How it’s going NASCAR fans! It’s finally time for one of the most exciting races on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule. This weekend, NASCAR headed to the Peach State for some tight-corner pack racing at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Though Hotlanta is a drafting track much like Daytona and Talladega, its shorter straightaways and tighter racing surface provide a much different racing product where handling is the key to success. So, with that in mind, what teams had their car dialed in the best? Which one’s missed the mark? Let’s break it down. Here’s everything that went down in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway!
Per Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, the stage layout for this race was as follows:
Teams were given 9 sets of Goodyear rubber with a fuel run expected to be between 65 and 70 laps.
Fords were the story throughout the opening stage, as we knew they would be. However, some Chevys and Toyotas started making charges late in the going of the stage. For example, last week’s Daytona 500 Champion William Byron went from 16th at the drop of the green flag to challenging for the stage win on Lap-60. He ultimately finished 3rd in the stage. But it was the Penske Fords (and Penske adjacent) that reigned supreme in the end. Josh Berry won the opening stage with the help of drafting ace Austin Cindric. There were no cautions in the opening stage, meaning that we got 60 laps for fairly clean racing. The top ten that earned points in this stage were:
This stage victory marked the second stage win of Josh Berry’s career, both coming on drafting-style tracks.
Fords remained out front to begin the second stage. Due to pit strategy, Joey Logano won the race off pit road and led Josh Berry and the rest of the field to the green. The blue ovals continued their stranglehold on the field all the way to Lap-81 where we got our first caution of the day for incident.
The first caution for incident flew on Lap-81 at the expense of Ty Dillon. Dillon spun in his Kaulig number 10 Chevy, making contact with the inside wall. Though the damage was substantial, he could continue once he made it back to pit road. Check out this ordeal in the video below.
After the Ty Dillon incident, Joey Logano continued to lead the pack single file out front with the Fords of Todd Gilliland and Austin Cindric behind him. They were able to run a handful of laps before we got our second caution for incident of the day. This wreck happened when Erik Jones turned down and across the nose of Chris Buescher’s Fastenal number 17 Ford. Jones spun down toward the infield and made heavy contact with the inside wall. Jones subsequently went to the garage per the damage vehicle policy. His number 43 team said that it would be an extensive fix. Check out the incident below.
When the race continued, the Fords of Joey Logano and Austin Cindric led the pack. However, slowly but surely, the Chevrolets started to creep up on the lead two drivers. Following a brief debris caution for Todd Gilliland cutting down a tire, the Hendrick duo of Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson started to challenge for the lead. As we got inside 20 laps to go in the stage, Bowman became the first Chevy driver to lead under green flag conditions today. His day in the sun was short-lived, however, as Logano rocketed back from the inside. The 22 Penske Ford, with teammate Cindric behind him, managed to clear Bowman.
As his teammates were up front battling for the lead, NASCAR’s most popular driver, Chase Elliott, was in a hornet’s nest of a mess. Elliott was battling on the outside just outside the top-15. The incident sparked when Chase Briscoe got into the number 47 of Rickey Stenhouse Jr. This sent the Hyack number 47 into Elliott who then got into the wall. The contact with the wall caused the right rear toe link to snap. Elliott tried to save it but made further contact with the outside wall, collecting the likes of Corey LaJoie and Brad Keselowski. Elliott pitted but was able to continue. Meanwhile, Keselowski was toed to the garage.
Despite dominating the stage, Joey Logano started having serious challengers for the lead. As the Hendrick duo if Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson rose to prominence on the outside, Bowman rocketed out front. However, while Bowman was blocking the inside line, Larson put together a hard charge on the outside. The 5 of Larson passed Bowman in the final corner of the last lap of Stage 2 to steal the stage from Logano and Bowman. This was Larson’s first-ever stage victory on a drafting-style racetrack.
Earning stage points in this stage were the following:
During the stage break, the leaders came down pit road. Larson won the race off of pit road narrowly over Tyler Reddick. Many drivers spent extended time on pit road to make sure their cars were packed full with as much fuel as possible. Meanwhile, around 17 cars stayed out with Chase Briscoe and Kyle Busch assuming the race lead. The race restarted and the Chevys quickly gained control of the pack. Shane van Gisbergen tried his hand at the lead, leading several laps heading towards the next caution of the race.
The first big one of the race was the result of a classic accordion effect. In the outside lane, Riley Herbst checked up, causing his teammate Bubba Wallace to do the same. This let to a stack-up behind them. With a huge run, Ty Gibbs tried to force a hole between Daniel Suarez and Joey Logano but the hole never really formed. Without the real estate, Gibbs got squeezed by Suarez who then got into the wall. This caused a huge wreck as Suarez spun down low. This collected Noah Gragson, Cody Ware (who hit hard into the outside wall), and Cole Custer. The rear end of Gibbs’ car also broke. He was done for the day. Watch this outrageous wreck in the clip below.
Following this incident, the entire pack came down pit road for service. It was clear that some were going to try to stretch their fuel situation to the end. Kyle Busch won this race off pit road with Chase Briscoe behind him. The Chevys led a handful of laps before the Penske Fords of Josh Berry and Ryan Blaney rose back up through the field. Berry regained the lead while Busch remained in contention in 3rd. As we approached 60 laps to go, we got our next caution of the race.
Similarly to the last incident, this wreck kicked off when the drivers just ran out of room in the racing groove. As you can see in this clip, Chase Briscoe got a huge run on Carson Hocevar who was already in a hairy 3-wide situation. Briscoe looked to press the envelope on the matter by making it 4-wide but got into the wall before he got the chance. This led to Briscoe sinking like a stone, which caused trouble back in the pack. Reacting to Briscoe, Buescher went low and turned off Tyler Reddick’s nose. As he spun toward the infield, he collected Alex Bowman on his way by.
The race restarted with Josh Berry and Ryan Blaney restarting down low. To their high side were Kyle Busch and Austin Cindric. Busch made a serious run at the lead and, with the help of Ross Chastain, he was able to clear Berry who faded on the outside. Ross Chastain then teamed up with Carson Hocevar to pass Busch. The 1 of Chastain then took control of the race until Busch powered back on the outside. Behind him, he tug along the duo of Blaney and Berry and the pack formed a single-file line around the top. These handful of drivers swapped the lead back and forth for several laps.
As we got inside 30 laps to go, Josh Berry regained control of the pack, blocking both lanes. The next caution came out at the expense of his Penske teammate Ryan Blaney. As the drivers were getting more aggressive in the closing laps, Blaney found himself on the wrong side of that aggression after getting tagged from behind by Carson Hocevar. Blaney spun down low but managed to save it, keeping it off the wall and not collecting anyone else in the process. Masterful driving on Blaney’s part. Check it out!
The race restarted with 22-laps to go with Josh Berry up front. Berry was able to clear for the lead initially before he was shuffled by Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain on either side. Berry was able to regroup and rose back through the pack with his Ford teammate, Austin Cindric.
As the field took 10 laps to go, it was officially on. While Cindric remained in control of the lead, they were 3-wide behind him all throughout the track. Christopher Bell briefly put together a hard charge for the lead but it was Kyle Larson, with the help of Ross Chastain, who prevailed just before the final caution of the race. This wreck started out front as Larson tried to close the door on Cindric but the 2 car was still there. This ricocheted Cindric into Byron, collecting him. The 2 and 24 spun to the inside on the backstretch, both making hard impact into the inside wall.
The race restarted under green-white-checkered conditions. Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain led Christopher Bell and Carson Hocevar to the line. Upon the drop of the green flag, it was said that the restart was under review. It was subsequently cleared. As the took the white flag, Larson and Chastain were neck-and-neck. Hocevar built up a huge run down the backstretch, giving Christopher Bell a huge shove going into turn three. Hocevar then split the middle between Larson and Bell but before he could get to the lead, the caution came out. The caution flew due to an incident involving Josh Berry and Justin Haley. Though it was contested at first, the winner at the time of caution was officially announced to be Christopher Bell. Christopher Bell wins!
Round number 2 of the NASCAR Cup Series 2025 season is officially in the books! What did you make of this race, NASCAR fans? Are you happy with the finish? What about NASCAR’s consistent inconsistency regarding racing back to the line? Let us know your thoughts! And be sure to keep it right here all week long at DailyDownforce.com! We have all the latest NASCAR news, rumors, and stories each and every day! We’ll also see you next week as we cover the Xfinity and Cup races at Circuit of the Americas!
