Joey Logano Advances To Round of 12 With Atlanta Victory
09/08/2024 07:52 PM
By Matt Courson, Staff Writer
HAMPTON, Ga. — Joey Logano was victorious in the overtime finish Sunday in the Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, claiming his second win at the famed 1.5-mile speedway.
Logano and Suarez lined up on the front row of the overtime restart, followed by their respective teammates of Ryan Blaney and Ross Chastain. The No. 1 of Chastain was not able to keep up with Suarez, while Blaney was able to keep shoving Logano to the front for the remaining laps. The key move was the push across the line taking the white flag, Logano said.
"We didn't (advance in the Playoffs) last year and it hurt a lot, but [Team Penske] just gives 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."
Teammate Ryan Blaney finished second, satisfied with the amount of points he had earned.
“A good day, I can’t really complain,” Blaney said. “It’s the most points you can score without winning. Proud of the speed and effort by our group, we executed perfectly. First two stages we executed perfectly and caught up in that deal trying to save gas. They fixed it really, really well and I was able to drive back up through the field and we had a chance.
Daniel Suarez, who ultimately crossed the line third, was unable to compete with Logano and Blaney after being unable to stay connected with teammate Chastain on the final restart.
“It was good, definitely happy but not satisfied. When we are in that position, I expect to execute perfectly. There are a lot of parts and pieces that have to go right and it just wasn’t meant to be. I can’t wait to go home and watch the restarts to see what I could have done better. Once I lost (Chastain), that was it.”
Some Playoff contenders did not escape in good shape. Kyle Larson and Chase Briscoe took early exits in Stage 1. On lap 55 Larson appeared to get loose and slammed the outside retaining wall. Briscoe was collected as an innocent bystander. The two would go onto finish 37th and 38th.
Other notable Playoff drivers with trouble include Martin Truex Jr. who was unable to overcome damage from a lap 204 crash with Ryan Blaney and Chris Buescher. Truex finished 35th. Denny Hamlin was not a factor at all during the race, ultimately finishing 24th. Kyle Busch was the highest scored non-playoff driver in 8th.
