Many fans were skeptical about Atlanta’s recent reconfiguration to be a 1.5-mile superspeedway with pack racing, but many more felt convinced after Sunday’s events in the Ambetter Health 400. In a race that featured wild racing and many wrecks, it all came down to what would become the third-closest finish in a NASCAR Cup Series race ever.
On the final lap, defending champion Ryan Blaney and Daniel Suarez were side-by-side battling for the win, when Kyle Busch went to the inside of Blaney, making it three-wide all the way to the checkered flag. While NASCAR took a few moments to review the finish and confirm the winner, Daniel Suarez of Trackhouse Racing hung on to the outside line and would be deemed the winner of the race. Suarez claims the second win of his NASCAR Cup Series career, his other win came at Sonoma back in 2022. In what would create another viral moment for NASCAR, once again coming from Trackhouse, the fastest and hottest rising team in the sport.
On the final restart, Daniel Suarez had the lead after Josh Berry collided with Carson Hocevar with 12 laps to go which would cause the 10th and final caution of the race. Suarez also rallied back from being involved in a big pileup that happened on Lap 2.
“It was so damn close, man,” said Suárez after winning the race. “It was so damn close. It was good racing. Ryan Blaney there, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric also was doing a great job giving pushes. In the back straightaway, he didn’t push me because he knew I was going to (screw) his teammate, but, man, what a job.
“We wrecked on Lap 2. The guys did an amazing job fixing this car. I can’t thank everyone enough, Trackhouse Racing, Freeway Insurance, Chevrolet, all the amazing fans here. Let’s go!”
Ryan Blaney, who finished second, was inches from winning but reflected on the finish afterward.
“What a cool finish. Appreciate the fans for sticking around. That’s a lot of fun. That’s always a good time when we can do that, race clean, three-wide finish to the end. Happy for Daniel. That was cool to see. Fun racing with Kyle. I can’t complain; I’ve won them by very, very little, too, so I can’t complain too much when I lose them by that much.”
Kyle Busch, who finished third, felt like the finish was predictable given how everything was set up on the final lap.
“Yeah, typically whoever is behind getting into Turn 3 prevails at the start-finish line with the side draft and everything, so I was… I think I was second to the 12 (Blaney) right there, and the 99 was the furthest back, and he made the ground back up with the side draft and stuff.”
“It’s good to see Daniel get a win. We were helping each other, being Chevy team partners, and working together there. Shows that when you do have friends and you can make alliances that they do seem to work, and that was a good part of today.”
The race kicked off in a chaotic manner on Lap 2, when Todd Gilliland checked up near the front of the field, causing a stack up and a 16-car pileup that involved Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Harrison Burton, Austin Dillon, Noah Gragson, among others. Burton was able to continue as well as Austin Dillon and as mentioned earlier, Daniel Suarez.
After the wild photo finish, Austin Cindric finished fourth, Bubba Wallace finished fifth, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ross Chastain, Michael McDowell, Chris Buescher, and Ty Gibbs rounded out the top ten. There were 48 lead changes among 14 drivers. Todd Gilliland led the most laps at 58, a team record for a single race by a Front Row Motorsports driver.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads out west to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube on Sunday, March 3 at 3:30 p.m. EST.
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