The Atlanta Motor Speedway since it was reconfigured into a semi-Superspeedway has been hosting some of the best races in the Next-Gen era. This Sunday’s race was no different as Joey Logono redeemed himself by winning the opener and securing place in the R-12, while multiple cars wrecked behind him ahead of the finish line.
On the final restart following the caution caused by Noah Gragson spinning, Joey Logano and Daniel Suarez started on the front row with teammates Ryan Blaney and Ross Chastain behind them in the respective order to push them. But while the Penske drivers executed the push well, Trackhosue messed up and it resulted in The No:1 Chevy of Chastain dropping down.
Joey Logano WINS at Atlanta, but they’re WRECKING BEHIND HIM! #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/I1miHuN0AL
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 8, 2024
He went onto make contact with 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace and send him to the wall. This caused a multi-car wreck on the last corner with the No:23 Toyota collecting their team’s co-owner Denny Hamlin in the No:11 Camry. This resulted in Hamlin dropping to P24 while his driver Wallace dropped to P29.
The incident had serious consequences for Denny Hamlin, who came into the playoff after losing five playoff points because of an engine penalty. He is currently in the buffer zone has just two points advance from the cut-off line. With the next-two races in the playoff being wildcard events as well, Hamlin is in a tough spot.
Denny Hamlin explains how costly the finish was for him
From the start of the race, thing was going south for Denny Hamlin. He had to start the race in the rear because of a last-minute change to the car of his and fellow JGR drivers. So he came in targeting just a 20 points earning finish, but the wreck cost him almost 10 positions and ruined the plans he had for the day.
I was trying to get 20 points out of the day. That was my goal – just get 20 however we could, obviously, starting in the back didn’t help with that. We did the best we could, and then got in a wreck that probably cost us eight to 10 spots or so.Denny Hamlin told NBC.
Going into next-weeks race at Watkins Glen, the No:11 team has to be on their toes to maximize their finishes. NASCAR using tiers with the more degradation might help the veteran as he is one of the very best on the garage when it comes to tire saving. It will be interesting to see how the Toyota driver will perform in the next-two races.
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