HAMPTON, Ga. - After qualifying on the pole and leading 140 laps in the 260-lap event, Team Penske's Joey Logano earned his first win at Atlanta Motor Speedway by conquering the Ambetter Health 400, which is his 32nd career victory in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Logano outmaneuvered former Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski, who couldn't block the move made up high by the No. 22 Ford Mustang on the final lap in Turn 2. The RFK Racing driver led 47 laps and earned his best finish with RFK Racing since moving over to the team in an owner-driver role in 2022.
After winning Stage 1 and finishing second in Stage 2, Logano earned 59 out of a possible 60 points during the race. This marks the third straight week where the winner of the NASCAR Cup Series race has earned at least 59 points. William Byron previously earned 59 points at Phoenix Raceway and 60 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Since Logano joined Team Penske in 2013, Shell-Pennzoil has been Logano's primary sponsor for the past decade. During this time, Logano had never won a Cup race with another primary sponsor for Penske entering Atlanta.
Autotrader was the No. 22 Ford Mustang's primary sponsor for the Ambetter Health 400, which ended Logano's long streak of Penske Cup wins with only Shell-Pennzoil as the primary sponsor.
Although Logano led the majority of the race, Keselowski led 29 out of the final 30 laps. Unfortunately, for Keselowski, Logano got back around him after a push from Christopher Bell that sealed the deal for the 22.
“We lost our track position there for a minute, but was able to just stay patient and work on it and this amazing fast race car allowed me to really make some great moves on the race track and getting the push there on the last lap to get to the outside of Brad (Keselowski),” Logano said in a post-race interview.
Keselowski also commented on not only the respect he and Logano have for one another but also how he felt about his best finish with RFK Racing.
"Glad a Ford won," Keselowski said. "A heck of a battle. The 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. It can happen if you race respectfully. I thought everybody did a great job. We were right there.
"Proud of my team and the effort. Nothing much we could do there at the end. Night and day from where we were a year ago. 100%. Keep running like this, the good finishes and the wins will happen.”
Other Race Facts
Corey LaJoie and Spire Motorsports had nothing short of a great day. LaJoie's fourth-place finish is a new career-high after earning his previous career-best finish at Atlanta last season of fifth-place. LaJoie also sits 14th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, which would see the No. 7 Chevrolet in the playoffs if the postseason began after five races.
Toyota had one of the most underrated days on the grid, due to Ford's dominance overshadowing TRD's performance. Out of the six Toyota drivers, four of them finished in the top-10. Christopher Bell finished third. Tyler Reddick, who was sick before the race, with John Hunter Nemechek on standby, powered through all 260 laps to finish fifth.
Denny Hamlin was sixth and Ty Gibbs earned a career-best finish in ninth-place. All six Toyotas, including Bubba Wallace and Martin Truex Jr., are in the top-20 in points.
Hendrick Motorsports had one of its worst performances of the season coming off a major L2-level penalty. Alex Bowman saw his top-10 streak come to an end with a 14th-place finish. Josh Berry finished 18th. Kyle Larson and William Byron did not finish the race, placing them in 31st and 32nd respectively.
Brad Keselowski is the only driver to lead a lap in each of the five NASCAR Cup Series races during the 2023 season. According to statistician Trey Ryan, this also marks the second time in Keselowski's career that he's led a lap in each of the first five races (2014).
Stewart-Haas Racing has been one of the most notable teams to be underperforming. Besides Kevin Harvick being sixth in points, the remaining drivers (Chase Briscoe, Ryan Preece, Aric Almirola) sit 23rd, 26th and 27th in the standings.
Results from the 2023 Ambetter Health 400 are listed below.
GRID Ranking
The 2023 GRID Ranking will be the seventh year of the premier motorsport ranking in the world, and it will be released during the week of April 2.
Before the official ranking releases on the first Sunday of April, drivers in the seven racing series that participate in the ranking (NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula 1, Formula E, World Rally Championship, Repco Supercars, MotoGP) earn GRID Ratings, which help determine their initial seeding when the GRID Ranking releases.
For NASCAR, William Byron's huge lead in the GRID Rating has been cut significantly as Christopher Bell finished in the top-six for the fourth time this season, and Joey Logano found victory lane.
Here is the rest of the NASCAR Top-10 GRID Rating:
William Byron - 50
Christopher Bell - 48
Joey Logano - 44
Alex Bowman - 31
Kyle Larson - 30
Kyle Busch - 30
Ryan Blaney - 28
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. - 25
Tyler Reddick - 25
Brad Keselowski - 24
Out of the 10 current drivers in NASCAR's fifth GRID Rating, six of them were in the pre-season poll completed by the members of GRID Network: Bell, Blaney, Busch, Larson, Logano, and Reddick.
The next race for the NASCAR Cup Series is on Sunday, March 25 for the first road course of the 2023 season at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA). Coverage begins from Austin, Texas at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.
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