NASCAR CUP SERIES
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
AMBETTER HEALTH 400
TEAM CHEVYPOST-RACE REPORT
FEBRUARY 25, 2024
Suarez Caps off Chevrolet’s Second Consecutive Weekend Sweep of the
2024 NASCAR Season at Atlanta
· For the second consecutive weekend, Chevrolet had swept the wins across all three NASCAR national series, with Daniel Suarez and the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Camaro ZL1 team’s win in the NASCAR Cup Series, Austin Hill and the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Camaro SS team’s win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and Kyle Busch’s win in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
· The victory marks Suarez’s first NASCAR Cup Series win of the 2024 season; his first career NASCAR Cup Series win at Atlanta Motor Speedway; and his second career win in NASCAR’s top division.
· With its second consecutive weekend sweep, Chevrolet extended its series-leading wins record across all three NASCAR national series at Atlanta Motor Speedway – now sitting at 45 NASCAR Cup Series wins, 20 NASCAR Xfinity Series wins and 11 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series wins at the 1.54-mile Georgia venue.
· Since the debut of the Next Gen cars in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2022, Chevrolet has now won 10 of the 14 superspeedway-style races – recorded by six drivers from five different Chevrolet teams.
· Suarez delivered Chevrolet its 853th all-time victory in the NASCAR Cup Series, extending the manufacturer’s record as the winningest manufacturer in series’ history.
· With this weekend’s victories by Suarez, Hill and Busch – Chevrolet continues the streak of winning at least one race in the NASCAR national ranks since the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course race weekend in October 2023.
· The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube on Sunday, March 3, at 3:30 P.M. ET. Live coverage can be found on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10
POS. DRIVER
1st Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Freeway Insurance Camaro ZL1
3rd Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL1
6th Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger / Blue Buffalo Camaro ZL1
7th Ross Chastain, No. 1 Moose Fraternity Camaro ZL1
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES:
Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Freeway Insurance Camaro ZL1
Finished: 1st
YOU JUST WON IN ATLANTA IN ONE OF THE CLOSEST THREE-WIDE FINISHES WE HAVE EVER SEEN. WHAT ARE YOU FEELING RIGHT NOW?
“It’s an amazing feeling. This team did an amazing job all race long. We wrecked on lap two. The guys fixed the car and we were able to make it good again, make it fast again. It took some tweaking, but unbelievable. Freeway Insurance, Trackhouse, Chevrolet, and all the people that believed in us from day one – it’s unbelievable to do this in this fashion.”
TAKE US THROUGH THOSE CLOSING LAPS AND WHEN YOU THOUGHT YOU MIGHT HAVE IT
“Yeah, those four Penske’s were pretty strong. We knew that it was going to take something special today to beat them. But at the start/finish line, Kyle Busch was doing a hell of a job pushing me and when it mattered, he tried to go for the win. I felt like if Kyle wasn’t going to go for the win, I wasn’t going to win it. That really helped me to go three-wide and to the top, so it was amazing. You have no idea how happy I am right now.”
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOU, TRACKHOUSE AND THE NO. 99 TEAM.
“We have done a lot of work on this race team to make it better and to keep moving forward. This is just the beginning of something amazing that we are going to go through together.”
Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL1
Finished: 3rd
THAT WAS ONE HECK OF A RUN AND YOU JUST MISSED BY A COUPLE OF INCHES
“Yeah, it’s frustrating. I mean I hate it because I felt like we were one of the top-five cars today and had a good shot. The 12 was deservingly one of the faster cars, and with all the carnage, it took out some other guys early.
I just got a little too far ahead of the 99 and he got a good side draft through the corner. I didn’t think the outside would prevail, but with the run down the frontstretch and the side draft, that is what hurt us. I was looking at the 12 and I swore I was ahead of the 12 at the line, but obviously my eyes are bad. Need more powerful glasses, I guess.”
YOU OVERCAME A LOT. DOES THAT BECOME A SATISFYING DAY AT SOME LEVEL?
“Yeah, it definitely does. There towards the end, you don’t have that many alliances. All my friends kind of disintegrated and went away throughout the day. Bubba (Wallace) came to the rescue, and he was a huge part of our success there off of (turn) two and down the backstretch and getting a run. Getting alongside Blaney was a tight fit, but being able to make that move – if I didn’t make that move, then I push Blaney out too far through three and four and he wins. So, glad to see a Chevy in victory lane.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger / Blue Buffalo Camaro ZL1
Finished: 6th
“It was a wild race, but a fun race. I think the track is kind of coming into itself a little bit. Obviously we sped on pit road and we had to claw our way back up through there. But our No. 47 Kroger / Blue Buffalo Camaro handled really well. I think that was an advantage. I was able to put my Chevy in spots that I think others weren’t comfortable with. It was a really good effort by our team, and a good rebound from last weekend. We got some stage points and a solid top-10 finish there.
Man, just happy to get out of here with missing a few of those wrecks. They were right in front of us. But it was a lot of fun. Obviously three-wide there at the end coming to the line. I wish we were a few spots better, but all-in-all, it was a super cool race. I think the fans got their money’s worth.”
Kyle Larson, No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1
Finished: 32nd
Larson on the incident that ended the race early for the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1 team:
“Brad (Keselowski) just got sideways. I don’t know if he got tight, got into clean air and just got sideways – but there wasn’t anything I could do from my seat. I just tried to check-up as much as I could. It was just a chain reaction and I kind of got pushed into the wreck. Just a bummer to end the race early again here at Atlanta (Motor Speedway). We had a really good No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevy. I actually had a lot of fun today. It was super intense and it’s been a great race. It’s been the opposite from last weekend with no fuel saving and guys going at it, so it’s been fun.”
Did you feel like it was more intense than Daytona?
“Yeah, for sure. It seemed super intense from my seat. Handling was getting a little bit better right now, so it was making passing a little bit more difficult again. But early in the race, the handling wasn’t great – runs would kind of checkup and there were gaps so you could get in, so a lot of people were really aggressive. Now, it’s cooling down so there’s a lot of grip and it’s a little easier for people to stay close to one another. It was just getting hard to pass, but still really aggressive.”
JOSH WILLIAMS, NO. 16 ALLOY EMPLOYER SERVICES CAMARO ZL1
Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident in Stage One.
Finished: 37th
“It’s just insane. I had guys passing me when we were still wrecking. It’s just unfortunate for this No. 16 Alloy Employer Services Chevy team. I just have some bad luck and I need to figure out how to get rid of it.”
Is there anything more you could have done?
“No, not at all. You just wait until someone runs into you.”
With Daytona and Atlanta back-to-back, how unfortunate is it to start the year like this with how big of a year it is for you?
“Yeah, it sucks, but there’s a race next weekend. This Kaulig Racing team will get back to work and head to Las Vegas (Motor Speedway).”
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
About Chevrolet
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