Suarez edges Blaney, Busch to claim Cup Series win at Atlanta
Thrilling 3-wide finish closes race
Daniel Suarez reacts after winning the NASCAR auto race at Atlanta Motor Speedway Sunday in Hampton, Ga.
HAMPTON, GA. >> Daniel Suarez edged Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch in a three-wide finish to win a crashed-filled NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday.
Busch, who won Saturday’s Trucks race, moved to the middle between Blaney, the 2023 Cup champion, and Suarez to set up the dramatic finish. Suarez, 32, earned his second career Cup win in his Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet. Blaney was second, only 0.003 seconds behind, and Busch was third.
There were 10 cautions and an Atlanta-record 47 lead changes. A massive pileup of at least 16 cars on the second lap was the biggest in the history of Atlanta Motor Speedway and set the pace for a procession of wrecks. The crash left many cars heavily taped for the remainder of the afternoon.
The intensity picked up when Austin Cindric went to the bottom of the track in his Team Penske Ford for a four-wide pass to take the lead with 50 laps remaining.
Tight racing led to the eighth caution of the day when Kyle Larson and Brad
Keselowski were part of a crash. Another crash with 21 laps remaining ended Chase Briscoe’s race and damaged the hopes of Denny Hamlin, who had been a top contender.
Carson Hocevar was sent spinning and Josh Berry also crashed, leading to the 10th caution with 10 laps remaining.
Michael Mcdowell, who on Saturday won his first pole in his 467th start, won the first stage but collided with Daytona 500 champion William Byron while trying to slow down to enter pit row on lap 134. Mcdowell suffered right front damage and each car fell one lap behind before Mcdowell made his way back to the lead. He finished eighth.
ROCKIES 10, BREWERS 0 Sunday at American Family Fields
ON THE MOUND >> Righthander Karl Kauffman, likely to start the season at Triple-a Albuquerque in the Isotopes’ rotation, pitched 2 1/3 innings, giving up one hit — a homer to William Contreras, the Brewers’ second batter of the game. … Right-hander Justin Lawrence, competing with Tyler Kinley for the closer’s job, was not very sharp in his inning for work, giving up a run on two hits. Manager Bud Black said Lawrence’s fastball was “just a little off.” Lawrence did strike out two. … Right-hander Riley Pint, continued his strong early spring. Pint struck out three and walked one in a scoreless seventh inning. Black liked that Pint was consistently around the strike zone and Blacked called Pint’s slider “devastating.”
AT THE PLATE >> Michael Toglia, in the mix to make the big-league club as first
right now.”
Either way, he said he feels like he bounced back from a poor 2022 season and is planning on playing at a high level well into the future.
“People think I’m out of there. Maybe I am, but no matter what I’d love to go back,” he said. “I committed. There. I committed to be there. I want to win more Super Bowls there. I love the city and everything else, but you also want to be at a place that wants you, too.”
Wilson and Marshall also revisited the bye week conversations between his agent, Mark Rodgers, Paton and Broncos vice president of football administration Rich Hurtado that led baseman/right fielder, went 2-for-3 and hit his second home run in two days. “It’s a great feeling,” said Toglia, whose solo homer led off the second inning against Milwaukee veteran right-hander Taylor Clarke. “I’ve been on the other end of it when you’re searching early and it’s not nearly as fun. My intent is just to try to stay aggressive and hammer my pitches early.” … Outfielder Hunter Goodman immediately followed up Toglia with another homer off of Clarke. All told, Colorado mashed 18 hits, including a 2-for-4 day by shortstop prospect Julio Carreras.
to acrimony over the potential that Wilson would be benched for up to the team’s final nine games.
He talked for the first time about telling Courtland Sutton — but nobody else in the locker room — about the situation shortly after the Broncos won at Buffalo in Week 10 and a meeting he had with Payton after the bye week.
“I get back on Monday, I still don’t know necessarily what’s going to happen, and on that Monday that’s when I meet with Sean,” he said. “And Sean said, ‘Hey, treat it like nothing happened. You’re going to play this week, we’ve got a big game this week against Buffalo. We’ve got to go win on Monday Night Football.”
PROSPECT WATCH >> Second Baseman Adael Amador Got The Start At Second Base, Hit 1-For-3 And Drove In A Run. He Also Made A Nice Play At Second When He Handled A Hot Shot.
UP NEXT >> Dodgers at Rockies, 1:10 p.m. Monday
ROCKIES PROBABLE PITCHERS >> RHP Jeff Criswell, RHP Tyler Kinley, LHP Jalen Beeks, LHP Evan Justice, RHP John Curtiss, RHP Jaden Hill, RHP Angel Chivilli.
Wilson ultimately started seven games after Denver’s bye before Payton benched him for Jarrett Stidham for the final two games of the season.
Wilson wasn’t part of the conversations directly during the bye week, but said Sunday night that the NFL told the Broncos their negotiating stance, “is illegal. You can’t do this.” However, league sources have maintained — and reiterated Sunday night — that the NFL never told the Broncos they were out of line. The only assertion of that came from an outside counsel retained by the NFL Players Association, which was outlined in a letter reported on in January by the Washington Post.