Logano wins at Atlanta
Joey Logano surged into the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, clinching victory in the Quaker State 400 available at Walmart at Atlanta Motor Speedway, thanks to a last-lap push from his Team Penske teammate, Ryan Blaney.
In an overtime finish that extended the race by six laps beyond its scheduled 260, Logano was leading by more than a car length when a mid-pack wreck brought out a caution. The triumph marked Logano’s second victory this season and the 34th of his career. By winning, the driver of the No. 22 Ford locked himself into the next playoff round, jumping to fifth in the standings. “They just give me really fast cars on superspeedways, and we always find ourselves towards the front of them, (but) we just end up wrecking more times than not,” said Logano, who led for only nine laps, compared to teammate Austin Cindric’s race-high 92 laps. “So, pulling into Victory Lane here is always a special one. We had such a really good team here today. It’s awesome to get (sponsor) Autotrader into Victory Lane, and the JL Kids Crew (one of Logano’s charitable enterprises) are here today, so it’s really cool to finally win with them here.”
When the final caution was called, February Atlanta winner Daniel Suárez had pulled ahead of Blaney by inches. However, Blaney’s third-place finish, following his survival of a three-car wreck on Lap 205, allowed him to take over the series points lead by five over Christopher Bell, who finished fourth.
Alex Bowman secured fifth place after a solid, consistent performance, with playoff drivers taking nine of the top ten positions overall.
The wreck on Lap 205 proved disastrous for Martin Truex Jr., who made multiple trips to pit road before ultimately leaving the race 12 laps down. As a result, he heads into next week’s playoff race at Watkins Glen International ranked 15th, 18 points below the cutoff for the Round of 12.
Suárez, who briefly ran beside Logano during the first overtime lap, lost his momentum when teammate Ross Chastain slipped up the track in Turn 3. “No, definitely not satisfied,” Suárez said of his second-place finish. “I am happy with it, but not satisfied. I lost my pusher, my teammate. He was doing a great job, and I felt like we were going to have a great shot at it. Ross was doing an amazing job of pushing, and I don’t know if he got a flat tire or something, but once I lost him, I knew it was going to be tough. But that is part of racing, right?”
The race went smoothly until Lap 56, when disaster struck playoff drivers Kyle Larson and Chase Briscoe. Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet, running in third, spun out of control as it exited Turn 2, hitting the outside wall at approximately 160 mph. Briscoe’s Ford then slammed into Larson’s car, severely damaging both vehicles. Larson and Briscoe were forced to retire from the race, finishing 37th and 38th, respectively, and earning just one point each. Larson left Atlanta sitting 10th in the playoff standings, 15 points above the cut line, while Briscoe is now 16th, 20 points below the threshold.
Tyler Reddick, the regular-season champion, finished in sixth place despite issues on pit road, while non-playoff driver Kyle Busch came in seventh after leading 24 laps in the final stage. Chase Elliott, William Byron, and Austin Cindric rounded out the top 10.
In the final-lap wreck, Harrison Burton finished 31st and fell 15 points behind Ty Gibbs, who placed 17th and now sits 12th in the standings. Brad Keselowski finished 19th, leaving him tied with Gibbs in the playoff hunt.
Denny Hamlin, who ran at the back of the field for most of the race, was also caught in the last-lap wreck and finished 24th. He now heads to Watkins Glen ranked 11th in the standings, just two points ahead of Keselowski.
Following a post-race inspection, NASCAR confirmed Logano’s victory without any issues in the Cup Series garage.
