Category: NASCAR Cup PR

AMBETTER HEALTH 400 – ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Hampton, Ga. – February 25, 2024
Atlanta Motor Speedway Oval Decal

AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 MENARDS/KNAUF INSULATION FORD MUSTANG

START: 8TH STAGE ONE: 18TH STAGE TWO: 1ST FINISH: 4TH POINTS: 3RD

RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric, driver of the No. 2 Menards/Knauf Insulation Ford Mustang, orchestrated an impressive run in Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400, leading 32 laps en route to his first top-five finish of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season with a fourth-place result at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Among a contingent of fast Fords in qualifying, Cindric took the initial green flag from the eighth position. Under caution on Lap 25, Cindric alerted the No. 2 team a really loose condition on the Menards/Kanuf Ford Mustang. Crew chief Brian Wilson called Cindric to pit road for two right-side tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. Cindric restarted 17th, but continued to face a loose condition behind the wheel of his Ford Mustang. He returned to pit road under caution on Lap 53 for four fresh tires and additional adjustments for the one-lap sprint to conclude Stage 1. After staying out at the Stage break, the 25-year-old racer fired off from the ninth position to kick off the second segment, and cycled to the race lead following the pit sequence on Lap 139 with teammates Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney in tow. Cindric maintained his place atop the leaderboard, claiming the win in Stage 2, the third Stage win of his Cup Series career. After another trip down pit lane for a four-tire service stop, Cindric jetted off from the 10th position for the beginning of the final segment on Lap 171. With 50 laps remaining, Cindric made a glorious four-wide move to take the lead, charging to the point of the pack. The 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion survived multiple cautions late in the Stage, and lined up fifth for the final restart with five laps to go, ultimately recording a strong fourth-place finish. Cindric currently sits third in the point standings heading into the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

CINDRIC’S THOUGHTS: “It’s really unfortunate to have two weeks in a row where I feel like Team Penske has brought three of the best race cars to the racetrack and not come home with a win. Obviously, we got really close with the 12. It was fun to lead laps and win the stage. I got in a real tight aero spot while I was following Ryan [Blaney] and washed up the track a bit. He was, honestly, in a really tough spot with the runs that were coming from behind. I thought he was going to be able to hold on, but the first win for the Mustang Dark Horse has to wait another race, but I’m really proud of the effort. It should be a really great points day for us, so that puts us on the right side of things heading into Vegas.”

RYAN BLANEY No. 12 BODYARMOR ZERO SUGAR FORD MUSTANG

START: 6TH STAGE ONE: 2ND STAGE TWO: 3RD FINISH: 2ND POINTS: 5TH

RACE RUNDOWN: Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 BODYARMOR Zero Sugar Ford Mustang came up one spot short in what was the third-closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway as Blaney, Kyle Busch, and race-winner Daniel Suárez crossed the finish line three-wide. Ultimately, the photo finish had Blaney scored second by 0.003 seconds as he secured his fifth-career top-five finish at Atlanta while leading 31 laps on the day. Blaney put together a strong points day in the 400-mile event with finishes of second and third in the first two stages, respectively. After avoiding a multi-car incident in turn four that unraveled right in front of him to bring out the caution on lap 219, Blaney and teammate Austin Cindric forged their way to the front using the top lane as BODYARMOR Zero Sugar Ford Mustang took the lead with 30 laps to go. The final caution of the night flew with 12 to go with Blaney scored second in the running order at the last timing loop, resetting the field to take the green with five laps remaining. After restarting from the outside of row one, Blaney powered his way past the No. 99 of Suárez on the backstretch and began to protect the runs from both lanes behind him as the laps ticked off. On the final lap, Blaney led the field into turn three as a three-wide battle formed in the center of the corner with all three vying for the win coming into the trioval. Blaney held his line down low as no one had a clear advantage at the line, but he ultimately came up inches short of his second-career win at Atlanta.

BLANEY’S THOUGHTS: “What a cool finish. Appreciate the fans for sticking around. That’s a lot of fun. That’s always a good time when we can do that, race a clean, three-wide finish to the end. Proud of the BODYARMOR Zero Sugar team. This Ford Mustang was fast. I can’t complain; I’ve won them by very, very little, too, so I can’t complain too much when I lose them by that much.”

JOEY LOGANO No. 22 SHELL-PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG

START: 2ND STAGE ONE: 12TH STAGE TWO: 28TH FINISH: 28TH POINTS: 33RD

RACE RUNDOWN: After starting at the tail-end of the field and serving a pass-through penalty on the opening lap Sunday stemming from a rules infraction assessed by NASCAR prior to the start of the Ambetter Health 400, Joey Logano and the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil team managed to stay on the lead lap when a multi-car incident in the trioval unfolded while Logano was on pit road. While the caution allowed crew chief Paul Wolfe to take on an alternate fuel strategy, Logano raced his way into the top-10 by lap 50 before crossing the line 12th at the conclusion of Stage 1. Wolfe kept Logano on track while a majority of the leaders pitted at the stage break, allowing the Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang to restart from the outside of row one before making the pass for the lead out of turn four on lap 99 – the first of 27 laps Logano led on the afternoon. He and teammate Ryan Blaney began the green flag pit cycle on lap 127 with fuel-only stops before the Team Penske trio took over the top three spots in the running order at the completion of the cycle with the laps winding down in Stage 2. On the final lap of the stage, Logano made contact with the No. 17 off the exit of turn two and sustained significant right-front damage after getting turned into the outside wall. Logano made several trips to pit road as the No. 22 team worked to make repairs, allowing him to rejoin the field eight laps down en route to a 28th-place finish.

LOGANO’S THOUGHTS: “Yeah, I just made a mistake. I thought I could fill the gap in front of the 17 coming off turn two and once I realized I couldn’t get up there, I tried turning back down but once it started packing air on my right rear I couldn’t turn down. I got tight and it got me in the wall.”

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Pennzoil 400 on Sunday, March 3. Coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

RICK WARE RACING
Ambetter Health 400
Date: Feb. 25, 2024
Event: Ambetter Health 400 (Round 2 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)
Race Winner: Daniel Suárez of Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Michael McDowell of Front Row Motorsports (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: Austin Cindric of Team Penske (Ford)

RWR Race Finish:

● Kaz Grala (Started 33rd, Finished 14th/ Running, completed 260 of 260 laps)
● Justin Haley (Started 31st, Finished 20th/ Running, completed 260 of 260 laps)

RWR Points:

● Justin Haley (Tied for 27th with 29 points)
● Kaz Grala (30th with 24 points)

RWR Notes:

● Grala earned his first top-15 in his first career NASCAR Cup Series start at Atlanta.
● Haley earned his fourth top-20 in seven career NASCAR Cup Series start at Atlanta.
● Haley’s best Atlanta finish remains seventh, earned in July 2022.

Race Notes:

● Daniel Suárez won the Ambetter Health 400 to score his second career NASCAR Cup Series victory and his first at Atlanta. His margin of victory over second-place Ryan Blaney was .003 of a second. It was the closest finish in Atlanta Motor Speedway history, the closest finish at any 1.5-mile racetrack, and the third-closest in the NASCAR Cup Series since the inception of electronic scoring in 1993.
● There were 10 caution periods for a total of 65 laps.
● Only 22 of the 37 drivers in the Ambetter Health 400 finished on the lead lap.
● Kyle Busch leaves Atlanta as the championship leader with a one-point advantage over second-place William Byron.

Sound Bites:

“We had a really good ending to a very tough day. The No. 15 N29 Capital Partners team overcame a lot of adversity to leave Atlanta with a top-15 finish and we learned a few things we’ll be able to apply to some upcoming intermediate races. I couldn’t be more proud of everyone at RWR and the way we handled everything that was thrown at us today.” – Kaz Grala, driver of the No. 15 N29 Capital Partners Ford Mustang

“I’m not really sure what we could’ve done any differently. It felt like we were caught up in every situation that happened from the start, so I’m glad we were able to finish and get a decent result for Rick and everyone at RWR. Even with a roughed-up Grady Health Mustang, we were still able to run in the top-10 for a bit and show that we’ve got the speed to do more. Still a lot of positives to take away – we got both RWR cars in the top-20, which is great for the organization, but definitely a tough day.” – Justin Haley, driver of the No. 51 Grady Health Ford Mustang

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Las Vegas 400 on Sunday, March 3, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The race begins at 3:30 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Austin Dillon and The No. 3 BREZTRI AEROSPHERE® (budesonide, glycopyrrolate, and formoterol fumarate) Chevrolet Team Salvage Decent Finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway After Early Incident

Finish: 22nd
Start: 10th
Points: 35th

“Once again, I don’t know what to say. We never got to show what our BREZTRI AEROSPHERE® (budesonide, glycopyrrolate, and formoterol fumarate) Chevy had today at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The right side of the diffuser broke off in a wreck not of our doing on lap two. Everyone on the No. 3 team worked hard to get it back, but we couldn’t overcome the lack of downforce. We tried really hard to race again, but without the right side of the diffuser to lean on we slapped the wall in Stage 3. We salvaged a finish today, but can’t wait to get to Las Vegas Motor Speedway to try and turn our luck around.” -Austin Dillon

Spectacular Late-Race Move Earns Kyle Busch and The No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet Team Third-Place Finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway

Finish:3rd
Start: 3rd
Points: 1st

“Our Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet was one of the top-five cars today at Atlanta Motor Speedway and had a good shot at the win. The No. 12 car was deservingly one of the faster cars, and with all the carnage, it took out some other guys early. Towards the end of the race, you don’t have that many alliances. All of my friends disintegrated and went away throughout the day. Bubba Wallace came to the rescue, and he was a huge part of our success at the end of the race coming off Turn Two and down the backstretch to get a run. On that last restart, I just got a little too far ahead of the No. 99 car and he got a good side draft through the corner. I didn’t think the outside would prevail, but with the run down the frontstretch and the side draft, that is what hurt us. Typically, whoever is behind getting into Turn Three prevails at the start-finish line with the side draft and everything. I think I was running in second place to the No. 12 car at that point, and the No. 99 car was the furthest back. He used the side draft to make the ground back up and win the race. There was nothing I could have done differently. It’s good to see Daniel Suarez get a win because as Chevy team partners we were helping each other and working together there. It shows that when you do have friends and you can make alliances that strategy does seem to work. That was a good part of today to see that come to fruition. I was hoping to win myself because I know everybody wanted a free No. 8 special on Monday from Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen. We’ll have to try again. Overall, I’m just really proud of everybody at RCR, ECR and Chevy. Our Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro was fast.” -Kyle Busch

Race Recap | Ambetter Health 400

 DANIEL HEMRIC

No. 31 Cirkul Camaro ZL1

• Daniel Hemric qualified 26th for the Ambetter Health 400.
• The first of three stage-one cautions fell early on lap three. Hemric acquired minimal left-side damage, as he was unable to avoid the wreck. He pitted for tires, fuel and damage repairs. The next caution fell on lap 26, and Hemric pitted for more repairs but received a speeding penalty on pit road. He restarted 29th before another caution came out on lap 53 and went on to finish the first stage in 22nd.
• During the first stage break, the No. 31 Cirkul team pitted to lower the front end of the car. Hemric received another speeding penalty while exiting pit road and started the second stage in 30th. Hemric made his first green-flag pit stop on lap 133 for fuel only. The only caution of the stage fell on lap 161, ending the stage early. Hemric finished the second stage in 20th.
• Hemric pitted for tires and fuel during the second stage break and started the final stage in 13th. The first caution came out just five laps later. The race went back to green on lap 181, and Hemric made his first appearance in the top 10 by lap 182. The next caution came out on lap 200. Hemric pitted for four tires from the 13th position and restarted 19th. The next caution came out on lap 220, as Hemric avoided the wrecking cars in front of him. He stayed out under caution and restarted 13th with 35 to go. With 21 laps to go, Hemric felt like his right-front tire was coming apart. A timely caution came out on lap 241, and Hemric was able to pit for right-side tires. He restarted 17th with 15 to go before another caution came out on lap 250. Hemric stayed out and restarted 14th with five laps to go but fell to 18th, where he finished the race.
• “What a chaotic day, from start to finish. We got some nose damage early on in that first caution, which really just made us aero-tight for the rest of the race. Trent [Owens] made some great calls, and the No. 31 crew repaired as much as they could. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t quite bounce back.” – Daniel Hemric  

JOSH WILLIAMS

No. 16 Alloy Employer Services Camaro ZL1

Josh Williams qualified 30th for the Ambetter Health 400.
Williams was involved in a lap-two incident that collected a quarter of the field. He brought the No. 16 Alloy Employer Services Camaro ZL1 to pit road to assess and repair right front damage, but the car had to be brought into the garage to fix a mechanical issue. It ultimately couldn’t be rectified, and Williams retired, finishing 37th.
“It’s just insane. I had guys passing me when we were still wrecking. It’s just unfortunate for this No. 16 Alloy Employer Services Chevy team. I just have some bad luck and I need to figure out how to get rid of it.” -Josh Williams
 
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 made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started and has won back-to-back regular-season championships. Before becoming a full-time NCS team, Kaulig Racing made multiple starts in the 2021 NCS season and won in its seventh-ever start with AJ Allmendinger’s victory at “The Brickyard” for the Verizon 200 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The team expanded to a two-car, full-time NCS team in 2022 and added a third, part-time entry during the 2023 season. In 2024, the team will once again field two, full-time entries in the NCS and continue to field three, full-time NXS entries. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.

Buescher Finishes 9th in BuildSubmarines.com Ford in Race Littered with Cautions

HAMPTON, Ga. (Feb. 25, 2024) – Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, simply put, was full of carnage.

Chris Buescher squeaked out a ninth-place finish, all after an incident of his own early in the 400-mile race. Brad Keselowski finished 33rd after again being collected in an incident. In total 10 cautions flew for 65 laps, and a record number of lead changes occurred – 48 of them – with both RFK cars again leading laps.

6 Recap
Keselowski found his way inside the top five midway through the race after starting 24th. He led for a brief period, and ran inside the top-10 for the final 100 laps he was on the track.

After finishing the opening stage in 24th, Keselowski took the King’s Hawaiian Ford into the top-10 by just after lap 100, eventually connecting with teammate Chris Buescher. Together they held position in the top-10, and eventually the top five, as the No. 6 earned stage points with a P7 finish in stage two.

He began the third stage in the second position and was in prime position for a solid finish until a mishap at lap 219, which saw the No. 6 spin out of turn 4. Ultimately that spin caused damaged too severe for him to continue as he was credited with a 33rd-place finish.

“I don’t know,” Keselowski said after the crash. “My car just took off in the middle of the corner. Once I got up to the wall I couldn’t get it off the wall. It’s a shame. We were in good position. We ran up front most of the day and made good adjustments on the car. I’m just really proud of my crew chief and the team and weren’t able to make it count with a solid finish I feel like we deserved today. It’s a bummer, but we’re running up front and that’s a good thing. We just weren’t able to finish it off.”

17 Recap
Buescher’s day began inside the top-10 after a strong qualifying effort of seventh. He was sixth just 25 laps into the race, before spinning out in the turn. He prevented any damage from occurring though, and was able to continue.

He went on to finish 13th in the first stage, and from there maintained top-10 position until he was caught up in an incident at lap 159. Buescher started the final stage from 19th and from there clicked off positions as five cautions flew in the final stage alone.

The final restart came with five to go as Buescher restarted outside the top-10, but surged forward in the closing laps to finish ninth.

“It’s a handling racetrack and the handling is just not very good for a lot of cars, and then you get into different aero spots basically and it changes pretty drastically,” Buescher said after the race. “It’s just tricky. It’s easy to make mistakes and without practice I don’t think many of us were able to find that balance, so you get into the race and you find out if you overstep your bounds for speed versus handling real quick and there’s not much you can do about it then. I think it was just the small window we’re working in for these speedways like this, especially Atlanta when we have so few laps around this place. Three laps before today on the weekends. The more laps we can get, I think we can get it dialed in to where it’s not so much of a crashfest.”

Up Next
Las Vegas hosts race three of the season next week with race coverage set for 3:30 p.m. ET Sunday (FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

About RFK Racing
RFK Racing, entering 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.

STEWART-HAAS RACING
Ambetter Health 400

Date: Feb. 25, 2024
Event: Ambetter Health 400 (Round 2 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)
Race Winner: Daniel Suárez of Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Michael McDowell of Front Row Motorsports (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: Austin Cindric of Team Penske (Ford)

SHR Finish:

● Ryan Preece (Started 20th, Finished 16th / Running, completed 260 of 260 laps)

● Josh Berry (Started 14th, Finished 29th / Accident, completed 250 of 260 laps)

● Chase Briscoe (Started 9th, Finished 31st / Accident, completed 239 of 260 laps)

● Noah Gragson (Started 15th, Finished 36th / Accident, completed 66 of 260 laps)

SHR Points:

● Chase Briscoe (22nd with 37 points, 40 out of first)

● Ryan Preece (24th with 35 points, 42 out of first)

● Noah Gragson (27th with 29 points, 48 out of first)

● Josh Berry (31st with 20 points, 57 out of first)

SHR Notes:

● This was Preece’s best finish so far this year. His previous best was 23rd, earned in the season-opening Daytona 500.

● Preece’s 16th-place finish bettered his previous best finish at Atlanta – 24th, earned last July.

● Briscoe finished ninth in Stage 2 to earn two bonus points.

Race Notes:

● Daniel Suárez won the Ambetter Health 400 to score his second career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his first at Atlanta.

● His margin of victory over second-place Ryan Blaney was .003 of a second. It was the closest margin of victory in Atlanta Motor Speedway history, the closest at any 1.5-mile racetrack, and the third-closest in the Cup Series since the inception of electronic scoring in 1993.

● There were 10 caution periods for a total of 65 laps.

● Twenty-two of the 37 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

● Kyle Busch leaves Atlanta as the championship leader with a one-point advantage over second-place William Byron.

Sound Bites:

“Our day was ruined right from the start, so to really end up 16th is a gift. For the half a lap that I felt like my car made it through, it felt like it was going to be really fast, so it gives me a lot of hope moving toward Vegas next week.” – Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang

“The guys did a really good job to get us back in position. We obviously made some mistakes there and have to clean that up, but the car was kind of weird. It was really strong on the bottom but struggled on the top. There were several times I got put in a bad spot in the third lane and kind of had a moment there, and ultimately that’s what did us in at the end. I was trying to stay out of the top lane. I kind of got forced up there and I just got loose and unfortunately wrecked. I’m glad we battled back and raced well and got back in position, but unfortunately we didn’t finish.” – Josh Berry, driver of the No. 4 Harrison’s Ford Mustang

“I got put in a bad spot down the back straightaway. Somebody was on my right-rear and it kind of shuffled me to the left. I think we were three- or four-wide and it felt like somebody hit me in the left-rear getting into (turn) three, but I could’ve just gotten loose from the air, I’m not really sure. It sucks with how good our car was. We were able to be up front all day and be super aggressive making moves. I thought we were going to be in a really good spot there, but that’s part of it when you’re racing that tight and everybody is going for it at the end. We were just on the unfortunate side of it today. (The racing) was fun. That was the most fun I’ve ever had here, and I think some of that is just our guys did a really good job of bringing a car that we could be aggressive with and make moves. I’m actually looking forward to coming back here. That was a lot of fun. Guys were just making huge moves and big runs, but we were able to not get close to crashing a lot of times, like we would at Daytona or Talladega. I had a lot of fun. I wish our finish would’ve reflected how good we were today, but we’ll go on to Las Vegas and see if we can improve on it. I don’t know if it’s just the speed feels a little bit slower here or what, but I think, for us, our car was just extremely good. I definitely saw a lot of other guys struggling. I felt like we had easily a top-five car out there. I’m sure my opinion is probably a little bit different than others just because of how easy our car drove, and that’s the part that stings the most, I would say, knowing how good our car was and we don’t get the finish to show that.” – Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang

“It’s definitely a bummer. They started stacking up on the top and I thought we were going to miss the 3 (Austin Dillon) and then got tagged in the right-rear by someone. I just got hit from behind and the car was pretty torn up. We tried to keep it going, but then the rack started falling out of it, so we started losing steering and had to bring it in. It’s just a bummer, but we’re going to go to Vegas and rebound. There’s a lot of fight in these guys with the Ranger Boats team. This 10 group is really tight together and I’m grateful to be a part of it. It still sucks not being able to collect points. We were looking to have a good day, and to only really get one lap in at speed and then we’re limping around with a wrecked racecar for the next 60 laps, so that was a bummer. Overall, I’m just really grateful. This kind of hurts us in the points. I know it’s still early, but the way the qualifying and practice algorithm goes, being higher up in the points is really beneficial, so it’s definitely a bummer. But we’re going to keep our heads down and keep working hard.” – Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 10 Black Rifle Coffee/Ranger Boats Ford Mustang

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Las Vegas 400 on Sunday, March 3 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The race begins at 3:30 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Ambetter Health 400 | Sunday, February 25, 2024

Ford Performance Finishing Results:

2nd – Ryan Blaney

4th – Austin Cindric

8th – Michael McDowell

9th – Chris Buescher

11th – Harrison Burton

14th – Kaz Grala

16th – Ryan Preece

20th – Justin Haley

26th – Todd Gilliland

28th – Joey Logano

29th – Josh Berry

31st – Chase Briscoe

33rd – Brad Keselowski

36th – Noah Gragson

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 BodyArmor Zero Sugar Ford Mustang Dark Horse – DO YOU REALIZE HOW CLOSE THAT WAS? “Yeah. I’m sure it was close. I’ve won some by a few inches and lost some by a few inches. It was a fun night, fun racing. I didn’t think they’d get that big of a run on me. I thought I did a good job of getting close off of two to where I kind of had some of their energy. I guess they just got hooked up super good and got a massive run, and I can’t block both lanes. It was fun racing, but just a couple inches short. I’m happy for Daniel, though. That was fun racing him and Kyle. That was fun.”

WAS THERE ANYTHING YOU COULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY AT THE FINISH LINE? “Not at the finish line. I thought I laid back enough in one and two to kind of not let both lanes get that big of a run. I did that the three laps before the end and I was able to kind of manage it fairly well, but they just got both lanes shoving super hard. I just chose the bottom and the safest place to be. What a cool finish. I appreciate the fans for sticking around. That’s a lot of fun. That’s always a good time when we can do that, race clean, three-wide finish to the end. I’m happy for Daniel. That was cool to see. It was fun racing with Kyle. I can’t complain. I’ve won them by very, very little too, so I can’t complain too much when I lose them by that much. I’m proud of the BodyArmor Zero Sugar car. Our Ford Mustang was fast and was close.”

AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Menards/Knauf Insulation Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHAT HAPPENED ON THAT LAST RESTART? “It’s really unfortunate to have two weeks in a row where I feel like Team Penske has brought three of the best race cars to the racetrack and not come home with a win. Obviously, we got really close with the 12. It was fun to lead laps and win the stage. I got in a real tight aero spot while I was following Ryan and washed up the track a bit. He was, honestly, in a really tough spot with the runs that were coming from behind. I thought he was gonna be able to hold on, but the first win for the Mustang Dark Horse has to wait another race, but I’m really proud of the effort. It should be a really great points day for us, so that puts us on the right side of things heading into Vegas.”

WHAT ABOUT THAT FOUR-WIDE MOVE? “That was kind of cool, wasn’t it? I mean, four-wide at Atlanta, that doesn’t really work in the corners, it only works in the straights, but I had enough time to think about if it was a good idea and it was a good idea. I’m sure it looked cool and made for good pictures.”

WHAT DO YOU SEE IN A SITUATION LIKE THAT? HOW DO YOU MAKE THAT MOVE? “Someone’s gotta do it. I can promise you I’ll be the guy.”

ARE YOU SURPRISED IT WORKED? “They were only four-wide with me for about half-a-second. I had a big enough run that didn’t last too long. I did look in my mirrors expecting them to wreck being four-wide for that many laps. That is pretty impressive. What the viewer doesn’t understand is how difficult it is to follow at this racetrack, especially when you have all that turbulent air coming out of the hood next to the other cars. That’s what got me at the end, honestly, guys just running close to me. It’s not easy to do, but I guess that’s why they call us the best in the world.”

WAS IT FUN OUT THERE? “It was fun to lead. I’m sure some of the guys weren’t having fun. There was a lot of wrecks today, but from my seat it was fun to lead.”

CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “It’s a handling racetrack and the handling is just not very good for a lot of cars, and then you get into different aero spots basically and it changes pretty drastically. It’s just tricky. It’s easy to make mistakes and without practice I don’t think many of us were able to find that balance, so you get into the race and you find out if you overstep your bounds for speed versus handling real quick and there’s not much you can do about it then. I think it was just the small window we’re working in for these speedways like this, especially Atlanta when we have so few laps around this place. Three laps before today on the weekends. The more laps we can get, I think we can get it dialed in to where it’s not so much of a crashfest.”

WHAT DOES IT SAY ABOUT YOUR TEAM TO COME BACK AND FINISH IN THE TOP 10? “It was a bad day. It was ninth, but that is a bad day. Nothing went quite right. We spun out there early and then got crashed. We kept working on it and I’m just proud of everybody for that because it was not easy. It was frustrating being on pit road that much, but they kept getting it a little bit better every time to the point where I was able to make decent speed and get to the point where I was having minimal lift. We still weren’t 100 percent by any means, but were able to drive up there and make good speed.”

TODD GILLILAND, No. 38 Georgia Peanuts Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “My car was really fast. The Georgia Peanuts Ford Mustang Dark Horse is really fast. We’ve shown that the last couple of weeks. Just the progress from my team. Right at this moment, it definitely feels like a huge missed opportunity. I lost some track position and got caught in the middle and then just got behind that wreck, which ultimately bent a toe link. I feel like I made a lot of good moves, but obviously the one at the end where it all counts I didn’t. I’ll put the emphasis on a really fast car and my team did an amazing job. I just wish I could have done a little bit better at the end.”

AT ONE POINT YOU WERE BATTLING TRUEX AND OTHERS FOR THE LEAD. WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO BE UP THERE WITH THOSE GUYS? “It felt really good. In my heart, I definitely believe that I can do it with those guys week in and week out. Our car was really fast. I was making really aggressive moves, but really in control the whole time. That’s what it takes is my confidence gets more and more, and hopefully those guys’ confidence around me gets better with every lap also. We’ve just got to keep doing that and hopefully the better runs will come more consistently and race up front with those guys more and more.”

RYAN PREECE, No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “Our day was ruined right from the start, so to really end up 16th is a gift. For the half a lap that I felt like my car made it through it felt like it was gonna be really fast, so it gives me a lot of hope moving towards Vegas next week.”

JUSTIN HALEY, No. 51 Grady Medical Center Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “I’m not really sure what we could’ve done any different. It felt like we were caught up in every situation that happened from the start, so I’m glad we were able to finish and get a decent result for Rick and everyone at RWR. Even with a roughed-up Grady Health Mustang we were still to run in the top-10 for a bit and show that we’ve got the speed to do more. Still a lot of positives to take away, but definitely a tough day for us.”

KAZ GRALA, No. 15 N29 Capital Partners Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “We had a really good ending to a very tough day. The No. 15 N29 Capital Partners team overcame a lot of adversity to leave Atlanta with a top-15 finish and we learned a few things we’ll be able to apply to some upcoming intermediate races. I couldn’t be more proud of everyone at RWR and the way we handled everything that was thrown at us today.”

NOAH GRAGSON, No. 10 Black Rifle Coffee/Ranger Boats Ford Mustang Dark Horse – ‘It’s definitely a bummer. They started stacking up on the top and I thought we were gonna miss the 3 and then got tagged in the right-rear by someone. I just got hit from behind and the car was pretty torn up. We tried to keep it going, but then the rack started falling out of it, so we started losing steering and had to bring it in. It’s just a bummer, but we’re gonna go to Vegas and rebound. There’s a lot of fight in these guys with the Ranger Boat team. This 10 group is really tight together and I’m grateful to be a part of it.”

YOU KNOW THIS CAN HAPPEN AT A TRACK LIKE THIS, BUT THE FACT YOU FINISHED NINTH AT DAYTONA DOESN’T MAKE THIS A WORST-CASE SCENARIO IN TERMS OF POINTS, DOES IT? “It still sucks not being able to collect points. We were looking to have a good day and to only really get one lap in at speed and then we’re limping around with a wrecked race car for the next 60-80 laps, so that was a bummer. Overall, I’m just really grateful. This kind of hurts us in the points. I know it’s still early, but the way the qualifying and practice algorithm goes, being higher up in the points is really beneficial, so it’s definitely a bummer but we’re gonna keep our heads down and keep working hard.”

JOSH BERRY, No. 4 Harrison’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “The guys did a really good job to get us back in position. We obviously made some mistakes there and have to clean that up, but the car was kind of weird. It was really strong on the bottom, but struggled on the top. There were several times I got put in a bad spot in the third lane and kind of had a moment there, and ultimately that’s what did us in at the end. I was trying to stay out of the top lane. I kind of got forced up there and I just got loose and unfortunately wrecked. I’m glad we battled back and raced well and got back in position, but unfortunately we didn’t finish.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 King’s Hawaiian Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “I don’t know. My car just took off in the middle of the corner. I don’t know if dumped or I lost the rear tire. Once I got up to the wall I couldn’t get it off the wall. It’s a shame. We were in good position. We ran up front most of the day and made good adjustments on the car. I’m just really proud of my crew chief and the team and weren’t able to make it count with a solid finish I feel like we deserved today. It’s a bummer, but we’re running up front and that’s a good thing. We just weren’t able to finish it off.”

THAT RACING WAS INTENSE. YOU SAID MORE INTENSE THAN DAYTONA. “Oh, yeah. This is super intense racing. The track cooled off and now you can really, really push hard. I think it’s some of the best racing you’ll ever see.”

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “I haven’t seen it yet, so I really don’t know what happened. I got put in a bad spot down the back straightaway. Somebody was on my right-rear and it kind of shuffled me to the left. I think we were three or four-wide and it felt like somebody hit me in the left-rear getting into three, but I could have just got loose from the air. I’m not really sure. Like I said, I haven’t seen it yet. It sucks with how good our car was. We were able to be up front all day and be super aggressive making moves. I thought we were gonna be in a really good spot there, but that’s part of it when you’re racing that tight and everybody is going for it at the end. We were just on the unfortunate side of it today.”

HOW WAS THE RACING? “it was fun. That was the most fun I’ve ever had here, and I think some of that is just our guys did a really good job of bringing a car that we could be aggressive with and make moves. I’m actually looking forward to coming back here. That was a lot of fun. Guys were just making huge moves and big runs, but we were able to not get close to crashing a lot of times like we would at Daytona or Talladega. I had a lot of fun. I wish our finish would have reflected how good we were today, but we’ll go on to Las Vegas and see if we can improve on it.”

YOU WEREN’T CLOSE TO CRASHING? IT LOOKED LIKE YOU WERE EVERY LAP? “Yeah, I mean we’re close to crashing, but it’s not as sketchy as you would think. To me, I feel way more sketched out at Daytona or Talladega. I don’t know if it’s just the speed feels a little bit slower here or what, but I think, for us, our car was just extremely good. I definitely saw a lot of other guys struggling. I felt like we had easily a top-five car out there. I’m sure my opinion is probably a little bit different than others just because of how easy our car drove, and that’s the part that stings the most, I would say, is knowing how good our car was and we don’t get the finish to show that.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
AMBETTER HEALTH 400
TEAM CHEVYPOST-RACE REPORT
FEBRUARY 25, 2024

 Suarez Caps off Chevrolet’s Second Consecutive Weekend Sweep of the
2024 NASCAR Season at Atlanta

· For the second consecutive weekend, Chevrolet had swept the wins across all three NASCAR national series, with Daniel Suarez and the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Camaro ZL1 team’s win in the NASCAR Cup Series, Austin Hill and the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Camaro SS team’s win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and Kyle Busch’s win in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

· The victory marks Suarez’s first NASCAR Cup Series win of the 2024 season; his first career NASCAR Cup Series win at Atlanta Motor Speedway; and his second career win in NASCAR’s top division.

· With its second consecutive weekend sweep, Chevrolet extended its series-leading wins record across all three NASCAR national series at Atlanta Motor Speedway – now sitting at 45 NASCAR Cup Series wins, 20 NASCAR Xfinity Series wins and 11 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series wins at the 1.54-mile Georgia venue.

· Since the debut of the Next Gen cars in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2022, Chevrolet has now won 10 of the 14 superspeedway-style races – recorded by six drivers from five different Chevrolet teams.

· Suarez delivered Chevrolet its 853th all-time victory in the NASCAR Cup Series, extending the manufacturer’s record as the winningest manufacturer in series’ history.

· With this weekend’s victories by Suarez, Hill and Busch – Chevrolet continues the streak of winning at least one race in the NASCAR national ranks since the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course race weekend in October 2023.

· The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube on Sunday, March 3, at 3:30 P.M. ET. Live coverage can be found on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10

POS. DRIVER

1st Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Freeway Insurance Camaro ZL1

3rd Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL1

6th Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger / Blue Buffalo Camaro ZL1

7th Ross Chastain, No. 1 Moose Fraternity Camaro ZL1

 
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES:

Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Freeway Insurance Camaro ZL1

Finished: 1st

YOU JUST WON IN ATLANTA IN ONE OF THE CLOSEST THREE-WIDE FINISHES WE HAVE EVER SEEN. WHAT ARE YOU FEELING RIGHT NOW?

“It’s an amazing feeling. This team did an amazing job all race long. We wrecked on lap two. The guys fixed the car and we were able to make it good again, make it fast again. It took some tweaking, but unbelievable. Freeway Insurance, Trackhouse, Chevrolet, and all the people that believed in us from day one – it’s unbelievable to do this in this fashion.”

TAKE US THROUGH THOSE CLOSING LAPS AND WHEN YOU THOUGHT YOU MIGHT HAVE IT

“Yeah, those four Penske’s were pretty strong. We knew that it was going to take something special today to beat them. But at the start/finish line, Kyle Busch was doing a hell of a job pushing me and when it mattered, he tried to go for the win. I felt like if Kyle wasn’t going to go for the win, I wasn’t going to win it. That really helped me to go three-wide and to the top, so it was amazing. You have no idea how happy I am right now.”

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOU, TRACKHOUSE AND THE NO. 99 TEAM.

“We have done a lot of work on this race team to make it better and to keep moving forward. This is just the beginning of something amazing that we are going to go through together.”

Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Camaro ZL1

Finished: 3rd

THAT WAS ONE HECK OF A RUN AND YOU JUST MISSED BY A COUPLE OF INCHES

“Yeah, it’s frustrating. I mean I hate it because I felt like we were one of the top-five cars today and had a good shot. The 12 was deservingly one of the faster cars, and with all the carnage, it took out some other guys early.

I just got a little too far ahead of the 99 and he got a good side draft through the corner. I didn’t think the outside would prevail, but with the run down the frontstretch and the side draft, that is what hurt us. I was looking at the 12 and I swore I was ahead of the 12 at the line, but obviously my eyes are bad. Need more powerful glasses, I guess.”

YOU OVERCAME A LOT. DOES THAT BECOME A SATISFYING DAY AT SOME LEVEL?

“Yeah, it definitely does. There towards the end, you don’t have that many alliances. All my friends kind of disintegrated and went away throughout the day. Bubba (Wallace) came to the rescue, and he was a huge part of our success there off of (turn) two and down the backstretch and getting a run. Getting alongside Blaney was a tight fit, but being able to make that move – if I didn’t make that move, then I push Blaney out too far through three and four and he wins. So, glad to see a Chevy in victory lane.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger / Blue Buffalo Camaro ZL1

Finished: 6th

“It was a wild race, but a fun race. I think the track is kind of coming into itself a little bit. Obviously we sped on pit road and we had to claw our way back up through there. But our No. 47 Kroger / Blue Buffalo Camaro handled really well. I think that was an advantage. I was able to put my Chevy in spots that I think others weren’t comfortable with. It was a really good effort by our team, and a good rebound from last weekend. We got some stage points and a solid top-10 finish there.

Man, just happy to get out of here with missing a few of those wrecks. They were right in front of us. But it was a lot of fun. Obviously three-wide there at the end coming to the line. I wish we were a few spots better, but all-in-all, it was a super cool race. I think the fans got their money’s worth.”

Kyle Larson, No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1

Finished: 32nd

Larson on the incident that ended the race early for the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1 team:

“Brad (Keselowski) just got sideways. I don’t know if he got tight, got into clean air and just got sideways – but there wasn’t anything I could do from my seat. I just tried to check-up as much as I could. It was just a chain reaction and I kind of got pushed into the wreck. Just a bummer to end the race early again here at Atlanta (Motor Speedway). We had a really good No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevy. I actually had a lot of fun today. It was super intense and it’s been a great race. It’s been the opposite from last weekend with no fuel saving and guys going at it, so it’s been fun.”

Did you feel like it was more intense than Daytona?

“Yeah, for sure. It seemed super intense from my seat. Handling was getting a little bit better right now, so it was making passing a little bit more difficult again. But early in the race, the handling wasn’t great – runs would kind of checkup and there were gaps so you could get in, so a lot of people were really aggressive. Now, it’s cooling down so there’s a lot of grip and it’s a little easier for people to stay close to one another. It was just getting hard to pass, but still really aggressive.”

JOSH WILLIAMS, NO. 16 ALLOY EMPLOYER SERVICES CAMARO ZL1

Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident in Stage One.

Finished: 37th

“It’s just insane. I had guys passing me when we were still wrecking. It’s just unfortunate for this No. 16 Alloy Employer Services Chevy team. I just have some bad luck and I need to figure out how to get rid of it.”

Is there anything more you could have done?

“No, not at all. You just wait until someone runs into you.”

With Daytona and Atlanta back-to-back, how unfortunate is it to start the year like this with how big of a year it is for you?

“Yeah, it sucks, but there’s a race next weekend. This Kaulig Racing team will get back to work and head to Las Vegas (Motor Speedway).”

 
 
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

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.