NASCAR
Logano is Round of 12 Bound After Atlanta Overtime Victory
HAMPTON, Ga. – Sunday’s NASCAR Playoff opening round from Atlanta Motor Speedway can be summed up as Penske Perfect. All three Team Penske Ford Mustangs spent time out front, collected valuable points, and one of them ended in victory lane. Joey Logano is onto the Round of 12 following his second win of 2024, thanks to a big overtime shove from Ryan Blaney.
The only incident across either Stage impacted two drivers on either end of the Playoff grid. Late in Stage 1, Kyle Larson cut a tire from a top-five spot and pounded the turn two wall. Chase Briscoe had nowhere to go, making significant contact with the No. 5. Both contenders left Atlanta with minimal points and in the last two positions. The Stage wins went to Penske teammates Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric.
On a late restart, a three-wide power move gave Joey Logano the top spot for the first time all afternoon. A yellow coming to the white flag sent this race into overtime, with Logano lining up ahead of teammate Blaney.
The 12 gave the 22 enough of a shove on the restart to clear all competition and set sail for a Playoff victory. Logano was in command unopposed when a last-lap crash caused a race-ending caution just before the checkers.
“We didn’t [make the next round] last year and it hurt a lot,” Logano said. “But they just give me really fast cars on superspeedways and we always find ourselves towards the front of them. We just end up wrecking more times than not. So, to be able to finally capitalize on a fast race car and win here in Atlanta again, I lived right over there in condo 805 for a long time, waking up dreaming of just racing on this racetrack, 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 Autotrader into Victory Lane and the JL Kids Crew are here today, so it’s really cool to finally win with them here.”
“We kind of just got stuck back there and couldn’t figure out how to get myself back up there, and then I finally picked the right lanes at the right time to move myself forward. That part was good.”
“My dad, my family, we all had so much fun. You park right over there and unload. We’d be here every Wednesday and Thursday night racing Legends cars and Bandoleros. I remember we came down here for the first time when we were moving down from Connecticut and we pulled into this place and we said, ‘Oh my God, look how awesome this place is.’ You never dream, that was almost 30 years ago, that dream and meeting Ken Ragan, David Ragan’s dad, and getting a Bandolero and racing out there for the first time with duct tape Number 10 on it to where we are today is just really, really cool.”
February’s Atlanta winner Daniel Suarez just edged ahead of Ryan Blaney at the finish. Christopher Bell and Alex Bowman also leave Atlanta with strong top-fives. Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, William Byron, and Austin Cindric rounded out the top-10. Hear from a few of these drivers below.
Logano is the only Playoff driver resting easy over the next two weeks, being locked into the Round of 12. Aside from Logano, all of Team Penske is very well positioned with a triple top-10 day from Atlanta. Take a look at the current Playoff standings below.
Team Penske will try and remain undefeated across the 2024 Playoffs in the Go Bowling at The Glen. Watkins Glen’s first ever Playoff race goes green Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on USA, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Thanks to a new softer tire debuting at The Glen, this race has the opportunity to be as unpredictable as any in the postseason.
Written by Peter Stratta
Be sure to follow us on Twitter/X
Be sure to follow the writer on Twitter/X
Photo Credits to Peter Stratta/TSJSports
