Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney definitely remember the last time NASCAR was at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Earlier on this season, Daniel Suárez “edged out” both Blaney and Busch is what is now the closest top-three finish in NASCAR history. Since then, Ryan Blaney has multiple wins (Iowa Speedway, Pocono Raceway), and Kyle Busch hasn’t seen a win in his last 45+ races. Busch has had a very good run in the last three races, finishing 4th, 2nd, and 2nd. He has also taken the checkered flag at Atlanta twice (2008, 2013). So even though he didn’t make the playoffs this season, there are still over a dozen races left to secure that win and extend his streak of having at least one win per season to 20 straight seasons.

There were a couple more storylines to follow heading into Atlanta with Christopher Bell getting his crew chief, Adam Stevens) back for the first time since he was involved in a car accident in May. Also, there were rumors that Alex Bowman might be replaced in the #48 for Hendrick Racing, but Jeff Gordon shut down those rumors this weekend and said they were not true. Bowman is in the playoffs, starting out in 12th in the playoff standings.

Heading into today’s race saw Michael McDowell of Front Row Motorsports on the pole once again. Front Row has show plenty of speed during qualifying at the 1.5 mile and above tracks. His teammate Todd Gilliland would start out in third. Sandwiched between the two was Ryan Blaney in second. Josh Berry started on the other side of Gilliland in fourth, followed by Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Austin Dillon, William Byron, and Chase Briscoe.

The first stage of the race would be a 60-lap stage, which works out great for all drivers since their fuel capacity is right around 80 laps. And the stage almost went off with a hitch until lap 56 when Kyle Larson got loose and ended up taking a hard right turn into the outside wall. It was unclear whether Larson simply got loose in the corner, or if he had a tire go down, but the impact was really hard and also collected Chase Briscoe who hit Larson in the rear after he had zero vision due to the smoke from Larson’s car. Both players are in the playoffs. But this could be detrimental to Briscoe since he was already sitting in 13th, one point below the cut line. Larson, who started out the playoffs in first in the playoff standings had a lot more wiggle room if an incident should occur. But now it’s pretty much a win or eliminated for Briscoe over the next two races.

Larson has never had much luck at Atlanta Motor Speedway. His best finish was 13th, with an average finish of 30th. He would finish the day in 37th, with only Briscoe behind him after both cars were too damaged to continue after the wreck.

Ryan Blaney would go on to win the first stage. He was followed by Cindric, Bowman, Logano, Stenhouse Jr., Chastain, Elliott, Byron, Truex Jr., and Ty Gibbs.

The race off of Pit Road saw the #48 of Alex Bowman out first, followed by Austin Cindric, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, William Byron, Ross Chastain, Ty Gibbs, Chase Elliott, and Martin Truex, Jr. Martin Truex Jr would have to serve a penalty for being too fast exiting pit road. Christopher Bell would also need to come back in as he didn’t get full of fuel on his stop.

Stage Two was a 100 lap stage.

A caution flew on lap 115 (55/100 laps in stage) for debris. At the time of the caution, Austin Cindric was leading. Alex Bowman was in second, followed by Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Ross Chastain, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Daniel Suárez, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., and Tyler Reddick.

An incident on pit road involving Reddick as he hit the 77 of Carson Hocevar exiting his pit. Also, Christopher Bell would have to serve a penalty for pitting outside of his box.

The race off pit road saw Cindric out first, followed by Bowman, Blaney, Suarez, Byron, Elliott, Logano, Wallace, Keselowski, and Haley.

They would restart with 40 laps to go in the second stage. The stage would finish without another incident.

The end of Stage Two saw Austin Cindric take the flag, followed by Blaney, Bowman, Suarez, Byron, Stenhouse Jr., Chastain, Elliott, Gibbs, and Bell.

The race off of pit road was Chastain, McDowell, Stenhouse Jr., Gibbs, Byron, Blaney, Bell, Bowman, Corey LaJoie, and Daniel Suárez.

The #51 of Justin Haley was black flagged by NASCAR for blocking below the line.

The next caution came on lap 175 of 260 as John Hunter Nemecheck spun on the backstretch. It was a single-car incident with him spinning after getting loose. He hit the inside wall. He was able to continue and finish the race. He would finish in 33rd position.

As the caution flew, Austin Cindric was leading, followed by McDowell, Byron, Bowman, and Gibbs. The race off of pit road saw Ryan Blaney come out first, followed by Chastain, Bowman, McDowell, Byron, Busch, Lajoie, Austin Dillon, Elliott, and Bell.

The next caution came out as Chris Buescher (#17) ran into Ryan Blaney, who ricochet’d into Martin Truex Jr., sending both the 12 and 19 heading toward the infield. However, both drivers were able to regain control of their cars. Truex took the most damage after getting hit in the right-front and would need to make multiple stops to get the car back to driving right. He would finish the day in 35th position.

Kyle Busch led the field on the restart, followed by Byron, Chastain, Elliott, Bowman, McDowell, Logano, Suarez, Gilliland, and Lajoie.

The next caution flew with just 11 laps o go. A Walmart sign became detached and found itself floundering around coming out of turn four. The restart came with just five laps remaining with Ty Gibbs leading Daniel Suárez, followed by Busch, Logano, Byron, Chastain, Bell, Blaney, Wallace, and Elliott.

Another caution flew with just two laps left, forcing overtime. Noah Gragson was spun out by Harrison Burton and ended up slamming into the inside wall. He would finish in 34th.

The overtime restart saw Joey Logano leading the field, followed by Suarez, Blaney, Chastain, and Christopher Bell.

Joey Logano would take the win at Atlanta Motor Speedway! This was Logano’s second win (2023) at a track he used to live right next to and drive at in the lower levels.

​The win advanced Logano into the Round of 12. In the playoff standings, Ryan Blaney is in 2nd, followed by Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, William Byron, Alex Bowman, Austin Cindric, Chase Elliott, Daniel Suárez, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, and Ty Gibbs is in the last cutoff spot in 12th. Below the cut-line is currently Brad Keselowski (-1), Harrison Burton (-16), Martin Truex Jr. (-19), and Chase Briscoe (-21).

Joey Logano’s triumph at Atlanta Motor Speedway has added another win to his 2024 season and secured his place in the Round of 12 in the NASCAR playoffs. The race was filled with intense moments, including stage wins by Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric, and multiple playoff contenders battling for critical points. Kyle Busch’s strong performance keeps his winless streak alive, but his determination to secure a victory remains evident. With a race at Watkins Glen next, the playoff field remains tight, and the pressure is on for those below the cut line.