The site of the second race of the season hosted the first round of the 2024 Playoffs and while there wasn’t a three wide closest finish in NASCAR history, that didn’t mean that Atlanta Motor Speedway didn’t deliver. Sunday was a race that featured a furious battle for the lead in the final laps, while behind three and four wide skirmishes for positions kept everyone on the edge of their seats from start to finish.
In the end, it was a day of glory for Team Penske, who dominated the race, and heartbreak for several Playoff drivers whose championship hopes took a serious hit.
Roger Penske’s squad owned the day, sweeping the first two stages—Ryan Blaney took the first, and Austin Cindric claimed the second. Cindric led a race-high 92 laps, more than he had ever led in a Cup race to date. And ended with Penske driver Joey Logano celebrating.
“To be able to finally capitalize on a fast race car and win here in Atlanta again,” Logano said, “I lived right over there in condo 805 for a long time, waking up dreaming of just racing on this racetrack, so pulling into Victory Lane here is always a special one. We had such a really good team here today.”
In a race that had already seen its fair share of drama, chaos decided to make one last appearance as the sun began to set. With 10 laps to go, a large sponsor sign decided it had enough and came loose from the fence along the frontstretch, bringing out the seventh caution of the day. This set the stage for a five-lap shootout that had fans on the edge of their seats. Logano, smelling blood in the water, surged ahead, with spring Atlanta winner Daniel Suarez chasing him down on the outside.
VIDEO: Kyle Larson’s Atlanta woes continue and his Playoff hopes get shaken by early exit
As the field hurtled toward the white flag, all hell broke loose. Harrison Burton got into Noah Gragson, sending him careening into the inside wall and forcing an overtime finish. It all came down to a Trackhouse vs. Penske showdown: Suarez lined up ahead of teammate Ross Chastain, while Logano had Blaney pushing him from behind.
On the restart, Blaney shoved Logano to the front, and as the pack roared into Turn 3 for the final time, Chastain got tapped, spun out, and unleashed chaos in his wake. The wreck behind him ensnared Burton, Denny Hamlin, and Bubba Wallace, forcing NASCAR to throw the caution flag as Logano cruised to what seemed an inevitable victory.
Suarez ended up second, Blaney third, with Christopher Bell and Alex Bowman rounding out the top five.
“Definitely not satisfied,” Suarez said. “I am happy with it, but not satisfied. I lost my pusher, my teammate. He was doing a great job, and I felt like we were going to have a great shot at it. Ross was doing an amazing job of pushing, and I don’t know if he got a flat tire or something, but once I lost him, I knew it was going to be tough. But that is part of racing, right?”
For some Playoff drivers, Atlanta was nothing short of a nightmare. Kyle Larson, the top Playoff seed coming into the day, started strong but found himself in the wall by lap 55. His Chevrolet inexplicably snapped to the right in Turn 2, and as it ricocheted back down the track, Chase Briscoe had nowhere to go, turning both cars into mangled wrecks.
Other Playoff hopefuls didn’t fare much better. Ty Gibbs led 37 laps but was swallowed by the pack in the final laps, leaving him 17th. Harrison Burton, who had been in a solid position, saw his hopes dashed in the last-lap melee, finishing 31st.
“I take responsibility of not finishing great at all,” Gibbs said. “It is my fault, but I’m glad we finished the race and got some points. It is definitely frustrating. We were up there, and didn’t finish it well, but it is part of it.”
And then there was the case of Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin—two veterans who never even got off the ground. Truex had to start from the back after a pre-race adjustment, and while he managed a brief rally, it all fell apart, leaving him 35th. Hamlin’s weekend was a disaster from the start, with a dismal qualifying effort compounded by a pre-race penalty that pushed him to the rear. His team’s conservative strategy and hopes for a miracle never materialized, and he languished at the back all day, eventually finishing 24th.
But Hamlin isn’t worried about his spot in the Playoffs moving forward.
Denny Hamlin ‘not really’ concerned as Atlanta gamble fails with 24th-place finish
“No, not really,” he said. “I did what I wanted to do and that was lay in the back most of the race, and try to see what attrition came about, again – 20 points seemed really possible, but came up a little short of that today.”
Tyler Reddick, the regular-season champ, managed to salvage a 6th-place finish despite a pit-road incident, while Kyle Busch, the lone non-Playoff driver in the top 10, came home 7th, his winless streak stretching to 48 races. Chase Elliott, William Byron, and Cindric rounded out the top 10.
The Playoff battle now shifts to the twists and turns of Watkins Glen next Sunday, where William Byron will be looking to defend his victory from last year. Buckle up—this Playoff fight is just getting started.
Playoff Standings After Atlanta
1) No. 22 Joey Logano: ADV
2) No. 12 Ryan Blaney: +46
3) No. 20 Christopher Bell: +40
4) No. 45 Tyler Reddick: +33
5) No. 24 William Byron: +33
6) No. 2 Austin Cindric: +27
7) No. 48 Alex Bowman: +27
8) No. 9 Chase Elliott: +24
9) No. 99 Daniel Suarez: +21
10) No. 5 Kyle Larson: +15
11) No. 11 Denny Hamlin: +2
12) No. 54 Ty Gibbs: +0
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13) No. 6 Brad Keselowski: -0
14) No. 21 Harrison Burton: -15
15) No. 19 Martin Truex Jr.: -18
16) No. 14 Chase Briscoe: -20
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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