STEWART-HAAS RACING
Atlanta 400
Date: Sept. 8, 2024
Event: Atlanta 400 (Round 27 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia (1.54-mile oval)
Format: 260 laps, broken into three stages (60 laps/100 laps/100 laps)
Note: Race extended six laps past its scheduled 260-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.
Race Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 1 Winner: Ryan Blaney of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: Austin Cindric of Team Penske (Ford)
SHR Finish:
● Ryan Preece (Started 21st, Finished 18th / Running, completed 266 of 266 laps)
● Josh Berry (Started 4th, Finished 28th / Running, completed 266 of 266 laps)
● Noah Gragson (Started 13th, Finished 34th / Accident, completed 258 of 266 laps)
● Chase Briscoe (Started 10th, Finished 38th / Accident, completed 55 of 266 laps)
SHR Points:
● Chase Briscoe (16th with 2,006 points, 21 points below top-12 cutoff)
● Josh Berry (24th with 469 points)
● Noah Gragson (26th with 434 points)
● Ryan Preece (27th with 412 points)
Playoff Standings (with two races to go before Round of 12):
- Joey Logano (2,054 points) 1 win
- Ryan Blaney (2,071 points) +45 points
- Christopher Bell (2,066 points) +40 points
- Tyler Reddick (2,059 points) +33 points
- William Byron (2,059 points) +33 points
- Alex Bowman (2,053 points) +27 points
- Austin Cindric (2,053 points) +27 points
- Chase Elliott (2,050 points) +24 points
- Daniel Suárez (2,048 points) +22 points
- Kyle Larson (2,041 points) +15 points
- Denny Hamlin (2,028 points) +2 points
- Ty Gibbs (2,027 points) +1 point
- Brad Keselowski (2,026 points) -1 point
- Harrison Burton (2,011 points) -16 points
- Martin Truex Jr. (2,008 points) -19 points
- Chase Briscoe (2,006 points) -21 points
SHR Notes:
● Preece earned his 12th top-20 of the season and his second top-20 in eight career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Atlanta.
● Preece led once for two laps, increasing his laps-led total at Atlanta to three.
Race Notes:
● Joey Logano won the Atlanta 400 to score his 34th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his second of the season and his second at Atlanta. His margin of victory over second-place Daniel Suárez was .212 of a second.
● This was Ford’s 736th all-time NASCAR Cup Series victory, its seventh of the season and its third straight. Ford driver Harrison Burton won Aug. 24 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and Briscoe won last Sunday at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
● This was Ford’s 37th NASCAR Cup Series victory at Atlanta. The manufacturer won its first race at Atlanta with NASCAR Hall of Famer Fred Lorenzen on July 9, 1961.
● There were eight caution periods for a total of 44 laps.
● Thirty of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
Sound Bites:
“That’s NASCAR. You can be on top one week and you can be at the very bottom of the mountain the next week. It’s unfortunate. I thought our car was an adjustment away from being pretty good. We weren’t very good at all, balance-wise, and I still felt like I was able to kind of run right there around the seventh- to 12th-place guys. You’re hanging on, for sure. This place is hard. You’re just on the ragged edge. I know, for me, I was almost spinning out a lot and that’s why I kept telling my guys that I needed to make it to the first pit stop to get our car better and, unfortunately, we didn’t get that opportunity. These guys are on pins and needles, I can assure you. I was watching my outside getting into (turn) one because somebody kept trying to get to my outside and was probably a little late just trying to see the 5 car (Kyle Larson) wrecking. I didn’t expect anybody to wreck because they weren’t really two-wide, and then I saw the smoke and tried slowing down. I knew he was coming down the racetrack and just kept trying to feed the thing left and slow it down and I couldn’t get left quick enough, and then he kind of started sliding back down the track at the very last minute, so I tried to turn back right to avoid him and just KO’d him. It was a big hit. One of the biggest hits I’ve had in a long time. I’m glad I’m alright and we just have to go win. That’s what we had to do at Darlington and I know we’re capable of doing it again, so we’ll just have to go to Watkins Glen and Bristol and try to do the same.” – Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Compact Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse
“We struggled with grip all day and just couldn’t find what I needed to get the speed needed to drive up front. It’s a bummer, for sure, to qualify so well and not make the most of it, but this group will take a bad day on the chin and reset for the next week. I can’t thank Decisely enough for coming on board this week and supporting the No. 4 program. It’s really special to have friends of the team want to get involved and I’m just appreciative of them. We will go at it again next week at Watkins Glen.” – Josh Berry, driver of the No. 4 Decisely Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Go Bowling at The Glen on Sunday, Sept. 15 at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. The second race in the 10-race NASCAR Playoffs starts at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
