HAMPTON, Ga. — Three cars flashed by the finish line side-by-side to end Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta, with Daniel Suárez taking the win just inches ahead of Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch.
Suárez got the lead late after slowly making his way through the field. He and Blaney battled for the top spot in the closing laps before Busch nudged his way to battle with them on the final lap. The three drivers went into the final turn three-wide, with none of them giving up any room. Suárez prevailed by just three one-thousandths of a second, one of the closest finishes in NASCAR history.
"It was so damn close," Suárez said after the win. "It was good racing with Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch. I can't thank everyone enough at Trackhouse Racing."
It's just the second Cup Series win for Suárez. His first win came at Sonoma in 2022. The win virtually locks the Trackhouse Racing driver into the NASCAR playoffs. He missed the playoffs last season.
Blaney finished second with Busch just behind in third. Austin Cindric and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top five.
The story of the day, besides the extremely close finish, was the cautions. Sunday's race saw 10 cautions with practically every driver suffering some form of damage, including Suárez.
Atlanta lived up to its newfound superspeedway calamity on just the second lap of the race. Austin Dillon spun out after contact with Martin Truex Jr. The incident caused Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, and others to also spin out. Noah Gragson and Josh Williams were wrecked out of the race in the crash. Alex Bowman and Christopher Bell were left multiple laps down.
Michael McDowell started on the pole for the first time in his NASCAR Cup Series career and stayed up front for a large portion of the race. McDowell won the first stage and was a top contender to win the race until he made contact with William Byron as the field was pitting under green.
McDowell's Front Row Motorsports teammate Todd Gilliland then held the lead for over 50 laps, more than doubling his career total coming into Sunday's race. Gilliland's presence at the front was a statement moment for Ford, as Mustangs dominated the first two-thirds of the race.
Austin Cindric won the second stage under caution after Joey Logano slammed Chris Buescher into the wall and spun out. Denny Hamlin was also involved.
Gilliland, Truex, and Hamlin spent time at the front of the field in the final stage.
With just under 20 laps to go, Chase Briscoe made contact with Hamlin near the front of the field and wrecked out both cars, collecting Harrison Burton, Josh Berry, and Justin Haley in the process. The wreck caused a brief red flag period.
Blaney and Suárez traded the lead when the race resumed. Austin Cindric fell out of line, causing drivers to check up and eventually leading to Berry spinning hard into the side of Carson Hocevar. Chase Elliott spun out during the incident.
When the race restarted with six laps left, Blaney, Suárez, and Busch were the main contenders for the win. They kept their presence at the front and held it to the final straightaway.
The NASCAR Cup Series is back in action on Sunday, March 3 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. William Byron is the defending winner.
