Suarez crosses line first
Daniel Suarez won the second-closest race in NASCAR Cup Series history and led just nine laps Sunday in the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He survived a race full of cautions and a track-best 48 lead changes.
Suarez leads the list of winners and losers coming out of Atlanta.
Winners Daniel Suarez
Suarez was a nonfactor for much of the Ambetter Health 400. But he made a late charge, going from third and to the win on a last-lap move on the outside. Suarez won by 0.003 seconds, the second-closest win in NASCAR history. It marked Suarez’s second-career Cup win and was a great start to the season for Trackhouse Racing.
Front Row Racing
How’s this for a weekend: Front Row driver Michael McDowell grabbed his first Cup Series pole, won the first stage and had lengthy stints in the top five. Teammate Todd Gilliland led more laps than any other driver in the Ambetter Health 400. Gilliland led for 58 laps, and McDowell led for 27 laps. McDowell led the team with an eighth-place finish. Gilliland was 26th.
This wasn’t the finish the 2023 Cup Series champion wanted. But it was the type of day he needed. Blaney finished second at Atlanta a week after a 30th-place finish in the Daytona 500. More important? On a day filled with wrecks, Blaney was able to stay out of them.
Losers
Brad Keselowski
Keselowski was one of the many drivers involved in a wreck at Atlanta Motor Speedway. However, his 33rd-place finish in the Ambetter Health 400 marked the 100th consecutive race without a win for the 2012 Cup Series champion.
Joey Logano
Logano qualified for the first row for the second race in a row. But a pair of racing gloves not approved by NASCAR sent him to the back row for the start of the race. Logano raced his way to the front, but he was involved in a wreck and finished 28th. That and a 32nd-place finish in the Daytona 500 and it might be time for the Team Penske driver to get concerned.
Alex Bowman
The Daytona 500 honeymoon is over for Bowman and his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team. Bowman was one of 16 drivers involved in a wreck during the second lap, ending his chances of winning a second consecutive race. Bowman, who started 17th, finished 27th, five laps down.