Suarez, Blaney, Busch break down 3-wide finish at Atlanta

HAMPTON, Ga. — The energy on pit road was electric after the Ambetter Health 400 ended in a photo finish Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Daniel Suarez held off Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch by 0.003 seconds and by 0.007 seconds, respectively.

Afterward, Suarez thanked Busch for the assistance he needed to win.

“I have to thank Kyle Busch. He did a good job giving me some good pushes. We took the lead together,” Suarez said.

Suarez took the lead on lap 248 of 260 with Busch on his bumper. He led with six laps to go but then lost it to Ryan Blaney.

Starting the final lap, Suarez saw an opportunity to pass Blaney back with the help he had. It almost wasn’t meant to be once he considered where that help was coming from.

“When I crossed the white, I knew we had a shot because the 2 car [Austin Cindric, Ryan Blaney’s teammate] was behind me and he gave me some good pushes. Then the 2 slowed down and I was like, ‘Damn it.’ He slowed down because his teammate was in front.

Kyle Busch made a move on the backstretch to go to the outside of Blaney. When he did, Suarez sidedrafted Busch, making it three-wide.

As they entered the dogleg, Suarez said he focused on Busch.

“I had no idea about the 12. When we crossed the line, I was looking at the tower and thought we had it. But then I heard it was under review and I was like ‘Damn it.’ Then, to win like this with two great drivers is spectacular,” Suarez said.

Blaney was thrilled for Suarez and the finish they had.

“I’ve won ’em by super close and lost ’em by super close. But, fun racing at the end. Really fun racing all day. I thought I laid back the right amount [on the fina lap] and they came back with massive runs. I couldn’t block either one so I just ran the bottom and dragged it out to the end. I’m glad we didn’t get torn up,” Blaney said with a smile.

Busch was drained coming out of the car, coming so close but ending a mentally-taxing race in third.

“It’s frustrating. I hate it because I felt like we were one of the top-5 cars,” Busch said. “But I got a little too far ahead of the 99, he got a side draft off the corner. I didn’t think the outside would prevail but when the run came down the frontstretch and the sidedraft, that’s what hurt us.”

While Suarez wasn’t focused on Blaney at all at the finish, Busch was dead set on him.

“I was looking at the 12, I swear I was ahead of the 12 at the line. But obviously my eyes are bad. Needed more powerful glasses, I guess,” Busch said.

While often outspoken about the nature of races on drafting tracks, Busch had some positive comments for the race Sunday.

“It was fun, it was fine. It was dicey. I liked it when we had the pit stop and single file. There were some ill handling cars and guys had to get out of the throttle. The good cars rose to the front and we were one of the good guys,” Busch said.

Busch also discussed how the track changed from last year to this year and as Sunday progressed.

“It definitely wasn’t as stuck as last year with this car and the repave. The track is getting some age on it. It’s still gonna be, a lot of us have to work to do on the car. That was the big issue where drivers would land in three and get in dirty air in traffic.”

The finish for the win was the third-closest in NASCAR Cup Series history. The margin between first and third stacks up as the 10th-closest in series history.

The next race for the NASCAR Cup Series is the Pennzoil 400, March 3 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The broadcast is on FOX, PRN affiliates and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, starting at 3:30 p.m. ET.