Joey Logano Uses Teammate Push to Win at Atlanta
Sunday’s Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway came down to a direct face-off between a pair of teammates; Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney for Team Penske going up against Daniel Suarez and Ross Chastain from Trackhouse Racing.
In a record-tying 11th Overtime finish this season, Ryan Blaney, the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion, was able to get his teammate clear of Daniel Suarez when it mattered most, allowing the No. 22 Ford Mustang Dark Horse to pull ahead.
Suarez, who triumphed in the most recent event at Atlanta in February, attempted to utilize the draft of the cars behind him to get a run, but was stalled out side-by-side with Blaney, allowing Logano to take the victory when a caution was displayed seconds before the checkered flag.
“We didn’t last year and it hurt a lot, 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,” said Logano. “So, to be able to finally capitalize on a fast race car and win here in Atlanta again.”
Sunday’s victory, the 34th of his NASCAR Cup Series career, has special meaning for Logano, who spent several years of his childhood living in one of the condos in Turns 3 and 4 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his second at the 1.54-mile racetrack.
“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,” Logano added. “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.”
Much like the final lap of the Spring event at Atlanta, Daniel Suarez and Ryan Blaney were side-by-side when the results were tallied, with Suarez getting the nod for the runner-up spot over the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion.
Christopher Bell had a quiet afternoon in the chaos of Atlanta Motor Speedway, bringing his No. 20 Toyota Camry XSE home a solid fourth place, with Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman rounding out the top-five, despite facing major distractions entering the post-season.
Feeling much better than last time out at Darlington, regular-season champion Tyler Reddick brought home a sixth-place finish, with Kyle Busch seventh, and Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott and William Byron finishing eighth and ninth.
Austin Cindric, the third Team Penske driver in the NASCAR Cup Series field, rounded out the top-10, a disappointing result for the driver of the No. 2 Ford Mustang after leading a race-high 92 laps and collecting 19 stage points.
Other NASCAR Cup Series Playoff drivers to finish outside the top-10 were: Ty Gibbs (17th), Brad Keselowski (19th), Denny Hamlin (24th), Harrison Burton (31st), Martin Truex, Jr. (35th), Kyle Larson (37th), and Chase Briscoe (38th).
Hamlin and Burton were collected in the last-lap accident that took out several drivers running around the top-15, with both drivers sustaining major damage in the wreck. Burton recorded a DNF after not being able to drive his No. 21 across the start-finish line.
Martin Truex, Jr. and Chris Buescher were the only casualties in an accident that should have been much bigger than it was, collecting only the No. 17, No. 19, and Ryan Blaney, who brought his torn-up No. 12 Dent Wizard Ford Mustang home for third.
The biggest accident of the afternoon in terms of impact was for Kyle Larson and Chase Briscoe, who suffered a huge impact at the end of the first stage when the No. 5 snapped loose and overcorrected into the outside wall. Briscoe had nowhere to go and plowed into Larson.
With the playoff-opener at Atlanta finished, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Watkins Glen International, where a brand-new, softer tire will provide an interesting wrinkle into one of NASCAR’s longest running road courses.
Photo: Matthew T Thacker, NKP for Ford Performance
