Date: March 19, 2023
Event: Ambetter Health 400 (Round 5 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia (1.54-mile oval)
Format: 260 laps, broken into three stages (60 laps/100 laps/100 laps)
Race Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 1 Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: Austin Cindric of Team Penske (Ford)
SHR Race Finish:
● Aric Almirola (Started 5th, Finished 30th / Accident, completed 208 of 260 laps)
SHR Points:
● Aric Almirola (27th with 63 points, 114 out of first)
SHR Notes:
● Almirola led twice for 17 laps, increasing his laps led total at Atlanta to 67.
Race Notes:
● Joey Logano won the Ambetter Health 400 to score his 32nd career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his first at Atlanta. His margin over second-place Brad Keselowski was .193 of a second.
● This was Ford’s 721st all-time NASCAR Cup Series victory.
● This was Ford’s 36th NASCAR Cup Series victory at Atlanta. The manufacturer won its first race at Atlanta with NASCAR Hall of Famer Fred Lorenzen on July 9, 1961.
● There were five caution periods for a total of 34 laps.
● Twenty-three of the 36 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Logano leaves Atlanta as the championship leader by just a single point over second-place Christopher Bell.
Sound Bites:
“I’m OK. It knocked the wind out of me, mostly because it caught me by surprise, but I’m OK. I blew a tire. I just blew a tire. I have no idea why. We had way less laps on that set of tires than we had earlier, so I don’t know.” – Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix on Sunday, March 26 at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas. The race begins at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.