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NASCAR Cup: Daniel Suarez wins wild Atlanta race in three-wide photo finish

Suarez, who had recovered from a multi-car accident on the second lap, lost the lead on a restart with five of 260 laps remaining, but was able to power to the outside lane on the final lap as Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney raced side-by-side.

Suarez made it three-wide coming off Turn 4 and the trio raced to the chequered flag, and with no clear winner it prompted a NASCAR review.

NASCAR declared Suarez the winner by 0.003 seconds over Blaney, handing the Mexican his second career win and first since the 2022 season, in what was the third closest finish in series history.

“It was so damn close, man. It was so damn close,” an emotional Suarez said after the race. “It was good racing.

“Ryan Blaney there, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric also was doing a great job giving pushes. In the back straightaway he didn’t push me because he knew I was going to **** his team-mate, but man, what a job.

“We wrecked lap 2. The guys did an amazing job fixing this car. I can’t thank everyone enough…all the amazing fans here. Let’s go!”

Watch: Daniel Suárez: ‘This is only the beginning’ after Atlanta win

Suarez, who hasn’t had much luck at the superspeedways of Daytona or Talladega, has performed well at the reconfigured Atlanta, and now has four finishes of sixth or better in five starts.

The Mexican was also fortunate to recover from a 16-car accordion-like crash that erupted on the outside line on the second lap that knocked out several drivers from contention early, including Christopher Bell, Noah Gragson, Alex Bowman and Josh Williams.

Suarez also had to get through a 12-minute red flag period after Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin clashed at Turn 3 on lap 240 which spilt fluid on the track.

The race returned to green with 15 laps to go and Blaney leading Cindric and Suarez.

The win all-but ensures Suarez will be one of the 16 drivers to compete for the 2024 series championship.

With Blaney second, Kyle Busch was credited with a third-place finish, as Cindric led home the rest of the runners in fourth as Bubba Wallace rounded out the top five.

Completing the top 10 are Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ross Chastain, Michael McDowell, Chris Buescher and Ty Gibbs.

NASCAR Cup Atlanta - Race results (260 laps)

CLA DRIVER # MANUFACTURER LAPS TIME INTERVAL PITS POINTS
1 D. SuarezTRACKHOUSE RACING 99 Chevrolet 260

3:28'10.633

  11 47
2 R. BlaneyTEAM PENSKE 12 Ford 260

+0.003

3:28'10.636

0.003 8 52
3 K. BuschRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING 8 Chevrolet 260

+0.007

3:28'10.640

0.004 9 40
4 A. CindricTEAM PENSKE 2 Ford 260

+0.077

3:28'10.710

0.070 9 43
5 B. Wallace23XI RACING 23 Toyota 260

+0.112

3:28'10.745

0.035 11 35
6 R. Stenhouse JrJTG DAUGHERTY RACING 47 Chevrolet 260

+0.135

3:28'10.768

0.023 10 35
7 R. ChastainTRACKHOUSE RACING 1 Chevrolet 260

+0.170

3:28'10.803

0.035 10 38
8 M. McDowellFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS 34 Ford 260

+0.192

3:28'10.825

0.022 9 39
9 C. BuescherRFK RACING 17 Ford 260

+0.193

3:28'10.826

0.001 16 28
10 54 Toyota 260

+0.243

3:28'10.876

0.050 11 27
11 H. BurtonWOOD BROTHERS RACING 21 Ford 260

+0.420

3:28'11.053

0.177 12 29
12 M. Truex JrJOE GIBBS RACING 19 Toyota 260

+0.440

3:28'11.073

0.020 7 36
13 C. LajoieSPIRE MOTORSPORTS 7 Chevrolet 260

+0.457

3:28'11.090

0.017 11 24
14 K. GralaRICK WARE RACING 15 Ford 260

+0.567

3:28'11.200

0.110 10 23
15 C. ElliottHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 9 Chevrolet 260

+0.642

3:28'11.275

0.075 16 23
16 R. PreeceSTEWART-HAAS RACING 41 Ford 260

+0.648

3:28'11.281

0.006 19 21
17 W. ByronHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 24 Chevrolet 260

+0.757

3:28'11.390

0.109 13 22
18 D. HemricKAULIG RACING 31 Chevrolet 260

+0.769

3:28'11.402

0.012 15 19
19
C. HocevarSPIRE MOTORSPORTS
77 Chevrolet 260

+0.897

3:28'11.530

0.128 16 18
20 J. HaleyRICK WARE RACING 51 Ford 260

+1.043

3:28'11.676

0.146 15 17
21 J. NemechekLEGACY MOTOR CLUB 42 Toyota 260

+1.215

3:28'11.848

0.172 16 16
22 A. DillonRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING 3 Chevrolet 260

+2.927

3:28'13.560

1.712 18 15
23 D. HamlinJOE GIBBS RACING 11 Toyota 259

+1 Lap

3:28'33.562

1 Lap 11 14
24 B. McLeodLIVE FAST MOTORSPORTS 78 Chevrolet 257

+3 Laps

3:28'17.431

2 Laps 15  
25 E. JonesLEGACY MOTOR CLUB 43 Toyota 256

+4 Laps

3:28'18.977

1 Lap 18 12
26 T. GillilandFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS 38 Ford 256

+4 Laps

3:28'31.022

12.045 10 17
27 A. BowmanHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 48 Chevrolet 255

+5 Laps

3:28'23.215

1 Lap 15 10
28 J. LoganoTEAM PENSKE 22 Ford 252

+8 Laps

3:28'21.046

3 Laps 16 9
29 J. BerrySTEWART-HAAS RACING 4 Ford 250

+10 Laps

3:19'27.297

2 Laps 12 8
30 T. Reddick23XI RACING 45 Toyota 243

+17 Laps

3:28'33.777

7 Laps 19 7
31 C. BriscoeSTEWART-HAAS RACING 14 Ford 239

+21 Laps

3:04'10.453

4 Laps 6 8
32 K. LarsonHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 5 Chevrolet 222

+38 Laps

2:54'03.424

17 Laps 9 21
33 B. KeselowskiRFK RACING 6 Ford 218

+42 Laps

2:47'26.407

4 Laps 9 8
34 C. BellJOE GIBBS RACING 20 Toyota 148

+112 Laps

2:29'48.000

70 Laps 12 3
35
Z. SmithSPIRE MOTORSPORTS
71 Chevrolet 75

+185 Laps

1:11'53.473

73 Laps 6  
36 N. GragsonSTEWART-HAAS RACING 10 Ford 66

+194 Laps

1:08'21.335

9 Laps 9 1
37 J. WilliamsKAULIG RACING 16 Chevrolet 2

+258 Laps

2'37.071

64 Laps 4

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