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2024 Ambetter Health 400

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2024 Ambetter Health 400
Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
Race 2 of 36 in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series
Date February 25, 2024 (2024-02-25)
Location Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia
Course Permanent racing facility
1.54 mi (2.48 km)
Distance 260 laps, 400.4 mi (644.4 km)
Average speed 115.398 miles per hour (185.715 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Front Row Motorsports
Time 30.999
Most laps led
Driver Todd Gilliland Front Row Motorsports
Laps 58
Winner
No. 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing
Television in the United States
Network Fox
Announcers Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer, and Kevin Harvick
Radio in the United States
Radio PRN
Booth Announcers Doug Rice and Mark Garrow
Turn Announcers Rob Albright (1 & 2) and Pat Patterson (3 & 4)

The 2024 Ambetter Health 400 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on February 25, 2024, at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. Contested over 260 laps on the 1.54-mile-long (2.48 km) asphalt quad-oval intermediate speedway (with superspeedway rules), it was the second race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. Daniel Suárez, driving the #99 for Trackhouse Racing, won in a three-wide photo finish with Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch, marking the 4th closest finish in NCS history.[8]

Report

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Background

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Atlanta Motor Speedway, the track where the race was held.

Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta International Raceway) is a 1.54-mile race track in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Cup Series stock car races since its inauguration in 1960.

The venue was bought by Speedway Motorsports in 1990. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track. In 1997, to standardize the track with Speedway Motorsports' other two intermediate ovals, the entire track was almost completely rebuilt. The frontstretch and backstretch were swapped, and the configuration of the track was changed from oval to quad-oval, with a new official length of 1.54-mile (2.48 km) where before it was 1.522-mile (2.449 km). The project made the track one of the fastest on the NASCAR circuit. In July 2021 NASCAR announced that the track would be reprofiled for the 2022 season to have 28 degrees of banking and would be narrowed from 55 to 40 feet which the track claims will turn racing at the track similar to restrictor plate superspeedways. Despite the reprofiling being criticized by drivers, construction began in August 2021 and wrapped up in December 2021.[9][10] The track has seating capacity of 71,000 to 125,000 people depending on the tracks configuration.

This Cup race will be first time without A. J. Allmendinger since Talladega Superspeedway in fall of 2022.

Entry list

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  • (R) denotes rookie driver.
  • (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
No. Driver Team Manufacturer
1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
2 Austin Cindric Team Penske Ford
3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
4 Josh Berry (R) Stewart–Haas Racing Ford
5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford
7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
8 Kyle Busch Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
10 Noah Gragson Stewart–Haas Racing Ford
11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford
14 Chase Briscoe Stewart–Haas Racing Ford
15 Kaz Grala (R) Rick Ware Racing Ford
16 Josh Williams (i) Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
17 Chris Buescher RFK Racing Ford
19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
21 Harrison Burton Wood Brothers Racing Ford
22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford
23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota
24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
31 Daniel Hemric Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford
38 Todd Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford
41 Ryan Preece Stewart–Haas Racing Ford
42 John Hunter Nemechek Legacy Motor Club Toyota
43 Erik Jones Legacy Motor Club Toyota
45 Tyler Reddick 23XI Racing Toyota
47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
51 Justin Haley Rick Ware Racing Ford
54 Ty Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
71 Zane Smith (R) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
77 Carson Hocevar (R) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
78 B. J. McLeod (i) Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet
99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Official entry list

Qualifying

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Michael McDowell scored the pole for the race with a time of 30.999 and a speed of 178.844 mph (287.822 km/h). It was the first career pole for McDowell after 467 starts.[11]

Qualifying results

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Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer R1 R2
1 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 31.180 30.999
2 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 31.206 31.072
3 8 Kyle Busch Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31.268 31.105
4 38 Todd Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 31.226 31.132
5 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 31.346 31.176
6 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 31.310 31.206
7 17 Chris Buescher RFK Racing Ford 31.323 31.291
8 2 Austin Cindric Team Penske Ford 31.251 31.296
9 14 Chase Briscoe Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 31.251 31.300
10 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31.313 31.304
11 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 31.348
12 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 31.368
13 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 31.375
14 4 Josh Berry (R) Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 31.377
15 10 Noah Gragson Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 31.385
16 21 Harrison Burton Wood Brothers Racing Ford 31.397
17 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 31.423
18 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 31.430
19 45 Tyler Reddick 23XI Racing Toyota 31.431
20 41 Ryan Preece Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 31.444
21 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 31.467
22 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 31.475
23 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 31.476
24 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 31.479
25 54 Ty Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 31.484
26 31 Daniel Hemric Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 31.506
27 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 31.514
28 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 31.519
29 71 Zane Smith (R) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 31.636
30 16 Josh Williams (i) Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 31.665
31 51 Justin Haley Rick Ware Racing Ford 31.671
32 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 31.707
33 15 Kaz Grala (R) Rick Ware Racing Ford 31.718
34 42 John Hunter Nemechek Legacy Motor Club Toyota 31.979
35 77 Carson Hocevar (R) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 32.003
36 78 B. J. McLeod (i) Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet 32.384
37 43 Erik Jones Legacy Motor Club Toyota 33.691
Official qualifying results

Race

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Stage 1

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Kyle Busch took the lead from pole sitter Michael McDowell and Busch led the first lap. The first caution did not take long as it flew on lap 2 for the big one in turn 1. It started when Todd Gilliland checked up and ended up stacking up the outside line and it caused Austin Dillon to get bumped from behind by Martin Truex Jr. and Dillon went spinning going into turn 1. Behind Dillon, Bubba Wallace got turned by Ryan Preece which blocked the track causing the big crash. The wreck collected 19 cars. The cars involved were Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott, Noah Gragson, Josh Williams, Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell, Harrison Burton, Bubba Wallace, Daniel Hemric, Ryan Preece, John Hunter Nemechek, Erik Jones, Tyler Reddick, Alex Bowman, Justin Haley, Ty Gibbs, Carson Hocevar, B. J. McLeod, and Daniel Suárez.[12] The race would restart on lap 11. On the restart, Kyle Larson took the lead from Kyle Busch. Busch would take it back on lap 12. On lap 16, Larson took the lead back. Busch would take it back the following lap on lap 17. Kyle Larson would take the lead on lap 21. On lap 23, Ryan Blaney took the lead. Larson would take it back the following lap. Blaney would take the lead on lap 25. On the same lap, the second caution flew when Chris Buescher spun in turn 4. The race would restart on lap 32. On lap 34, Kyle Busch took the lead. On lap 41, Michael McDowell took the lead. Busch would take it back on lap 42. McDowell would take the lead back on lap 44. On lap 51, Ryan Blaney took the lead. McDowell would take it back on lap 52. On lap 53, the third caution flew when Denny Hamlin spun down the frontstretch after he got turned by Kyle Busch. The race would restart on lap 60 which was the last lap of stage 1. Michael McDowell held off the pack and McDowell won stage 1.

Stage 2

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Some drivers pitted while others stayed out including Todd Gilliland and Gilliland led the field to the restart on lap 69. On lap 99, Joey Logano took the lead. On lap 103, Todd Gilliland took the lead but Logano took it back the next lap. On lap 113, Chris Buescher took the lead. Logano would take it back the next lap. Green flag pit stops would soon begin. Joey Logano went to pit on lap 128 giving the lead to Kyle Larson. On lap 132, Brad Keselowski took the lead. Keselowski would pit the following lap giving the lead back to Larson. Larson would pit on lap 135 giving the lead to Ricky Stenhouse Jr. At the same time, Michael McDowell and William Byron crashed in the turn 3 pit road entrance. No caution flew as they were out of harms way and got back going again. On lap 136, Bubba Wallace took the lead. After everything cycled through, Austin Cindric was the new leader. On lap 157, Joey Logano took the lead but was immediately passed by Cindric on the same lap and Cindric took it back. On the last lap of stage 2, Joey Logano fell back to 4th and tried to go up infront of Chris Buescher but misjudged and turned across Buescher's nose off of turn 2 and Logano, Buescher, and Denny Hamlin crashed in turn 2 bringing out the 5th caution and ending stage 2 under caution which Austin Cindric would win.

Final stage

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Todd Gilliland won the race off of pit road and he led the field to the restart on lap 171. On lap 175, the 6th caution flew when Kaz Grala spun in turns 1 and 2. The race would restart on lap 181. On lap 183, Martin Truex Jr. took the lead. On lap 185, Gilliland would take the lead back. Truex would take it back on lap 187. Gilliland would take it back on lap 189. On lap 193, Kyle Larson took the lead from Gilliland. On lap 199, Truex retook the lead. At the same time, the 7th caution flew when Elliott spun in turn 3 after he got turned by Chastain. Ty Gibbs also spun trying to avoid the wreck. Truex won the race off of pit road but Michael McDowell did not pit and McDowell led the field to the restart on lap 206. On lap 207, Truex regained the lead for a lap before McDowell took it back. On lap 210, Truex went to take the lead when Briscoe made it three wide for the lead on Truex and McDowell, but Truex led that lap. Cindric went to the inside of McDowell, Truex, and Briscoe with 50 laps to go and Cindric made a 4 wide pass and took the lead.

With 45 laps to go, Hamlin took the lead. With 42 to go, the 8th caution flew when Keselowski, Larson, and LaJoie crashed in turn 4. The race would restart with 35 laps to go. With 30 laps to go, Blaney took the lead, leading two laps before ceding the lead to Busch. Blaney would take the lead back the following lap. With 21 to go, the 9th caution flew for a multi car crash. It started when Briscoe got turned by Hamlin in a 4 wide pack in turn 3, collecting Burton, Truex, Gilliland, Gibbs, and Haley. The race was red flagged for 11 minutes and 25 seconds to allow for cleanup. The race would restart with 15 laps to go. With 13 to go, Suárez took the lead. With 12 to go, the 10th and final caution would fly when Josh Berry spun down infront of Carson Hocevar which made Hocevar's front end come off the ground while also collecting Elliott.

The race would restart for the final time with 5 laps to go. On the restart, Blaney took the lead from Suárez. Blaney held on to it even making some good blocks on the pack that tried to get past him. On the last lap down the backstretch, Kyle Busch got to the outside of Blaney with Suárez to the outside and it was a three-wide battle for the lead. The three drivers remained side by side through turns 3 and 4, even barely making contact. The three remained three-wide and crossed the finish line together in a finish that was too close to call from the naked eye. NASCAR reviewed video footage and determined that Suárez won the race, Blaney finished in second, and Busch finished in third. This was Suárez's second career Cup Series victory. The margin between Suárez and Busch was 0.007 seconds while the margin between Suárez and Blaney was 0.003 seconds, the fourth closest finish in NASCAR history behind the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 and the 2011 Aaron's 499 both at 0.002 seconds, and the 0.001 second margin of victory at the AdventHealth 400 later that year at Kansas. The finish also gained some national attention as some people compared the finish to the three-wide finish of the Dinoco 400 at the beginning of the 2006 film Cars. Some have argued it is the greatest finish in NASCAR's history. Austin Cindric and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top 5 while Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ross Chastain, Michael McDowell, Chris Buescher, and Ty Gibbs rounded out the top 10.[13]

Race results

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Stage Results

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Stage One Laps: 60

Pos No Driver Team Manufacturer Points
1 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 10
2 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 9
3 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 8
4 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 7
5 8 Kyle Busch Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 6
6 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 5
7 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 4
8 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 3
9 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 2
10 38 Todd Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 1
Official stage one results

Stage Two Laps: 100

Pos No Driver Team Manufacturer Points
1 2 Austin Cindric Team Penske Ford 10
2 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 9
3 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 8
4 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 7
5 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 6
6 38 Todd Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 5
7 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 4
8 21 Harrison Burton Wood Brothers Racing Ford 3
9 14 Chase Briscoe Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 2
10 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

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Stage Three Laps: 100

Pos Grid No Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1 23 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 260 47
2 6 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 260 52
3 3 8 Kyle Busch Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 260 40
4 8 2 Austin Cindric Team Penske Ford 260 43
5 18 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 260 35
6 27 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 260 35
7 21 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 260 38
8 1 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 260 39
9 7 17 Chris Buescher RFK Racing Ford 260 28
10 25 54 Ty Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 260 27
11 16 21 Harrison Burton Wood Brothers Racing Ford 260 29
12 12 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 260 36
13 32 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 260 24
14 33 15 Kaz Grala (R) Rick Ware Racing Ford 260 23
15 28 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 260 23
16 20 41 Ryan Preece[a] Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 260 -14
17 11 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 260 22
18 26 31 Daniel Hemric Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 260 19
19 35 77 Carson Hocevar (R) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 260 18
20 31 51 Justin Haley Rick Ware Racing Ford 260 17
21 34 42 John Hunter Nemechek Legacy Motor Club Toyota 260 16
22 10 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 260 15
23 13 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 259 14
24 36 78 B. J. McLeod (i) Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet 257 0
25 37 43 Erik Jones Legacy Motor Club Toyota 256 12
26 4 38 Todd Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 256 17
27 17 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 255 10
28 2 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 255 9
29 14 4 Josh Berry (R) Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 250 8
30 19 45 Tyler Reddick 23XI Racing Toyota 243 7
31 9 14 Chase Briscoe Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 239 8
32 5 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 232 21
33 24 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 218 8
34 22 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 148 3
35 29 71 Zane Smith (R) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 75 2
36 15 10 Noah Gragson[b] Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 66 -34
37 30 16 Josh Williams (i) Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 2 0
Official race results

Race statistics

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  • Lead changes: 48 among 14 different drivers
  • Cautions/Laps: 10 for 65 laps
  • Red flags: 1 for 11 minutes and 25 seconds
  • Time of race: 3 hours, 28 minutes and 11 seconds
  • Average speed: 115.398 miles per hour (185.715 km/h)
  • Margin of Victory: 0.003 seconds

Media

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Television

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Fox Sports was carried by Fox in the United States. Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer, and three-time Atlanta winner Kevin Harvick called the race from the broadcast booth. Jamie Little and Regan Smith handled pit road for the television side, and Larry McReynolds provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte.

Fox
Booth announcers Pit reporters In-race analyst
Lap-by-lap: Mike Joy
Color-commentator: Clint Bowyer
Color-commentator: Kevin Harvick
Jamie Little
Regan Smith
Larry McReynolds

Radio

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The race was broadcast on radio by the Performance Racing Network and simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice and Mark Garrow called the race from the booth when the field raced down the front stretch. Rob Albright called the race from atop a billboard outside of turn 2 when the field raced through turns 1 and 2, and Doug Turnbull called the race from a billboard outside of turn 3 when the field raced through turns 3 and 4. On pit road, PRN was manned by Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan, Alan Cavanna and Wendy Venturini.

PRN
Booth announcers Turn announcers Pit reporters
Lead announcer: Doug Rice
Announcer: Mark Garrow
Turns 1 & 2: Rob Albright
Turns 3 & 4: Doug Turnbull
Brad Gillie
Brett McMillan
Alan Cavanna
Wendy Venturini

Standings after the race

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Notes

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  1. ^ The Stewart–Haas Racing entry of Ryan Preece was docked 35 points for improper roof air deflectors found in pre-race inspection.
  2. ^ The Stewart–Haas Racing entry of Noah Gragson was docked 35 points for improper roof air deflectors found in pre-race inspection.

References

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  1. ^ "2024 schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  2. ^ "Atlanta Motor Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on February 19, 2016. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  3. ^ Sturniolo, Zach (October 4, 2023). "NASCAR reveals 2024 Cup schedule as Atlanta, Watkins Glen move to playoffs". NASCAR. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  4. ^ "Entry List" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. February 19, 2024. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
  5. ^ "Qualifying Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR. February 24, 2024. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  6. ^ "Ambetter Health 400 Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR. February 25, 2024. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  7. ^ "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. February 25, 2024. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  8. ^ Pritt, Ryan (February 26, 2024). "Who won the NASCAR race last night? NASCAR race results Sunday from Atlanta". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Retrieved March 21, 2024 – via Yahoo! Sports.
  9. ^ "Atlanta Motor Speedway to re-profile track in 2022 and drivers are expressing frustration with the changes". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2021-09-06.
  10. ^ "Atlanta Motor Speedway track reprofile begins | NASCAR". Official Site Of NASCAR. Retrieved 2021-09-06.
  11. ^ Utter, Jim (February 24, 2024). "Michael McDowell earns first NASCAR Cup pole in 467th start". Motorsport.com. Hampton, Georgia: Motorsport Network. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  12. ^ "The Big One: 19-Car Pileup Erupts on Lap 2 of Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta". Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  13. ^ "Daniel Suárez slips by Blaney, Busch in three-wide photo finish for Atlanta victory". Retrieved February 25, 2024.


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