Ever since NASCAR introduced the bonus point that's awarded to the driver who runs the race's fastest lap, on only one occasion has a driver won both stages, the race itself, and the bonus point.
That happened in October 2025, when Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron won from pole at Martinsville Speedway, leading 304 of the race's 500 laps around the four-turn, 0.526-mile (0.847-kilometer) Ridgeway, Virginia oval en route to scoring a perfect 61-point weekend.
This year, NASCAR made victories worth 55 points, rather than just 40, to make up for the removal of the "win and in" element of the 10-race postseason. So a perfect race is now worth 76 points.
Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin had it in the bag at Martinsville in March, had it not been for a bold strategy gamble by Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Alan Gustafson on Chase Elliott's pit box late in the race. Hamlin actually scored the most points in that race despite not winning, something that quite literally only has a 0.001% chance of happening under the new points format.
This past Sunday night/Monday morning at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway), Team Penske's Ryan Blaney scored a rare sweep of a superspeedway race, winning both stages and the race itself after starting on pole.
But he came just one point shy of a 76-point weekend, since he did not run the fastest lap of the 263-lap race around the four-turn, 1.54-mile (2.478-kilometer) Hampton, Georgia oval.
Rick Ware Racing's Cody Ware ran the fastest lap of the race, so Blaney fell short of NASCAR's first "perfect" weekend of the year.
But it was yet another case of the media conveniently overblowing a narrative.
"Cody Ware, of all drivers, is the one who denied Blaney!"
Not really.
Sure, Ware, who is a distant last in the point standings among full-time drivers, ran the race's fastest lap at 29.91 seconds. But even if he hadn't, Blaney still wouldn't have gotten the point, because four other drivers also beat him in that category.
Front Row Motorsport's Noah Gragson ran a 29.99. Spire Motorsports' Carson Hocevar ran a 30.00, as did RFK Racing's Ryan Preece. 23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace ran a 30.04.
Blaney's best lap was a 30.05, on par with that of teammate Austin Cindric.
So no, Ware did not prevent Blaney from having a perfect weekend, even for as cool as some folks want it to sound that NASCAR's last-place driver stopped NASCAR's first 76-point race from happening.
Nevertheless, the fact that Blaney pulled off what he pulled off in a superspeedway race is even more impressive, whether he ran the race's fastest lap or not.
Quite frankly, the fastest lap bonus point has always felt like nothing more than a goofy initiative to keep Premier Partner Xfinity happy following confirmation of the end of their title sponsorship deal of the lower series, because running the fastest lap of a race literally means nothing.
If the No. 51 Chevrolet didn't prove that in Atlanta with its run-of-the-mill 32nd place finish, four laps off the lead lap, I don't really know what will.
But at least for Denny Hamlin's sake, Blaney is 65 points behind him for the championship lead, not 64. Who knows? Maybe that will indeed make a difference.
