Daniel Suárez wins Atlanta NASCAR Cup race in fantastic three-wide finish: It was a race of remarkable ebb and flow. It was race of breathtaking four-wide action into corners not built to accommodate such derring-do. And it was totally appropriate that Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway would end in a three-wide photo finish, with Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suárez eking out a victory over Ryan Blaney by what looked to be an inch or two at the finish line.(Read More)(2-25-2024)
#99-Daniel Suarez won the Ambetter Health 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in a thrilling three-wide photo finish. The margin of victory was 0.003 seconds, the third closest in NASCAR history. The win is his first win of the year, first at Atlanta and second career win.
#12-Ryan Blaney finished 2nd followed by #8-Kyle Busch, #2-Austin Cindric, #23-Bubba Wallace, #47-Ricky Stenhouse Jr., #1-Ross Chastain, #34-Michael McDowell, #17-Chris Buescher, and #54-Ty Gibbs.
Pole sitter #34-Michael McDowell led 27 laps, won Stage 1 and finished eighth.
Stage 2 was won by #2-Cindric, who finished fourth.
There were 14 lead changes among 48 drivers, a new record at Atlanta, and 10 cautions for 65 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was: 115.398mph.
See race details at: Race Results, Driver Points Standings, Owner Points Standings, Cumulative Report, Penalty Report.
Race Fast Facts – Atlanta:
Daniel Suarez won the Ambetter Health 400, his second victory in 253 NASCAR Cup Series races.
This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in 2024.
This is his first victory and fifth top-10 finish in 11 races at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He is the 49th different Cup Series driver to win at Atlanta.
Ryan Blaney (second) posted his seventh top-10 finish in 12 races at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It is his first top-10 finish in 2024.
Kyle Busch (third) posted his 14th top-10 finish in 29 races at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Kaz Grala (14th) was the highest finishing rookie.
This is Trackhouse Racing’s seventh win in the NASCAR Cup Series, and the first at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The finish of today’s race had a Margin of Victory of 0.003 second, the closest finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the closest finish at a 1.5-mile track and the third closest in the NASCAR Cup Series since the inception of electronic scoring in 1993.
Today’s race has produced 48 lead changes – a new NASCAR Cup Series record at Atlanta Motor Speedway; previous record was 46 set in March of 2022.
Today’s race produced total of 14 different leaders. Fifth straight race with a dozen or more different leaders (2022-2024) at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Today’s race produced 110 Green Flag Passes For The Lead – the second-most all-time at Atlanta and on a 1.5-mile track, the record is 141 at Atlanta in March of 2022.
(NASCAR)
Cup Series Playoff Standings after Atlanta:
Race 2 of 26 in the regular season
1) #24-William Byron [1 win], 76
2) #99-Daniel Suarez [1 win], 64
3) #8-Kyle Busch, 77
4) #2-Austin Cindric, 76, -1
5) #23-Bubba Wallace, 74, -3
6) #12-Ryan Blaney, 69, -8
7) #9-Chase Elliott, 65, -12
8) #1-Ross Chastain, 62, -15
9) #48-Alex Bowman, 60, -17
10) #19-Martin Truex, Jr., 60, -17
11) #5-Kyle Larson, 58, -19
12) #7-Corey LaJoie, 57, -20
13) #42-John Hunter Nemechek, 53, -24
14) #54-Ty Gibbs, 50, -27
15) #17-Chris Buescher, 49, -28
16) #20-Christopher Bell, 47, -30
See the Driver Points Standings and Owner Points Standings.
Paint Schemes
Race Updates:
Lap 260: #99-Suarez, edges #12-Blaney and #8-Busch in a three-wide finish to win his second career race. #2-Cindric and #23-Wallace round out the top five.
Lap 248: #4-Berry got loose off Turn 2 and spun into #77-Hocevar to bring out the caution.
Lap 243: #38-Gilliland, #51-Haley, #21-Burton, #31-Hemric, #24-Byron, #41-Preece, #3-Dillon, #42-Nemechek and #11-Hamlin pit to repair damage.
Lap 241: The red flag has been thrown with 19 laps remaining. #12-Blaney leads #2-Cindric, #99-Suarez, #8-Busch and #23-Wallace.
Lap 240: #14-Briscoe and #11-Hamlin make contact in the middle of a four-wide battle entering Turn 3. Briscoe turned into the wall and Hamlin had his right-front fender ripped apart.
Lap 231: #8-Busch and #12-Blaney put #11-Hamlin in the middle, dropping Hamlin to seventh position.
Lap 230: Thirty laps remain. #11-Hamlin leads #8-Busch, #14-Briscoe, #12-Blaney and #38-Gilliland. #23-Wallace and #77-Hocevar have cracked the top 10 after spending the majority of the race off the lead lap.
Lap 219: #6-Keselowski got loose in the middle of Turns 3 and 4, collecting #5-Larson and #7-LaJoie.
Lap 210: #2-Cindric makes a four-wide pass for the lead on the bottom lane. #19-Truex dropped from the lead to outside the top 10.
Lap 206: #3-Dillon got into the wall on the backstretch.
Lap 201: Most lead-lap cars pit to get enough fuel to make it to the end of the race. #34-McDowell was the only car to stay out from 15th position.
Lap 199: #9-Elliott spun entering Turn 3 off the front bumper of #1-Chastain. #54-Gibbs spun to avoid Elliott.
Lap 197: #5-Larson and #19-Truex are trading the lead back and forth.
Lap 182: #19-Truex takes the lead from #38-Gilliland with 78 laps remaining.
Lap 176: #12-Blaney, #9-Elliott, #2-Cindric, #7-LaJoie, #31-Hemric, #54-Gibbs, #77-Hocevar, #34-McDowell, #42-Nemechek, #41-Preece, #17-Buescher, #3-Dillon, #15-Grala and #8-Busch pit to top off with fuel.
Lap 174: #15-Grala loses control and makes contact with #8-Busch to bring out the caution.
Lap 165: #38-Gilliland wins the race off pit road, with #6-Keselowski gaining five positions to move into second.
Lap 160: #2-Cindric wins the second stage under caution. #5-Larson, #12-Blaney, #99-Suarez, #19-Truex, #38-Gilliland, #6-Keselowski, #21-Burton, #14-Briscoe and #9-Elliott earn stage points.
Lap 159: #22-Logano got tight off Turn 2 and made contact with #17-Buescher. #11-Hamlin piled in from behind. Logano had to get towed back to the pits with four flat tires.
Lap 156: #22-Logano and #2-Cindric are trading the lead back and forth with four laps remaining in the stage.
Lap 146: After pit stops have cycled, #2-Cindric leads his Team Penske teammates #22-Logano and #12-Blaney. #5-Larson and #17-Buescher are the top five.
Lap 137: #47-Stenhouse and #23-Wallace are caught for speeding on pit road. #43-Jones had an uncontrolled tire.
Lap 134: #34-McDowell locked his tires up getting on to pit road and collided with #24-Byron, crashing on pit-road entry.
Lap 133: #11-Hamlin, #19-Truex, #9-Elliott and others pit. #1-Chastain, #4-Berry and #8-Busch are caught for speeding.
Lap 132: #6-Keselowski, #1-Chastain and #17-Buescher are on pit road.
Lap 130: #2-Cindric hits pit road for fuel.
Lap 128: #38-Gilliland is the next car to pit.
Lap 127: Green-flag pit stops are underway: #22-Logano and #12-Blaney pit for fuel.
Lap 113: #17-Buscher edges #22-Logano at the line. Front Row Motorsports teammates #38-Gilliland and #34-McDowell have slipped outside the top 10.
Lap 98: #22-Logano passes #38-Gilliland for the lead. #17-Buescher, #6-Keselowski and #21-Burton are the top five.
Lap 80: #38-Gilliland has led 17 laps, setting his new personal best for a single race.
Lap 72: #71-Smith gets into the wall in Turns 3 and 4, bending the right-rear toe link.
Lap 71: #10-Gragson has gone to the garage. He was involved in the Lap 2 pileup.
Lap 64: The majority of the top 10 that scored stage points pit, putting #38-Gilliland in command. #1-Chastain is the first car off pit road, resetting in 16th.
Lap 60: #34-McDowell wins the opening stage – the third of his career. #12-Blaney, #1-Chastain, #5-Larson, #8-Busch, #19-Truex, #47-Stenhouse, #23-Wallace, #24-Byron and #38-Gilliland all collect stage points.
Lap 55: The majority of the top 10 drivers stay out, hoping to collect stage points. Drivers outside the top 10 pit and will stay out at the end of the stage.
Lap 52: #11-Hamlin spins through the frontstretch grass after coming across the front bumper of #8-Busch.
Lap 46: The field is beginning to get single-file. #34-McDowell has driven to the lead with #12-Blaney, #5-Larson, #8-Busch and #1-Chastain rounding out the top five.
Lap 41: #20-Bell has returned to the race after spending 31 laps in the garage for repairs.
Lap 33: #8-Busch passes #12-Blaney for the lead.
Lap 28: The bulk of the field pits for fuel and adjustments, led by #24-Byron who was inside the top 10.
Lap 24: #17-Buescher spins off Turn 4 from sixth position to bring out the second caution of the race.
Lap 23: #12-Blaney takes the lead, making it seven leads changes in the opening 23 laps.
Lap 17: #8-Busch and #5-Larson have traded the lead back and fourth. #14-Briscoe has moved up to third.
Lap 11: Back to green with #8-Busch and #34-McDowell on the front row. #5-Larson passes #8-Busch for the lead on the restart.
Lap 7: #16-Williams has taken his car to the garage.
Lap 2: The Big One occurs, when a stackup at the front of the field triggers #3-Dillon to get sideways off the front bumper of #19-Truex. Sixteen cars in all got caught up in the incident. #9-Elliott, #10-Gragson, #16-Williams, #20-Bell, #21-Burton, #23-Wallace, #31-Hemric, #41-Preece, #43-Jones, #45-Reddick, #48-Bowman, #51-Haley, #54-Gibbs and #99-Suarez all received damage.
Lap 1: #22-Logano serves his pass-through penalty. #8-Busch passes #34-McDowell for the first lead change.
Broadcast: FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 260 laps / 400.4 miles
Stages: 60 / 160 / 260
Average time of race: 3:25:09
Pit road speed: Sections 1 and 2: 90 mph / Other sections: 45 mph
Caution car speed: 55 mph
Fuel Window: 65 laps
Invocation: 3:00:20 p.m.
National Anthem: 3:01:00 p.m.
Command: 3:08:00 p.m.
Green Flag: 3:19:00 p.m.
Cars to the rear: #22-Logano(rulebook violation), #9-Elliott(unapproved adjustments)
Pit Stall Selections: The selections of pit stalls for the Ambetter Health 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway have been made.
Pole winner #34-Michael McDowell chose pit stall 1.
Outside pole sitter #22-Joey Logano took the sixth stall, with an opening in front of it.
See all pit choices on the Atlanta Pit Stall page.
#34-Michael McDowell won the Busch pole for the Ambetter Health 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway with speed of 178.844mph for his 1st pole of the year, 1st at Atlanta and 1st of his career.
#22-Joey Logano will start second followed by #8-Kyle Busch, #38-Todd Gilliland, #5-Kyle Larson, #12-Ryan Blaney, #17-Chris Buescher, #2-Austin Cindric, #14-Chase Briscoe, and #3-Austin Dillon.
See the complete qualifying results and the Ambetter 400 Starting Lineup.
Atlanta Motor Speedway – Qualifying Fast Facts:
Michael McDowell won the Busch Light Pole Award for the Ambetter Health 400 with a lap of 30.999 seconds, 178.844 mph.
This is his first pole in 467 NASCAR Cup Series races – the most starts by any driver in the NASCAR
Cup Series prior to their first career pole; previous record was held by J.D. McDuffie at 404 starts.
This is his first pole and second top-10 start in 2024.
This is his first pole in 17 races at Atlanta Motor Speedway. McDowell becomes the 54th different driver to win a pole a Atlanta in the Cup Series.
Joey Logano (second) posted his second top-10 start of 2024 and his 10th in 21 races at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Kyle Busch (third) posted his 19th top-10 start at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It is his first in two races this season.
Josh Berry (14th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
(NASCAR)
Qualifying Order
There will be no practice at Atlanta.
Crew Rosters
The entry list for the Ambetter Health 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway is posted, 37 teams/drivers [for 40 spots] are listed.
Among those entered: #15-Kaz Grala, #16-Josh Williams, #78-B.J. McLeod.
See the full entry list on the Ambetter Health 400 Entry List page.
Goodyear Fast Facts — Atlanta Motor Speedway