Daniel Suarez wasn’t entirely sure if he had registered the second win of his career at Atlanta Motor Speedway until the video evidence came out. Besides the fact that the #99 team was on a winless streak since 2022, this race was special just because of the way it ended between him, Kyle Busch, and Ryan Blaney. A three-wide finish where Suarez topped Blaney by a 0.003-second margin is not something one gets to see every week. And with that, a burden is lifted off of Suarez’s chest.
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Indeed, he is happy. But is he satisfied? Not even close. In a recent interview with SiriusXM NASCAR radio, the Mexican driver said, “The way I think about it, this is only the beginning. We have to continue to build more points, continue to win more races. The goal is not just to win one race a year, the goal is bigger than that. However, we have to enjoy this moment because this is special. We haven’t won in over a year but we know there is more coming.”
We’re still not over that finish😅
Take us through it, @Daniel_SuarezG ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/uaYIxnudXj
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) February 26, 2024
Thankfully, he got a significant late push from his fellow Chevrolet driver, Kyle Busch, during the closing moments of the race. Busch too, was happy to be able to assist him. “Shows that when you do have friends and you can make alliances… they do seem to work, and that was a good part of today,” he admitted.
Biggest pile-up and highest number of cautions in the history of Atlanta Motor Speedway
Even before the race had started, the drivers knew that the race on Atlanta’s repaved circuit wouldn’t be easy. Their fear was proved right as the race was marred by 10 cautions and highlighted by a record-high 47 lead changes at the 1.54-mile racetrack. But that’s not all.
A never-seen-before pile-up of at least 16 cars on lap 2 set the pace for a series of wrecks in the laps to come. The race for even more intense right from the moment when Austin Cindric took to the bottom lane and snatched the lead after making a risky four-wide pass, with just 50 laps remaining till the checkered flag.
The intense battle had Hendrick Motorsports icon Kyle Larson and RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski crash out, leading to the eighth caution of the day. There was yet another incident with just 21 laps to go, which ended the day for Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin. The 10th caution came out with Carson Hocevar spinning out and Josh Berry crashing.
Michael McDowell, who had started the race from pole, took the Stage 1 win but hit William Byron on lap 134, while the former was trying to bring down his speed moments before committing to the pit lane. As a result of this, the Front Row Motorsports driver suffered from damage in his Mustang and fell one lap down. Nevertheless, his day ended with a consoling top-10 finish.
