NASCAR CUP SERIES
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT
FEBRUARY 23, 2025
Hocevar Leads Chevrolet with Runner-Up Result At Atlanta Motor Speedway
TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
2nd – Carson Hocevar
3rd – Kyle Larson
5th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
7th – Kyle Busch
8th – Ross Chastain
- In yet another photo finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Carson Hocevar led Chevrolet to the checkered-flag in the NASCAR Cup Series’ Ambetter Health 400 – driving his No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet to a runner-up result.
- Kyle Larson earned his career best superspeedway finish in NASCAR’s top division – tallying a third-place result in his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
- Larson delivered Chevrolet its first stage win of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. After a 17th place finish in Stage One, Larson progressively maneuvered his No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet towards the front of the pack throughout the stage – ultimately taking the lead on the final lap to earn his first career superspeedway stage win.
- Michael McDowell and the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet team endured a power steering issue during the early laps of race. Making quick repairs to return to the track six laps down, the No. 71 Chevrolet team collected a record-tying six-straight free passes to rejoin the lead lap in the final stage – ultimately taking the checkered-flag for a 13th-place finish.
UP NEXT: The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Circuit of The Americas with the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix on Sunday, March 2, at 3:30 P.M. ET. Live coverage can be found on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Post-Race Driver Quotes:
Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 8th
“To qualify 33rd and drive through the field – I made some bad decisions throughout the race. The car was good enough in traffic to keep cycling forward. Great call by Phil Surgen (crew chief) there at the beginning of the final stage to come and get four tires. I was definitely second guessing that in the moment, but it was definitely the right call. So I am glad he is the one making the calls on the No. 1 Moose Chevrolet.”
Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 3rd
“I think if I didn’t let the No. 20 (Christopher Bell) get to my outside, I would have had an opportunity, but he would probably split to my inside into (turn) one and clear me. If I don’t hesitate, the wreck probably doesn’t happen. So yeah, I don’t know.. I haven’t seen a replay yet. But yeah, bummer not to get a win. I’m proud of the effort today by this No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevy team. We had a lot of fun. It was super intense. It was my first legit finish here at Atlanta Motor Speedway since the reconfiguration, so I’ll take it. I feel like we learned a lot and I feel like we can be a lot better with the balance of our racecar to be a little bit more on offense while we are in traffic. We just came up a little bit short. Congratulations to Bell. Thank you to HENDRICKCARS.COM, Chevrolet and all the Chevy partner teams, too. It’s been a good night, just wish we could have been a couple spots better.”
Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 7th
“It was a better finish than I thought we were going to get tonight. There were a lot of crashed cars there too, so we kind of cycled our way forward a little bit with some guys that wrecked out. Overall, the No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevy had really good speed, I just had a really hard time opening it up. When I got back in traffic, worse than third in line, I just really had to lift out of the throttle a lot and that was holding me up and holding my lane up. Not a lot of guys were willing to deal with that and have the patience for that, so it kind of shucked us back there a few times. But we were able to rally and get what we could for our Cheddar’s Chevrolet. Just wish we were closer to the front for the end, but that’s where all the wrecks were happening too, so maybe not.”
AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Finished:
“Hard fight all night, just struggled with balance overall. Then when you get back there in traffic, it’s hard to make the right moves. I definitely need to be a little bit better making the right moves. I’m proud of the guys; we made a lot of changes to make the car as good as we could. We salvaged a decent finish there at the end, but we need to be a little bit better overall.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 5th
“It was an up-and-down day for the No. 47 Chevy team. We were at the back. We were at the front. We got some stage points. All-in-all, our Martin’s Famous Potato Rolls Chevy was really, really good. I could go anywhere I wanted to on the race track. I thought we had a shot at the end. I was bummed.. I wanted the No. 5 (Kyle Larson) or us to win. I thought my only shot was to push the No. 20 (Christopher Bell) as hard as I could, which I did. And then I was hoping to get to the outside of the No. 20 in (turns) one and two, but somebody got me in the fence down the frontstretch, and then we were just trying to hold on for a top-five. Our car was really good and I had a lot of fun today.”
Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 13th
“That was an eventful day for the No. 71 Group 1001 Chevy team. We had an issue early on with the power steering pump. We actually lost the hose; came in the garage and went down seven laps. We got all of our laps back, nothing short of miraculous, and capitalized there at the end. So thankful to get a good finish, given that it could have been a disaster there. Really proud of Carson (Hocevar). He had a great race. I didn’t see the ending of it, but I know he was up front racing for the win all night long. Really proud of Spire Motorsports for bringing fast Chevy’s. We got some good notes for us for when we come back here. I’m proud of my team and their effort – just grinding through it, getting laps back, fixing a mechanical issue and never giving up. That’s what it’s all about.”
Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 2nd
CAREER BEST FINISH FOR YOU, BUT I HAVE TO ASK YOU — THERE WAS A LONG LINE OF DRIVERS HERE TO TALK TO YOU. RYAN BLANEY, ROSS CHASTAIN, VERY AGGRESSIVE RACE OUT THERE, WHAT DID THEY HAVE TO SAY?
“I will just leave those to myself. But first off, apologies to (Kyle) Larson, HMS, Mr. H and everybody. They help us out a lot and I didn’t realize we weren’t racing back to the line. The last two nights were kind of that way, and I hit the No. 20 to get him out of the way and filled the middle. A little bit longer and maybe we win the race. But big thanks to Spire Motorsports, Chevrolet and Delaware Life. I normally ride in the back and run last, so I was just trying to get a good, decent finish. For how bad we were at Daytona, I was not riding. But yeah, there is some stuff I have to learn and clean up a little bit, but I feel like we put ourselves in the perfect opportunity to win the race. I have never had that opportunity really before, especially on a big superspeedway. So just big thanks to Spire Motorsports. They deserve all the praise, and I just get to hold the wheel, run wide open and try to put myself in a decent spot. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the best spot but was just one spot short.”
Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident in the final stage.
Finished: 33rd
What was your take on the accident that ultimately ended your day early? It seemed like it went three-wide pretty quickly..
“Yeah, I mean it was quickly, definitely, but the No. 54 (Ty Gibbs) was there. He was in the middle, and I didn’t know he was in the middle. That’s on me and my spotter. I think we have to do a better job in those situations. It’s part of it. I think that, overall, we just put ourselves in very bad situations throughout the race. We were not fast enough. The No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevy wasn’t handling the way I was hoping it would. Normally our speed is good and our handling is great, and that’s how we’ve been successful here. Today, that just wasn’t the case. We have to go through everything and see what we can do better for next time.”
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