HAMPTON, Ga. (Sept. 8, 2024) – Brad Keselowski finished 19th Sunday afternoon in a rather uneventful opening race of the 2024 NASCAR Playoffs. Chris Buescher ran inside the top-10 late but retired early following a crash with 60 laps remaining.
6 Recap Keselowski began the day from the 19th spot coming off Saturday’s single-car qualifying session. The opening stage of 60 laps looked to run caution free until the closing laps, when the No. 5 took a hard hit, displaying the first yellow of the afternoon at lap 56. That caution would also serve as the stage end with Keselowski in 23rd.
The King’s Hawaiian Ford rolled 33rd for stage two following the first pit stop opportunity of the afternoon. The race went caution-free for the next 46 laps as Keselowski was scored 15th at lap 113, when crew chief Matt McCall called him to pit road for a fuel-only stop. That strategy put him eighth on the ensuing restart, resetting the track position for the final 41 laps of the segment. Keselowski went on to finish the stage 14th.
From there, he was unable to gain much track position, restarting the stage 20th. He worked as high as 17th by lap 181, but despite a pair of late yellows, could not manuever through the field well enough.
He restarted 25th for NASCAR Overtime, and sliced through a last-lap incident to finish 19th.
“It just wasn’t a super strong day,” Keselowski said following the finish. “We kind of survived and we’ll live to fight another day.”
17 Recap Much like Keselowski, Buescher spent a large majority of the afternoon finding his pace in the Fastenal Ford. After starting 17th, Buescher went on to finish 26th to end stage one. After a stage two result of 27th, he took right side tires only in the stage break, flipping the track position to 13th to begin stage two.
Another caution flew just a handful of laps later as Buescher took fuel only that time, restarting 14th at lap 181. Then, just as be entered the top-10 around 200, Buescher lost his handling on the bottom lane on lap 206, collecting a handful of other machines.
His day would end early as the right-side damage was too severe to continue.
“Ultimately, that’s not how we wanted to go out,” Buescher said following the crash. “I’m definitely disappointed and screwed up there. I got a really good run, got to the bottom and we’d been able to keep really good pace on the bottom, and then just caught a bump and stepped out and ended up making a crash.
“I’m disappointed in myself for that one. It certainly wasn’t our typical Atlanta day, either. We’d been so good here, but I had to fight for the handling today. The team made good adjustments and good calls to get us close to the front, but I just messed it up when it counted.”
Up Next Watkins Glen International hosts race two of the playoffs next weekend. Race coverage is set for 3 p.m. ET Sunday on USA, with radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
About RFK Racing RFK Racing, in its 37th season in 2024, features an ownership lineup pairing one of the sport’s most iconic names, Jack Roush, along with NASCAR Champion, Brad Keselowski, and Fenway Sports Group owner John Henry. Roush initially founded the team in 1988 and it has since become one of the most successful racing operations in the world, propelling him to be the first NASCAR owner to amass three hundred wins and capturing eight championships, including back-to-back NASCAR Cup titles in 2003 and 2004. Keselowski, a former owner in the NASCAR Truck Series, is the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series Champion. In 2007, Roush partnered with Henry, who also owns Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox, English Premier League’s Liverpool F.C., and the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, to form Roush Fenway Racing. Off the track, RFK is a leader and proven winner in NASCAR marketing solutions, having produced multiple award-winning social media, digital content and experiential marketing campaigns. Visit rfkracing.com, and follow the team on all social platforms @rfkracing.
RICK WARE RACING Quaker State 400 Date: Sept. 8, 2024 Event: Quaker State 400 (Round 27 of 36) Series: NASCAR Cup Series Location: Atlanta Motor Speedway (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)
RWR Race Finish:
● Justin Haley (Started 29th, Finished 12th / Running, completed 266 of 266 laps) ● Cody Ware (Started 31st, Finished 30th / Running, completed 266 of 266 laps)
RWR Points:
● Justin Haley (31st with 391 points) ● Cody Ware (36th with 105 points)
RWR Notes:
● This was Haley’s eighth NASCAR Cup Series start at Atlanta. His best finish remains seventh, earned in July 2022. ● This was Ware’s eighth NASCAR Cup Series start at Atlanta. His best finish remains 23rd, earned in July 2022.
Race Notes:
● Joey Logano won the Quaker State 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:
“Atlanta is tough. We did a good job working on the balance early on, but it gets tough in dirty air. I’m glad we made it to the end and had some laps in the top-10. Another top-15 finish we can build on.”– Justin Haley, driver of the No. 51 Grady Health System Ford Mustang Dark Horse
“It’s tough to stay out of trouble all day, only to find it on the last lap. We learned a lot and we’ve still got another shot at getting a good finish with Mighty Fire Breaker in a couple of weeks at Talladega. ” – Cody Ware, driver of the No. 15 Mighty Fire BreakerFord 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 race begins at 3:00 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Joey Logano celebrates his victory in the Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart at Atlanta Motor Speedway. (Harold Hinson Photo)
HAMPTON, Ga. (Sept. 8, 2024) – Joey Logano held off all comers to open the 2024 NASCAR Playoffs with a dramatic overtime victory in the Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford charged to the lead on the final restart to hold off the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Quaker State Chevrolet of Daniel Suarez, with Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, and Alex Bowman rounding out the top-five finishers. The field completed Lap 266 of the scheduled 260-lap event as the eighth yellow caution flag of the day waved above them due to a multi-car pileup behind the leaders in Turn 4. The field was frozen at that point but Logano was far enough ahead that it didn’t affect the outcome.
It was the second NASCAR Cup Series win for Logano at the track where he lived in the Turn 4 condominiums for eight years as a child while racing US Legends Cars. His first victory was in the March 2023 Ambetter Health 400.
The final restart was set up as the field was coming to take the initial white flag when Harrison Burton got into Noah Gragson who then tagged the inside wall in Turn 3. That set up the green/white/checkered scenario, with Logano lined up on the bottom, Suarez next to him, Team Penske’s Blaney behind his teammate with Trackhouse Racing’s Chastain behind his teammate.
Logano jumped out to a quick lead and held off Suarez for the victory, confirming his advancement into the Round of 12.
“They just give me really fast cars on superspeedways, and we always find ourselves towards the front of them, (but) we just end up wrecking more times than not,” said Logano, who led twice for nine laps, a far cry from teammate Austin Cindric’s race-high 92.
“So, to be able to finally capitalize on a fast race car and win here in Atlanta again, I lived right over there in condo 805 for a long time (as a child racing Legend Cars), 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. It’s awesome to get (sponsor) Autotrader into Victory Lane, and the JL Kids Crew (one of Logano’s charitable enterprises) are here today, so it’s really cool to finally win with them here.”
There were four cautions in the race’s final 55 laps, which created 11 lead changes among six drivers. In addition to Logano, Bubba Wallace led once while Busch, Bryon, Ty Gibbs and Suarez each led twice. Austin Cindric led twice and notched the most laps at the point with 91.
“I am happy with (finishing second), but not satisfied,” said Suarez. “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?
Caution with 12 laps to go set up the five-lap sprint for the checkers
The balance of the Top-10 finishers were Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch, Elliott Sadler, William Byron and Austin Cindric.
Playoff drivers who experienced a forgettable day and finish were Brad Keselowski (19th), Denny Hamlin (24th), Martin Truex Jr. (35th), Kyle Larson (37th) and Chase Briscoe (38th). All but Keselowski were involved in wrecks. Pole winner Michael McDowell finished 22nd.
1. Joey Logano: Logano took charge late to snatch the win in the Quaker State 400 in the playoff opener.
“I got a good push from my Penske Racing teammate Ryan Blaney,” Logano said. “It’s like I told Ryan after the race, ‘Teamwork makes my dream work.'”
2. Ryan Blaney: Blaney won Stage 1 at Atlanta and finished third.
“Everything was going fine until Chris Buescher nearly wrecked me,” Blaney said. “And it doesn’t take a wizard to see that Buescher caused the dent in my car.”
3. Tyler Reddick: Reddick finished a strong sixth at Atlanta.
“My No. 45 Toyota featured a prominent Jordan Brand logo,” Reddick said. “Michael Jordan appreciates loyalty, so as a driver for his team, I’m required to wear only Jordan Brand clothes, and I’m also required to get a Jordan brand.”
4. Christopher Bell: Bell posted a strong start to the Playoffs with a fourth-place finish in the Quaker State 400.
“I suffered an early penalty for pitting outside the box,” Bell said. “If only my cats could learn that there’s a penalty for them doing the same. But a penalty like that really puts the team in a hole, and forces you to think outside of the box. We did that.”
5. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished eighth in the Quaker State 400.
“A Walmart banner actually fell onto the track and caused a caution,” Elliott said. “I guess you could say Walmart’s new ad campaign just dropped.”
6. Kyle Larson: Larson slammed the wall hard after blowing a tire on Lap 56, ending his day at Atlanta. Chase Briscoe was collected in the accident, which ended his day as well. Larson finished 37th.
“I’m sorry I ruined Chase’s race,” Larson said. “On the bright side for him, I’ve put him in a situation in which he can thrive, which is a must-win situation.”
7. Kyle Busch: Busch finished seventh at Atlanta after finishing second in the previous two races.
“I may not be eligible for the Cup championship,” Busch said, “but that’s okay. I already have two championships. That makes me ‘two-titled.’ My RCR teammate Austin Dillon is entitled.”
8. William Byron: Byron came home ninth in the Quaker State 400.
“It was a good day for Hendrick Motorsports,” Byron said. “At least for everyone except for Kyle Larson. It wasn’t a good day for Kyle, both for his playoff outlook and for anyone who thinks he’s a better driver than Max Verstappen.”
9. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished 24th in Atlanta.
“I hung back for most of the race,” Hamlin said. “Our strategy was to avoid trouble. We did that. We also avoided having any chance to win the race.”
10. (tie) Daniel Suarez: Suarez came up short at Atlanta, finishing second at the track where he won in February.
“I firmly believe I could win the championship,” Suarez said, “if all playoff races were held at Atlanta Motor Speedway.”
10. (tie) Austin Cindric: Cindric won Stage 2 and finished 10th in the Quaker State 400.
“I think most people probably forgot I was in the Playoffs,” Cindric said. “Heck, I’ve introduced myself to Roger Penske at least seven times this year.”
Joey Logano commenced the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs on a high note by fending off the field in overtime to win the Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, September 8.
The two-time Cup Series champion from Middletown, Connecticut, led twice for nine of 266 over-scheduled laps in an event where he qualified in seventh place and survived a war of attrition amongst his fellow Playoff contenders and non-Playoff contenders through a series of stacked racing through multiple lanes and keep up to pace with the draft from start to finish.
After being drafted into the lead by teammate and Playoff contender Ryan Blaney with three laps remaining, where he would then battle Playoff contender Daniel Suarez for the lead, a caution for Noah Gragson wrecking during the following lap sent the event into overtime. In overtime, Logano received another strong push from Blaney to muscle ahead of Suarez. With the clean air, Logano would maintain the top spot and fend off a host of Playoff contenders for two final laps amid a multi-car wreck erupting on the final lap to claim his second checkered flag of the 2024 Cup Series season under caution and race his way into the Playoff’s Round of 12.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, September 7, Michael McDowell notched his fifth pole position of his Cup Series career and of the 2042 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 179.267 mph in 30.926 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Ryan Blaney, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 178.844 mph in 30.999 seconds.
Prior to the event, Playoff contenders and teammates Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. started at the rear of the field due to a plug wire change to their respective Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota entries.
When the green flag waved and the 2024 Cup Series Playoff commenced, Michael McDowell gained an early advantage from the inside lane as he had teammate Todd Gilliland drafting him through the first two turns and the backstretch while Ryan Blaney was trying to maintain ground from the outside lane. As the field returned to the frontstretch stacked in two lanes, McDowell led the first lap in his pole-winning No. 34 B’laster Work It Like A Pro Ford Mustang Dark Horse.
For the following four laps and with the front-runners trying to remain within reasonable reach of the lead with the preferred drafting lane towards the outside lane and behind the leader McDowell, Blaney retained second ahead of rookie Josh Berry, Playoff contender Kyle Larson and Austin Dillon while Playoff contender Chase Briscoe, Todd Gilliland and a trio of Playoff contenders that included Joey Logano, Austin Cindric and William Byron were in the top 10.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps and with the front-runners running in a long single-file line, McDowell retained the lead ahead of Blaney, Larson, Berry and Briscoe as Austin Dillon, Logano, Cindric, Gilliland and Byron were scored in the top 10 ahead of Playoff contenders Harrison Burton and Alex Bowman, with Daniel Hemric, Ross Chastain and Playoff contender Chase Elliott rounding out the top 15 and all trailing the lead by less than two seconds. Meanwhile, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Brad Keselowski, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs, Daniel Suarez and Denny Hamlin were trailing in 18th, 20th, 22nd, 24th, 26th, 27th and 36th, respectively.
Just past the Lap 20 mark, the field fanned out to two scattered, drafting lanes as McDowell continued to hold the top spot ahead of Blaney, Berry, Larson and Logano while Bowman, Cindric, Byron, Harrison Burton and Chastain were battling within the top 10 mark. By then, the top 16 competitors were separated by less than two seconds while the top 20 were separated by less than three seconds.
At the Lap 30 mark and with the top-nine competitors separated by less than a second, Blaney made a move beneath McDowell through the first two turns to assume the lead in his No. 12 Dent Wizard Ford Mustang Dark Horse as Larson followed suit in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Larson would then challenge Blaney for the top spot from the outside lane during the following lap before Cindric shoved teammate Blaney back out in front through the backstretch. Behind, McDowell dropped to fourth while Logano, Bowman and Byron closed in for the spot. Amid the jostling of spots within, the top 31 competitors were separated by less than five seconds as Blaney led at the Lap 35 mark ahead of Playoff rivals Larson, Cindric, Byron, Bowman and Logano.
By Lap 40, the top 31 competitors were separated by less than five seconds as Blaney retained the lead ahead of Playoff contenders Larson, Cindric, Byron, Bowman and Logano while Chastain, McDowell, Elliott and Daniel Hemric followed suit in the top 10 ahead of Burton, Briscoe, Ty Gibbs, Berry, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Truex, Austin Dillon, Gilliland, Justin Haley and Bubba Wallace. Meanwhile, Hamlin was mired back in 34th place and trailing the lead by more than eight seconds while Suarez, Reddick, Bell and Keselowski were mired back in 21st, 23rd, 24th and 25th, respectively, all while trailing the lead under three seconds.
Ten laps later, Blaney continued to lead by a tenth of a second in front of Larson, Cindric, Bowman and Chastain as the top nine competitors were separated by less than a second. Behind, the top 20 competitors were separated by less than two seconds while the top 25 were separated by less than three.
Another five laps later, the event’s first caution flew when Larson, who was running in third place, briefly got loose, shot up the track and took a vicious head-on hit into the SAFER barrier in Turn 2. Then as the field scattered to avoid Larson’s wrecked car entering the backstretch, Larson shot into the rear of Briscoe, winner of last weekend’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway who was left with a crumbled front nose to his No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse while Larson was left with heavy damage to his right front and rear end of his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.
Amid the hard accident, Larson, who came into the Playoff opener with the top seed in the Playoff standings and having a steady cushion above the top-12 cutline, was left puzzled over the hard incident that ended his strong run early.
“I’m OK,” Larson said after exiting the infield care center. “Thankfully, everything held up well inside the car. That was a huge hit. I’m not really sure what caused it. I was actually sort of tight and loaded in the corner. And then I was pretty far around the corner and it just stepped out. I don’t know. It all just happened really fast.”
The multi-car wreck that knocked both Larson and Briscoe out of the Playoff opener was enough for the first stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 60 to officially conclude under caution as Blaney captured his fourth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate Cindric settled in second ahead of Bowman, Logano and Stenhouse while Chastain, Elliott, Byron, Truex and Ty Gibbs were scored in the top 10. By then, the remaining Playoff contenders on the track that included Suarez, Reddick, Bell, Keselowski and Hamlin were mired back in 15th, 17th, 19th, 23rd and 32nd, respectively.
Under the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Blaney pitted for a first round of service while BJ McLeod and JJ Yeley remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Bowman exited pit road first as Cindric, Stenhouse, Blaney, Logano, Byron, Chastain, Ty Gibbs, Elliott and Truex followed suit in the top 10. McLeod and Yeley would then pit during the proceeding caution laps as Bowman cycled into the lead. By then, Truex and Shane van Gisbergen were both penalized for speeding on pit road. In addition, Bell, who was among six competitors who returned to pit road to top off on fuel, made another trip to pit road to have his car fully loaded with fuel after he had fire coming out of his pit stall and his No. 20 pit crew was unable to fill the car up with fuel during the first service.
The second stage period started on Lap 67 as Bowman and Cindric occupied the front row. At the start, Cindric had drafting help from teammate Blaney to muscle ahead from the inside lane and he would manage to move ahead of Bowman’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to lead the following lap. The field then started to fan out to three stacked lanes amid the draft as Cindric and Bowman dueled for the lead in front of Blaney, Stenhouse and the rest of the field by Lap 70.
Through the Lap 80 mark and with the field scattered amid the draft, the top 19 competitors were separated by less than two seconds as Cindric maintained the lead ahead of teammate Blaney, Bowman, Byron and Chastain while Suarez occupied sixth ahead of Stenhouse, Elliott, Logano and Kyle Busch. Meanwhile, Playoff contenders Ty Gibbs, Truex, Reddick and Burton were mired within the top 16 on the track while Bell, Keselowski and Hamlin trailed in 21st, 26th and 34th, respectively.
Ten laps later, Cindric continued to lead the race ahead of two stacked lanes, with teammate Blaney following suit on the inside lane while Bowman led a long parade of competitors from the outside lane. By then, the top 14 competitors were separated by less than a second while the top 26 were separated by under two seconds.
By the Lap 100 mark, Cindric maintained a steady advantage over Bowman, teammate Blaney, Byron, Chastain and the rest of the field that was jostling for spots amid two and three stacked lanes within the draft. With the top-24 competitors separated by less than two seconds, Haley was scored in 10th place behind Stenhouse, Suarez, Truex and Elliott while Erik Jones, who was trying to mount a charge from a third drafting lane towards the outside wall, was racing within the top-15 mark.
Thirteen laps later and with Cindric maintaining the lead in front of two stacked lanes, the caution flew due to debris spotted in the frontstretch. During the caution period, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Cindric returned to pit road for service, primarily for fuel, while the rest including Ryan Preece, Hamlin, McLeod and Yeley remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Cindric exited pit road first as he was followed by Bowman, Blaney, Suarez, Byron, Elliott, Logano, Bubba Wallace, Keselowski and Haley. Amid the pit stops, Reddick made contact with rookie Carson Hocevar while trying to exit his pit stall. In addition, Wallace was penalized for speeding on pit road while Bell was also penalized for pitting outside his pit box. Shortly after, Preece, Hamlin, Yeley and McLeod pitted and handed the lead back to Cindric.
The start of the following restart period on Lap 119 featured Cindric and Bowman dueling for the lead in front of two stacked lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch before Cindric received another strong push from teammate Blaney to muscle his No. 2 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead of the pack. With Cindric leading the field back to the frontstretch and having both lanes under his control, teammate Blaney, Bowman and Byron followed suit in the top four while Suarez muscled his way into the top five.
At the halfway mark on Lap 130, Cindric was leading ahead of Playoff rivals Bowman, Blaney, Byron, Suarez, Logano and Elliott, all of whom were among 12 competitors separated by less than a second while the top 23 competitors were separated by less than two seconds. With the field fanning out to three lanes amid the draft, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Keselowski, Burton, Truex, Ty Gibbs, Reddick, Bell and Hamlin were running 10th, 13th, 15th, 17th, 19th, 25th and 32nd, respectively, while Stenhouse and Gilliland were the top-two non-Playoff contenders on the track in eighth and ninth, respectively. Within the battles, non-Playoff contenders Kyle Busch, Erik Jones and Chastain were mired in the top 15.
Fifteen laps later, Cindric continued to lead ahead of the field that was stacked through two and three lanes, with teammate Blaney, Bowman, Byron and Suarez battling within the top five ahead of Erik Jones, Chastain, Elliott, Gilliland and Logano. By then, the top 23 competitors were separated by under two seconds. In addition, Suarez dodged a pass-through penalty from NASCAR despite having advanced his position under the backstretch’s double white line a few laps earlier but was ruled to have been forced down as a reactive move to avoid Logano.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 160, Cindric fended off two stacked lanes to notch his third Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate Blaney, Bowman, Suarez and Byron were scored in the top five while Stenhouse, Chastain, Elliott, Ty Gibbs and Bell were scored in the top 10. Meanwhile, Logano, who made contact with Gilliland through the backstretch, dropped to 12th behind Reddick while Keselowski, Truex, Burton and Hamlin were mired back in 14th, 17th, 22nd and 29th, respectively. By then, Haley was penalized for blocking and forcing Reddick below the double white line.
During the stage break, a majority of the lead lap field led by Cindric pitted for service while select names including Ty Dillon, Haley, Josh Berry, Wallace, Preece, McLeod and Yeley remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Chastain exited pit road first ahead of McDowell, Stenhouse, Ty Gibbs, Byron, Blaney, Bell, Bowman, Corey LaJoie and Suarez. Amid the pit stops, van Gisbergen was penalized a second time for speeding on pit road. During the continuous caution laps, the select competitors who remained on the track led by Ty Dillon pitted as Chastain cycled into the lead.
With 94 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Chastain and McDowell occupied the front row. At the start, Chastain and McDowell dueled for the lead in front of a stacked field running two lanes. Chastain proceeded to lead the following lap while Stenhouse battled McDowell for second in front of Ty Gibbs and Byron. McDowell, who led the following lap, and Stenhouse would make slight contact exiting the backstretch with nearly 90 laps remaining, but both kept their cars running straight as the field continued to run in two stacked lanes and while Chastain reassumed the lead.
The caution would then return with 86 laps remaining when John Hunter Nemechek, who was running in 23rd place, got aero loose as Burton slid in front of him entering the backstretch, which resulted in Nemechek spinning his No. 42 Olipop Toyota Camry XSE below the track and making head-on contact in the inside wall.
During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Chastain returned to pit road for service while the rest led by Ty Gibbs and Wallace remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Suarez and Logano made contact on pit road as they both collected Reddick while LaJoie made door contact with Elliott, who had made contact with Cindric earlier, and Stenhouse while exiting pit road.
As the event restarted under green with 79 laps remaining, Wallace received a shove from Blaney on the inside lane to assume the lead by a hair over Ty Gibbs through the first two turns before Gibbs fought back on the outside lane with drafting help from Chastain. Both Gibbs and Wallace would continue to duel for the lead in front of two stacked lanes with 75 laps remaining.
With 65 laps remaining the majority of the field migrated toward the outside lane as select drivers tried to expand the pack to three-wide action. Ty Gibbs was leading ahead of Wallace, Chastain, Kyle Busch and McDowell while Bowman, Byron, Blaney, Bell and Elliott trailed in the top 10 ahead of Chris Buescher, Logano, Gilliland, Erik Jones, Truex, Keselowski, Cidnric, LaJoie, Reddick and Daniel Hemric. Playoff contenders Suarez, Reddick, Burton and Hamlin were mired outside the top 20 on the track.
Nine laps later, the caution flew when Chris Buescher, who was running in the top 10, slipped up the track entering the backstretch and clipped Blaney, which sent both sideways and touching the outside wall. Blaney was then hit by Truex while Truex was trying to dodge the chaos. By then, Wallace, who assumed the lead eight laps earlier, was leading ahead of Ty Gibbs, Kyle Busch, Byron and Chastain. During the caution period, select names led by Wallace and including Playoff contenders Gibbs, Bell, Blaney, Keselowski, Burton, Hamlin and Truex pitted while the rest led by Kyle Busch and Byron remained on the track. By then, Blaney managed to continue and remain on the lead lap while Truex dropped out of the lead lap category to have his No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry XSE repaired.
The start of the next restart period with 49 laps remaining featured Kyle Busch being drafted into the lead from Byron as he transitioned from the inside to the outside lane through the backstretch. With Busch leading the next lap ahead of Byron, Chastain was trying to close in from the inside lane as the field behind fanned out to four lanes. With the field stacked up between three and four tight lanes around every corner and straightaway, Busch maintained a steady lead ahead of Byron, Chastain, Elliott, Bowman and Suarez with less than 45 laps remaining.
With 35 laps remaining, the top 18 competitors were separated by less than a second and the top 28 were separated by less than two seconds. Kyle Busch retained the lead in front of Byron, Chastain, Elliott, Ty Gibbs, Bowman, Gilliland, and McDowell, as Logano and Suarez were mired within the top 10, ahead of Reddick, Logano, Cindric, Austin Dillon, Burton, Noah Gragson and Keselowski while Blaney and Bell were racing within the top-20 mark. Meanwhile, Hamlin was mired in 31st place and was not gaining any ground towards the lead pack.
Down to the final 25 laps of the event, the intensity at the front of the pack increased as Gibbs, who drafted Byron past Kyle Busch for the lead three laps earlier before he assumed it a lap later, returned atop the leaderboard. As the field continued to fan out aggressively to three drafted lanes, Suarez was in second behind Gibbs while Busch settled in third ahead of Logano, Byron, Chastain, Gilliland, Bowman, Elliott and Cindric.
Ten laps later and with fuel becoming a slight concern amongst the field, the top 14 competitors were separated by less than a second while the top 27 were separated by less than two seconds as Ty Gibbs continued to lead in front of Suarez, Kyle Busch, Logano and Byron. With the field fanning out to three lanes two laps later, Suarez muscled his No. 99 Quaker State Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead.
Then with 11 laps remaining, the caution flew due to a Walmart sign falling onto the frontstretch. By then, Suarez was scored the leader in front of Ty Gibbs, Busch, Logano, Byron and Chastain while Blaney, Bell, Elliott and Reddick were in the top 10. During the caution period, some including Keselowski pitted while the rest led by Suarez and including a host of Playoff contenders remained on the track.
With the race restarting under green with five laps remaining, Suarez briefly launched ahead from the outside lane exiting the frontstretch before Ty Gibbs rocketed back on the inside lane through the first two turns. Then as Gibbs attempted to move in front of Suarez through the backstretch, Suarez veered left and made his move beneath Gibbs in a battle for the lead while Logano bumped into the rear of Gibbs exiting the backstretch. A three-wide action for the lead then ensued entering the frontstretch as Busch made his move beneath both Suarez and Gibbs, who led the following lap.
Then as Gibbs and Suarez continued to battle against one another for the lead in front of a stacked field, Logano, who launched a third drafting lane towards the outside wall, received a draft from teammate Blaney’s damaged No. 12 Ford to muscle his No. 22 AutoTrader Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the lead through the backstretch with three laps remaining. Logano, however, would end up being deadlocked with Suarez through the frontstretch and with two laps remaining.
Then, with two laps remaining, and as a stack-up ensued at the front of the field, the caution flew and the event was sent into overtime due to Noah Gragson, who was running in 16th place, getting hit by Burton and sent for a spin before he hit the backstretch’s inside wall. At the moment of caution, Logano was ruled the leader ahead of Suarez, Blaney, Chastain, Elliott and Bell while Gibbs had dropped to ninth.
The start of the first overtime attempt featured Logano and Suarez dueling for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch, with both having their respective teammates drafting them. Despite Chastain losing ground of teammate Suarez entering Turn 3, the latter managed to remain dead even with Logano approaching the frontstretch.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Logano was leading by a hair over Suarez and Blaney tucked in behind teammate Logano while the field behind began to fan out to three lanes. With a push from Blaney, Logano muscled ahead and cleared Suarez entering the first two turns as Suarez was left to battle Blaney for the runner-up spot through the backstretch.
Then through Turns 3 and 4, a multi-car wreck erupted that started when Chastain got bumped into the outside wall by Elliott entering Turn 3. With a stack-up ensuing, Stenhouse turned Wallace as multiple competitors including Playoff contenders Hamlin and Burton were collected. The wreck was enough for the event to conclude under caution as Logano, who was inches away from reaching the finish line prior to the caution, crossed the finish line to claim the victory.
With the victory, Logano, who won a Cup Series Playoff opener for the first time in his career, notched his 34th career win in the NASCAR Cup Series level, his second at Atlanta, his second of the 2024 season and his first since winning at Nashville Superspeedway in late June. The victory was also the eighth of the season for the Ford nameplate, the manufacturer’s third in a row in recent weeks and the fifth of the season for Team Penske. Notably, Logano joins William Byron as two Cup competitors to win on Atlanta’s reconfigured layout since it debuted at the start of the 2022 season.
Logano’s Playoff opener victory at Atlanta served as an automatic pass to the Round of 12 for the Connecticut champion and his No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse team, with the driver commencing his pursuit for a third Cup Series championship.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“[It was an] Incredible execution from the team,” Logano said on USA Network. “When it’s Playoff time, it’s out time. That’s what I said. We got to always level up when it comes to Playoff time and [the team] gave me a great AutoTrader Mustang. [The car] was fast all day. We got stuck in the back a little bit. It was hard to get track position back. We had a good restart and got towards the front. [I] Had my teammate [Ryan] Blaney behind me. It really helped out in that last lap to be able to make sure [a] Penske car won and ultimately, move on to the next round. Good day for all the Penske cars. Pretty good day today. There’s a lot of memories right here on this start/finish line for me racing Legends cars as a kid, so this is a really cool feeling to be out here in a Cup car again.”
With Logano winning, Daniel Suarez, who won at Atlanta by 0.003 seconds earlier in February, commenced his second appearance in the Playoffs by notching a strong second-place result after he too led nine laps. Meanwhile, Ryan Blaney commenced his pursuit to defend his Cup title by finishing third in an event where he led 33 laps, won the first stage period and nursed his damaged car to a strong result.
“I would have to rewatch everything again,” Suarez, who is 22 points above the top-12 cutline in the Playoff standings, said. “I was pretty confident that the top [lane] was going to be better with [Logano] and he was going to be able to push me like [Chastain] did that last restart being on the outside. We got a great lounge, but we just got disconnected too early and that obviously hurt us and [Kyle Busch] and [Ty Gibbs], they were able to get connected for longer and beat us. It’s a little painful. I feel like we were in position and sometimes it’s very difficult to predict who is going to get the best push and for how long you’re going to get it, but it’s part of the game, right? We were in contention. The team did an amazing job. We’re happy with [the result], but not satisfied.”
“I can’t believe we got back up where we did,” Blaney, who is 45 points above the cutline, said. “[The] No. 12 boys did a really good job fixing [the car]. I’m surprised it didn’t have more damage than what it did because for my seat, I got drilled in the left rear or the door where [Buescher] hit me and then the right rear got off the fence. I didn’t know how damaged we were, but I was able to carve up through traffic and could get through the middle [lane] pretty good. Really good day. Move on to Watkins Glen.”
Playoff contenders Christopher Bell and Alex Bowman finished in the top five while Tyler Reddick, the 2024 Cup Series Regular Season Champion, made a late charge to finish sixth. Kyle Busch along with Playoff contenders Chase Elliott, William Byron and Austin Cindric completed the top 10 in the final running order.
Notably, Brad Keselowski fell back to 19th place while Martin Truex Jr., who retired late due to a suspension failure, ended up in 35th place. Following their involvement in the final lap accident, Denny Hamlin, whose strategy to run towards the rear of the field the entire event with no stage points and which did not pay off, limped across the finish line in 24th place while Playoff rookie Harrison Burton ended up in 31st place after he was unable to nurse his damaged No. 21 DEX Imaging Ford Mustang Dark Horse across the finish line to complete the final lap.
There were 24 lead changes for 14 different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 44 laps. In addition, 30 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results.
1. Joey Logano, nine laps led
2. Daniel Suarez, nine laps led
3. Ryan Blaney, 33 laps led, Stage 1 winner
4. Christopher Bell
5. Alex Bowman, five laps led
6. Tyler Reddick
7. Kyle Busch, 24 laps led
8. Chase Elliott
9. William Byron, two laps led
10. Austin Cindric, 92 laps led, Stage 2 winner
11. Daniel Hemric
12. Justin Haley
13. Ross Chastain, 13 laps led
14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
15. Corey LaJoie
16. Carson Hocevar, one lap led
17. Ty Gibbs, 37 laps led
18. Ryan Preece, two laps led
19. Brad Keselowski
20. Austin Dillon
21. Zane Smith
22. Michael McDowell, 30 laps led
23. JJ Yeley
24. Denny Hamlin
25. BJ McLeod, one lap led
26. Erik Jones
27. Todd Gilliland
28. Josh Berry
29. Bubba Wallace, eight laps led
30. Cody Ware
31. Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident
32. Shane van Gisbergen, two laps down
33. John Hunter Nemechek, four laps down
34. Noah Gragson – OUT, Accident
35. Martin Truex Jr. – OUT, Suspension
36. Chris Buescher – OUT, Accident
37. Kyle Larson – OUT, Accident
38. Chase Briscoe – OUT, Accident
*Bold indicates Playoff contenders
Playoff standings
1. Joey Logano – Advanced
2. Ryan Blaney +45
3. Christopher Bell +40
4. Tyler Reddick +33
5. William Byron +33
6. Alex Bowman +27
7. Austin Cindric +27
8. Chase Elliott +24
9. Daniel Suarez +22
10. Kyle Larson +15
11. Denny Hamlin +2
12. Ty Gibbs +1
13. Brad Keselowski -1
14. Harrison Burton -16
15. Martin Truex Jr. -19
16. Chase Briscoe -21
With the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs underway, the second event in the Round of 16 is set to occur at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York, for the Go Bowling at The Glen. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, September 15, and air at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.
Daniel Hemric qualified 14th for the Quaker State 400 available at Walmart at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Hemric raced his way into the top 10 by lap 39, before radioing that the No. 31 Cirkul Chevy was beginning to tighten up. The first caution of the day came out with four laps remaining in the stage, and Hemric sat 21st, as the stage ended under caution.
Hemric pitted for four tires and fuel during the stage break, and started the second stage from 19th place. The first caution of the second stage came out on lap 115, as Hemric sat 23rd. Crew chief Trent Owens made the call to pit for tires, fuel and adjustments to the front of the No. 31 Cirkul Chevy. Hemric restarted in 27th on lap 119 and made his way back into the top 20 by lap 135, before fading back to 26th, where he finished the second stage.
Hemric radioed that the previous changes made to the No. 31 Chevy helped him for the first 15 laps of the run, but he lost front grip as the run went on. He pitted for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment during the second stage break, before starting the final stage from 24th place. The first caution of the final stage came out on lap 175, and Owens called Hemric to pit road for four tires and fuel. Hemric restarted 29th on lap 181 and made it to 21st, before the next caution came out on lap 205. Hemric radioed that the previous changes helped the handling of the No. 31 Cirkul Chevy and allowed him to be more aggressive in traffic. He pitted under caution for four tires, fuel, and a right-rear air pressure adjustment, before restarting 27th on lap 211. The next caution came out with nine laps remaining, and Hemric elected to stay out, restarting 17th with five laps to go. An overtime-inducing caution brought out the yellow with just two laps remaining, as Hemric sat 16th. After one overtime attempt, Hemric finished 11th.
“We had a really solid weekend, and we executed where we needed to. We unloaded with really good speed, and when we do that, I have more capability to do the things I need to do inside the car. I’m proud of Trent [Owens] and all the guys on the No. 31 team. I’m excited to go road-course racing next week.” – Daniel Hemric
SHANE van GISBERGEN No. 16 Acceptance Insurance Camaro
Shane van Gisbergen qualified 28th for the Quaker State 400 available at Walmart at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Van Gisbergen maintained position and posted his fastest lap time of the race on lap 32. As the stage was nearing conclusion, an on-track incident on lap 57 brought out the yellow flag and ended the stage under caution. The No. 16 Acceptance Insurance Chevy Camaro completed the first stage 29th place.
The No. 16 team opted to come to pit road at the first stage break for fresh tires and fuel. Van Gisbergen started the second stage in 32nd, after acquiring a pit-road penalty for speeding. The caution flag flew midway through the stage, and Van Gisbergen restarted 23rd with 42 laps remaining. He fell back a few positions and finished the second stage in 29th.
Van Gisbergen pitted at the stage break for a slight adjustment, fresh tires and fuel. Upon exiting pit road, Van Gisbergen was issued a second speeding penalty and started the final stage in 30th place. A quick caution came out at the beginning of the stage, and Van Gisbergen restarted the stage 21st, after topping off with fuel. He entered the top 20 for the first time in the event on lap 185. On lap 205 the caution flag flew for an incident at the front of the field, and Van Gisbergen reported possible damage to the right-rear toe link. Crew chief Travis Mack called the No. 16 Camaro to pit road for repairs, and Van Gisbergen rejoined the field in 34th. With nine laps remaining in the race, a caution occurred, and No. 16 team opted to pit for four tires, fuel and adjustments, before restarting the stage 33rd with five laps remaining. As another caution came out with two laps remaining, Van Gisbergen received the free pass. He restarted in the 32nd position for the first and only overtime attempt, where he ultimately took the checkered flag.
“That was tough to see our race end like that. Was hoping for a better result with my No. 16 Acceptance Insurance team, but there in the final stage, had a damaged right rear toe link that put us a couple laps down. We had a really good Chevy today, just unfortunate ending. Hoping to find some positive momentum heading into Watkins Glen next weekend.” – Shane van Gisbergen
About Kaulig Racing
Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time, multi-car NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, owned by award winning entrepreneur, Matt Kaulig. Established in 2016, Kaulig Racing™ has earned 23 NXS wins, made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started, and won two regular-season championships. In 2021, the team competed in select NCS events, before expanding to a two-car, full-time NCS team in 2022 and adding a third, part-time entry during the 2023 season. Since its first NCS start in 2021, the team has earned two wins. Kaulig Racing is currently fielding two full-time entries in the NCS and continues to field three full-time NXS entries, with a part-time fourth entry at select events. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.
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)
● 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.
Ford Performance Notes and Quotes NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 | Atlanta Motor Speedway Sunday, September 8, 2024
JOEY LOGANO PUNCHES TICKET TO ROUND OF 12 WITH ATLANTA VICTORY
Joey Logano won his second race of the season with today’s victory, not including his win in the All-Star Race.
The win is Ford’s third straight and advances Logano into the Round of 12.
The win is Logano’s 34th of his Cup Series career and 32nd with Ford.
Those 32 wins put him 4th on the all-time Ford win list.
Today’s win is Ford’s 736th all-time in NASCAR Cup Series competition.
It also marks Team Penske’s 98th series win with Ford.
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Autotrader Ford Mustang Dark Horse – VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW – WHAT IS IT ABOUT YOU AND THIS TEAM THAT CAN STEP UP AND MAKE IT TO THE NEXT ROUND? “We didn’t last year and it hurt a lot, but they just give me really fast cars on superspeedways and we always find ourselves towards the front of them, we just end up wrecking more times than not. So, to be able to finally capitalize on a fast race car and win here in Atlanta again, 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. It’s awesome to get Autotrader into Victory Lane and the JL Kids Crew are here today, so it’s really cool to finally win with them here.”
HOW HARD WAS IT TO WORK THROUGH THAT PACK? “We kind of just got stuck back there and couldn’t figure out how to get myself back up there, and then I finally picked the right lanes at the right time to move myself forward. That part was good.”
HOW SPECIAL IS THIS WINNING HERE AT ATLANTA WITH ALL THE HOURS YOU PUT IN AT CONDO 805? “It was a lot of time. My dad, my family. We had so much fun. You park right over there and unload. We’d be here every Wednesday and Thursday night racing Legends cars and Bandoleros. I remember we came down here for the first time when we were moving down from Connecticut and we pulled into this place and we said, ‘Oh my God, look how awesome this place is.’ You never dream, that was almost 30 years ago, that dream and meeting Ken Ragan, David Ragan’s dad, and getting a Bandolero and racing out there for the first time with duct tape Number 10 on it to where we are today is just really, really cool.”
Ford Performance Results: 1st – Joey Logano 3rd – Ryan Blaney 10th – Austin Cindric 12th – Justin Haley 18th – Ryan Preece 19th – Brad Keselowski 22nd – Michael McDowell 27th – Todd Gilliland 28th – Josh Berry 30th – Cody Ware 31st – Harrison Burton 34th – Noah Gragson 36th – Chris Buescher 38th – Chase Briscoe
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Dent Wizard Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “Honestly, I can’t believe we got back up to where we did. The 12 boys did a really good job of fixing it. I’m surprised it didn’t have more damage than what it did. From my seat, I got drilled in the left-rear, or the door I guess where it hit me, and then the right-rear got off the fence. I didn’t know how damaged we were, but I was able to carve up through traffic and kind of get through the middle pretty good. I’m really proud of the effort. I had a thought of going three-wide on the frontstretch and I’m like, ‘Man, this is gonna be tight and we’ve already had a really good day going, great points and all that stuff,’ so third is a really good day. I appreciate Dent Wizard doing what they do, Menards, Advance Auto Parts, DEX Imaging, the Wurth group, Discount Tire. We’ll move on to Watkins Glen. I’m really happy. Like I said, this thing looks ugly, but a really good finish so I’m proud of the effort by everybody.”
AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Menards Quaker State Mustang Dark Horse – “I’m just glad a Team Penske car won it. We’ve come to so many of these speedways with cars that are capable of winning races and I’m proud of Joey and the guys to get it done. Obviously, Ryan and I worked really well together to get a ton of points to start. We just got off cycle there with a bad pit stop and just really took a long time to get back up to the front of the field. I feel like I could have made some better decisions on the last couple of restarts, but a solid effort all around with all of the challenges of pack racing.”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO GET THROUGH THIS WITH A GOOD DAY? “Yeah, just base hits all around. I’m so proud of the team. We have just a little bit left on execution, but, otherwise, happy with the result.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 King’s Hawaiian Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “It just wasn’t a super strong day. We kind of survived and we’ll live to fight another day.”
JOSH BERRY, No. 4 Decisely Insurance 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 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 am just appreciative of them. We will go at it again next week in Watkins Glen.”
CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “Ultimately, that’s not how we wanted to go out. I’m definitely disappointed and screwed up there. I got a really good run. I got to the bottom and we’d been able to keep really good pace on the bottom, and then just caught a bump and stepped out and ended up making a crash. I’m disappointed in myself for that one. It certainly wasn’t our typical Atlanta day, either. We’d been so good here, but I had to fight for the handling today. The team made good adjustments and good calls to get us close to the front, but I just messed it up when it counted.”
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 Mahindra Compact Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHAT HAPPENED? “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. I was watching my outside getting into one because somebody kept trying to get to my outside and was probably a little late just trying to see the 5 car 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.”
HOW ARE YOU FEELING RIGHT NOW? “I’m good. My private area hurt pretty bad at first, just when I hit it was a big hit, but, other than that, I’m totally good. My head, everything feels fine. I’m glad my ankles didn’t get messed up. The brake pedal and everything went through the floorboard, so I’m thankful that I’m alright, for sure.”
A MUST-WIN AT WATKINS GLEN OR BRISTOL? “I mean, either one. I think we’re gonna be really good. Bristol, we’ve started in the top three of four there the last three times we went. We’ve obviously had really good speed. We tested there about a month-and-a-half ago, and then the road courses we’ve always been really good. With the fall off that they’re talking about at Watkins Glen, I think we’re gonna be in good shape. The slick, wore out, where we’re slipping and sliding around is typically when we’re our strongest, so I feel like we can win any of the two.”
HOW DO FEEL ABOUT THAT CHALLENGE? “I’m excited for the challenge, truthfully. I think we all knew when the Playoffs started that this was gonna be the one race where you could really dig yourself a big hole. It’s unfortunate that we dug ourselves in a big hole, but if there was two racetracks out of the 10, those are two of the ones that I would definitely pick to go run in a must-win situation, so hopefully we can do it.”
WHAT WAS THE CAR LIKE FOR YOU? “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.”
BELL, REDDICK EXTEND PLAYOFF ADVANTAGES WITH STRONG FINISHES IN ATLANTA Bell scores third straight top-five and fifth top-10 in the last six races
HAMPTON, Ga. (September 8, 2024) – Christopher Bell (fourth) and Tyler Reddick (sixth) both overcame adversity on pit road to lead Toyota with strong top-10 finishes at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday evening.
Bell earned his third straight top-five finish with his fourth place run, and moved to 40 points above the Playoff cutline, while sixth-place finisher Reddick is now 33 points to the good.
Denny Hamlin is two points up on the cut line, while Ty Gibbs moved from 15th to 12th overall – one point to the good. Martin Truex Jr. was having a good race but was involved in a wreck not of his own making. The 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion is 19 points down with two races remaining in the round.
Toyota Post-Race Recap NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) Atlanta Motor Speedway Race 27 of 36 – 260 Laps, 400.4 Miles
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS 1st, Joey Logano* 2nd, Daniel Suarez* 3rd, Ryan Blaney* 4th, CHRISTOPHER BELL 5th, Alex Bowman* 6th, TYLER REDDICK 17th, TY GIBBS 24th, DENNY HAMLIN 26th, ERIK JONES 29th, BUBBA WALLACE 33rd, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK 35th, MARTIN TRUEX JR. *non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
Strong finish, Christopher. Can you talk about your run today
“I’ll take it. To walk out of here with a top-five in probably our worst track on the schedule – that was really good and I’m proud of the effort on this Rheem Camry. We had a lot to overcome with a bad qualifying run, and then really bad pit stall selection. There was a lot of adversity that we had to fight through, and that was a freaking blast. It was so much fun. The whole race was super intense, and everybody did a good job not to wreck more.”
How was it to have Adam Stevens back on the pit box?
“It was nice to be back in rhythm and back with a normal voice up there.”
TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 Jordan Brand Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
How was your car overall?
“Our Jordan Brand Toyota Camry was really, really good in certain aspects of the race, but in others – we were a little bit off. It is what it is. I think considering the highs and lows of the day, and the unfortunate circumstances of the 99 (Daniel Suarez) being behind us – and the 22 (Joey Logano) being in front of me – just being boxed in most of the day on pit road. We didn’t even have green flag stops, so getting boxed in almost every time really hurt us.”
How chaotic was pit road?
“It was a nightmare, honestly. You just don’t want to get into too much trouble on pit road, and it seems like that was all we really had.”
It was a good points day. What are your thoughts on a top-10 finish?
“Yeah, it was about surviving. It looks like some of the guys in the 16 had issues as well, so we will see how it all shakes out, but for us, we avoided disaster and that was the most important thing today.”
TY GIBBS, No. 54 He Gets Us Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 17th
Can you talk about your finish?
“I didn’t do a good job blocking, and I take responsibility of not finishing great at all. 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. I’m just glad we can walk out of this place with a good points day with our He Gets Us Camry.”
How hard is it to balance that you had a car that could win, with also needing to finish?
“It is definitely hard, because you want to stay out of the wrecks and stay up front, but it is like a light switch – I just made the best of what I had and kept momentum going and got to the front. I just didn’t do the rest of the job.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Mavis Tire Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 24th
What happened in that final crash?
“Just saw cars turning sideways in front of me. Tried to avoid wrecks all day and just got in the last one.”
Were you always waiting to the end to make a move?
“I thought at the very end we got the Mavis Tire Camry kind of where it needed to be, but by then, you were kind of dealing with a log jam of a couple of lanes that are kind of blocking things and you couldn’t go much of anywhere, so I just tried to avoid the wrecks. I was trying to get 20 points out of the day. That was my goal – just get 20 however we could, obviously, starting in the back didn’t help with that. We did the best we could, and then got in a wreck that probably cost us eight to 10 spots or so.”
Does a weekend like this concern you?
“No, not really. 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.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 47 million cars and trucks at our 12 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 13th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 29 electrified options.
NASCAR CUP SERIES ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY ROUND OF 16: RACE ONE TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT SEPTEMBER 8, 2024
Suarez Leads Chevrolet with Runner-Up Finish in 2024 Playoff Opener at Atlanta Motor Speedway Four Team Chevy Playoff Contenders Earn Top-10 Finishes
Gearing up for a campaign for his second career NASCAR Cup Series championship, Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson laid down a qualifying lap that earned the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1 team a seventh-place starting position for the first race of the Round of 16.
With just five laps complete, Larson showed early speed in his Hendrick Motorsports-prepared Chevrolet; quickly moving up into third and settling into position for much of the opening stage. While looking to capitalize on a handful of opportunities to take the lead, Larson unexpectedly took a hard hit midway through the corner; suffering damage that would end the day early for the No. 5 team.
The first caution of the day also ultimately brought the race to the end of Stage One. Team Chevy’s playoff contender Alex Bowman led the Bowtie brand to the end of the stage – collecting a third-place finish in the stage. Joining Bowman in the top-10 included Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott and William Byron in the fifth through eighth positions, respectively.
With a third-place finish in Stage One, crew chief Blake Harris called Bowman to pit road for four tires and fuel. With a quick stop by the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet pit crew, Bowman won the race off pit road to lead the field to the green flag for the start of Stage Two.
The 100-lap stage saw much of the field settle into a two-by-two formation, with Team Chevy’s other remaining playoff contenders occupying top-10 running positions. The lead pack began to shuffle positions once the stage hit 10-laps-go. Bowman went on to lead the Bowtie brand with yet another third-place result in Stage Two – leading Suarez (fourth), Byron (fifth), Stenhouse Jr. (sixth), Chastain (seventh) and Elliott (eighth).
The beginning laps of the final stage saw a handful of Team Chevy drivers looking to pull of a playoff upset, Kyle Busch and Chastain making an appearance in the top-five as the race returned to caution conditions with 53 laps to go. Sitting in the second position, crew chief Randall Burnett opted to gamble and capitalize on track position – giving Busch a front-row starting position for the green-flag with 49 laps to go.
As intensity ramped up, a strong contingency of Camaro ZL1’s occupied much of the lead pack, with Team Chevy drivers occupying six of the top-eight running positions as the race hit 25-laps to go.
Enduring a green-white-checkered finish, the track’s defending winner, Daniel Suarez, posted his third-straight podium result at Atlanta Motor Speedway – leading Chevrolet with a runner-up finish in his No. 99 Quaker State Camaro ZL1.
Four of Team Chevy’s playoff contenders drove their Camaro ZL1’s to top-10 results in the Round of 16 opening race, with Suarez leading Alex Bowman in fifth; Chase Elliott in eighth; and William Byron in ninth.
Despite an unfortunate early ending to his race, Larson’s playoff points cushion keeps the 32-year-old Elk Grove, California, native above the playoff bubble, with the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1 team heading to Watkins Glen in the 10th position and 15-points above the cutline.
TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10: POS. DRIVER 2nd Daniel Suarez 5th Alex Bowman 7th Kyle Busch 8th Chase Elliott 9th William Byron
WITH 27 NASCAR CUP SERIES RACES COMPLETE: Wins: 11 Poles: 7 Top-five finishes: 49 Top-10 finishes: 105
UP NEXT: The second race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 16 gets underway at Watkins Glen International with the Go Bowling at The Glen on Sunday, September 15, at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident in Stage One.
Finished: 37th
Larson on the accident that ended the day early for the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1 team:
“I’m OK. Thankfully everything held up well inside the car. That was a huge hit. I’m not really sure what caused it. I was actually sort of tight and loaded in the corner. And then I was pretty far around the corner and it just stepped out. I don’t know.. it all just happened really fast.”
Were you trying to save the car at that point.. was it loading weird to you on that lap?
“No, I mean I was already loaded in the corner. It just got loose, and when you’re spinning or getting ready to spin, you have to turn right. I just overcorrected, I guess. It’s just a bummer. We’ll see how everything kind of shakes out after today; go onto Watkins Glen and try to have a good day.”
Did you have any warning? Were you fighting the loose conditions the whole time?
“No, not at all. Never.. not once. If anything, I was getting tighter and tighter. So yeah, it just caught me way off guard. I was never once loose, even in that corner. And then, it just started stepping out. I corrected it and overcorrected it, I guess.”
How are you feeling right now?
“I feel fine. Thankfully, everything held up great in the car, so thank you to Hendrick Motorsports and NASCAR for the safety of these cars.”
Larson on the next two races in the Round of 16 around the cutline bubble:
“Yeah, we’ll see how the rest of the race plays out and where the points shake out. I have no idea where I sit currently, but I’ll for sure be much closer.”
Kyle Busch, No. 8 Global Industrial Camaro ZL1
Finished: 7th
Are you satisfied with the result today?
“No, we needed to win. We started pretty far off with the No. 8 Global Industrial Camaro, but we really worked on it. The guys made some good adjustments and got it to where it was driving really good. Definitely the second-half of the race and the final stage, I felt really positive about it. But then we had to go into fuel-save mode, so we weren’t really able to kind of stretch our legs there. Just played the way the cards were dealt and we came home with a top-10. Certainly felt like we had a shot to win. Felt as good, or better, than the No. 99 (Daniel Suarez), so I was just hopeful that we could keep that track position. Just lost a little bit too much there on that second-to-last restart.”
Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA / Children’s Camaro ZL1
Finished: 8th
Is there just relief getting through today?
“Yeah, for sure. It’s nice to just have a solid day. We needed a good, solid day for this No. 9 NAPA / Children’s Chevy team. I’m looking forward to getting up to Watkins Glen and seeing how it goes.”
Overall, how did you feel about the race today?
“Yeah, it was fine. I think as time goes on, everybody gets better at it, and then it makes everybody just more the same and harder to be different. So, then we just end up clogging up the lanes and you just hope you have track position. Unfortunately, we had that most of the day.”
Going into next weekend, your thoughts on that. Watkins Glen is a pretty good track for you.
“Yeah, I’m looking forward to getting up there. Just going to have to qualify well. It’s going to be really, really tough to make any ground on that track. You better bring your A-game on Saturday because I’d say the race is probably going to be lost there.”
William Byron, No. 24 Relay Payments Camaro ZL1
Finished: 9th
This round is kind of ‘survive and advance’. Do you feel like you did what you needed to do today?
“We did. We had a little bit of handling issues in the first stage, but we overcame that. We got eighth-place stage points. The second stage was pretty good. We were up towards the front. And then in the final stage, we were up in the front the whole time. We were just trying to save fuel. I feel like we did a good job, for the most part. Just the second-to-last restart, I wasn’t quite sure who to push when they were three-wide in front of me, and I got trapped three-wide bottom and lost some spots.
All-in-all, coming back and finishing ninth is a good day for the No. 24 Relay Payments Chevrolet team.”
Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Camaro ZL1
Finished: 5th
A 48-point day for the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet team. Tell us about your race here at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and are you satisfied with today?
“Yeah, it was obviously a really good points day and a good day, overall, after the last month of so. Made a couple of moves there during that third-to-last run that just cost us a lot of track position, and we had to restart 13th there that second-to-last run. Obviously got a lot of it back, but couldn’t get it all back. I would have much rather been sitting in victory lane, but I just didn’t put myself in the best position at the end to be able to do that.
We had a great No. 48 Ally Chevy. It drove great all day. Little bummed, but definitely a good day for this team.”
Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Quaker State Camaro ZL1
Finished: 2nd
Your last three races at Atlanta, you were second, first and now third. You had a shot at the end of this one. Are you satisfied with today?
“No, definitely not satisfied. 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?
I can’t thank everyone enough; Trackhouse Racing, all the men and women. I have to give a shout out here to the race track and Quaker State for helping me design this amazing race car. It was nice to run strong today, but when you are that close and obviously we had a good shot, it’s never too fun.”
About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.
