1. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. By short-pitting on the final stop of the day, Chad Knaus put his driver in front of the field late. Johnson was able to hold off Harvick and survive an overtime restart to earn his second consecutive Atlanta win and tie Dale Earnhardt with 76 career wins. Grade: A+
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. The No. 88 Chevrolet was flying in the opening laps, but the hot start cooled as the long green flag run continued. On the final restart Earnhardt used a strong charge to get to the front and edge Kyle Busch for second. Grade: A
3. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. The defending champ’s pole-winning run was disallowed and he was forced to start from the back. Without the help of a caution, Busch climbed his way into the top five with 100 laps to go and just barely missed out on the runner-up spot. Grade: A+
4. Kurt Busch, No. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. The pole-sitter was strong to start the day, faded a bit in the midsection, but rallied for a top-five finish. Grade: A-
5. Carl Edwards, No. 19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Lined up sixth for the final restart of the day, Edwards used some quick moves to get by Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. as they struggled to get going. Grade: A-
6. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. After an unscheduled stop from fourth on Lap 39 for a flat right front tire, Harvick was among the best at managing the wear the rest of the day. Despite leading the most laps, he could not catch Johnson when it mattered most and struggled on the final restart. Grade: A
7. Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Toyota, Furniture Row Racing. The Daytona 500 runner-up had a strong Toyota and was a factor at the front of the field for much of the day, fighting with Kevin Harvick for the lead. Lined up on the outside for the final restart, Truex fell back when the line didn’t get going. Grade: A
8. Chase Elliott, No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. The hometown favorite had a solid and quiet day in the second race of his rookie campaign, earning his first career top 10. Grade: A
9. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford, Team Penske. The No. 2 Ford came to life after the first caution of the day, with Keselowski charging to the front over the final 100 laps. Grade: A-
10. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. The Roush Fenway Racing driver carried the torch for the company throughout the day, staying in the top 10 for much of the event. Grade: A
11. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. The driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet continued his solid start to the season, finishing just outside the top 10. Grade: A-
12. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford, Team Penske. A decent run hit a bump as Logano had a commitment cone violation and nearly hit his jackman just past the 150-lap mark. A pass-through penalty dropped the Team Penske driver down a lap and a loose wheel with 83 laps to go ruined any chance at a recovery. Grade: B-
13. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. After a disappointing start to the year in the Daytona 500, a top-15 finish was a nice rebound for the No. 16 team. Grade: B
14. Casey Mears, No. 13 Chevrolet, Germain Racing. Mears spent the majority of the day fighting to stay in the top 20, missed the big last-lap wreck and ended the afternoon one spot ahead of where he started. Grade: B
15. Aric Almirola, No. 43 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Almirola’s day ended in a ball of flames after being involved in the last-lap wreck on the backstretch. Grade: B-
16. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. The Daytona 500 winner struggled with the handling of the No. 11 Toyota and was never able to recover, finishing two laps down. Grade: C
17. Ty Dillon, No. 14 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Making his first start in the No. 14 Chevrolet, Dillon missed the mark and spent the majority of the day multiple laps down just inside the top 20. Grade: C
18. Paul Menard, No. 27 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Menard fought the handling of the car throughout the race and survived the final restart to finish 18th. Grade: C
19. Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Took the lead from Kurt Busch on Lap 64, showing the strength of the No. 20 Toyota. However, an “improper fueling” penalty led to a mid-race pass-through penalty and much debate on pit road and over the radio. Grade: C- | RELATED: Kenseth ‘hot’ post-penalty
20. Danica Patrick, No. 10 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Patrick finished two laps down, but avoided trouble and finished five spots ahead of where she started. Grade: C+
21. Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Despite starting second, McMurray was never a factor at the front of the field and finished two laps down. Grade: C-
22. Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Starting up front Bayne had high hopes, but once the green flag dropped, so did the No. 6 Ford. Grade: C-
23. Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. The No. 5 Chevrolet was lapped early while his teammates ran upfront. Not a great start to the season for Kahne. Grade: D
24. Ryan Newman, No. 31 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. A solid day for the No. 31 team was ruined with a late-race penalty for the crew going over the wall too soon on the final stop of the day. A blown left rear with two laps to go added insult to injury. Grade: B-
25. Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Ford, Wood Brothers Racing. The rookie driver ran mid-pack through the day, but suffered heavy damage on the final lap of the race. Grade: C
26. Kyle Larson, No 42 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. A lackluster run was hurt when the No. 42 Chevrolet was issued a commitment line violation during green flag pit stops around Lap 150. Grade: C-
27. AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing. ‘Dinger said after the race his car had speed, but the team fought the handling. On to next week. Grade: C
28. Chris Buescher, No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. The defending XFINITY Series champion started 31st, battled to break into the top 30 most of the day and finished 28th. Not too bad. Grade: C+
29. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Toyota, BK Racing. One week after a disappointing outing in the Daytona 500, DiBenedetto finished six spots ahead of where he started. Grade: C
30. Michael Annett, No. 46 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Annett gained four spots over the course of the day, but never broke into the top 25. Grade: C
31. Brian Scott, No. 44 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. The rookie contender scraped the outside wall just past the halfway mark and was forced to bring the No. 44 Ford to pit road. Grade: D+
32. David Ragan, No. 23 Toyota, BK Racing. The Georgia native ran in the 30s for much of the day and suffered heavy damage on the last-lap wreck on the backstretch. Grade: D
33. Michael McDowell, No. 95 Chevrolet, Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing. A struggle at the first 1.5-mile track proves this team still has a lot of work to do. Grade: D-
34. Regan Smith, No. 7 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing. Smith’s No. 7 Chevrolet had a broken brace on the right rear of the car early on, drawing the attention of NASCAR officials. A pass-through penalty during green flag conditions further hindered the effort. Grade: C-
35. Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. The HScott Motorsports driver had a better ride in Saturday night’s SuperCross event, and that ended with a faceplant into a wall. The No. 15 team has a lot of work to do moving forward. Grade: F | RELATED: Bowyer goes for a wild ride
36. Landon Cassill, No. 38 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Starting 29th, Cassill raced his way into the top 25 early in the going, but faded and dropped to 36th, 11 laps down. Grade: D
37. Cole Whitt, No. 98 Chevrolet, Premium Motorsports. Whitt came close to racing into the top 30 at points of the day, but it never happened. Grade: D
38. Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 32 Ford, Go FAS Racing. The fourth-generation racer made his first Sprint Cup start of the season, finishing where he started. Grade: D-
39. Josh Wise, No. 30 Chevrolet, The Motorsports Group. Wise ran shotgun on the field for nearly the entire race, finishing the day 18 laps down. Grade: D-