Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: Atlanta Motor Speedway

  • Logano prevails in overtime to win 2024 Cup Playoff opener at Atlanta

    Logano prevails in overtime to win 2024 Cup Playoff opener at Atlanta

    Joey Logano commenced the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs on a high note by fending off the field in overtime to win the Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, September 8.

    The two-time Cup Series champion from Middletown, Connecticut, led twice for nine of 266 over-scheduled laps in an event where he qualified in seventh place and survived a war of attrition amongst his fellow Playoff contenders and non-Playoff contenders through a series of stacked racing through multiple lanes and keep up to pace with the draft from start to finish.

    After being drafted into the lead by teammate and Playoff contender Ryan Blaney with three laps remaining, where he would then battle Playoff contender Daniel Suarez for the lead, a caution for Noah Gragson wrecking during the following lap sent the event into overtime. In overtime, Logano received another strong push from Blaney to muscle ahead of Suarez. With the clean air, Logano would maintain the top spot and fend off a host of Playoff contenders for two final laps amid a multi-car wreck erupting on the final lap to claim his second checkered flag of the 2024 Cup Series season under caution and race his way into the Playoff’s Round of 12.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, September 7, Michael McDowell notched his fifth pole position of his Cup Series career and of the 2042 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 179.267 mph in 30.926 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Ryan Blaney, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 178.844 mph in 30.999 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Playoff contenders and teammates Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. started at the rear of the field due to a plug wire change to their respective Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota entries.

    When the green flag waved and the 2024 Cup Series Playoff commenced, Michael McDowell gained an early advantage from the inside lane as he had teammate Todd Gilliland drafting him through the first two turns and the backstretch while Ryan Blaney was trying to maintain ground from the outside lane. As the field returned to the frontstretch stacked in two lanes, McDowell led the first lap in his pole-winning No. 34 B’laster Work It Like A Pro Ford Mustang Dark Horse.

    For the following four laps and with the front-runners trying to remain within reasonable reach of the lead with the preferred drafting lane towards the outside lane and behind the leader McDowell, Blaney retained second ahead of rookie Josh Berry, Playoff contender Kyle Larson and Austin Dillon while Playoff contender Chase Briscoe, Todd Gilliland and a trio of Playoff contenders that included Joey Logano, Austin Cindric and William Byron were in the top 10.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps and with the front-runners running in a long single-file line, McDowell retained the lead ahead of Blaney, Larson, Berry and Briscoe as Austin Dillon, Logano, Cindric, Gilliland and Byron were scored in the top 10 ahead of Playoff contenders Harrison Burton and Alex Bowman, with Daniel Hemric, Ross Chastain and Playoff contender Chase Elliott rounding out the top 15 and all trailing the lead by less than two seconds. Meanwhile, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Brad Keselowski, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs, Daniel Suarez and Denny Hamlin were trailing in 18th, 20th, 22nd, 24th, 26th, 27th and 36th, respectively.

    Just past the Lap 20 mark, the field fanned out to two scattered, drafting lanes as McDowell continued to hold the top spot ahead of Blaney, Berry, Larson and Logano while Bowman, Cindric, Byron, Harrison Burton and Chastain were battling within the top 10 mark. By then, the top 16 competitors were separated by less than two seconds while the top 20 were separated by less than three seconds.

    At the Lap 30 mark and with the top-nine competitors separated by less than a second, Blaney made a move beneath McDowell through the first two turns to assume the lead in his No. 12 Dent Wizard Ford Mustang Dark Horse as Larson followed suit in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Larson would then challenge Blaney for the top spot from the outside lane during the following lap before Cindric shoved teammate Blaney back out in front through the backstretch. Behind, McDowell dropped to fourth while Logano, Bowman and Byron closed in for the spot. Amid the jostling of spots within, the top 31 competitors were separated by less than five seconds as Blaney led at the Lap 35 mark ahead of Playoff rivals Larson, Cindric, Byron, Bowman and Logano.

    By Lap 40, the top 31 competitors were separated by less than five seconds as Blaney retained the lead ahead of Playoff contenders Larson, Cindric, Byron, Bowman and Logano while Chastain, McDowell, Elliott and Daniel Hemric followed suit in the top 10 ahead of Burton, Briscoe, Ty Gibbs, Berry, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Truex, Austin Dillon, Gilliland, Justin Haley and Bubba Wallace. Meanwhile, Hamlin was mired back in 34th place and trailing the lead by more than eight seconds while Suarez, Reddick, Bell and Keselowski were mired back in 21st, 23rd, 24th and 25th, respectively, all while trailing the lead under three seconds.

    Ten laps later, Blaney continued to lead by a tenth of a second in front of Larson, Cindric, Bowman and Chastain as the top nine competitors were separated by less than a second. Behind, the top 20 competitors were separated by less than two seconds while the top 25 were separated by less than three.

    Another five laps later, the event’s first caution flew when Larson, who was running in third place, briefly got loose, shot up the track and took a vicious head-on hit into the SAFER barrier in Turn 2. Then as the field scattered to avoid Larson’s wrecked car entering the backstretch, Larson shot into the rear of Briscoe, winner of last weekend’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway who was left with a crumbled front nose to his No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse while Larson was left with heavy damage to his right front and rear end of his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

    Amid the hard accident, Larson, who came into the Playoff opener with the top seed in the Playoff standings and having a steady cushion above the top-12 cutline, was left puzzled over the hard incident that ended his strong run early.

    “I’m OK,” Larson said after exiting the infield care center. “Thankfully, everything held up well inside the car. That was a huge hit. I’m not really sure what caused it. I was actually sort of tight and loaded in the corner. And then I was pretty far around the corner and it just stepped out. I don’t know. It all just happened really fast.”

    The multi-car wreck that knocked both Larson and Briscoe out of the Playoff opener was enough for the first stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 60 to officially conclude under caution as Blaney captured his fourth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate Cindric settled in second ahead of Bowman, Logano and Stenhouse while Chastain, Elliott, Byron, Truex and Ty Gibbs were scored in the top 10. By then, the remaining Playoff contenders on the track that included Suarez, Reddick, Bell, Keselowski and Hamlin were mired back in 15th, 17th, 19th, 23rd and 32nd, respectively.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Blaney pitted for a first round of service while BJ McLeod and JJ Yeley remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Bowman exited pit road first as Cindric, Stenhouse, Blaney, Logano, Byron, Chastain, Ty Gibbs, Elliott and Truex followed suit in the top 10. McLeod and Yeley would then pit during the proceeding caution laps as Bowman cycled into the lead. By then, Truex and Shane van Gisbergen were both penalized for speeding on pit road. In addition, Bell, who was among six competitors who returned to pit road to top off on fuel, made another trip to pit road to have his car fully loaded with fuel after he had fire coming out of his pit stall and his No. 20 pit crew was unable to fill the car up with fuel during the first service.

    The second stage period started on Lap 67 as Bowman and Cindric occupied the front row. At the start, Cindric had drafting help from teammate Blaney to muscle ahead from the inside lane and he would manage to move ahead of Bowman’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to lead the following lap. The field then started to fan out to three stacked lanes amid the draft as Cindric and Bowman dueled for the lead in front of Blaney, Stenhouse and the rest of the field by Lap 70.

    Through the Lap 80 mark and with the field scattered amid the draft, the top 19 competitors were separated by less than two seconds as Cindric maintained the lead ahead of teammate Blaney, Bowman, Byron and Chastain while Suarez occupied sixth ahead of Stenhouse, Elliott, Logano and Kyle Busch. Meanwhile, Playoff contenders Ty Gibbs, Truex, Reddick and Burton were mired within the top 16 on the track while Bell, Keselowski and Hamlin trailed in 21st, 26th and 34th, respectively.

    Ten laps later, Cindric continued to lead the race ahead of two stacked lanes, with teammate Blaney following suit on the inside lane while Bowman led a long parade of competitors from the outside lane. By then, the top 14 competitors were separated by less than a second while the top 26 were separated by under two seconds.

    By the Lap 100 mark, Cindric maintained a steady advantage over Bowman, teammate Blaney, Byron, Chastain and the rest of the field that was jostling for spots amid two and three stacked lanes within the draft. With the top-24 competitors separated by less than two seconds, Haley was scored in 10th place behind Stenhouse, Suarez, Truex and Elliott while Erik Jones, who was trying to mount a charge from a third drafting lane towards the outside wall, was racing within the top-15 mark.

    Thirteen laps later and with Cindric maintaining the lead in front of two stacked lanes, the caution flew due to debris spotted in the frontstretch. During the caution period, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Cindric returned to pit road for service, primarily for fuel, while the rest including Ryan Preece, Hamlin, McLeod and Yeley remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Cindric exited pit road first as he was followed by Bowman, Blaney, Suarez, Byron, Elliott, Logano, Bubba Wallace, Keselowski and Haley. Amid the pit stops, Reddick made contact with rookie Carson Hocevar while trying to exit his pit stall. In addition, Wallace was penalized for speeding on pit road while Bell was also penalized for pitting outside his pit box. Shortly after, Preece, Hamlin, Yeley and McLeod pitted and handed the lead back to Cindric.

    The start of the following restart period on Lap 119 featured Cindric and Bowman dueling for the lead in front of two stacked lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch before Cindric received another strong push from teammate Blaney to muscle his No. 2 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead of the pack. With Cindric leading the field back to the frontstretch and having both lanes under his control, teammate Blaney, Bowman and Byron followed suit in the top four while Suarez muscled his way into the top five.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 130, Cindric was leading ahead of Playoff rivals Bowman, Blaney, Byron, Suarez, Logano and Elliott, all of whom were among 12 competitors separated by less than a second while the top 23 competitors were separated by less than two seconds. With the field fanning out to three lanes amid the draft, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Keselowski, Burton, Truex, Ty Gibbs, Reddick, Bell and Hamlin were running 10th, 13th, 15th, 17th, 19th, 25th and 32nd, respectively, while Stenhouse and Gilliland were the top-two non-Playoff contenders on the track in eighth and ninth, respectively. Within the battles, non-Playoff contenders Kyle Busch, Erik Jones and Chastain were mired in the top 15.

    Fifteen laps later, Cindric continued to lead ahead of the field that was stacked through two and three lanes, with teammate Blaney, Bowman, Byron and Suarez battling within the top five ahead of Erik Jones, Chastain, Elliott, Gilliland and Logano. By then, the top 23 competitors were separated by under two seconds. In addition, Suarez dodged a pass-through penalty from NASCAR despite having advanced his position under the backstretch’s double white line a few laps earlier but was ruled to have been forced down as a reactive move to avoid Logano.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 160, Cindric fended off two stacked lanes to notch his third Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate Blaney, Bowman, Suarez and Byron were scored in the top five while Stenhouse, Chastain, Elliott, Ty Gibbs and Bell were scored in the top 10. Meanwhile, Logano, who made contact with Gilliland through the backstretch, dropped to 12th behind Reddick while Keselowski, Truex, Burton and Hamlin were mired back in 14th, 17th, 22nd and 29th, respectively. By then, Haley was penalized for blocking and forcing Reddick below the double white line.

    During the stage break, a majority of the lead lap field led by Cindric pitted for service while select names including Ty Dillon, Haley, Josh Berry, Wallace, Preece, McLeod and Yeley remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Chastain exited pit road first ahead of McDowell, Stenhouse, Ty Gibbs, Byron, Blaney, Bell, Bowman, Corey LaJoie and Suarez. Amid the pit stops, van Gisbergen was penalized a second time for speeding on pit road. During the continuous caution laps, the select competitors who remained on the track led by Ty Dillon pitted as Chastain cycled into the lead.

    With 94 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Chastain and McDowell occupied the front row. At the start, Chastain and McDowell dueled for the lead in front of a stacked field running two lanes. Chastain proceeded to lead the following lap while Stenhouse battled McDowell for second in front of Ty Gibbs and Byron. McDowell, who led the following lap, and Stenhouse would make slight contact exiting the backstretch with nearly 90 laps remaining, but both kept their cars running straight as the field continued to run in two stacked lanes and while Chastain reassumed the lead.

    The caution would then return with 86 laps remaining when John Hunter Nemechek, who was running in 23rd place, got aero loose as Burton slid in front of him entering the backstretch, which resulted in Nemechek spinning his No. 42 Olipop Toyota Camry XSE below the track and making head-on contact in the inside wall.

    During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Chastain returned to pit road for service while the rest led by Ty Gibbs and Wallace remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Suarez and Logano made contact on pit road as they both collected Reddick while LaJoie made door contact with Elliott, who had made contact with Cindric earlier, and Stenhouse while exiting pit road.

    As the event restarted under green with 79 laps remaining, Wallace received a shove from Blaney on the inside lane to assume the lead by a hair over Ty Gibbs through the first two turns before Gibbs fought back on the outside lane with drafting help from Chastain. Both Gibbs and Wallace would continue to duel for the lead in front of two stacked lanes with 75 laps remaining.

    With 65 laps remaining the majority of the field migrated toward the outside lane as select drivers tried to expand the pack to three-wide action. Ty Gibbs was leading ahead of Wallace, Chastain, Kyle Busch and McDowell while Bowman, Byron, Blaney, Bell and Elliott trailed in the top 10 ahead of Chris Buescher, Logano, Gilliland, Erik Jones, Truex, Keselowski, Cidnric, LaJoie, Reddick and Daniel Hemric. Playoff contenders Suarez, Reddick, Burton and Hamlin were mired outside the top 20 on the track.

    Nine laps later, the caution flew when Chris Buescher, who was running in the top 10, slipped up the track entering the backstretch and clipped Blaney, which sent both sideways and touching the outside wall. Blaney was then hit by Truex while Truex was trying to dodge the chaos. By then, Wallace, who assumed the lead eight laps earlier, was leading ahead of Ty Gibbs, Kyle Busch, Byron and Chastain. During the caution period, select names led by Wallace and including Playoff contenders Gibbs, Bell, Blaney, Keselowski, Burton, Hamlin and Truex pitted while the rest led by Kyle Busch and Byron remained on the track. By then, Blaney managed to continue and remain on the lead lap while Truex dropped out of the lead lap category to have his No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry XSE repaired.

    The start of the next restart period with 49 laps remaining featured Kyle Busch being drafted into the lead from Byron as he transitioned from the inside to the outside lane through the backstretch. With Busch leading the next lap ahead of Byron, Chastain was trying to close in from the inside lane as the field behind fanned out to four lanes. With the field stacked up between three and four tight lanes around every corner and straightaway, Busch maintained a steady lead ahead of Byron, Chastain, Elliott, Bowman and Suarez with less than 45 laps remaining.

    With 35 laps remaining, the top 18 competitors were separated by less than a second and the top 28 were separated by less than two seconds. Kyle Busch retained the lead in front of Byron, Chastain, Elliott, Ty Gibbs, Bowman, Gilliland, and McDowell, as Logano and Suarez were mired within the top 10, ahead of Reddick, Logano, Cindric, Austin Dillon, Burton, Noah Gragson and Keselowski while Blaney and Bell were racing within the top-20 mark. Meanwhile, Hamlin was mired in 31st place and was not gaining any ground towards the lead pack.

    Down to the final 25 laps of the event, the intensity at the front of the pack increased as Gibbs, who drafted Byron past Kyle Busch for the lead three laps earlier before he assumed it a lap later, returned atop the leaderboard. As the field continued to fan out aggressively to three drafted lanes, Suarez was in second behind Gibbs while Busch settled in third ahead of Logano, Byron, Chastain, Gilliland, Bowman, Elliott and Cindric.

    Ten laps later and with fuel becoming a slight concern amongst the field, the top 14 competitors were separated by less than a second while the top 27 were separated by less than two seconds as Ty Gibbs continued to lead in front of Suarez, Kyle Busch, Logano and Byron. With the field fanning out to three lanes two laps later, Suarez muscled his No. 99 Quaker State Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead.

    Then with 11 laps remaining, the caution flew due to a Walmart sign falling onto the frontstretch. By then, Suarez was scored the leader in front of Ty Gibbs, Busch, Logano, Byron and Chastain while Blaney, Bell, Elliott and Reddick were in the top 10. During the caution period, some including Keselowski pitted while the rest led by Suarez and including a host of Playoff contenders remained on the track.

    With the race restarting under green with five laps remaining, Suarez briefly launched ahead from the outside lane exiting the frontstretch before Ty Gibbs rocketed back on the inside lane through the first two turns. Then as Gibbs attempted to move in front of Suarez through the backstretch, Suarez veered left and made his move beneath Gibbs in a battle for the lead while Logano bumped into the rear of Gibbs exiting the backstretch. A three-wide action for the lead then ensued entering the frontstretch as Busch made his move beneath both Suarez and Gibbs, who led the following lap.

    Then as Gibbs and Suarez continued to battle against one another for the lead in front of a stacked field, Logano, who launched a third drafting lane towards the outside wall, received a draft from teammate Blaney’s damaged No. 12 Ford to muscle his No. 22 AutoTrader Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the lead through the backstretch with three laps remaining. Logano, however, would end up being deadlocked with Suarez through the frontstretch and with two laps remaining.

    Then, with two laps remaining, and as a stack-up ensued at the front of the field, the caution flew and the event was sent into overtime due to Noah Gragson, who was running in 16th place, getting hit by Burton and sent for a spin before he hit the backstretch’s inside wall. At the moment of caution, Logano was ruled the leader ahead of Suarez, Blaney, Chastain, Elliott and Bell while Gibbs had dropped to ninth.

    The start of the first overtime attempt featured Logano and Suarez dueling for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch, with both having their respective teammates drafting them. Despite Chastain losing ground of teammate Suarez entering Turn 3, the latter managed to remain dead even with Logano approaching the frontstretch.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Logano was leading by a hair over Suarez and Blaney tucked in behind teammate Logano while the field behind began to fan out to three lanes. With a push from Blaney, Logano muscled ahead and cleared Suarez entering the first two turns as Suarez was left to battle Blaney for the runner-up spot through the backstretch.

    Then through Turns 3 and 4, a multi-car wreck erupted that started when Chastain got bumped into the outside wall by Elliott entering Turn 3. With a stack-up ensuing, Stenhouse turned Wallace as multiple competitors including Playoff contenders Hamlin and Burton were collected. The wreck was enough for the event to conclude under caution as Logano, who was inches away from reaching the finish line prior to the caution, crossed the finish line to claim the victory.

    With the victory, Logano, who won a Cup Series Playoff opener for the first time in his career, notched his 34th career win in the NASCAR Cup Series level, his second at Atlanta, his second of the 2024 season and his first since winning at Nashville Superspeedway in late June. The victory was also the eighth of the season for the Ford nameplate, the manufacturer’s third in a row in recent weeks and the fifth of the season for Team Penske. Notably, Logano joins William Byron as two Cup competitors to win on Atlanta’s reconfigured layout since it debuted at the start of the 2022 season.

    Logano’s Playoff opener victory at Atlanta served as an automatic pass to the Round of 12 for the Connecticut champion and his No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse team, with the driver commencing his pursuit for a third Cup Series championship.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “[It was an] Incredible execution from the team,” Logano said on USA Network. “When it’s Playoff time, it’s out time. That’s what I said. We got to always level up when it comes to Playoff time and [the team] gave me a great AutoTrader Mustang. [The car] was fast all day. We got stuck in the back a little bit. It was hard to get track position back. We had a good restart and got towards the front. [I] Had my teammate [Ryan] Blaney behind me. It really helped out in that last lap to be able to make sure [a] Penske car won and ultimately, move on to the next round. Good day for all the Penske cars. Pretty good day today. There’s a lot of memories right here on this start/finish line for me racing Legends cars as a kid, so this is a really cool feeling to be out here in a Cup car again.”

    With Logano winning, Daniel Suarez, who won at Atlanta by 0.003 seconds earlier in February, commenced his second appearance in the Playoffs by notching a strong second-place result after he too led nine laps. Meanwhile, Ryan Blaney commenced his pursuit to defend his Cup title by finishing third in an event where he led 33 laps, won the first stage period and nursed his damaged car to a strong result.

    “I would have to rewatch everything again,” Suarez, who is 22 points above the top-12 cutline in the Playoff standings, said. “I was pretty confident that the top [lane] was going to be better with [Logano] and he was going to be able to push me like [Chastain] did that last restart being on the outside. We got a great lounge, but we just got disconnected too early and that obviously hurt us and [Kyle Busch] and [Ty Gibbs], they were able to get connected for longer and beat us. It’s a little painful. I feel like we were in position and sometimes it’s very difficult to predict who is going to get the best push and for how long you’re going to get it, but it’s part of the game, right? We were in contention. The team did an amazing job. We’re happy with [the result], but not satisfied.”

    “I can’t believe we got back up where we did,” Blaney, who is 45 points above the cutline, said. “[The] No. 12 boys did a really good job fixing [the car]. I’m surprised it didn’t have more damage than what it did because for my seat, I got drilled in the left rear or the door where [Buescher] hit me and then the right rear got off the fence. I didn’t know how damaged we were, but I was able to carve up through traffic and could get through the middle [lane] pretty good. Really good day. Move on to Watkins Glen.”

    Playoff contenders Christopher Bell and Alex Bowman finished in the top five while Tyler Reddick, the 2024 Cup Series Regular Season Champion, made a late charge to finish sixth. Kyle Busch along with Playoff contenders Chase Elliott, William Byron and Austin Cindric completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    Notably, Brad Keselowski fell back to 19th place while Martin Truex Jr., who retired late due to a suspension failure, ended up in 35th place. Following their involvement in the final lap accident, Denny Hamlin, whose strategy to run towards the rear of the field the entire event with no stage points and which did not pay off, limped across the finish line in 24th place while Playoff rookie Harrison Burton ended up in 31st place after he was unable to nurse his damaged No. 21 DEX Imaging Ford Mustang Dark Horse across the finish line to complete the final lap.

    There were 24 lead changes for 14 different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 44 laps. In addition, 30 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Joey Logano, nine laps led

    2. Daniel Suarez, nine laps led

    3. Ryan Blaney, 33 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    4. Christopher Bell

    5. Alex Bowman, five laps led

    6. Tyler Reddick

    7. Kyle Busch, 24 laps led

    8. Chase Elliott

    9. William Byron, two laps led

    10. Austin Cindric, 92 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    11. Daniel Hemric

    12. Justin Haley

    13. Ross Chastain, 13 laps led

    14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    15. Corey LaJoie

    16. Carson Hocevar, one lap led

    17. Ty Gibbs, 37 laps led

    18. Ryan Preece, two laps led

    19. Brad Keselowski

    20. Austin Dillon

    21. Zane Smith

    22. Michael McDowell, 30 laps led

    23. JJ Yeley

    24. Denny Hamlin

    25. BJ McLeod, one lap led

    26. Erik Jones

    27. Todd Gilliland

    28. Josh Berry

    29. Bubba Wallace, eight laps led

    30. Cody Ware

    31. Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident

    32. Shane van Gisbergen, two laps down

    33. John Hunter Nemechek, four laps down

    34. Noah Gragson – OUT, Accident

    35. Martin Truex Jr. – OUT, Suspension

    36. Chris Buescher – OUT, Accident

    37. Kyle Larson – OUT, Accident

    38. Chase Briscoe – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. Joey Logano – Advanced

    2. Ryan Blaney +45

    3. Christopher Bell +40

    4. Tyler Reddick +33

    5. William Byron +33

    6. Alex Bowman +27

    7. Austin Cindric +27

    8. Chase Elliott +24

    9. Daniel Suarez +22

    10. Kyle Larson +15

    11. Denny Hamlin +2

    12. Ty Gibbs +1

    13. Brad Keselowski -1

    14. Harrison Burton -16

    15. Martin Truex Jr. -19

    16. Chase Briscoe -21

    With the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs underway, the second event in the Round of 16 is set to occur at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York, for the Go Bowling at The Glen. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, September 15, and air at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Austin Hill sweeps Atlanta for third Xfinity victory of 2024

    Austin Hill sweeps Atlanta for third Xfinity victory of 2024

    With his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro entry sporting a special gold scheme to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his sponsor Bennett Transportation & Logistics, Austin Hill generated a late golden performance on the track to win the Focused Health 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 7.

    The 30-year-old Hill from Winston, Georgia, led the final 12 of 163-scheduled laps in an event where he started fourth place and spent the first stage period racing upfront getting shuffled within the top-10 mark throughout the second stage period. After spending most of the final stage period methodically carving his way back to the front amid the draft, Hill capitalized on the final restart period with 13 laps remaining to overtake Chandler Smith for the lead during the following lap. He then fended off a pair of final lap challenges from Chandler Smith and Corey Heim to notch his third NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the 2024 season, his fourth at his home track and his first series victory since late February.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup on Saturday, rookie Jesse Love notched his fourth Xfinity career pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 173.646 mph in 31.927 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Taylor Gray, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 173.489 mph in 31.956 seconds.

    Before the event, the following names that included AJ Allmendinger, Jeremy Clements, Ryan Ellis and Brennan Poole dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Jesse Love and Taylor Gray dueled for the lead in front of two stacked lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch until the outside lane led by Love gained the advantage as Love muscled ahead with drafting help from teammate Austin Hill. As the field returned to the frontstretch, Love led the first lap in his No. 2 Samsara Chevrolet Camaro.

    Over the next four laps and with the field briefly fanning out to three lanes before the majority of the filed settled in a long single-file line towards the outside wall, Love retained an early advantage ahead of teammate Hill and Justin Allgaier while Chandler Smith and Taylor Gray pursued in the top five. Behind, Sheldon Creed, Ryan Sieg, Cole Custer, rookie Shane van Gisbergen and Parker Kligerman were in the top 10 while Brandon Jones, Jeb Burton, Ryan Truex, Riley Herbst, Josh Williams, Sam Mayer, Sammy Smith, Corey Heim, Anthony Alfredo and Blaine Perkins were in the top 20 ahead of Parker Retzlaff, Brennan Poole, Kyle Sieg, AJ Allmendinger and Garrett Smithley.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Love continued to lead ahead of teammate Hill, Allgaier, Chandler Smith and Taylor Gray as the top-six competitors, including Creed, were separated by less than a second Meanwhile, the top 13 competitors were separated by within two seconds while the top 19 were separated by within three seconds.

    A lap later, the event’s first caution flew when Ryan Sieg, a Playoff bubble competitor, coasted to a halt in the backstretch due to a wiring issue as he fell out of the lead lap category while needing a wrecker to have his No. 39 Sci Aps Ford Mustang entry nursed back to his pit stall. Amid Sieg’s issues, Anthony Alfredo also encountered early issues due to scraping the outside wall and damaging the right side of his No. 5 Our Motorsports entry. During the caution period, some led by Sammy Smith and including AJ Allmendinger pitted while the rest led by Love remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 16, Sheldon Creed and Love dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Love muscled ahead from the outside lane with drafting help from Chevrolet teammates Hill and Allgaier. With Creed falling back to fourth place, Love proceeded to lead the following lap as the majority of the field migrated towards the outside wall and behind Love. Meanwhile, Parker Kligerman, who was running within the top-10 mark, was trying to form a drafting lane on the inside lane ahead of van Gisbergen, Sam Mayer and Jeb Burton before he quickly moved back up the outside lane and with the pack. Amid the shuffles and battles within the lead pack, Love proceeded to lead the Lap 20 mark.

    At the Lap 25 mark, Allgaier, who spent the previous few laps dueling with Love for the lead from the inside lap despite having no drafting help, was out in front as he muscled his No. 7 Hellmann’s Chevrolet Camaro ahead of Love with the top spot and towards the outside lane. With Allgaier leading and the field behind slowly fanning out to two drafting lanes, Love was second ahead of teammate Hill, Creed and Cole Custer while Brandon Jones, Riley Herbst, Chandler Smith, Sam Mayer and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10. Shortly after, the top-nine competitors were separated by less than a second and the top 19 were separated by less than four seconds as Allgaier continued to lead by the Lap 30 mark.

    Nearing the Lap 35 mark, the top 12 competitors were separated by less than two seconds as Allgaier remained out in front of Hill and Love while Herbst and Creed were scored in the top five ahead of Mayer, Brandon Jones, Custer, Chandler Smith, Taylor Gray, Ryan Truex and Corey Heim.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 40, Allgaier edged a hard-charging Hill by 0.012 seconds to score his 14th Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Hill settled in second ahead of Riley Herbst, Creed and Love while Mayer, Brandon Jones, Custer, Chandler Smith and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10. By then, 34 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Allgaier pitted while others led by Allmendinger and Sammy Smith remained on the track. During the pit stops, Josh Williams was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    The second stage period started on Lap 47 as Allmendinger and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, both dueled for the lead entering the first two turns and the backstretch as the field fanned out to three lanes. With Cole Custer fanning out to boost his way up to fourth place, Allmendinger retained the lead from the outside lane over Allgaier as the former had Sammy Smith drafting him.

    Just past the Lap 50 mark, Allmendinger was leading ahead of Sammy Smith, Custer, Herbst and Mayer while Allgaier, Love, Hill, Creed and Gray were scored in the top 10 ahead of van Gisbergen, Brandon Jones, Kligerman, Chandler Smith and Ryan Truex.

    Ten laps later, Allmendinger retained the lead ahead of Sammy Smith, Custer, Herbst and Mayer while Allgaier, Love, Creed, Gray and Jones followed suit in the top 10 ahead of van Gisbergen, Hill, Kligerman, Chandler Smith, Corey Heim, Truex, Jeb Burton, Parker Retzlaff, Brennan Poole and Lawless Alan. With a majority of the field running in a single-file line towards the outside wall, Allmendinger continued to lead by the Lap 79 mark as the top 14 competitors were separated by three seconds.

    Then with three laps remaining in the second stage period, the caution flew after Mayer was turned across the frontstretch’s outside wall by Gray as Mayer, who hit the wall, proceeded with right-side damage to his No. 1 High Rock Vodka Chevrolet Camaro. As Mayer’s damaged car continued to zip through the frontstretch, his car then had flames bursting out from behind and Mayer proceeded to pull his car below the apron and park in the backstretch before exiting uninjured.

    The caution for Mayer’s incident was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 80 to officially conclude under caution as Allmendinger notched his first Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Sammy Smith settled in second ahead of Custer, Herbst and Allgaier while Love, Taylor Gray, Chandler Smith, van Gisbergen and Creed were scored in the top 10.

    During the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Allmendinger pitted for service while select names including Leland Honeyman, Jeremy Clements, David Starr and Garrett Smithley remained on the track. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, teammates Gray and Creed exited first and second on two fresh tires. Amid the pit stops, Creed was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation while teammate Ryan Truex was penalized for pitting outside of his pit box. In addition, Hill ran into the rear of van Gisbergen after entering pit road.

    With 76 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Gray and Allmendinger occupied the front row. At the start, Gray and Allmendinger dueled for the top spot, with the former managing to retain the top spot. Amid the battles and with the field stacked to two lanes, Gray retained the lead with 70 laps remaining before teammate Chandler Smith would overtake him a lap later.

    With 66 laps remaining, the caution returned for van Gisbergen getting into the outside wall in Turn 4 while running inside the top 10 as he proceeded to nurse his No. 97 Quad Lock Chevrolet Camaro back to his pit stall with right-side damage. During the caution period, multiple names including Hill, Allgaier, Sammy Smith, Kligerman, Corey Heim, Jeb Burton and Creed pitted while the rest led by Chandler Smith remained on the track.

    The start of the following restart period with 59 laps remaining featured Chandler Smith and Gray dueling for the top spot as Smith retained the lead for the following lap. Three laps later, Smith was overtaken by Custer through the backstretch and Smith was left battling Herbst for the runner-up spot.

    The caution would then return with 55 laps remaining due to Jeb Burton losing a left front tire and spinning to the bottom of the track. During the caution period, select names including Blaine Perkins, van Gisbergen, Clements and Ryan Ellis pitted while the rest led by Custer remained on the track.

    As the race restarted with 48 laps remaining, Custer dueled and held off Gray to lead the field. Amid the late battles within the pack, Custer proceeded to lead with 40 laps remaining. By then, Chandler Smith was up to second ahead of Herbst, Love and Allmendinger while Josh Williams, Truex, Allgaier, Heim and Hill were in the top 10. After Custer led the next nine laps, Allmendinger overtook him with 31 laps remaining.

    Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Chandler Smith, who assumed the lead two laps earlier, was out in front of Allgaier, Custer, Hill and Gray as Love, Ryan Sieg, Williams, Herbst and Jones followed suit in the top 10, with the top-16 competitors separated by a second. By then, Creed made an unscheduled pit stop under green.

    With less than 20 laps remaining, Chandler Smith continued to lead ahead of Custer, Allgaier, Taylor Gray and Hill. Behind, Jones, who had tried to slide in front of Chandler Smith for the lead a few laps earlier but was unable to do so, slipped out of the top five on the inside lane, and was in seventh as the top 10 competitors were separated by less than a second. By then, Smith was also able to muscle ahead of Allgaier, who was trying to use the inside lane to slide in front of Smith but was unable to do so.

    Then with 19 laps remaining, the caution flew when Allgaier, who was dueling Custer for the runner-up spot, went up the track just past the backstretch and made contact with Custer and Gray. Custer was sent for a spin before he collided with teammate Herbst and Ryan Sieg as Allgaier and Gray were pinned against one another towards the outside wall as Love barely ran into the rear of Gray. The incident was enough for the event to be placed in a red flag period for 15 minutes.

    Once the red flag lifted and the field proceeded under a cautious pace, multiple names that included Love, Allmendinger, Brennan Poole, Parker Retzlaff, Clements, Nick Leitz, Blaine Perkins, Ryan Ellis, Garrett Smithley and David Starr pitted while the rest led by Chandler Smith remained on the track. Among those who pitted included Love, who had a rear bumper cover from Herbst’s car stuck atop the No. 2 Chevrolet.

    With the race restarting under green with 13 laps remaining, Chandler Smith and Hill dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch before Hill muscled ahead and tried to slide in front of Smith through Turns 3 and 4. Smith, however, pulled a crossover move on Hill through the frontstretch, but Hill would prevail from the outside lane through the first two turns as he would maintain the lead through the backstretch while Smtih was battling Josh Williams and Corey Heim for second place.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Hill was leading ahead of Chandler Smith and Williams while the rest of the field behind followed in close pursuit amid two stacked lanes. By then, the top 12 competitors were separated by less than a second while the top 19 were separated by under two seconds.

    With five laps remaining, Hill maintained a steady advantage ahead of Chandler Smith, Heim, Kligerman and Lawless Alan as the top-15 competitors were separated by less than two seconds. Allmendinger would then transition to the inside lane and try to gain a drafting run while battling Sammy Smith for sixth place, but he would then make contact with Alan and nearly send him spinning

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hill, who nearly got sideways off the front nose of Chandler Smith as Smith made a move beneath Hill to duel with him exiting Turns 3 and 4, remained as the leader on the outside lane as Heim, who elected not to draft his Toyota teammate Smith from the inside lane, drafted Hill back out front ahead of Kligerman through the frontstretch.

    Then through Turns 1 and 2, Heim attempted to make a move to Hill’s outside, but Hill blocked and fended off Heim as the latter scraped his No. 26 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota Supra towards the outside wall. This allowed Hill to retain the top spot as Kligerman zipped by for second place. With Allmendinger and Chandler Smith following Kligerman and passing Heim, all four were unable to regain their momentum and catch Hill as Hill cycled his No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet Camaro back to the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag by three-tenths of a second.

    With the victory, Hill notched his ninth Xfinity Series career win in his 105th series start, his seventh on a superspeedway venue and his fourth at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his home track. This season marks the first time Hill swept both Atlanta Xfinity events as he also notched the 96th Xfinity career victory for Richard Childress Racing and the 13th of the season for the Chevrolet nameplate.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “Just resilience with this whole Bennett No. 21 team,” Hill said on USA Network. “Our Bennett Chevrolet wasn’t handling great all day. It had plenty of speed. Just the handle on it was tough all day. We had to dig deep for that [win]. [Chandler Smith] got into [Turn] 3 and had me jacked up. He’s doing what he has to do to try to win. [I’m] Very surprised that [Heim] pushed me there and didn’t go with a  Toyota and then, I thought that I messed up into [Turns] 1 and 2. I hate it that [Heim] got in the fence. I wasn’t trying to run him in the fence. I was just trying to get him aero-tight or get him aero-loose because that was happening to me a lot today.”

    “This is insane like to win with this gold car, Bennett’s 50th anniversary. This is their biggest race of the entire year,” Hill added. “To do this for our sponsor, it means a lot. We’re gonna celebrate this one because [the win] didn’t come easy.”

    With Hill winning the race, Parker Kligerman edged AJ Allmendinger by 0.004 seconds to finish in second place for the first time this season while Chandler Smith and Corey Heim rounded out the top five following their last-lap charges for the victory. To add to Hill being surprised about Heim not drafting with Chandler Smith and challenging him for the win, Smith was also left surprised and disappointed with not having the drafting help to challenge for the victory as his home track.

    “I expected my Toyota teammate to come with me and that didn’t happen,” Smith said. “It is what it is. I’m kind of speechless, honestly. There’s a lot of different things I could’ve done that I could’ve been more selfish and when I got clear, went to the bottom [lane] and cover that and just control the race, for sure, but I was trying to be a good teammate. It didn’t pay off for me today, as usual.”

    Rookie Jesse Love charged back up the field to finish sixth while Sammy Smith, Josh Williams, Brandon Jones and Ryan Truex finished in the top 10.

    There were 12 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 36 laps. In addition, 23 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 24th event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Justin Allgaier continues to lead the regular-season standings by 34 points over Cole Custer, 67 over Chandler Smith and 71 over Austin Hill.

    Results.

    1. Austin Hill, 12 laps led

    2. Parker Kligerman

    3. AJ Allmendinger, 40 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    4. Chandler Smith, 28 laps led

    5. Corey Heim

    6. Jesse Love, 23 laps led

    7. Sammy Smith

    8. Josh Williams

    9. Brandon Jones

    10. Ryan Truex

    11. Kyle Weatherman

    12. Parker Retzlaff

    13. Lawless Alan

    14. Anthony Alfredo

    15. Brennan Poole

    16. Kyle Sieg

    17. Leland Honeyman, one lap led

    18. Mason Maggio

    19. Blaine Perkins

    20. Nick Leitz

    21. Ryan Ellis

    22. David Starr

    23. Garrett Smithley

    24. Jeb Burton, one lap down

    25. Sheldon Creed, three laps down, one lap led

    26. Riley Herbst, five laps down

    27. Shane van Gisbergen, six laps down

    28. Taylor Gray – OUT, Suspension, 12 laps led

    29. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Suspension

    30. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident, 19 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    31. Cole Custer – OUT, Accident, 27 laps led

    32. Ryan Sieg – OUT, Accident

    33. Morgen Baird, 21 laps down

    34. CJ McLaughlin – OUT, Engine

    35. Matt DiBenedetto – OUT, Oil Line

    36. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

    37. Dawsom Cram – OUT, Engine

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York, for the Mission 200 at The Glen. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, September 14, and air at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Harrison Burton to make 100th Cup start at Atlanta

    Harrison Burton to make 100th Cup start at Atlanta

    As Harrison Burton prepares to campaign in his first NASCAR Cup Series race weekend as a Playoff competitor ahead of this weekend’s Playoff opener at Atlanta Motor Speedway, he does so with a milestone start up for grabs. By competing at Atlanta, the driver of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse will make his 100th career start in NASCAR’s premier series.

    A second-generation racer from Huntersville, North Carolina, Burton made his inaugural presence in the Cup circuit at Talladega Superspeedway in April 2021. By then, he was campaigning in his second full-time season in the Xfinity Series for Joe Gibbs Racing and was coming off a four-race victory season as he also achieved the 2020 Xfinity Rookie-of-the-Year title. Driving the No. 96 Toyota Camry for Gaunt Brothers Racing, Burton rallied from starting at the rear of the field to finish 20th.

    In July 2021, Burton was named as the driver of the iconic No. 21 Ford Mustang for Wood Brothers Racing for the 2022 Cup season, where he replaced Matt DiBenedetto and contended for the Rookie-of-the-Year title. Burton’s rookie Cup campaign commenced on a rough note after he was involved in a multi-car wreck during the 64th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. It resulted in the North Carolina native flipping on the roof before rolling back on all four wheels while battling towards the front on Lap 62 of 200 and ending up in 39th place in the final running order.

    During his next 18 scheduled events, Burton would finish no higher than 11th and notch a total of six top-20 results before securing his first career top-10 result at Atlanta Motor Speedway in July, where he led nine laps. Three laps later, he achieved his first career top-five result at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course by finishing in third place amid a wild overtime finish. While not in contention of making the 2022 Cup Series Playoffs, Burton would proceed to finish in the top 20 seven additional times during the final 14 events on the schedule, which included an 11th-place run at Martinsville Speedway in October, before settling in 27th place in the final standings and in the runner-up spot behind Austin Cindric for the rookie title.  

    Remaining at Wood Brothers Racing for the 2023 Cup season, Burton commenced the season by finishing 26th during the 65th running of the Daytona 500 after being involved in a late multi-car wreck. He then finished no higher than 15th twice during his next 11 starts before posting his first top-10 finish with a sixth-place result at Darlington Raceway in May. Burton would then manage an eighth-place finish at Pocono Raceway in July during his next 13 starts as he would not make the Cup Series Playoffs for a second consecutive season. Managing a 15th-place result at Martinsville in November and three top-20s throughout the Playoffs, Burton ended up in 31st place in the final standings and an average-finishing result of 24.7 with only two top-10 recorded results.

    Through the first 24 regular-season events of the 2024 Cup Series season, Burton had recorded a single top-10 result, where he finished 10th at Talladega in April, but was strapped with an average-finishing result of 26.9. By then, he was informed in early July that he would be replaced by Josh Berry in 2025.

    Then in August, Burton outdueled Kyle Busch during an overtime shootout to score his first elusive Cup Series career victory at Daytona with his father and former NASCAR veteran Jeff Burton calling the event’s broadcast. The Daytona victory made Harrison Burton the 205th competitor overall to win in NASCAR’s premier series as he both secured a spot into the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs and delivered the milestone 100th career win for Wood Brothers Racing.

    Through 99 previous Cup starts, Burton has achieved one victory, two top-five results, six top-10 results, 73 laps led and an average finishing result of 24.2. Despite finishing in 21st place during this past weekend’s regular-season finale at Darlington, Burton will commence the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs and his first pursuit for a first Cup title in 14th place in the Playoff standings with 2,005 points.

    Harrison Burton is scheduled to make his 100th Cup Series career start at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Quaker State 400 on Sunday, September 8, with the event’s broadcast time to occur at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • NASCAR explains Logano’s glove violation

    NASCAR explains Logano’s glove violation

    NASCAR gathered the media to the Cup Series hauler to show the gloves it confiscated from Joey Logano last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

    During post-qualifying inspection, NASCAR viewed the in-car footage of his qualifying lap and noticed an “obviously concerning” detail.

    “We have our safety cameras inside all the Cup cars, and we review them quite often during practice and qualifying, and we look for oddities,” Brad Moran, series director for the Cup Series, said.

    The problem? SFI Foundation Inc., which sets the quality and safety standards for NASCAR equipment, doesn’t make gloves with webbing. The webbing of the left-hand glove was so obviously modified, it looked like a frog hand. In fact, it wouldn’t look out of place on the hands of Tsuyu Asui from “My Hero Academia.”

    Webbing gives a driver more room to block the air, but it also hinders their ability to unbuckle their belts and window net. Which is a serious problem, if your car is on fire.

    As a result, NASCAR dropped Logano to the back of the field for the start of the Atlanta race, along with a pass-through penalty after the green flag dropped. On Tuesday, NASCAR fined Logano $10,000 for violating the league’s safety code under “Driver Responsibilities & Driver Protective Clothing/Equipment.”

    Team owner Roger Penske told Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press that he “didn’t like that at all,” and expressed his disappointment with the two-time Cup Series champion.

    “It’s not good. Period. I told him,” Penske said. “He’s the leader of the team. Look, we are under so much scrutiny and the last thing we need to do is have any noise like that. It’s not good for us. It’s not good for him. We’ll take our punches.”

    Well, it didn’t affect Logano’s qualifying run, Saturday, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Wearing approved gloves, Logano clocked in a lap of 29.291 (184.357 mph) to win his second pole of the 2024 season.

  • NASCAR reveals 2024 spring Atlanta penalty report

    NASCAR reveals 2024 spring Atlanta penalty report

    NASCAR released its penalty report following this past weekend’s triple-header feature at Atlanta Motor Speedway which includes two Cup Series teams from the same organization hit with an early points swing.

    Stewart-Haas Racing’s Nos. 10 and 41 Ford Mustang Dark Horse teams piloted by Noah Gragson and Ryan Preece, respectively, have each been docked 35 driver/owner points as a result of violating Section 14.5.6.1.a. of NASCAR’s Rule Book that highlights the specification compliance of roof rail deflectors.

    The news comes after NASCAR confiscated the roof rail deflectors of both Gragson and Preece’s entries following Friday’s pre-race inspection and before the Cup Series’ Ambetter Health 400 on Sunday.

    During the event, Preece finished 16th while Gragson, who was involved in a 16-car pileup on the second lap, retired in 36th.

    In addition, Joey Logano, a two-time Cup Series champion, was fined $10,000 for a competition infraction that involved failing to meet SFI-approved specifications with his protective gloves, where his left glove was discovered to be modified with webbings between his thumb and index finger, which would provide an aerodynamic advantage by creating drag and deflecting air from coming inside the car.

    Logano, who initially posted the second-fastest qualifying speed and was set to start alongside pole-sitter Michael McDowell on the front row, was instead forced to drop to the rear of the field and serve a pass-through penalty at the start of the main event. Despite rallying to lead 27 laps, Logano ended up 28th after getting collected in a multi-car wreck with Chris Buescher and Denny Hamlin prior to the second stage’s conclusion.

    In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Seth Chavka, crew chief for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 “all-star” Toyota Supra entry that was piloted by Ryan Truex, was fined $5,000 due to a single lug nut discovered to be unsecured on Truex’s entry following the series’ RAPTOR King of Tough 250 at Atlanta on Saturday. During the event, Truex finished ninth after he initially was in contention for the victory during an overtime shootout.

    In addition, Jason Miller, crew chief of the No. 14 SS Green Light Racing Chevrolet team piloted by JJ Yeley, was issued a two-race suspension, beginning for the next two upcoming weekends, for violating Section 4.4.D of the Xfinity Series’ Rule Book that highlights NASCAR member code of conduct. Miller was seen engaging in a physical confrontation with Kyle Weatherman following Saturday’s event. Their argument stems from where Weatherman sent Yeley for a spin entering Turn 1 nearing the Lap 60 mark. Yeley ended up 24th while Weatherman finished 17th.

    There were no penalties or fines issued from Saturday’s Craftsman Truck Series’ FR8 208 event at Atlanta.

    NASCAR is set to resume to action for its third triple-header feature of the 2024 season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The action commences with the Truck Series’ Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 on Friday, March 1, which will air at 9 p.m. ET on FS1 followed by the Xfinity Series’ The LiUNA! that will occur on Saturday, March 2, at 5 p.m. ET on FS1. The Cup Series’ Pennzoil 400 will conclude the weekend by occurring on Sunday, March 3, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Atlanta

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Atlanta

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Daniel Suárez: Suarez surged late and edged Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch at the line in a photo finish to win the Ambetter Health 400.

    “That may have been the greatest moment of my racing career,” Suarez said, “followed by the most disappointing, because I celebrated by smashing a taco pinata, but it was empty.”

    2. Ryan Blaney: Blaney fell short by mere fractions of a second, taking second to Daniel Suarez in a photo finish that decided the Ambetter Health 400.

    “Congratulations to Daniel,” Blaney said. “He chose the right line and deserved to win. So, I say, ‘Good job, amigo.’ Next time, though, you will see ‘me go’ faster.”

    3. Kyle Busch: Busch finished third in the Ambetter Health 400, coming up just short in a photo finish at the finish line.

    “We were so close,” Busch said. “I told myself before the race that we could win this race. And when you tell yourself that, it’s all about believing it. And let me tell you, I’m way better at convincing myself as opposed to a state trooper.”

    4. Bubba Wallace: Wallace finished fifth at Atlanta.

    “My car sported the ‘MoneyLion’ paint scheme,” Wallace said. “MoneyLion is a personal finance tech company. I hear it’s pretty popular. In other words, there’s ‘great interest’ in MoneyLion.”

    5. William Byron: Byron finished 17th in the Ambetter Health 400 and leads the Cup series points standings.

    “The race was filled with crashes,” Byron said. “There were only seven cars that weren’t involved in an accident. That’s amazing. What’s more amazing is that Ross Chastain was on that list. Not surprisingly, he took drivers off that list.”

    6. Austin Cindric: Cindric led 32 laps and finished fourth at Atlanta.

    “You probably heard that Joey Logano had to start at the rear of the field because of a penalty for ‘illegal gloves,’” McDowell said. “That’s a new one on me. I didn’t know there was such a thing as ‘performance-enhancing gloves.’ I’m sure that irritated Joey. Whatever altering he did to his gloves, I can assure you Joey left the middle fingers intact.”

    7. Michael McDowell: McDowell started on the pole and won Stage 1 at Atlanta, on his way to an eighth in the Ambetter Health 400.

    “I think I’ve proven I can run with the big dogs,” McDowell said. “So don’t sleep on me as a contender for the Cup championship. If you do want to sleep, attend the upcoming race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.”

    8. Ross Chastain: Chastain finished seventh at Atlanta.

    “There were quite a few big names knocked out of the race in accidents,” Chastain said. “Amazingly, none were my fault. The fewer cars in contention, the better my odds of winning. I call it ‘Attrition by subtraction.’”

    9. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex led nine laps and finished 12th in the Ambetter Health 400.

    “I guess I’m now NASCAR’s elder statesman,” Truex said. “It makes sense because I’ve been racing for over 20 years. You can call me an ‘old fart’ and I won’t argue, because that’s pretty much what my driver’s seat smells like after all these years.”

    10. Chase Elliott: Elliott started at the rear of the field due to pre-race adjustments and came home 15th in Atlanta.

    “I was in an early accident that really damaged my No. 9 Chevy,” Elliott said. “So we had to make quite a few stops and make repairs when we could. And it’s the subtle changes that really matter. And since we’re talking ‘subtlety,’ nothing says ‘subtle’ like the owl’s eyes on my Hooters-sponsored car.”

  • Suárez edges Blaney and Busch in three-wide finish for second Cup career victory at Atlanta

    Suárez edges Blaney and Busch in three-wide finish for second Cup career victory at Atlanta

    In a three-wide photo finish for the ages, Daniel Suárez bested NASCAR Cup Series champions Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch to score a wild victory in the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, February 25.

    “It’s an amazing feeling,” Suárez said after the race. “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.”

    The 2016 Xfinity Series champion from Monterrey, Mexico, led twice for nine of 260 scheduled laps in an event where he was involved in a 16-car pileup on the second lap. Amid the early incident, Suárez persevered through nine additional caution periods to methodically carve his way back to the front, where he would lead for the first time with 12 laps remaining. During a five-lap shootout to the finish, Suárez, who lost the lead to Ryan Blaney, was left to battle Kyle Busch dead even for the runner-up spot during the next four laps.

    Then on the final lap, both Suárez and Busch took Blaney in a tight three-wide battle in front of the stacked field through the final two turns. All three competitors remained dead even against one another through the frontstretch until Suárez just managed to emerge ahead of both Blaney and Busch by a nose to claim his second NASCAR Cup Series career victory and snap a one-year winless drought.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, February 24, Michael McDowell achieved his first Cup Series pole position of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 178.844 mph in 30.999 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Joey Logano, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying speed at 178.424 mph in 31.072 seconds.

    Prior to the event, however, Logano dropped to the rear of the field and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty through pit road at the start of the event due to wearing illegal gloves and violating NASCAR’s SFI specification. Chase Elliott also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his entry.

    When the green flag waved and the event commenced, McDowell and Kyle Busch, who moved up to the front row, dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Busch, who was drafted by Kyle Larson on the inside lane, quickly moved in front of McDowell entering the backstretch. McDowell, however, fought back as he transitioned from the outside to inside lane, but Busch was able to muscle ahead from the outside lane and lead the first lap.

    Following the completion of the first lap, however, the first caution flew after a checkup towards the front of the pack caused by Gilliland on the outside lane resulted with Austin Dillon, who was running in the top 10 and ran into the rear of Austin Cindric, getting hit by Martin Truex Jr. as he spun his No. 3 BREZTRI Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 exiting the frontstretch, which then triggered a multi-car wreck entering Turn 1 that collected Bubba Wallace, Ty Gibbs, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Noah Gragson, Alex Bowman, John Hunter Nemechek, Erik Jones, rookie Carson Hocevar, Daniel Suárez, Elliott, Daniel Hemric, Ryan Preece, BJ McLeod and Harrison Burton.

    During the event’s first caution period, a bevy of names that included Ross Chastain, Brad Keselowski, Corey LaJoie, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., rookie Zane Smith, Logano and the wrecked competitors pitted while the rest led by Busch remained on the track. By then, Josh Williams took his Kaulig Racing entry to the garage due to a mechanical issue.

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 10, Busch quickly transitioned from the outside to inside lane to retain the lead in front of a side-by-side duel in front of McDowell and Larson through the first two turns and the backstretch. Larson then challenged Busch with a move to the inside lane and he managed to slide in front of Busch’s No. 8 Cheddar’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through Turns 3 and 4 to take the lead. Busch, however, responded back by overtaking Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 during the following lap as he would retain the lead while Chris Buescher challenged Larson for the runner-up spot.

    Through the first 15 scheduled laps, Busch was leading ahead of Chase Briscoe and Larson while McDowell and Buescher followed suit in front of two tight-packed lanes. With the field slowing fanning out to three lanes while spread out around the Atlanta circuit, Busch, who was swapping against Larson for the lead a few laps earlier, continued to lead by the Lap 20 mark ahead of Larson while McDowell, Blaney and Buescher battled in the top five. Behind, Briscoe was in sixth while William Byron, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Denny Hamlin, Truex, Zane Smith, Gilliland, Ty Gibbs and LaJoie occupied the top 15 on the track.

    Nearing the Lap 25 mark, the event’s second caution flew after Buescher, who was running in the top 10, got loose and spun his No. 17 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse in front of William Byron entering Turn 4, though he was dodged by oncoming traffic and was able to limp his entry to pit road for four fresh tires. During the caution period, some led by Byron pitted while the rest led by new race leader Ryan Blaney remained on the track.

    At the start of the proceeding restart on Lap 31, Blaney muscled ahead on the outside lane and fended off Larson through the first two turns and the backstretch until Larson fought back on the inside lane, with both dueling for the lead in front of Busch, Briscoe, McDowell and Denny Hamlin. Amid the two-pack formation towards the front, Blaney retained the top spot until Busch rocketed his way back to the lead just past the Lap 33 mark. With Busch leading, McDowell battled dead even with Blaney for the runner-up spot while Chastain, Larson, Briscoe and Truex followed suit by the Lap 35 mark.

    Through the first 40 scheduled laps, Busch continued to lead in front of McDowell, Blaney, Chastain, Larson, Briscoe, Truex, Hamlin, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Bubba Wallace while Byron, rookie Josh Berry, LaJoie, Logano, Gilliland, Cindric, Ty Gibbs, Keselowski, Zane Smith and Justin Haley were running in the top 20 amid two tight-packed lanes.

    Ten laps later and with the field dispersed, McDowell, who reassumed the top spot on Lap 41, was still leading in front of Blaney, Busch, truex and Larson while Hamlin, Chastain, Briscoe, Stenhouse and Wallace were running in the top 10 in front of Byron, Logano, LaJoie, Cindric and Keselowski.

    Another two laps later, the caution flew after Hamlin, who was battling for a top-five spot on the track, made contact with Kyle Busch as he spun his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE through the frontstretch’s grass before coming to a stop just towards the exit of pit road. During the caution period, a majority of the field pitted while the rest led by McDowell remained on the track.

    With the event restarting with a single lap remaining to the first stage’s period, McDowell and Blaney dueled for the lead exiting the frontstretch and through the first two turns until McDowell started to muscle ahead from the inside lane with drafting help from Chastain. As the field behind fanned out to three lanes through Turns 3 and 4, McDowell was able to muscle ahead and capture his first stage victory of the season on Lap 60. Blaney settled in second followed by Chastain, Larson and Busch while Truex, Stenhouse, Wallace, Byron and Gilliland, all of whom earned the first wave of stage points, were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, some led by McDowell pitted while the rest led by teammate Gilliland remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Blaney nearly collided with Ryan Preece while trying to exit his pit stall amid a congested pit road stretch with those who pitted.

    The second stage period started on Lap 67 as Gilliland and Logano occupied the front row. At the start, Gilliland and Logano dueled for the lead entering the first turn until Gilliland, who received a strong push from LaJoie on the inside lane, muscled ahead and managed to slide in front of Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse through the backstretch. With Buescher, LaJoie and Zane Smith following suit, Gilliland retained the lead in front of Logano as Josh Berry, Harrison Burton and Cindric joined the battle towards the front.

    On Lap 72, Zane Smith, who was rim-riding towards the outside wall while running in the top five, made contact with the outside wall through Turns 3 and 4 after he got loose just as Logano slid up in front of him, which stalled his momentum as his No. 71 City of Refuge Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 slowly began to backslide through the field. With the field remaining under green flag conditions as Smith pitted, Gilliland retained the lead followed by Logano, Buescher, Berry and Harrison Burton while Elliott, Hamlin, Cindric, LaJoie and Ty Gibbs were running in the top 10 by the Lap 75 mark.

    Through the first 80 scheduled laps and with the majority of the field running in tight-pack formation amid two lanes, Gilliland continued to lead in front of Ford teammates Logano, Buescher, Burton and McDowell, who carved his way from starting in the top 20, while Hamlin, who recovered from his early spin, was trying to mount a charge on the inside lane followed by Cindric. The top 28 competitors would be separated by more than two seconds by the Lap 85 mark as Gilliland retained the lead while McDowell moved up to third place and challenged Logano for more.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Logano, who assumed the lead for the first time of the day a lap earlier, was leading in front of Gilliland, Buescher, Keselowski and McDowell while Burton, Byron, Hamlin, Blaney and Chastain were running in the top 10 in front of Larson, Cindric, Truex, Busch, Elliott, LaJoie, Wallace, Stenhouse, Daniel Suárez and Briscoe. By then, the top 28 competitors were separated by more than three seconds.

    Fifteen laps later, Logano, who spent the previous 15 laps swapping the lead with Buescher and Gilliland, was leading ahead of Chastain and teammate Blaney while Buescher, Keselowski, Hamlin, Cindric, Burton, Larson and Byron followed suit in the top 10. By then, the majority of the field were running in two tight-packed lanes while some occurrences of three-wide racing occurred.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 130, green flag pit stops slowly commenced as teammates Logano and Blaney pitted while Larson was leading in front of Cindric, Chastain, Keselowski, Byron and Hamlin. Cindric would then pit during the following lap as Keselowski challenged Larson for the lead. Keselowski would then lead Chastain and teammate Buescher to pit road through the venue’s pit road entrance towards the backstretch’s exit by Lap 133 before Hamlin led Truex, Elliott and Burton to pit road during the proceeding lap.

    Then as Larson surrendered the lead to pit with the next wave of competitors on Lap 135, where he got bumped by Kyle Busch, Byron and McDowell spun and wrecked against one another while trying to enter the pit road’s commitment line towards the backstretch, though the event remained under green flag conditions as both proceeded. Amid the pit stops, Berry and Chastain were penalized for speeding on pit road.

    With the first wave of green flag pit stops being completed by Lap 139, Cindric cycled his No. 2 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the lead followed by teammates Logano and Blaney while Gilliland followed suit in fourth place. In addition, Larson was in fifth while Buescher, Briscoe, Wallace, Suárez and Keselowski were scored in the top 10. Soon after, Wallace, Busch and Stenhouse were penalized for speeding on pit road while Erik Jones was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.

    By Lap 150, Cindric retained the lead ahead of teammate Logano, Larson, teammate Blaney and Buescher while Gilliland, Briscoe, Truex, Suárez and Hamlin cycled their way into the top 10 ahead of Keselowski, Burton, Elliott, LaJoie, Justin Haley, Ty Gibbs, Kaz Grala, Carson Hocevar, Austin Dillon and John Hunter Nemechek.

    Then on the final lap of the second stage period, the caution flew after Logano, who was trying to slide up in front of Buescher amid the draft, ran out of room as both collided against the outside wall through the backstretch, with Hamlin also getting collected in the wreckage while Keselowski barely dodged the incident. With the second stage period concluding under caution on Lap 160, Cindric, who nearly lost the lead to teammate Logano a few laps earlier, captured his first stage victory of the 2024 season. Larson settled in second followed by Blaney, Suárez and Truex while Gilliland, Keselowski, Burton, Briscoe and Elliott were scored in the top 10.

    During the stage break, the entire lead lap field led by Cindic returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Gilliland exited first followed by Keselowski, Elliott, Hamlin, Suárez and Burton while Cindric exited in 10th place.

    With 90 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Gilliland and Keselowski occupied the front row. At the start, Gilliland and Keselowski dueled for the lead entering the first turn until Gilliland muscled ahead on the inside lane followed by Hamlin and Blaney. With Hamlin and Blaney swapping lanes exiting the backstretch, Gilliland maintained the lead on the frontstretch while Keselowski, Truex and Elliott followed suit in close-quarters racing and amid two tight-packed lanes. Amid the tight racing towards the front, Gilliland maintained the lead and control of both lanes during the proceeding laps while both Hamlin and Blaney were trying to gain runs amid their respective drafting lanes.

    Not long after, the caution returned with 86 laps remaining after Kaz Grala, who was running in the top 10, made light contact with Kyle Busch amid a three-wide battle in Turn 1 as he slid sideways through the turn, but managed to keep his car off the track from oncoming traffic. During the caution period, some led by Blaney, Elliott and Cindric pitted while the rest led by Gilliland remained on the track.

    During the proceeding restart with 80 laps remaining, Gilliland received a push from Truex’s No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE to muscle ahead from Hamlin on the inside lane through the first two turns and the backstretch while the rest of the field behind fanned out and battled in two tight-packed lanes. With Briscoe, Keselowski, Larson, Elliott and Suárez making their moves to the front, Truex would then grab the lead two laps later over Gilliland through a strong move entering the backstretch while Hamlin remained in third place amid a tight battle with Briscoe. Another three laps later, however, Gilliland cycled his No. 38 Georgia Peanuts Ford Mustang Dark Horse back into the lead from Truex. Meanwhile, Keselowski was battling Briscoe and Larson for third place while Hamlin slipped to sixth.

    With 65 laps remaining, Larson, who returned to the lead two laps earlier, was leading, but mixed in a tight battle to maintain the top spot in front of Gilliland, Truex, Hamlin and Keselowski while Suárez, Briscoe, Elliott, Cindric and Burton followed suit in the top 10. Behind, LaJoie was in 11th ahead of Blaney, Kyle Busch, Ty Gibbs and Haley while Hocevar, Daniel Hemric, Grala, Preece and McDowell occupied the top 20.

    Three laps later and with the field fanning out to three lanes amid the late jostling of spots, the caution returned after Elliott, who was marching his way through the top-10 ranks, got bumped by Chastain and sent sideways entering Turn 3 as he managed to keep his No. 9 Hooters Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 spinning below the apron and away from oncoming traffic, though Ty Gibbs also veered sideways to avoid hitting Elliott. Amid the chaos, Wallace, who was battling Chastain for the free pass spot by being the first competitor scored a lap down, managed to receive the free pass.

    During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Truex pitted, mainly for fuel, while McDowell and Preece remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Truex exited pit road first followed by teammate Hamlin, Briscoe, Cindric, Keselowski and Larson while Gilliland exited eighth behind Busch.

    With the event restarting under green with 55 laps remaining, McDowell and Truex dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. They continued to duel for the lead in front of two tight-packed lanes through the frontstretch and back to the frontstretch while Austin Dillon, who was running in the middle of the pack, fell off the pace after he pounded the backstretch’s outside wall hard, though the event remained under green flag conditions.

    Then with 50 laps remaining and with the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes, a four-wide action for the lead ensued between Truex, Briscoe, McDowell and Cindric through the frontstretch as Cindric, who instigated the four-wide move, moved into the lead entering Turns 1 and 2. Busch would follow suit in second through the backstretch along with Briscoe, Gilliland, Hamlin and McDowell amid the four-wide battle while Truex, who was getting bumped and jostled amid the fanned-out battles, was slowly backsliding. The field would then settle to three-wide racing for the following lap as Cindric retained the lead followed by Busch, Hamlin, Briscoe and Gilliland while Keselowski and Larson followed suit.

    With 44 laps remaining, Hamlin overtook Cindric from the outside lane for the lead. During the following lap, Briscoe tried to move in front of Hamlin for the lead, but the move did not prevail as Busch overtook Briscoe for the runner-up spot while Hamlin maintained the lead. The caution, however, would return with 42 laps remaining after Keselowski, who was running third, got loose and slid towards the outside wall entering Turn 3 as he collected Larson and LaJoie in the process. During the caution period, some including McDowell and Elliott pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on the track.

    As the event restarted with 35 laps remaining, Hamlin muscled ahead from the inside lane followed by Busch while Cindric was left to fend off Briscoe and the rest of the pack in third place. Hamlin would retain the lead during the proceeding laps and with 30 laps remaining over Busch while Blaney and Briscoe battled for third place in front of two tight-packed lanes. Shortly after, however, Busch and Blaney went three wide on Hamlin as they both overtook Hamlin and moved into a battle into the lead for themselves followed by Gilliland and Cindric while Hamlin slid back to sixth in front of Wallace.

    With less than 25 laps remaining and with the intensity towards the front igniting amid three tight-packed lanes, Blaney was leading the race ahead of teammate Cindric and Busch while Wallace and Briscoe battled for fourth in front of the field.

    With 21 laps remaining, however, the caution returned after Hamlin, who was pinned in a tight four-wide battle for fourth place with Briscoe, Suárez and Busch, made contact with Briscoe that sent Briscoe’s No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse sideways and into Hamlin before Briscoe slapped the outside wall hard between Turns 3 and 4 as Burton, Berry and Haley were also collected. The incident was enough for the event to be placed in a red flag period for more than 11 minutes.

    Once the red flag lifted and the field returned under a cautious pace, some including Gilliland, Hemric, Preece and Byron pitted while the rest led by Blaney remained on the track.

    When the event restarted with 15 laps remaining, where Blaney and Suárez occupied the front row, Blaney muscled ahead on the inside lane followed by teammate Cindric and Truex while Suárez, who had Kyle Busch and Wallace drafting him, was trying to fight back on the outside lane through the backstretch. With Blaney leading the next two laps and having both lanes to his control, Suárez then made his move on the outside lane with 12 laps remaining through the backstretch as he led the next laps by a hair while Busch and Cindric followed suit in the second lane. Then during the following lap and as Cindric briefly lost his momentum through the first two turns, the caution flew after Berry, who was drafting Wallace in the top 10, ran into the outside wall entering the backstretch and spun back across the track, where he collided into rookie Carson Hocevar, before he spun back across the track and into oncoming traffic as Elliott also spun towards the infield. Amid the chaos, Suárez managed to retain the lead over Blaney.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Suárez and Blaney occupied the front row. At the start, Suárez muscled his No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ahead on the inside lane followed by Busch through the first two turns. Suárez then moved in front of Blaney to stall his momentum through the backstretch, but Blaney managed to stick his nose and draw even with Suárez exiting the backstretch as he assumed the lead followed by Truex. Blaney then retained the lead in front of two stacked lanes during the proceeding laps as he went on defense to fend off Suárez and Busch while Truex was backsliding.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Blaney remained as the leader ahead of a side-by-side battle involving Suárez and Busch. Blaney would continue to lead through the first two turns and through the majority of the backstretch until Busch and Suárez took Blaney three wide entering Turns 3 and 4. Suárez, Busch and Blaney remained dead even amid three lanes for the lead entering the frontstretch, with neither lifting. With the leaders navigating through the frontstretch, Suárez, Busch and Blaney crossed the finish line dead even as the checkered flag flew. Following an extensive review of the footage, Suárez was declared the winner as he had beaten Blaney by 0.003 seconds and 0.007 seconds over Busch.

    With the victory, Suárez, who was in contention of winning this year’s Daytona 500 before he was eliminated amid a late multi-car wreck, earned his second Cup Series career victory, his first since winning his first series’ event at Sonoma Raceway in June 2022 and his first on a superspeedway venue. He also recorded the seventh career victory for Trackhouse Racing and his first with his new crew chief Matt Swiderski.

    “It was so damn close,” Suárez, who celebrated with a piñata, said on FOX. “It was good racing. Ryan Blaney there, Kyle Busch. Austin Cindric also was doing a great job giving me pushes. In the back straightaway, he didn’t push me because he knew I was gonna fight his teammate. Man, what a job. We wrecked [on] Lap 2. The [No. 99] guys did an amazing job fixing this car. Man, I can’t thank everyone enough. Let’s go!”

    Blaney, who led 31 laps, settled in the runner-up spot while Kyle Busch, who led 28 laps, ended up in third place following their dramatic three-wide finish with Suárez to the finish line.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “I thought I laid back enough in [Turns] 1 and 2 to not let both lanes get that big of a run,” Blaney said. “Both lanes just got that shove super hard and I just chose the bottom [lane], safest place to be. 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 clean, three-wide finish to the end. Happy for Daniel [Suárez]. That was cool to see. Fun racing with Kyle [Busch]. I’ve won [races] by very, very little [margin], too, so I can’t complain too much about losing by that much. Close.”

    “Overall, just real proud of everybody at [Richard Childress Racing], ECR [Engines],” Busch added. “Our Cheddar’s Camaro was fast. It’s good to see Daniel [Suárez] get a win. We were helping each other, being Chevy team partners and working together there. It shows that when you do have friends and you can make alliances that they do seem to work and that was the good part of today. Dammit. We’ll have to do it again and find another one.”

    Austin Cindric came home in fourth place while Bubba Wallace rallied from a roller coaster event to finish fifth for a second consecutive race. Stenhouse, Chastain, McDowell, Buescher and Ty Gibbs finished in the top 10 on the track.

    There were 48 lead changes for 14 different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 65 laps. In addition, 22 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the second event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Kyle Busch leads the regular-season standings by a single point over both William Byron and Austin Cindric, three over Bubba Wallace, eight over Ryan Blaney, 12 over Chase Elliott and 13 over Daniel Suárez.

    Results.

    1. Daniel Suárez, nine laps led

    2. Ryan Blaney, 31 laps led

    3. Kyle Busch, 28 laps led

    4. Austin Cindric, 32 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    5. Bubba Wallace, three laps led

    6. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap led

    7. Ross Chastain

    8. Michael McDowell, 27 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    9. Chris Buescher, one lap led

    10. Ty Gibbs

    11. Harrison Burton

    12. Martin Truex Jr., nine laps led

    13. Corey LaJoie

    14. Kaz Grala

    15. Chase Elliott

    16. Ryan Preece

    17. William Byron

    18. Daniel Hemric

    19. Carson Hocevar

    20. Justin Haley

    21. John Hunter Nemechek

    22. Austin Dillon

    23. Denny Hamlin, one lap down, 15 laps led

    24. BJ McLeod, three laps down

    25. Erik Jones , four laps down

    26. Todd Gilliland, four laps led, 58 laps led

    27. Alex Bowman, five laps down

    28. Joey Logano, eight laps down, 27 laps led

    29. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident

    30. Tyler Reddick, 17 laps down

    31. Chase Briscoe – OUT, Accident

    32. Kyle Larson – OUT, Accident, 17 laps led

    33. Brad Keselowski – OUT, Accident, two laps led

    34. Christopher Bell – OUT, Accident

    35. Zane Smith – OUT, DVP

    36. Noah Gragson – OUT, Accident

    37. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, March 3, and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Austin Hill snatches dramatic Xfinity victory at Atlanta in overtime

    Austin Hill snatches dramatic Xfinity victory at Atlanta in overtime

    In an event dominated by rookie Jesse Love, teammate Austin Hill captured the final spotlight by claiming a dramatic, overtime victory in the RAPTOR King of Tough 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, February 24, for his second consecutive NASCAR Xfinity Series victory to commence the 2024 season.

    The 29-year-old Hill from Winston, Georgia, led the final two of 168 over-scheduled laps in an event where he was poised for a potential top-10 result while teammate Jesse Love dominated the event from pole position and had won the event’s two-stage periods. Following a caution period with two laps remaining that sent the event into overtime and with fuel becoming a concern for a multitude of front-runners, Love’s dominant quest to victory came to a halt at the start of overtime as he stumbled to keep up to pace. Love’s misfortune parted the seas for Hill to move into the lead. From there, Hill was able to fend off Chandler Smith for two laps to grab his second consecutive Xfinity victory to commence the 2024 season.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, February 23, rookie Jesse Love notched his second consecutive pole position of the 2024 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 173.935 mph in 31.874 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Austin Hill, winner of this year’s season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway, after he clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 173.706 mph in 31.916 seconds.

    Prior to the event, the following names that included Brandon Jones, Patrick Emerling, Jeb Burton, Parker Retzlaff, Joey Gase, Ryan Ellis and Brennan Poole dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, teammates Love and Hill dueled for the lead for a full lap in front of two tight-packed lanes until Love managed to lead the first lap by a hair. By the conclusion of the second lap, Love had both lanes to his control with the lead while Riley Herbst was battling Hill for the runner-up spot.

    By the fourth lap, Josh Williams had fallen off the pace due to a flat tire on his Kaulig Racing entry. Amid Williams’ issues, the race remained under green flag conditions as Love also retained the lead followed by Herbst, Sam Mayer, Ryan Truex and John Hunter Nemechek while Chandler Smith, Sheldon Creed, Hill, Parker Kligerman and Sammy Smith occupied the top 10 by the fifth lap mark.

    Through the first 15 scheduled laps, Love continued to lead in front of a long single-file line of competitors that included Herbst, Mayer, Truex and Nemechek while Hill, Kligerman, AJ Allmendinger, Sammy Smith and Justin Allgaier trailed in the top 10.

    Fifteen laps later, Love retained the lead ahead of Herbst, Mayer, Kligerman and Truex in the draft while Allmendinger, Allgaier, Creed, Sammy Smith and Ryan Sieg were running in the top 10.

    When the first sage period concluded on Lap 40, Love, who has led every lap thus far, captured his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Herbst settled in second while Mayer, Truex, Kligerman, Allmendinger, Allgaier, Creed, Ryan Sieg and Sammy Sith were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Love pitted. During the pit stops, Brandon Jones was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation while Poole was also penalized due to his crew members being over the pit box too soon.

    The second stage period started on Lap 47 as Love and Kligerman occupied the front row. At the start, Love and Kligerman dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Love muscled the No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro ahead with the lead with drafting help from Allgaier. Kligerman, however, would spend the next two laps battling dead even with Love for the top spot until Love muscled back ahead by the Lap 50 mark.

    Nearing the Lap 60 mark, the caution flew after JJ Yeley spun off the front nose of Kyle Weatherman exiting the frontstretch and entering the first turn. During the caution period, some drivers, including Shane van Gisbergen, Brandon Jones, Allmendinger and Kyle Sieg pitted while the rest led by Love remained on the track.

    During the next restart on Lap 63, Love battled against teammate Hill for nearly a lap until he muscled ahead from the outside lane as he was pursued by Allgaier and Herbst while Hill remained as the lead competitor on the inside lane. As the laps progressed, Nemechek made contact with the outside wall in Turn 3 and Hill drifted outside the top 10 while he continued to run the inside lane. Amid the events, Love continued to lead the race.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 80, Love captured his second consecutive stage victory of the 2024 Xfinity season. Allgaier settled in second while Herbst, Truex, Sammy Smith, Chandler Smith, Cole Custer, Hill, Allmendinger and Creed were scored in the top 10.

    During the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Love pitted while Jeb Burton remained on the track. Shortly after, Burton would surrender the lead to pit, which gave the lead to Allmendinger, who only pitted for fuel.

    With 76 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Allmendinger and Love occupied the front row. At the start, Allmendinger and Love dueled for the lead in front of two packed lanes. Allmendinger and Love would then swap the lead during the next seven laps before Love assumed control of both lanes with the top spot with 67 laps remaining.

    With 50 laps remaining, Love was leading ahead of Allmendinger, Herbst, Truex and Kligerman while Hill, Brandon Jones, Custer, Mayer and Sammy Smith occupied the top 10 in front of Allgaier, van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ryan Sieg, Creed, Retzlaff, Anthony Alfredo, Leland Honeyman and Ryan Ellis.

    Fifteen laps later and with the majority of the field running in a long single-file line towards the outside lane, Love continued to lead ahead of Herbst, Truex, Kligerman and teammate Hill. By then, Allmendinger, who was stuck on the inside lane, had slipped within the top 15.

    Another 15 laps later, Love retained the lead as part of a 15-car breakaway followed by Herbst, Truex, Kligerman and Hill.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event and with the leaders approaching lapped traffic, Love maintained the lead in front of Herbst while Truex, Kligerman and Hill remained in the top five, though fuel was becoming a concern for the front-runners.

    Then with three laps remaining, Custer, who was running in the top 10, fell off the pace through the frontstretch after he ran out of fuel. Teammate Herbst then met the same fate entering Turns 1 and 2, but the event remained under green flag conditions. With two laps remaining, however, the caution flew after Ryan Sieg came to a stop on the backstretch due to running out of fuel.

    During the caution period, some including Brandon Jones, Chandler Smith, van Gisbergen, Allmendinger, Creed, Retzlaff, Jeremy Clements and Alfredo pitted while the rest led by Love remained on the track. With the event sent into overtime, disaster struck for Allgaier, who was running toward the front but was forced to pit after he ran out of fuel prior to the start.

    At the start of overtime, Love along with Kligerman and Allmendinger fell off the pace after all three ran out of fuel through the frontstretch. With Love stumbling on gas, Austin Hill shoved Ryan Truex out of his path to assume the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch followed by a hard-charging Chandler Smith while Shane van Gisbergen followed suit in third.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hill remained as the leader by a narrow margin over Chandler Smith and van Gisbergen. With Smith unable to gain enough momentum amid the draft to mount a final lap charge, Hill was able to maintain control of both lanes and cycle his way back to the frontstretch to claim his second consecutive checkered flag of the 2024 season.

    With the victory, Hill notched his eighth career win in the Xfinity Series, his sixth on a superspeedway venue and his third victory in his previous four starts at Atlanta, his home track. Hill also became the first competitor to win the first two events on the schedule since Tony Stewart made the last accomplishment in 2008.

    “I just gotta thank my guys, everyone on this No. 21 Bennett Chevrolet,” Hill said on FS1. “We all worked through it. I was really thinking we were down and out. I was thinking [Love] was going to go get ‘em, and hey, if I can’t win, let my teammate win. We were riding there in fourth or fifth, whatever it was. I was saving fuel. We came to the restart zone and I’m like sloshing it around and we go through the gears. When I went to shift from third to fourth [gear], I actually stumbled and [Chandler Smith] hit me really hard, and that woke it back up, and I had enough fuel to complete the lap.

    “But I’ve got to take this moment to congratulate, Jesse Love, my teammate. He ran an awesome race. To be a rookie and to lead that many laps, he should be sitting in Victory Lane right now. The No. 2 team did a hell of a job. So awesome to win here at my home track again for the third time. Man, what a race. I thought we were down and out. I really did. I thought we were just gonna run second or third and here we are in Victory Lane.”

    Chandler Smith settled in the runner-up spot followed by Shane van Gisbergen, who achieved his first top-three result in the Xfinity circuit. Sheldon Creed came home in fourth place followed by Retzlaff while Jeremy Clements, Alfredo, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ryan Truex and Sammy Smith finished in the top 10.

    Jesse Love, who led a race-high 157 laps, ended up in 12th place ahead of Allmendinger after he came up two laps shy on his dry tank of fuel.

    There were 11 lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 23 laps.

    Following the second event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Austin Hill continues to lead the regular-season standings by 17 points over Sheldon Creed, 28 over Riley Herbst, 30 over both Chandler Smtih and Jesse Love, and 36 over Parker Retzlaff.

    Results.

    1. Austin Hill, two laps led

    2. Chandler Smith

    3. Shane van Gisbergen

    4. Sheldon Creed

    5. Parker Retzlaff

    6. Jeremy Clements

    7. Anthony Alfredo

    8. Jeffrey Earnhardt

    9. Ryan Truex

    10. Sammy Smith

    11. Sam Mayer

    12. Jesse Love, 157 laps, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    13. AJ Allmendinger, eight laps led

    14. Brandon Jones

    15. Riley Herbst

    16. Cole Custer

    17. Kyle Weatherman

    18. BJ McLeod

    19. Parker Kligerman, one lap led

    20. Brennan Poole, one lap down

    21. Leland Honeyman, one lap down

    22. Ryan Sieg, one lap down

    23. Jeb Burton, one lap down

    24. JJ Yeley, one lap down

    25. Ryan Ellis, one lap down

    26. Nick Leitz, one lap down

    27. Hailie Deegan, one lap down

    28. Justin Allgaier, one lap down

    29. Joey Gase, two laps down

    30. Blaine Perkins, two laps down

    31. Dawson Cram, two laps down

    32. John Hunter Nemechek, three laps down

    33. Patrick Emerling, three laps down

    34. Garrett Smithley, three laps down

    35. CJ McLaughlin, four laps down

    36. Kyle Sieg, four laps down, one lap led

    37. Josh Williams, nine laps down

    38. Jordan Anderson – OUT, Steering

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is The LiUNA! At Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, March 2, at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Kyle Busch scores first Truck victory with Spire Motorsports at Atlanta

    Kyle Busch scores first Truck victory with Spire Motorsports at Atlanta

    For the first time in nearly 15 years, Kyle Busch motored his way to Victory Lane in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in equipment not related to him and used the draft to capture a dramatic victory in the Fr8 208 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, Feb. 24.

    The two-time Cup Series champion from Las Vegas, Nevada, led four times for 33 of 135 scheduled laps in an event where he started seventh and made his presence at the front known in the early stages. After finishing in the top 10 after the first stage’s conclusion, Busch, who would capture the second stage victory, overtook Grant Enfinger for the lead with seven laps remaining. He also had to fend off late charges from Ty Majeski, Corey Heim and Taylor Gray to achieve his first victory as a Spire Motorsports competitor and his 65th Truck Series career victory.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Feb. 23, Daniel Dye notched his first career pole position after a lap at 174.246 mph in 31.817 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Tyler Ankrum, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 173.467 mph in 31.960 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Ankrum gained an early advantage on the inside lane as he muscled into the lead followed by Ty Majeski and teammate Christian Eckes while Dye fell back to fourth in front of teammate Jack Wood, all while Connor Jones scraped the outside wall and fell off the pace while the event remained under green flag conditions. With Kyle Busch joining the battle, Majeski would lead the first lap by a hair over Ankrum before the latter jumped ahead to lead the next lap. Not long after, Busch and Ankrum would take turns swapping the lead amid a side-by-side battle in front of the pack fanned out to two tight-packed lanes.

    Just past the Lap 10 mark, Eckes moved into the lead over Busch as Ankrum, Majeski and Dye were in the top five. Behind, rookie Layne Riggs, Jake Garcia, Chase Purdy, Jack Wood and Bayley Currey were in the top 10 ahead of Grant Enfinger, Rajah Caruth, Nick Sanchez, Ben Rhodes and Matt Crafton while Tanner Gray, Corey Heim, Dean Thompson, Colby Howard and Taylor Gray occupied the top 20.

    On Lap 15, the event’s first caution flag flew after Keith McGee, who was lapped by the field, spun in Turn 3. During the caution period, some including Sanchez, Heim, Thompson, Friesen, Ty Dillon and Connor Jones pitted while the rest led by Eckes remained on the track.

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 21, Eckes and Majeski dueled for the lead, with the latter leading the next two laps before Eckes reassumed the top spot.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 30, Eckes captured his first stage victory of the 2024 Truck Series season. Teammate Ankrum settled in second followed by Riggs, Enfinger and Majeski while Rhodes, Garcia, Busch, Wood and Dye settled in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Eckes pitted while the rest led by Ankrum remained on the track. During the pit stops, Eckes, who had radioed issues involving his brakes earlier, zipped by his pit stall while having issues to brake his entry. He would pit again to have the braking issues addressed, which took him out of contention for the race victory.

    The second stage period started on Lap 36 as Ankrum led the field back to the green. Ankrum would maintain the top spot for the next six laps before Busch carved his way back to the front.

    Nearing the Lap 50 mark, the caution flew after Thad Moffitt tried to move in front of Garcia when he got turned across the outside wall on the backstretch, which Moffitt then veered back to the left and into the side of Garcia as Riggs sustained damage to his entry after he was hit by Garcia while Moffitt spun, all occurring in Turn 3.

    With the event restarting with six laps remaining in the second stage period, Busch maintained the lead over Ankrum and the field. He would maintain the lead for the next four laps just as the caution returned when Jack Wood spun across the frontstretch’s grass and damaged his front nose. Wood’s incident was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 60 to conclude under caution as Busch captured the stage victory followed by Ankrum, Enfinger, Tanner Gray, Heim, Sanchez, Majeski, Caruth, Taylor Gray and Bayley Currey.

    During the stage break, a majority of the field led by Busch pitted while the rest led by Mills remained on the track.

    With 69 laps remaining, the final stage commenced under green as Thompson and Matt Mills occupied the front row. At the start, Mills and Thompson dueled for the lead exiting the frontstretch until Thompson muscled away from the field on the inside lane through the backstretch, which Mills then reclaimed the lead as the field navigated back to the frontstretch. During the following lap, Rhodes, who made contact with the outside wall, made a pit stop under green flag to address a flat right-front tire as Mills maintained the lead ahead of Thompson while Purdy was trying to gain an advantage from the inside lane followed by Ankrum.

    A few laps later and as the field fanned out to three lanes, Ankrum navigated his way back into the lead, where he would then be challenged by Enfinger for the top spot amid the draft. Meanwhile, Mills and Thompson remained in the top five along with Taylor Gray while Heim was trying to fight his way into the top five along with Purdy.

    With less than 60 laps remaining, Friesen pitted under green after scraping the outside wall on the backstretch. Caruth, who was running within the top 10, would fall off the pace due to a flat tire on his truck, but the caution would fly with 57 laps remaining due to debris reported on the frontstretch. During the pit stops, the entire field led by Ankrum pitted. Amid the pit services, Sanchez, Caruth and Timmy Hill were penalized for speeding on pit road while Matt Mills was also penalized for running over equipment. In addition, Enfinger had to reverse his truck on pit road to get it full of fuel.

    With the event restarting with 50 laps remaining, Ankrum received a push from Heim to muscle ahead with the lead on the outside lane followed by Kyle Busch, Currey and the field. Ankrum would retain the lead amid the draft and in front of two packed lanes during the proceeding laps while Heim settled in second followed by Busch, Currey and Taylor Gray. Shortly after, Mills fell off the pace after cutting a right-front tire from scraping the wall earlier and he pitted under green. The caution, however, returned with 42 laps remaining due to debris being reported in Turn 4. By then, Currey pitted to address his roof hatch being displaced.

    During the following restart with 36 laps remaining, Ankrum and Thompson battled dead even for the lead through the first two turns until Majeski shoved Thompson into the lead from the inside lane while Ankrum briefly lost his momentum and drafting boost from Heim on the outside lane. Then just as Majeski attempted to make a move on Thompson, the caution returned due to debris being reported on the frontstretch.

    With the event restarting with 31 laps remaining under green, Thompson was shoved out of the draft by Majeski on the outside lane. This resulted in Thompson backsliding as Ankrum moved back into the lead followed by Busch while Majeski was left battling Enfinger, Sanchez and Heim for third place amid two tight-packed lanes.

    Not long after, a tight battle for the lead ignited between Ankrum and Enfinger, with Busch settling behind Ankrum while Enfinger had Sanchez drafting him on the inside lane. Following their brief duel, Enfinger moved into the lead with 29 laps remaining. He would retain the lead with 25 laps remaining over Busch, Majeski, Heim, Taylor Gray and Sanchez while Ankrum, who transitioned to the inside lane, was backsliding towards the top-10 mark.

    With 20 laps remaining and with the majority of the field running in a long single-file line towards the outside wall, Enfinger was leading followed by Busch, Majeski, Heim and Taylor Gray while Sanchez, Honeycutt, Ankrum, Caruth and Daniel Dye were running in the top 10 ahead of Purdy, Thompson, Holmes, Dillon, Rhodes, Lawless Alan, Garcia, Crafton, Howard and Mason Massey, all of whom occupied the top 20.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Enfinger retained the lead followed by Busch, Majeski, Heim and Taylor Gray while Rhodes, who tried to make a move on the inside lane, was shuffled back to 11th place. Shortly after, Rhodes made contact with the outside wall entering Turn 3, which forced him to pit while the event remained under green flag conditions.

    Then three laps later and as the leader navigated through lapped traffic, Busch dived to the left and overtook Enfinger for the lead entering Turns 1 and 2. He was followed by Majeski, Heim, Taylor Gray and the rest of the field while Enfinger was falling off the pace due to a flat tire on his truck, an issue that would result in Enfinger pitting under green, while Busch maintained the lead over a hard-charging Majeski.

    With five laps remaining, Busch was still leading ahead of a slight four-truck breakaway that included Maejski, Heim and Taylor Gray while Sanchez and Honeycutt led another drafting group of competitors trying to close in.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Busch remained as the leader ahead of Majeski, Heim and Gray while Sanchez was trying to close in from fifth place. With Majeski, Heim and Taylor Gray unable to gain any advantage for a final circuit, Busch was able to maintain the lead and cycle his way back to the frontstretch victorious as he claimed the checkered flag by a tenth of a second over Majeski.

    With the victory, Busch, who remains as the all-time wins leader in the Truck Series with 65 victories, achieved his seventh series victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway and his first since 2021. The victory was also Busch’s first driving for Spire Motorsports, the team that purchased Kyle Busch Motorsports at the conclusion of the 2023 season, and the 19th season overall where Busch has achieved at least one victory in the Truck Series. In addition, Spire Motorsports achieved its third career victory in the Truck circuit.

    Busch is scheduled to return as the driver of the No. 7 entry for Spire Motorsports for the upcoming Truck Series events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway, both in March, followed by Texas Motor Speedway in April and at Darlington Raceway in May.

    HAMPTON, GEORGIA – FEBRUARY 24: Kyle Busch, driver of the #7 Group 1001 Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Fr8 208 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 24, 2024 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images).

    “You’re relying on help, right?” Busch said on FS1. “You got to have guys behind you that are willing to work with you. Majeski was that guy today for me. There at the end, we had a bunch of Spire [Motorsports] teammates out there that were great to work with, too. Thanks to Chevrolet, appreciate Spire, Group1001, everybody that’s been a part of this organization from the very start to what we have today. It’s a lot of fun.”

    Majeski, who led three laps, settled in the runner-up spot followed by Heim, Taylor Gray and Sanchez while Honeycutt, Ankrum, Caruth, Daniel Dye and Thompson settled in the top 10 on the track.

    *Following the post-race inspection process, rookie Layne Riggs was disqualified due to his Front Row Motorsports entry not having windshield fasteners tightened for the entire event.

    There were 20 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 37 laps. In total, 20 of the 33 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the second event of the 2024 Truck Series season, Tyler Ankrum continues to lead the regular-season standings by 10 points over Ty Majeski, 12 over Nick Sanchez, 15 over Corey Heim and 24 over Rajah Caruth.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Busch, 33 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Ty Majeski, three laps led

    3. Corey Heim

    4. Taylor Gray

    5. Nick Sanchez

    6. Kaden Honeycutt

    7. Tyler Ankrum, 46 laps led

    8. Rajah Caruth

    9. Daniel Dye

    10. Dean Thompson, four laps led

    11. Bret Holmes

    12. Lawless Alan

    13. Matt Crafton

    14. Ty Dillon

    15. Chase Purdy

    16. Jake Garcia

    17. Colby Howard

    18. Timmy Hill

    19. Tanner Gray

    20. Mason Massey

    21. Keith McGee, one lap down

    22. Spencer Boyd, one lap down

    23. Stewart Friesen, two laps down

    24. Mason Maggio, two laps down

    25. Grant Enfinger, two laps down, 23 laps led

    26. Thad Moffitt, three laps down

    27. Matt Mills, three laps down, six laps led

    28. Ben Rhodes, five laps down

    29. Connor Jones, six laps down

    30. Bayley Currey – OUT, Damage

    31. Jack Wood – OUT, Accident

    32. Christian Eckes – OUT, Brakes, 20 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    33. Layne Riggs – Disqualified

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule is Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200. The event is scheduled to occur next Friday, March 1, at 9 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Michael McDowell captures first career Busch Light pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway

    Michael McDowell captures first career Busch Light pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway

    Michael McDowell topped the speed charts during NASCAR Cup Series qualifying on Saturday with a lap time of 30.999 seconds (178.844 mph) to claim his first career pole.

    He expressed confidence and motivation moving forward.

    “It’s just motivating to make the most of the opportunity we have in front of us because right now, today,” McDowell said. “We have fast cars and that’s not a guarantee six months from now and that’s not a guarantee 12 months from now. I know that because I lived the other side for a long time, so it’s making the most of the opportunity that we have right in front of us right now because right now we’re in the game and have something for them.”

    Joey Logano qualified second-fastest (178.242 mph) followed by Kyle Busch (178.235 mph) Todd Gilliland (178.08 mph) and Kyle Larson (177.829 mph).  Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, Austin Cindric, Chase Briscoe and Austin Dillon completed the top 10 in qualifying for Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400.

    Notably, seven Fords and three Chevrolets comprised the top 10 in the qualifying session.

    The Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway will be broadcast Sunday, Feb. 25 at 3 p.m. ET on FOX with radio coverage provided by PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Starting Lineup:

    Starting pos.Driver
    1.Michael McDowell
    2.Joey Logano
    3.Kyle Busch
    4.Todd Gilliland
    5.Kyle Larson
    6.Ryan Blaney
    7.Chris Buescher
    8.Austin Cindric
    9.Chase Briscoe
    10.Austin Dillon
    11.William Byron
    12.Martin Truex Jr.
    13.Denny Hamlin
    14.Josh Berry
    15.Noah Gragson
    16.Harrison Burton
    17.Alex Bowman
    18.Bubba Wallace
    19.Tyler Reddick
    20.Ryan Preece
    21.Ross Chastain
    22.Christopher Bell
    23.Daniel Suarez
    24.Brad Keselowski
    25.Ty Gibbs
    26.Daniel Hemric
    27.Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
    28.Chase Elliott
    29.Zane Smith
    30.Josh Wiliams
    31.Justin Haley
    32.Corey LaJoie
    33.Kaz Grala
    34.John Hunter Nemechek
    35.Carson Hocevar
    36.BJ McLeod
    37.Erik Jones