NASCAR
Daniel Suarez Takes Atlanta in Closest Finish in Track’s History
HAMPTON, Ga. – Week two of the season is already a race of the year contender and a finish that will live on forever. Coming out of turn four, Ryan Blaney was taken three-wide by Kyle Busch and Daniel Suarez. With no driver refusing to quit, the top three raced clean to the checkers and Suarez’s No. 99 was just ahead at the line. The winning margin was 0.003 over Blaney and 0.007 between the top three. Suarez’s second career Cup triumph also marks Atlanta’s closest finish ever.
Attrition and stop-and-go action defined much of the afternoon. The first major incident happened on lap two, when Todd Gilliland slowed in the outside lane and caused a major chain reaction. In total, 16 cars would be involved in this early melee, but only Josh Williams had terminal damage.
Stage 1 was largely green after this major accident, with only single-car spins after this. Polesitter Michael McDowell grabbed the opening green and white checkers, further displaying Front Row Motorsports’ incredible early season speed.
Stage 2 would run entirely green, until a caution on its last lap. Joey Logano tried cutting across the nose of Chris Buescher when he wasn’t quite clear. This also collected Denny Hamlin, but the 11 was able to continue competitively. This yellow handed the Stage 2 win to the No. 2 of Austin Cindric.
Two more crashes took out some front running drivers in the waning laps of Stage 3, including Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson. The run to the finish would also be halted by another yellow inside the final five laps, after Chase Elliott went spinning.
Just ahead of Ryan Blaney at the moment of this caution was Daniel Suarez, who restarted as the control car with five laps left. The 99 and the 12 held a back-and-forth dogfight over quick sprint to the end, with Blaney initially getting the upper hand. The last lap will be replayed for years to come though. Suarez, Blaney, and Kyle Busch all thought they grabbed the win in the drag race to the line, but the night belonged to the No. 99.
“It was so damn close, man,” Suarez said. “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 f— his teammate, but man, what a job.”
“We wrecked 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!”
Career win number two for the Monterrey, Mexico native erases a 58-race losing drought dating back to Sonoma in July 2022. Trackhouse Racing will have at least one car now in the 2024 Playoffs, with Suarez taking home a very popular win.
Not far behind the top three spread, Austin Cindric was fourth and Bubba Wallace was fifth. The rest of the top-10 were: Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ross Chastain, Michael McDowell, Chris Buescher, and Ty Gibbs. Hear from some of these top finishers below.
Following two straight drafting races, a traditional race will mark race three of 2024 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Pennzoil 400 will go green Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Chevrolet will try and remain undefeated in the season’s opening weeks.
Written by Peter Stratta
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