Posted on by Staff Report

The historic, three-wide photo finish that resulted in a thrilling Daniel Suárez victory left everyone talking after Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

NASCAR diehards and casual viewers alike expressed their awe following Suárez’s dash, with his No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet just 0.003 seconds ahead of Ryan Blaney at the checkered flag of the Cup Series’ second race of the year. Sandwiched between the two was Kyle Busch, whose No. 8 Chevy trailed Suárez by only 0.007 seconds.

MORE: Blaney, Busch on being on the wrong end of all-timer | Full race results

A look at what drivers, fans and others had to say after the Atlanta thrasher:

 

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MORE: Relive the thrill with the full Race Rewind | Suárez: ‘It was so close’ to capture win

 

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RELATED: New to NASCAR? Stream ‘NASCAR: Full Speed’ on Netflix

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

Stock-car racing doesn’t get any better than this.

A three-wide photo finish at the line. Four-wide racing for the lead. Daring blocks. Close-quarters racing that makes you cringe with every near touch. That was the thrill that Atlanta Motor Speedway brought to NASCAR Cup Series fans on Sunday night.

MORE: Race results | Suárez scores photo-finish win at ATL

The historic finish between race winner Daniel Suárez and runners-up Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch is an all-timer in just about every sense. The 0.003-second margin of victory is the third-closest in NASCAR Cup Series history, and Busch was third, only 0.007 seconds behind Suárez. It marks the tightest checkered-flag run since the debut of the Next Gen car in 2022 — and the closest since 2011, when a 0.002-second difference at Talladega Superspeedway separated the top finishers.

Justin Marks, whose Trackhouse Racing organization owns the No. 99 Chevrolet that Suárez dashed into Victory Lane in his own last-lap heroics, summed up what everyone was thinking Sunday night: How could it get any better?

“I think from an entertainment value standpoint, I don’t know what more you could want from a race like tonight,” Marks said. “It was incredible. My heart rate was 150 (beats per minute) just watching. All race long, I talked to my wife about this; the calmest people here are the guys driving the cars because we’re all just watching this, just holding our breath. This is one of the most compelling races I think that you could want for a sport. It was an incredible thing to watch.”

RELATED: Relive every action-packed moment in Race Rewind

Dazzling, decisive drives put all 37 drivers’ skill on display throughout the course of the 400-mile affair, their machines dancing on the edge of control through every corner. Each lap featured a moment where all hell could blow apart — but often resulted in remarkable steers and onto the next corner.

“What the viewer doesn’t understand is how difficult it is to follow at this race track, especially when you have all that turbulent air coming out of the hood next to the other cars,” said Austin Cindric, the fourth-place finisher just 0.077 seconds behind Suárez. “That’s what got me at the end, honestly, guys just running close to me. It’s not easy to do, but I guess that’s why they call us the best in the world.”

Bubba Wallace scored his second straight fifth-place finish to open the 2024 campaign in his No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota, following last week’s Daytona 500 with a rally after a Lap 2 melee collected him and a dozen others. The high banks and drafting-style racing shared between Daytona and Atlanta — now pitched in consecutive weeks — nearly requires the exhaustion of thought, constantly calculating where to place your vehicle, time your run and avoid the wall (or your competitors).

“What a day. I’m so glad we’re done with superspeedway racing for a while,” Wallace said. “The mental toll it takes on you, to just making sure you make the right move for 260 laps, including the race last week too, is a lot.”

That perspective emphasizes how fervent the action was behind the wheel at Atlanta. But for as fiery as the racing was on the track, drivers were having a blast on track putting their cars in precarious positions — even those who wrecked out of the event.

“I actually had a lot of fun today,” said Kyle Larson, ousted after a crash at Lap 219. “It was super intense and it’s been a great race. It’s been the opposite from last weekend with no fuel saving and guys going at it, so it’s been fun.”

“This is super-intense racing,” Brad Keselowski echoed after his day ended in the same incident. “The track cooled off and now you can really, really push hard. I think it’s some of the best racing you’ll ever see.”

MORE: Lap 2 melee collects numerous cars | Logano, Buescher, Hamlin tangle at Stage 2 end

Chase Briscoe nearly spun multiple times throughout the day, then eventually did at Lap 240 racing four-wide with Suárez, Busch and Denny Hamlin. The nose of his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford was crunched off the SAFER barrier after incidental contact with Hamlin, but that didn’t sour his mood after being evaluated and released from Atlanta’s infield care center.

“That was the most fun I’ve ever had here,” Briscoe said. “And I think some of that is just our guys did a really good job of bringing a car that we could be aggressive with and make moves. I’m actually looking forward to coming back here. That was a lot of fun. Guys were just making huge moves and big runs, but we were able to not get close to crashing a lot of times like we would at Daytona or Talladega. I had a lot of fun.”

How could they not? Cindric rocketed to the lead in a gutsy four-wide dash to the left on the frontstretch — and Busch followed through, the pack maintaining that four-wide fever for nearly a full lap around the 1.54-mile quad-oval.

It was an all-out brawl. Drivers were making moves on the cusp of imminent danger. How do they pull off such logic-defying moves?

“Someone’s gotta do it,” Cindric said. “I can promise you I’ll be the guy.”

The best part? We get to run it back in September to open the playoffs.

Posted on by Cameron Richardson

HAMPTON, Ga. — By less than a hundredth of a second, both Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch came up just shy of victory in Sunday’s dazzling NASCAR Cup Series event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, on the short end of a three-wide photo finish won by Daniel Suárez in an ever-so-slight margin.

Blaney, the defending Cup Series champion, led six times for 31 laps, but his No. 12 Team Penske Ford was just 0.003 seconds back in second place at the checkered flag in the third-closest finish in series history. Another 0.004 seconds back was Busch’s No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, third and stuck in between Blaney’s No. 12 and Suárez’s No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevy.

RELATED: Race Results | At-track photos 

“I felt great about how the race went. Just in that moment you’re like, ‘Damn. That sucks,'” Blaney said. “We just lost by three inches right? But then realize hey, it’s a good day. It’s fun racing for the lead like that. We didn’t get tore up. The competitor in you, when you lose, you’re like ‘ah’ but I had fun tonight.”

The final contest for the lead reached its boiling point when Suárez steamed forward in the upper lane, with Busch squeezing into the middle to make it a three-wide scrap entering the third turn. The trio rode three-abreast the rest of the way.

With how fast runs were being made in the draft, Blaney said there was little time to make a move quick enough to defend out front.

“I didn’t think I really did anything different than like the three laps before that when I got the lead,” Blaney said. “I thought I kind of managed both lanes OK. I didn’t think I got that far out front. I thought I kind of laid back right in the middle of (Turns) 1 and 2 to get everyone close to where they were close off of Turn 2 to where I could get some energy from them, to where they didn’t have too big of a run. Both lanes just got massive runs.

“When you got two lanes training you, I don’t know where to go. I guess I could’ve just bailed to the top and made the 99 hit me in the ass but it all happens so quick.”

Blaney has been a part of numerous photo finishes already in his Cup career, winning three different Talladega races with a largest margin of victory of 0.012 seconds over William Byron.

He’s also been on the losing side of the coin in such situations; most significantly, losing the 2020 Daytona 500 to Denny Hamlin by just a few feet as the two were side-by-side at the checkered flag.

“I can’t complain much about losing them by a handful of inches,” Blaney said. “I’ve won them by two or three feet. You’re going to be on both ends of it. Pretty fortunate to be on the good side of winning them by a foot or two so losing here tonight by a little bit, it’s still a good run.”

MORE: Blaney: ‘Glad we can do that for the fans’ | Busch reflects after near-miss at Atlanta

Busch ran up front for the majority of the 400-mile event, leading six different times for a total of 28 laps.

“Our Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet was one of the top-five cars today at Atlanta Motor Speedway and had a good shot at the win,” Busch said. “The No. 12 car was deservingly one of the faster cars, and with all the carnage, it took out some other guys early.  Towards the end of the race, you don’t have that many alliances.”

Busch lost his Richard Childress Racing teammate Austin Dillon on Lap 2 as the No. 3 spun entering Turn 1, wading up 14 cars. Dillon remained in the race but only managed a 22nd-place result.

Four Chevrolets finished in the top 10 but a majority of the manufacturer’s vehicles were involved in incidents throughout the day, including Daytona 500 winner William Byron, who was caught up in a pit-road tango with Michael McDowell, after McDowell locked his brakes on pit entry.

“All of my friends disintegrated and went away throughout the day,” Busch said. “Bubba Wallace came to the rescue, and he was a huge part of our success at the end of the race coming off Turn 2 and down the backstretch to get a run. On that last restart, I just got a little too far ahead of the No. 99 car and he got a good side draft through the corner. I didn’t think the outside would prevail, but with the run down the frontstretch and the side draft, that is what hurt us. Typically, whoever is behind getting into Turn 3 prevails at the start-finish line with the side draft and everything.

“I think I was running in second place to the No. 12 car at that point, and the No. 99 car was the furthest back. He used the side draft to make the ground back up and win the race. There was nothing I could have done differently.”

While both Blaney and Busch leave Atlanta just short of glory and a guaranteed spot in the Cup Series Playoffs, the two drivers shared how happy they were to see Suárez in Victory Lane.

“It’s good to see Daniel Suárez get a win because as Chevy team partners we were helping each other and working together there,” Busch said. “It shows that when you do have friends and you can make alliances that strategy does seem to work. That was a good part of today to see that come to fruition.”

“I’m happy for Daniel. That’s cool to see him win one and was fun racing with him,” Blaney said. “He’s a great guy so can’t complain too much when you’re close like this and hopefully the fans enjoyed it. That was a hell of a damn race.”

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by Reid Spencer

HAMPTON, Ga. — It was a race of remarkable ebb and flow.

It was a race of breathtaking four-wide action into corners not built to accommodate such derring-do.

And it was totally appropriate that Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway ended in a three-wide photo finish, with Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suárez eking out a victory over Ryan Blaney by what looked to be an inch or two at the finish line.

NASCAR timing and scoring showed Suárez ahead of Blaney by 0.003 seconds at the stripe, with Kyle Busch in third, 0.007 seconds behind the race winner.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

As the three drivers sped through the final two corners, Suárez held the outside lane with Blaney on the bottom and Busch in the middle. Suárez surged forward, approaching the start/finish line to earn his second career victory — and his first since June of 2022 at Sonoma Raceway — by the thinnest of margins.

Suárez, whose No. 99 Trackhouse Race Chevrolet suffered damage to the hood on a Lap 2 crash in Turn 1, had the lead for a restart with five laps left after the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of Josh Berry collided with Carson Hocevar’s No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet on Lap 249 of 260 to cause the 10th and final caution of the race.

Blaney, the defending series champion, grabbed the top spot almost immediately and held it for four laps, but Suárez and Busch mounted runs on the final lap in the top and middle lanes, respectively. Blaney chose to make his bid for victory from the bottom lane and fell just short.

“It was so damn close, man,” said Suárez, still marveling that he was the winner. “It was so damn close. It was good racing. Ryan Blaney there, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric also was doing a great job giving pushes. In the back straightaway, he didn’t push me because he knew I was going to (screw) his teammate, but, man, what a job.

“We wrecked (on) Lap 2. The guys did an amazing job fixing this car. I can’t thank everyone enough, Trackhouse Racing, Freeway Insurance, Chevrolet, all the amazing fans here. Let’s go!”

As the final lap unfolded, Blaney was shocked at the force of the runs challenging him.

WATCH: Suárez discusses finish | Blaney: ‘Glad we can do that for the fans’ | Busch: ‘Proud of everybody’

“I thought I laid back enough in (Turns) 1 and 2 to not let both lanes get that big of a run,” Blaney said. “I did that like the three laps before the end, and I was able to manage it kind of fairly well, and they just got both lanes shoving super hard. I just chose the bottom, and it was the 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. That was cool to see. Fun racing with Kyle. I can’t complain; I’ve won them by very, very little, too, so I can’t complain too much when I lose them by that much.”

To Busch, the outcome was predictable, given the positions of the cars in the final two corners.

“Yeah, typically whoever is behind getting into (Turn) 3 prevails at the start-finish line with the side draft and everything, so I was… I think I was second to the 12 (Blaney) right there, and the 99 was the furthest back, and he made the ground back up with the side draft and stuff…

“It’s good to see Daniel get a win. We were helping each other, being Chevy team partners and working together there. Shows that when you do have friends and you can make alliances that they do seem to work, and that was a good part of today.”

The start of the race was a harbinger of the wild finish.

Moments after crossing the finish line to complete the first lap of the race, Todd Gilliland checked up near the front of the field and stacked up the cars behind him. All told, 14 cars were officially involved, a track record for a single incident at the 1.54-mile speedway.

MORE: Multicar crash strikes at Lap 2 at Atlanta

The machines of Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell and Noah Gragson all sustained heavy damage. Austin Dillon and Harrison Burton, early victims in last Monday’s Daytona 500, both were part of the melee.

Burton was able to continue, as was Suárez, who made multiple pit stops as his crew worked to repair his car. Dillon lost two laps on pit road but regained them as the beneficiary under the third and fourth cautions.

If the Lap 2 wreck was an impediment for nearly half the field, the first attempt at green-flag pit stops in Stage 2 was equally discomforting. Polesitter Michael McDowell locked his brakes near the pit road entrance in Turn 3 and collided with Daytona 500 winner William Byron, costing both drivers a lap.

Speeding penalties impeded Busch, Berry, Ross Chastain, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Bubba Wallace, with Erik Jones’ crew drawing a penalty for a runaway tire. Like McDowell and Byron, those drivers all found themselves a lap down after their respective pass-throughs under green.

Through subsequent cautions, however, they regained the lead lap, and Busch raced his way into contention for the win.

Cindric finished fourth, followed by Wallace, Stenhouse Jr., Chastain, McDowell and Chris Buescher, all of whom made commendable recoveries to earn top-10 results.

The race featured a record 48 lead changes among 14 drivers – the fifth straight race at Atlanta with more than a dozen leaders. Gilliland led a race-high 58 laps, a team record for a single race by a Front Row Motorsports driver. Cindric was out front for 32 laps, followed by Blaney (31) and Busch (28).

Suárez led twice for nine laps.

Joey Logano, the defending race winner, received unwelcome news before the start of the race. The driver of the No. 22 Ford was deemed to have violated NASCAR rule 14.3.1.1 governing driver protective clothing and equipment.

Logano’s left driving glove featured webbing between the thumb and forefinger, an unauthorized modification of SFI-approved equipment. Under an at-track penalty, Logano dropped from the second position to the rear of the field for the start and began to serve a pit-road pass-through when the pileup in Turn 1 on Lap 2 slowed the field.

MORE: Buy winner gear 

The misery of others was serendipity for Logano, who completed his pass-through without losing a lap. By the end of Stage 1, he was 12th, and after the top 10 pitted during the stage break, Logano was second when Stage 2 went green.

On Lap 99, Logano passed Gilliland for the lead as part of a pack of six Fords at the front of the field. On the final lap of the stage, however, Logano’s fortunes soured once again when his No. 22 Mustang pushed up the track on the backstretch and collected Buescher and Denny Hamlin.

Towed to his pit stall, Logano lost eight laps and any hope he might have had of defending his 2023 victory.

The NASCAR Cup Series heads next to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube on Sunday, March 3 at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

NOTE: Post-race technical inspection in the NASCAR Cup Series garage at Atlanta concluded without issue, confirming Suárez as the race winner.

Posted on by Staff Report

A multicar crash involving 14 cars struck on Lap 2 of the NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The outside lane slowed momentarily heading down the front straightaway, creating an accordion effect that quickly sent numerous cars spinning. Austin Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet was the first car sliding sideways but others behind piled in, including Bubba Wallace, Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, Noah Gragson, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Harrison Burton, Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemecheck.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos 

Also collected in the melee were Kaulig Racing teammates Josh Williams and Daniel Hemric as well as Rick Ware Racing’s Justin Haley. Williams was sent behind the wall and could not continue, ending the day with a 37th-place finish. Bell, who advanced to the Championship 4 in 2023, also headed to the garage area after a Lap 10 restart. He later returned to the track but ultimately did not finish, placing 34th on the results sheet.

Reddick was able to continue but finished 30th, 17 laps down.

Posted on by Staff Report

Editor’s note: Story updated on Feb. 27 to include statement from NASCAR official:

NASCAR officials penalized Team Penske driver Joey Logano on Sunday for wearing unapproved safety gloves, forcing the No. 22 Ford to drop to the rear of the field and serve a pass-through on pit road for the start of the Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Logano was found in violation of Section 14.3.1.1 (“Driver Protective Clothing/Equipment”) in the NASCAR Rule Book, which requires protective gloves meet SFI-approved specifications.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Atlanta

On Tuesday, a NASCAR official said the sanctioning body was taking a deeper look at the penalty.

“We see time and time again at superspeedways and at other events where the drivers will stick their hand out the window; that’s not something that we’ve been all that alarmed about,” said NASCAR Senior VP of Competition Elton Sawyer on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Tuesday. “When you take it to the level that you have modified some of the safety equipment, gloves in particular, and then using that, the penalty at the race track was based off that. …

“Now the next step of that is when you look at safety equipment, and we look at this very hard, we take it very seriously. There’s been numerous meetings over time about safety of the car and the equipment and the drivers, and when you take and alter that, that will be something that we discuss today if it needs to have an additional penalty added to that.”

Additionally, the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driven by Chase Elliott dropped to the rear of the field for the Ambetter Health 400 because of unapproved adjustments.

Logano was scheduled to set sail from the second starting spot in Sunday’s 400-miler, the second of 36 points-paying races this season for the Cup Series. Elliott earned the 28th starting berth in Saturday’s qualifying session. Logano finished 28th and Elliott came home 15th.

Posted on by Cameron Richardson

HAMPTON, Ga. — Still freshly minted to the NASCAR scene, multi-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen added yet another significant highlight to his stock-car racing career Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The New Zealand native snagged a third-place finish in his second career NASCAR Xfinity Series start, improving upon a 12th-place finish in his debut race a week ago at Daytona International Speedway.

The turn to stock cars has been rapid for van Gisbergen, who scored an electric victory in the inaugural Chicago Street Race last year in his NASCAR Cup Series debut with Trackhouse Racing. After signing full-time with Trackhouse in the offseason and being leased to Kaulig Racing for a full Xfinity Series campaign this year, the 34-year-old is off to a dream start in 2024.

RELATED: Austin Hill steals Xfinity race at Atlanta | At-track photos

Five days after rallying from his fair share of setbacks at Daytona, he turned a clean day around Atlanta Motor Speedway for a gutsy third-place result.

“It was pretty wild,” van Gisbergen said. “We come in to pit and I thought we had saved a bit of fuel but we still come anyway and obviously it was the right call but yeah, what an awesome feeling just running and then trying to block and follow those guys up front. I was just smiling the whole time. It was really cool.”

Before a late caution with two laps to go Saturday evening, van Gisbergen ran 12th, on a clear path to match his Daytona result. However, fuel management came at a premium in the closing stages and a horde of drivers ran out of gas, including race dominator Jesse Love, who led a whopping 157 of 169 laps, including a sweep of the first two stages.

While Atlanta’s current configuration falls under a new subgenre of superspeedway racing, van Gisbergen still had to race in a pack and use drafting-style techniques to stay toward the front of the field for the full event. He even described the race as “pretty crazy. This is like Daytona on steroids.”

During the race, van Gisbergen’s former Supercars team Red Bull Ampol Racing shouted out the Kiwi as they were partaking in their own race on the other side of the world.

Van Gisbergen returned the love to his old team as he also continues to support them.

“Well I was up until 12:30 [a.m.] last night watching them get a 1-2. Yeah, pretty special,” van Gisbergen said. “I’ve still got a lot of mates back home so yeah, pretty awesome.”

Coming up for van Gisbergen will be his first test on a non-drafting style, 1.5-mile oval at Las Vegas Motor Speedway next Saturday (5 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). He has competed on an asphalt oval before at Lucas Oil Raceway Park last year in the Craftsman Truck Series, but van Gisbergen says he’s more than ready for his next challenge.

“They look pretty loose on a track like that so just want to get out there and feel it,” van Gisbergen said.

Though not unheard of, it is not often that rookies in NASCAR start their seasons in the way van Gisbergen has, and there may be no one that has had a more dramatic transition to NASCAR than van Gisbergen. But so far, he has passed his first few tests with flying colors.

“Since Chicago, my life has changed completely, but yeah, I’m so stoked how this is going,” van Gisbergen said. “We’ve got some great companies onboard and just supporting me having a crack.”

Posted on by Cameron Richardson

HAMPTON, Ga. — Since its inception in 1960, the 1.54-mile racing surface around Atlanta Motor Speedway has experienced plenty of changes.

From its original layout featuring symmetrical straightaways for both the frontstretch and backstretch to the first reconfiguration in 1997, which introduced the “quad-oval” and moved the start/finish line to the new curve on the flipped frontstretch, Atlanta has been an evolving loop of asphalt.

With its latest reconfiguration in between the 2021 and 2022 NASCAR seasons, Atlanta underwent a facelift that saw the banking increase from 24 to 28 degrees in the turns and the width of the racing surface consolidated from 55 to 40 feet. The changes made Atlanta a third drafting-style track on the circuit, producing similar racing to what has been the staple at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.

RELATED: Sunday’s starting lineup | At-track photos

While driver opinions vary on the style of racing itself, a handful of Cup Series veterans have been surprised about how Atlanta’s surface has aged as it approaches its third year of action with Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 (3 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Ross Chastain, a two-time runner-up on the current Atlanta configuration, is very optimistic about how Atlanta’s racing evolves as the track surface continues to get older, describing it as “one-of-one.”

“I mean, it’s already one-of-one with it being a superspeedway, drafting mile-and-a-half,” Chastain said. “The corners are so much tighter than Daytona (and) Talladega, but we’re drafting, and as it changes, it’s going to be one-of-one with the steep banking and still a double-white-line rule. You will still draft a bit, but four years from now, no telling how strung out we get, how much off-throttle we have. It’s pretty exciting.”

Chastain also likened Atlanta to that of Daytona before it was repaved ahead of the 2011 season and already sees comparisons between the two.

“I never got to race on Daytona before it got repaved,” Chastain said. “I raced there in 2012 for the first time on the repave. When I look back to the mid-2000s, they were off the throttle when they were tucked up with each other. Then, at the end, they all push, and they are spinning out off of [Turn] 4 without even touching each other. You’ll probably see that, and we’re already spinning out here without touching each other, and it’s pretty dang new.”

MORE: Memorable moments at Atlanta | Odds for Sunday’s race

Chase Elliott, the 2020 Cup Series champion, won the second race on the current Atlanta configuration in the summer of 2022. He wasn’t ready to give it the stark uniqueness that Chastain gave the track but said he’s been surprised by certain elements of the 1.54-mile oval.

“It surprised me just the amount of color it’s lost over the last year and a half or so,” Elliott said. “But it’s cold out, right? So the grip level’s kind of high and curious to see if the race feels any different, but it still seems like it has a lot of grip so I think it’ll probably be a little while.

“Seems like the asphalt gets better over like pavement jobs that were done in the mid-2000s (that) didn’t last as long as the ones that they do now. So I’m not sure if the process has gotten better, more efficient for highways and roads and that kind of transitions into this stuff. But it seems like this stuff like Texas, Michigan, like those places, just they look like they’re aging, but they kind of aren’t, at the same time. So we’ll have to wait and see what this one does.”

Kyle Larson, the 2021 titleholder, said Atlanta already stands out from Daytona and Talladega based on its size, but the racing itself is still relatable to the two behemoth facilities.

“The racing, I think, is like Daytona last week. We’re two-wide the whole race basically,” Larson said. “Where I mean it could be that way tomorrow, but based off the other Atlanta races, it kind of gets more like you’re just trying to manage the top lane, middle-to-top lane. It’s harder to be three-wide here because you need more race track because your car’s not driving as good. So yeah, I don’t know. I think it already stands out, and I think with age, honestly, it could get a little bit easier to get around here.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

HAMPTON, Ga. — Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Jesse Love led almost all the laps, but in the end, it was his Richard Childress Racing teammate, Austin Hill, who had Saturday’s RAPTOR King of Tough 250 fall into his lap.

For Hill, who won last week’s NASCAR Xfinity Series season-opener at Daytona International Speedway, it was the continuation of a serendipitous start to 2024. Hill is the first driver since Tony Stewart in 2008 to win the first two events of an Xfinity season.

The victory was Hill’s third in the last four races at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the eighth of his career.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Atlanta

But victory for the driver of the No. 21 Chevrolet came at the expense of Love, who started from the pole, swept the first two stages and led 157 of 169 laps. Love ran out of fuel at the start of a two-lap overtime, as Hill grabbed the lead for the first time and held off eventual runner-up Chandler Smith by 0.106 seconds.

The bottom line? Running behind the leaders in a single-file line, Hill was able to save more fuel than his teammate at the front of the pack. Hill had enough in his tank to stave off Smith, who pitted for fuel under caution on Lap 164.

“I was really thinking we were down and out,” Hill said. “I was thinking the 2 (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.”

On the overtime restart on Lap 168, Hill’s car stumbled when he shifted from third to fourth gear.

“The 81 (Smith) hit me really hard, and that woke it back up, and I had enough fuel to complete the lap,” Hill added. “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 coup de grace for Love came when the Ford of Ryan Sieg ran out of fuel on Lap 161 of a scheduled 163 and stopped on the track in Turn 4. The caution extended the race by six laps and allowed a dozen cars to pit before the overtime restart.

Among those who took advantage of the fuel stop was New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen, who finished third in his second Xfinity Series start.

“It’s almost comical,” Love said. “Man, I’m just so damn proud of everybody on this Whelen car. It just wasn’t meant to be. …

“I always try to take responsibility for everything, so as a driver I should have saved more fuel. Man, I just didn’t want anybody to catch me off-guard. I thought I saved a ton. Man, that overtime or that caution just lasted forever.

“No matter what, I’m really proud of our guys. We had a great showing. Led a lot of laps man. It just wasn’t in store for us today.”

Van Gisbergen was delighted to be on the other side of the fuel equation.

“Pretty awesome,” he said. “Great job by (crew chief) Bruce (Schlicker) on the box there to pit us. I had so much fun. Just learning about it and running in the pack. Yeah, to be P3 in the second race in the WeatherTech Chevy is pretty awesome. I’m stoked.

“It’s just good to get a result and have a clean car, especially after last week (at Daytona) when I got involved in so much stuff. So, to have a clean race, not make too many mistakes, and complete every lap, we learned a lot. It was awesome.”

Riley Herbst, Love’s foremost challenger over the closing laps was among the first to run out of fuel — from the second position on Lap 160. Cole Custer hit empty almost simultaneously, then Sieg, causing the fateful caution.

The gas shortage throughout the field scrambled the finishing order, leaving Sheldon Creed fourth and Parker Retzlaff fifth. Jeremy Clements, Anthony Alfredo, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ryan Truex and Sammy Smith completed the top 10.

The Xfinity Series will next race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 2 (5 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Note: Post-race inspection in the NASCAR Xfinity Series garage concluded without significant issue, confirming Hill and the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing team as the winner. One lug nut was not secured properly on the No. 19 Toyota driven by Ryan Truex, which will result in a monetary fine. … Love is the first driver since Christopher Bell in 2017 to lead more than 100 laps in his first two Xfinity Series starts combined. Bell led 152 of 250 laps in his second start at Iowa. Love led 34 laps in his series debut last Monday at Daytona, giving him a total of 191 over the two races.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

HAMPTON, Ga. — When Kyle Busch sold his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team to Spire Motorsports, he didn’t surrender his prowess behind the wheel.

Driving the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet in his first start of 2024, Busch inherited the lead from Grant Enfinger on Lap 129 of 135 and held off Ty Majeski and Corey Heim over the final five laps to win his seventh race at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the 65th of his career, extending his own series record.

Enfinger was out front for 21 consecutive laps before one of his tires began losing pressure, forcing him to the pits after Busch, Majeski, Heim, Taylor Gray and Nick Sanchez, last week’s winner at Daytona, sped past.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Busch crossed the finish line 0.187 seconds ahead of Majeski, who edged Heim for the runner-up position by 0.009 seconds. Gray and Sanchez came home fourth and fifth, respectively.

“I actually got a run on the 9 truck (Enfinger) down the backstretch,” Busch said of the pass for the win. “He must have been going flat down the backstretch and slowing down because it gave me — it sucked me up right to him. Then he got loose in the corner. I got loose in the corner. We all checked up trying not to crash.

“Thankfully, we didn’t. I thought that was a big moment. But then we got the lead right there, and after that, it was about trying to protect it. Majeski was a bit of a wing man today. Appreciate him — and the history we’ve had together growing up racing late models with him a lot in Wisconsin and around those parts.

“That was a lot of fun. Great to get Chevrolet to Victory Lane.”

The race was the first of five events Busch will run for Spire Motorsports this year, after selling Kyle Busch Motorsports to the organization late in the 2023 season. Busch now has 230 victories across all three of NASCAR’s national series (63 NASCAR Cup, 102 Xfinity and 65 Craftsman Truck).

Coming through the final corner, Busch effectively blocked Majeski’s only potential path to victory.

“I had a run, and I got to Kyle’s bumper,” Majeski said. “I knew he was going to cover the bottom. My only shot was to try and fade right, get to his quarter panel. That was the only shot that I had.

“Overall, super proud of the day. The truck was a little ill-handling in the beginning. (Crew chief) Joe Shear made some great calls, tightened me up a little bit so we could go racing.”

Tyler Ankrum led a race-high 46 laps but got shuffled back in the bottom lane after Enfinger passed him for the top spot in Lap 108. Busch, who won Stage 2, was out front for 33 laps and Enfinger 23. Ankrum finished seventh behind Kaden Honeycutt in sixth.

MORE: Memorable moments at Atlanta

Christian Eckes led 20 laps and won the first stage but suffered brake issues that prevented him from stopping in his pit box during the Stage 1 break. Eckes retired after 50 laps in 33rd place.

There were 20 lead changes among seven drivers and seven cautions for 37 laps.

A bizarre caution period slowed the event’s final stage when a portion of the roof flew off the No. 41 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet driven by Bayley Currey. The team indicated that the top area of the truck was compromised when it hit a piece of debris earlier in the event, and the roof eventually gave way.

The Craftsman Truck Series’ next race is scheduled for Friday, March 1, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (9 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Note: NASCAR officials disqualified the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford because of missing windshield fasteners discovered in post-race technical inspection. Layne Riggs had driven the No. 38 truck to an apparent 24th-place result, but the penalty for violating Rule 14.4.10.1.G (“Windshield fasteners must remain tight and stationary for the entire event”) in the NASCAR Rule Book knocked the team to last in the finishing order. No other issues were found in post-race inspection, confirming Busch’s victory in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet.

Contributing: Staff reports