We went through so much during the night - spinning through the infield, destroyed the bottom of the car, going around the apron trying to stay on the lead lap. At that point you just don't have the grip and I was real edgy back in traffic. Rudy [Fugle, crew chief] made a great call to pit there and then stay out [later].
"Once we got towards the front, we were OK. We could make the right decisions - block OK. Got the lead from A.J. and was able to manage the run. Just a crazy night."
As part of his victory, Byron also received an additional trophy – plated in the precious metal rhodium – to commemorate Goodyear’s 2000th Cup win. The first Cup winner on Goodyear rubber was driver Jim Reed at Darlington in 1959.
In a race that was officially declared completed at 10pm local time during the rain stoppage, Daniel Suarez ended up credited with second ahead of Allmendinger, with Michael McDowell fourth and Kyle Busch fifth.
Brad Keselowski, who led at the end of the Stage 1, took his best result since the Darlington race back in May with sixth place, ahead of part-timer J.J. Yeley, as Ryan Blaney took eighth place.
Justin Haley, last weekend’s runner-up to Shane van Gisbergen’s stunning debut win, ended up in ninth place as Ricky Stenhouse completed the top 10.
NASCAR Cup Atlanta - Race results
| Cla | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Gap | Interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  William Byron |
Chevrolet | 185 | ||
| 2 |  Daniel Suarez |
Chevrolet | 185 | 1.015 | 1.015 |
| 3 | A.J. Allmendinger |
Chevrolet | 185 | 1.523 | 0.508 |
| 4 | Michael McDowell |
Ford | 185 | 1.892 | 0.369 |
| 5 | Kyle Busch |
Chevrolet | 185 | 2.198 | 0.306 |
| 6 | Brad Keselowski |
Ford | 185 | 3.419 | 1.221 |
| 7 | J.J. Yeley |
Ford | 185 | 3.730 | 0.311 |
| 8 | Justin Haley |
Chevrolet | 185 | 4.083 | 0.353 |
| 9 | Ryan Blaney |
Ford | 185 | 4.084 | 0.001 |
| 10 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
Chevrolet | 185 | 5.510 | 1.426 |
| 11 | Erik Jones |
Chevrolet | 185 | 6.052 | 0.542 |
| 12 | Austin Cindric |
Ford | 185 | 6.709 | 0.657 |
| 13 | Chase Elliott |
Chevrolet | 185 | 6.710 | 0.001 |
| 14 | Denny Hamlin |
Toyota | 185 | 6.711 | 0.001 |
| 15 | Chris Buescher |
Ford | 185 | 6.712 | 0.001 |
| 16 | Todd Gilliland |
Ford | 185 | 8.042 | 1.330 |
| 17 | Joey Logano |
Ford | 185 | 9.226 | 1.184 |
| 18 | Aric Almirola |
Ford | 185 | 9.705 | 0.479 |
| 19 | Ty Dillon |
Chevrolet | 185 | 10.455 | 0.750 |
| 20 | B.J. McLeod |
Chevrolet | 185 | 10.456 | 0.001 |
| 21 | Austin Dillon |
Chevrolet | 185 | 11.018 | 0.562 |
| 22 | Chase Briscoe |
Ford | 185 | 12.288 | 1.270 |
| 23 | Christopher Bell |
Toyota | 185 | 13.218 | 0.930 |
| 24 | Ryan Preece |
Ford | 185 | 13.632 | 0.414 |
| 25 | Bubba Wallace |
Toyota | 185 | 14.316 | 0.684 |
| 26 | Alex Bowman |
Chevrolet | 185 | 18.194 | 3.878 |
| 27 | Tyler Reddick |
Toyota | 185 | 21.218 | 3.024 |
| 28 | Harrison Burton |
Ford | 184 | 1 Lap | 1 Lap |
| 29 | Martin Truex Jr. |
Toyota | 184 | 1 Lap | 3.324 |
| 30 | Kevin Harvick |
Ford | 181 | 4 Laps | 3 Laps |
| 31 | Corey Lajoie |
Chevrolet | 179 | 6 Laps | 2 Laps |
| 32 | Cole Custer |
Ford | 178 | 7 Laps | 1 Lap |
| 33 | Noah Gragson |
Chevrolet | 174 | 11 Laps | 4 Laps |
| 34 | Ty Gibbs | Toyota | 150 | 35 Laps | 24 Laps |
| 35 | Ross Chastain |
Chevrolet | 124 | 61 Laps | 26 Laps |
| 36 | Kyle Larson |
Chevrolet | 111 | 74 Laps | 13 Laps |
| 37 | Austin Hill |
Chevrolet | 92 | 93 Laps | 19 Laps |
| View full results | |||||
