{"id":41771,"date":"2023-03-19T18:30:33","date_gmt":"2023-03-19T23:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=41771"},"modified":"2023-03-20T20:19:53","modified_gmt":"2023-03-21T01:19:53","slug":"joey-logano-drives-dominant-ford-to-victory-in-nascar-cup-race-at-atlanta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/19\/joey-logano-drives-dominant-ford-to-victory-in-nascar-cup-race-at-atlanta\/","title":{"rendered":"Joey Logano drives dominant Ford to victory in NASCAR Cup race at Atlanta"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Autotrader Ford, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 19, 2023 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Reid Spencer  <\/em><\/p>\n

NASCAR Wire Service  <\/em><\/p>\n

HAMPTON, Ga.\u2014Deftly maneuvering his No. 22 Ford through the final two laps of Sunday\u2019s Ambetter Health 400, Joey Logano finished the NASCAR Cup Series race where he started\u2014at the front of the field.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Autotrader Ford, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 19, 2023 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

With a push from Christopher Bell on the backstretch on the final lap, Logano moved to the outside of leader Brad Keselowski with huge momentum and charged past Keselowski\u2019s No. 6 Ford into the lead.   <\/p>\n

Logano pulled down to the inside lane through the final two corners and crossed the finish line .193 seconds ahead of Keselowski and .194 seconds ahead of third-place Bell.  <\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, first off so special to win Atlanta for me,\u201d said Logano, a Connecticut native who began to refine his talent racing Legends cars at Atlanta. \u201cSo many memories of me and my dad racing right here on the quarter mile. This is the full circle for us. So many memories gritting over there with the Legends car, racing, having a big time.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Autotrader Ford, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 19, 2023 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cDreaming of going straight at the quarter mile and going onto the big track. That was always the dream to do it. To finally win here means so much to me here personally, but the team.   <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Auto Trader Mustang\u2014this thing was an animal. Very, very fast. Able to lead a ton of laps, race really hard there at the end, get a good push from the 20 (Bell) to clear myself. Huge victory. Nice to get one early in the season. Always feels better, but what a great day for us.\u201d  <\/p>\n

Logano\u2019s first victory of the season and first at Atlanta was no surprise. On Saturday, the reigning series champion led eight Ford drivers into the top eight starting positions for Sunday\u2019s race.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Autotrader Ford, and Brad Keselowski, driver of the #6 King’s Hawaiian Ford, lead the field during the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 19, 2023 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Logano won the first stage wire-to-wire, leading the first 63 laps. In Stage 2, he finished second to Team Penske teammate Austin Cindric. All told, Logano led 140 of the 260 laps. Keselowski was second with 47 laps led.  <\/p>\n

The victory was Ford\u2019s first of the season after Chevrolet drivers claimed trophies in the first four events. Logano is the second straight driver to win from the pole at Atlanta, following Chase Elliott last summer.  <\/p>\n

Disappointed with second place, Keselowski was nevertheless elated with the quality of racing in the closing laps.  <\/p>\n

\u201cThe coolest thing about this race is two veterans showed you can run a race here side-by-side, bump-drafting, and not wreck the field,\u201d Keselowski said. \u201cIt can happen if you race respectfully. I thought everybody did a great job.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Autotrader Ford, Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, William Byron, driver of the #24 Liberty University Chevrolet, and Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Shingrix Toyota, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 19, 2023 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe were right there. Proud of my team and the effort. Nothing much we could do there at the end.\u201d  <\/p>\n

Not that there wasn\u2019t plenty of action before the final laps ended with Logano\u2019s 32nd<\/sup> career victory.  <\/p>\n

After two relatively placid stages where single-file racing predominated, the intensity increased exponentially as the end of the race approached.  <\/p>\n

On Lap 190, one lap after Kevin Harvick had taken the lead for the first time, Chastain pulled up close behind Harvick in the draft. Harvick\u2019s No. 4 Ford broke loose and triggered a massive wreck on the backstretch that involved 14 cars.  <\/p>\n

Harvick was eliminated, along with William Byron, Chris Buescher, Harrison Burton and BJ McLeod. The defending race winner, Byron was seeking his third straight Cup victory of the season.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Autotrader Ford, Austin Cindric, driver of the #2 Menards\/Knauf Ford, and William Byron, driver of the #24 Liberty University Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 19, 2023 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt looked like the No. 1 (Chastain) and the No. 4 just got connected there into Turn 1 and got the No. 4 loose,\u201d Byron said after a mandatory visit to the infield care center. \u201cIt’s just part of racing. That\u2019s the way it goes\u2014not really in our control. We were up there running in the top-five and doing what we needed to do.\u201d   <\/p>\n

Harvick\u2019s assessment of the wreck was essentially the same.  <\/p>\n

\u201cI think he just caught me so quick right there in the middle of the corner, and then he kind of was up on the right rear part of the (car) and he came back down, and when he came back down it just spun the thing out,\u201d Harvick said. \u201cI don\u2019t think he actually even hit me, but it started chattering the rear tires, and then I was just along for the ride.\u201d  <\/p>\n

Nineteen laps later, a five-car accident off Turn 4\u2014triggered when one of then-leader Aric Almirola\u2019s tires went flat\u2014knocked Almirola, Kyle Larson and Daniel Su\u00e1rez out of the race.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Autotrader Ford, leads the field to start the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 19, 2023 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThere was nowhere to go,\u201d Larson said ruefully. \u201cNobody had been having tire issues, so I wasn\u2019t even expecting the No. 10 (Almirola) to have a tire issue in front of me. Even if I did, I didn\u2019t have time to react.  <\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a bummer. Just frustrating.. I was finally up front on this style of race track and still end up with a DNF (did not finish). I don\u2019t know\u2014just frustrating.\u201d  <\/p>\n

Corey LaJoie finished a career-best fourth, followed by Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Erik Jones, Ty Gibbs and Kyle Busch. LaJoie also gave Logano a push as the winner worked his way back to the front.  <\/p>\n

\u201cI hope he gives me a shout-out for pushing him,\u201d LaJoie said. \u201cGave him a good shot there at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interviews:<\/h3>\n

NCS Race Winner – Joey Logano (No. 22 Team Penske Ford) – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/ATL1NCSJoeyLogano031923.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

NCS Race Winning Crew Chief – Paul Wolfe – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/AMS1NCSPaulWolfe031923.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

  <\/p>\n

NASCAR Cup Series Race – Ambetter Health 400<\/strong><\/p>\n

Atlanta Motor Speedway<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hampton, Georgia<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sunday, March 19, 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n

                  1. (1)  Joey Logano, Ford, 260.<\/p>\n

                  2. (4)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, 260.<\/p>\n

                  3. (10)  Christopher Bell, Toyota, 260.<\/p>\n

                  4. (31)  Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 260.<\/p>\n

                  5. (16)  Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 260.<\/p>\n

                  6. (14)  Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 260.<\/p>\n

                  7. (3)  Ryan Blaney, Ford, 260.<\/p>\n

                  8. (28)  Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 260.<\/p>\n

                  9. (35)  Ty Gibbs #, Toyota, 260.<\/p>\n

                  10. (17)  Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 260.<\/p>\n

                  11. (2)  Austin Cindric, Ford, 260.<\/p>\n

                  12. (22)  Noah Gragson #, Chevrolet, 260.<\/p>\n

                  13. (18)  Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 260.<\/p>\n

                  14. (15)  Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 260.<\/p>\n

                  15. (23)  Todd Gilliland, Ford, 260.<\/p>\n

                  16. (30)  AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 260.<\/p>\n

                  17. (27)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 260.<\/p>\n

                  18. (21)  Josh Berry(i), Chevrolet, 260.<\/p>\n

                  19. (29)  Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 260.<\/p>\n

                  20. (13)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 260.<\/p>\n

                  21. (12)  Michael McDowell, Ford, 260.<\/p>\n

                  22. (20)  Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 260.<\/p>\n

                  23. (26)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 260.<\/p>\n

                  24. (8)  Chase Briscoe, Ford, 259.<\/p>\n

                  25. (32)  Cody Ware, Ford, 258.<\/p>\n

                  26. (34)  JJ Yeley(i), Ford, 258.<\/p>\n

                  27. (19)  Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 255.<\/p>\n

                  28. (24)  Ryan Preece, Ford, 244.<\/p>\n

                  29. (25)  Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, DVP, 213.<\/p>\n

                  30. (5)  Aric Almirola, Ford, Accident, 208.<\/p>\n

                  31. (9)  Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, Accident, 208.<\/p>\n

                  32. (11)  William Byron, Chevrolet, Accident, 192.<\/p>\n

                  33. (6)  Kevin Harvick, Ford, Accident, 190.<\/p>\n

                  34. (33)  Harrison Burton, Ford, DVP, 190.<\/p>\n

                  35. (7)  Chris Buescher, Ford, Accident, 189.<\/p>\n

                  36. (36)  BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, Accident, 189.<\/p>\n

Average Speed of Race Winner:  138.8 mph.<\/p>\n

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 53 Mins, 5 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.193 Seconds.<\/p>\n

Caution Flags:  5 for 34 laps.<\/p>\n

Lead Changes:  20 among 13 drivers.<\/p>\n

Lap Leaders:   J. Logano 1-63;C. Ware 64;K. Busch 65-69;R. Blaney 70-74;K. Busch 75-76;J. Logano 77-131;C. Buescher 132-136;C. Bell 137-142;J. Logano 143-159;A. Cindric 160-164;A. Almirola 165-168;R. Stenhouse Jr. 169-175;D. Hamlin 176-188;K. Harvick 189;R. Chastain 190-194;D. Hamlin 195;A. Almirola 196-208;B. Keselowski 209-226;J. Logano 227-230;B. Keselowski 231-259;J. Logano 260.<\/p>\n

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Joey Logano 5 times for 140 laps; Brad Keselowski 2 times for 47 laps; Aric Almirola 2 times for 17 laps; Denny Hamlin 2 times for 14 laps; Kyle Busch 2 times for 7 laps; Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 1 time for 7 laps; Christopher Bell 1 time for 6 laps; Ross Chastain 1 time for 5 laps; Ryan Blaney 1 time for 5 laps; Chris Buescher 1 time for 5 laps; Austin Cindric 1 time for 5 laps; Kevin Harvick 1 time for 1 lap; Cody Ware 1 time for 1 lap.<\/p>\n

Stage #1 Top Ten: 22,2,6,12,11,20,8,17,99,19<\/p>\n

Stage #2 Top Ten: 2,22,48,45,24,17,19,11,6,7<\/p>\n

 <\/u><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Reid Spencer   NASCAR Wire Service   HAMPTON, Ga.\u2014Deftly maneuvering his No. 22 Ford through the final two laps of Sunday\u2019s Ambetter Health 400, Joey Logano finished the NASCAR Cup Series race where he started\u2014at the front of the field. With a push from Christopher Bell on the backstretch on the final lap, Logano moved […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":41810,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[52,154,16],"class_list":["post-41771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-atlanta-motor-speedway","tag-joey-logano","tag-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/GettyImages-1474703343-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1793&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-aRJ","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41771"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41813,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41771\/revisions\/41813"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}