Author: Official Release

Quaker State 400: Atlanta Motor Speedway
Hampton, Ga. – September 8, 2024

AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 MENARDS/QUAKER STATE FORD MUSTANG

START: 5TH STAGE ONE: 2ND STAGE TWO: 1ST FINISH: 10TH POINTS: 7TH

RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric led a race and career-high 92 laps in Sunday’s Quaker State 400, but ultimately placed 10th in the Menards/Quaker State Ford Mustang after diligently working to recover from an issue on pit road. The speed of Cindric’s Blue Oval was on full display all weekend, as the 26-year-old driver qualified inside the top 10 for the fourth consecutive time at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Cindric had a constant presence among the frontrunners in the opening stint, finishing second in Stage 1 to secure nine valuable points. He pitted for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment and restarted second with teammate Ryan Blaney behind him. Cindric quickly jolted to the lead, where he remained until a caution for debris slowed the field on Lap 115. The yellow flag allowed the Team Penske car to pit for fuel only ahead of the restart, in which Cindric lined up as the leader. He cruised on to his fifth career Stage win by taking the checkered flag first at the end of the second segment, securing more valuable points. Happy with the balance of the car, he returned to pit road for four fresh tires and fuel; however, an unfortunate issue with the left front led to a loss of position and Cindric was scored 19th for the restart. He meticulously maneuvered his Ford Mustang up through the pack over the dramatic final segment to record a 10th-place finish.

CINDRIC’S THOUGHTS: “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 [Logano] and the guys to get it done. Obviously, Ryan [Blaney] 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.”

RYAN BLANEY No. 12 DENT WIZARD FORD MUSTANG

START: 2ND STAGE ONE: 1ST STAGE TWO: 2ND FINISH: 3RD POINTS: 1ST

RACE RUNDOWN: Ryan Blaney wheeled the No. 12 Dent Wizard Ford Mustang to a third-place finish in the opening race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Sunday at Atlanta, moving the 12-team to the top of the drivers points standings. After starting from the outside of row one, Blaney made the move to take over the lead on lap 30 and paced the field for the remainder of the first 60-lap stage for his fourth stage win of the season. He restarted Stage 2 from the inside of row two behind teammate Austin Cindric as the two pushed their way to the front of the field at the start of the run. The caution flag flew on lap 114 as the leaders pitted for fuel only, setting up a restart with 41 laps left in the second segment. Blaney continued to work with Cindric up front, culminating in a second-place finish in Stage 2 for the Dent Wizard Ford. With fuel mileage playing a major role in the final stage, teams began to vary their strategies as Blaney continued to run inside the top-10. On lap 205, the No. 17 got loose underneath Blaney off the exit of turn two and made contact with the left rear of the No. 12, sending him sliding across the track and into the door of the No. 19 to bring out the caution. The 12-team made a pair of stops on pit road under yellow for repairs to the right rear and left side door without losing a lap as Blaney got back on track to take the green from the tail end of the field. Without any concerns about making it to the end on fuel, Blaney began his charge through the field to make it back inside the top-10 with 16 laps to go. After a caution for debris set up a restart with five to go, Blaney worked his way through three-wide battles to get to the bumper of teammate Joey Logano before pushing him to the lead. The final caution of the afternoon flew with two to go to set up a green-white-checkered finish as Blaney lined up to restart behind Logano on the inside of row two. With another pair of teammates lined up in the outside lane, the Team Penske duo prevailed as Blaney pushed Logano clear of the No. 99 and to the eventual race win as the 2023 Cup Series Champion took the checkered flag third, marking his second-consecutive top-five and fifth-straight top-10 finish at Atlanta.

BLANEY’S THOUGHTS: “Yeah, honestly I can’t believe we got back up where we did. The 12 boys did a really good job 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, the door I guess is where it hit me. The right rear got off the fence. I didn’t know how damaged we were. I was kind of able to carve up through traffic, could kind of get through the middle pretty good. So yeah, really proud of the effort. [I] had a thought of going three-wide on the frontstretch. I’m like, man, it’s going to be tight, we already have a good day going, great points, all that stuff. Yeah, third, a really good day. Appreciate Dent Wizard doing what they do. Menards, Advance Auto Parts, DEX Imaging, Discount Tire. Move on to Watkins Glen. Proud of the effort by everybody and congrats to the 22 team. Joey [Logano] did a great job all day.”

JOEY LOGANO No. 22 AUTOTRADER FORD MUSTANG

START: 7TH STAGE ONE: 4TH STAGE TWO: 12TH FINISH: 1ST POINTS: 5TH

RACE RUNDOWN: Joey Logano locked himself into the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs with a dramatic win in the opening race the postseason Sunday at Atlanta, parking the No. 22 Autotrader Ford Mustang in victory lane for his 34th-career victory. Sunday’s win is Logano’s 32nd with Ford, placing him fourth on the manufacturers all-time wins list, while also marking his eighth season with multiple Cup Series victories. Logano opened the 400-mile event with a fourth-place finish in Stage 1 before handling issues in traffic throughout Stage 2 resulted in a 12th-place result in the second segment. After restarting the final stage from 15th, Logano was scored 18th at the time of the caution on lap 175, prompting teams to hit pit road with the fuel window looming. Crew chief Paul Wolfe made the call for fuel only as the field lined up with 79 laps remaining, but another caution on lap 205 altered the strategy yet again as Logano was told to hold off on going hard until 10 laps to go. Logano found success running the top lane as he charged into the top-five with 27 to go before he was told he no longer needed to save fuel with 14 laps left, allowing him to jump to fourth on the leaderboard prior to a caution for debris with 11 to go. Logano lined up from the outside of row two for the ensuing restart and worked his way to the front with teammate Ryan Blaney on his back bumper as the two navigated three-wide battles prior to the caution with two laps remaining, setting up a green-white-checkered finish. Logano and Blaney lined up as the first two cars on the inside row coming to the green with teammates in the Nos. 99 and 1 lined up on the front of the outside row, but the Team Penske duo prevailed as the Autotrader Ford cleared the No. 99 heading into turn one on the white flag lap and kept it out front the rest of the way, culminating in Logano’s second points-paying win of the 2024 season and second-career victory at Atlanta (2022 Spring). Logano’s 34th-career Cup Series victory moves him into a tie for 25th on the series’ all-time wins list with Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr.

LOGANO’S THOUGHTS: “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.”

“We all talked about how wild card this round could be. We knew that the Penske cars would be strong on the superspeedway style type racetracks. We’ve been all year long. Unfortunately we’ve been caught up in every possible wreck on these type of tracks. It’s nice to finally capitalize on the laps led, being towards the front, having a teammate lined up behind me there. He scored a ton of points today, too, being up there. A good day for Team Penske all the way through. A really special day for Penske to be able to score some good points and set themselves up pretty good for the Round of 12.”

The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs continues the Round of 16 at Watkins Glen International on Sunday, September 15. Coverage of the Go Bowling at The Glen begins at 3 p.m. ET on USA, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

Buescher DNF Following Crash in Final Stage

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.

DANIEL HEMRIC
No. 31 Cirkul Camaro ZL1

• 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)

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):

1. Joey Logano (2,054 points) 1 win
2. Ryan Blaney (2,071 points) +45 points
3. Christopher Bell (2,066 points) +40 points
4. Tyler Reddick (2,059 points) +33 points
5. William Byron (2,059 points) +33 points
6. Alex Bowman (2,053 points) +27 points
7. Austin Cindric (2,053 points) +27 points
8. Chase Elliott (2,050 points) +24 points
9. Daniel Suárez (2,048 points) +22 points
10. Kyle Larson (2,041 points) +15 points
11. Denny Hamlin (2,028 points) +2 points
12. Ty Gibbs (2,027 points) +1 point
13. Brad Keselowski (2,026 points) -1 point
14. Harrison Burton (2,011 points) -16 points
15. Martin Truex Jr. (2,008 points) -19 points
16. 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.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

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.

 
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES:

Kyle Larson, No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1

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.