Sunday's Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway was quite the show. Many wouldn't think that superspeedway racing during the season's first two weeks would be a good idea, but Atlanta may have changed some minds.
The exciting race was fun to watch. And even though many cars ended up in wrecks throughout the 260-lap race, it was well worth it.
A lot of records were set during the event. The first was a 16-car pileup not even three laps into the race. That marked the biggest wreck in the history of Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The excitement didn't end, though, as the race also saw a lot of lead changes, not to mention some interesting pit stops.
But the icing on the cake was an unbelievable three-wide finish for the win.
Atlanta has long been known for its historic battles to the finish line, but Daniel Suarez, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch might have topped them all.
The three ended up at the finish line three wide, with Suarez narrowly beating Blaney by a mere 0.003 seconds. Busch came away third only 0.007 seconds behind.
Can you believe this finish!? ??? pic.twitter.com/zKwqYNRQbG
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 26, 2024
Racer.com's Kelly Crandall caught up with all of the drivers involved in what might be the best finish of the season — and this was only the second race.
Blaney summed up the race well: "That was a hell of a (expletive) race."
That seemed to be the feeling of the garage that the racing was fun. As for third-place finisher Busch, he summed it up very differently, comparing the three-wide finish to that of the Pixar film "Cars."
"I hate that we had a Lightning McQueen-style finish there," Busch told Crandall, "With so close of three-wide and we were the worst of it."
As it played out live, no one knew for sure who got to the line first.
The video shows them all crossing the line at the same time. During the broadcast, Fox Sports play-by-play announcer Mike Joy said at first that timing and scoring had the finish at 0.000 seconds.
A photo shared on NASCAR on NBC's X page showed exactly how close it was.
THAT'S HOW CLOSE IT WAS!
Daniel Suarez beats Ryan Blaney at the line to WIN at @ATLMotorSpdwy! #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/XqWS183NO3
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) February 26, 2024
A review from NASCAR confirmed that Suarez had captured his second career Cup win.
Suarez, who went winless in 2023, was asked by Fox Sports' Regan Smith if he knew he had it at the line.
"It was so damn close, man. It was so damn close. It was good racing, Ryan Blaney there, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric was also doing a great job giving pushes," Suarez said. "In the back straightaway, he didn't push me because he knew I was going to fight his teammate, but man, what a job. We wrecked on Lap 2. The guys did an amazing job fixing this car. I can't thank everyone enough: Trackhouse Racing, Freeway Insurance, Chevrolet, all the amazing fans here. Let's go."
Atlanta did not disappoint. And when drivers come back to start the playoffs, the intensity is going to be even more ramped-up. Let's hope that race lives up to this one.
