Defending race winner Daniel Suárez was involved in a multicar crash with Ty Gibbs, Cole Custer and others at Lap 184 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday.
Exiting Turn 4, Suárez was running the high line when Gibbs darted to the middle between Suárez and Gilliland. That contact sent Suárez’s No. 99 Chevrolet into a slide at the start/finish line, collecting over a half-dozen cars in a mid-pack pileup in the final stage of the Ambetter Health 400.
MORE: Atlanta results | At-track photos
Suárez’s car blocked much of the track as he slid toward Turn 1, leaving Noah Gragson, Cole Custer, J.J. Yeley and Cody Ware nowhere to go but directly into the crash.
Through Turns 3 and 4, Riley Herbst’s No. 35 Toyota had to slow due to a handling push in the top lane, two cars in front of Suárez. Suárez had to roll off the throttle to avoid hitting Bubba Wallace just in front of him, allowing Gibbs’ No. 54 Toyota a run to the middle. The hole closed too quickly, leading to the incident.
“I didn’t know the 54 was there. I think that was on me,” Suárez told FOX Sports while watching the replay. “Today, we were just not good enough. I mean we struggled a lot with the balance of the car since the first stage. We worked a lot to make it better. We made it better, but never quite the way that we normally are here. We will have to review everything.”
Gibbs was able to continue before a separate issue ended his day, leading to a 32nd-place finish. Suárez (33rd), Gragson (34th), Ware (35th), Custer (36th) and Yeley (37th) were unable to continue.
Ware was treated and released from the infield care center. All other drivers were evaluated and released from the care center.