Joey Logano Picks up First Career Atlanta Win

Photo by Peter Stratta/TSJSports

NASCAR

Logano Out-Duels Keselowski on Last Lap for Atlanta Win

HAMPTON, Ga. – The dominant car of the entire day won big in Atlanta. Starting from pole and leading wire-to-wire in Stage 1, it was evident early that this race would go through Joey Logano. The closing laps would see a great back and forth battle with ex-teammate Brad Keselowski. Logano got the upper hand however on the last lap. For the first time in 2023, a Ford goes to victory lane, as Logano takes win number one from Atlanta.

Logano was one bad corner away from a perfect race and maximum points. On the last lap of Stage 2, lapped traffic slowed up the 22 and allowed teammate Austin Cindric to just edge him at the line. Logano would settle for second here but find the front again in the closing laps.

After just one on-track incident through the first two Stages, back-to-back crashes slowed the pace around lap 200. Ross Chastain spun Kevin Harvick from the lead, taking out Chris Buescher, William Byron, and more bystanders.

Not long after racing resumed, Aric Almirola was leading on old tires and one blew on the 10, taking himself and Kyle Larson out of contention.

Once these frontrunners were eliminated, Brad Keselowski had the top spot. Keselowski was racing for his first win in nearly two years and first as driver/owner of RFK Racing. Keselowski ran flawlessly for much of the final run, holding both lanes back.

In the closing laps though, all three Penske cars lined up against the 6, and Logano got to his outside on the last lap. With a big head of steam, the 22 cleared the 6 going into turn three, with Logano taking home his first win from Atlanta Motor Speedway.

“We lost our track position there for a minute, but was able to just stay patient and work on it and this amazing fast racecar allowed me to really make some great moves on the racetrack and getting the push there on the last lap to get to the outside of Brad,” Logano said. “Just getting to break the plane of his back bumper was gonna be my only chance there and I was able to get him there and get the push from the 20 on the backstretch. Overall, just a really fast Ford Mustang is what it came down to. It’s nice to win with Autotrader on the car. I don’t think I’ve ever won a race without Shell on the car. It means a lot to get this one in Victory Lane. It’s been a lot of years coming. Atlanta, this means so much to me to win here. So many memories of driving my Legends car right here where we’re standing when I was 9 years old. This is a really special one and a dream come true.”

Behind Logano and Keselowski, the top-10 were: Christopher Bell, Corey Lajoie, Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Erik Jones, Ty Gibbs, and Kyle Busch. Hear from some of these drivers below.

Up next for the NASCAR Cup Series is the third trip to COTA in Austin, Texas. This year’s COTA race will have a much different feel though, without Stage cautions. Coverage of the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix is Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. The ultra-technical road course has been anything but memorable in its short NASCAR history, expect another wild race and finish. 

Written by Peter Stratta

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Photo Credit to Photo by Peter Stratta/TSJSports