Revived Atlanta Motor Speedway Refuted Cup Drivers’ Protest With One of the Closest Finishes in NASCAR History

The 2024 Ambetter Health 400 didn’t just deliver one of the most memorable photo finishes in recent memory, but it also changed the minds of a lot of drivers on NASCAR’s newest ‘superspeedway’. Ever since the iconic track located in Georgia went through reconstruction in 2021 to convert it into a superspeedway, drivers and fans have long criticized the circuit for producing racing that wasn’t really up to the driver’s standards.

But with this year’s race leaving even the most confident drivers rattled, it’s safe to say the Atlanta Motor Speedway has certainly grown on many. This is even more surprising as even the Cup Series‘ top talent criticized NASCAR for the events leading up to the chaotic race on Sunday.

The NASCAR community, including Kyle Busch, pulled no punches showing skepticism for the Ambetter Health 400

Heading into another superspeedway weekend, the atmosphere within the paddock as well as on social media platforms was rather gloomy. While most drivers weren’t looking forward to another weekend of drafting, those who had scored big at Daytona, like William Byron, were choosing to play it safe this time around. Byron shared his reservations about going all out at Atlanta with Bob Pockrass. He said “It’s unique for sure. I wouldn’t want to do it every week.” In such a situation, many community members were left speculating if we would even get any action during the race, or if it would end in a fuel mileage battle, much like the Truck Series race did.

Similarly, some drivers also critiqued the change brought around by NASCAR to Atlanta, citing that it wasn’t needed in the first place. Out of these drivers, Kyle Busch was the most vocal this time around. Busch, in the pre-race press conference, said, “I would say as much as the surface deteriorated, there comes a point where something has to be done and they went through it. I just don’t understand or appreciate why we added the banking and the stuff they did here with the reconfiguration. Would I have rather seen them just repave what they had? Probably,”

At this point, the negativity surrounding the weekend just kept picking up. If drivers weren’t focused on the replacement, they were busy highlighting the decision to abandon practice at all Superspeedways apart from Daytona in 2024. This also affected a lot of rookies in the Xfinity Series race, with Hailie Deegan getting caught out early.

Even on the manufacturer front, Toyota Racing Development drivers weren’t fancying their chances of a solid finish at the superspeedway, citing TRD’s previous track record at Atlanta.

Christopher Bell shared the laid-back approach of the TRD drivers with FrontStretch, “I think the majority of the drivers will say that the real season starts next week. I personally don’t like having two superspeedways back-to-back, and I think that a lot of people are on the same page.”

It wasn’t an isolated incident that triggered the drivers to lash out at the way NASCAR was running things at Atlanta Motor Speedway. First, it was the very fact that the track was repaved to a superspeedway. This was swiftly followed by the lack of practice taking the community by storm, with veteran spotter Brett Griffin also pointing out how laughable this decision was, with Ross Chastain also pointing out how “Trackhouse wants to practice.”

And with that, the NASCAR community entered Sunday with an atmosphere of doom and gloom much before the Ambetter Health 400 had even kicked off. Little did we know, the action that was about to unfold would save Atlanta’s grace in a lot of the community’s eyes. Soon enough, a major pileup involving 19 drivers on the very second lap proved how chaotic this race was going to be.

Denny Hamlin was sent spinning out of a top-five contention on numerous occasions. Ross Chastain got overly friendly with Chase Elliott’s rear bumper, and even Ty Dillon’s car was hit by a flying roof in the Truck Series race! But the most climactic moment of it all came at the very end of the race, with a photo-finish that will go down in the history books for decades to come.

Heading into the final turn, Ryan Blaney and the #12 Mustang of Team Penske were looking like the ones to beat, with a massive gap developing right behind him. Unfortunately for Blaney, this very move left him vulnerable to Kyle Busch and Daniel Suarez, who had both backed up to make a run for the checkered flag. In what can only be considered a finish right out of a movie (as Busch explains later), the trio crossed the checkered flag with only 0.007 seconds between them, with Suarez coming out on top to beat Blaney to the win.

This finish wasn’t just the closest finish in NASCAR history, but it also slotted into the third all-time position behind Darlington in 2003 and Talladega in 2001.

This didn’t just put the drivers in doubt about who won, but it also made fans eagerly wait for the replay as everyone was at the edge of their seats. In a moment of similar gravitas as Chastain’s Hail Melon, the NASCAR fandom had quickly forgotten all the gripes they might have had with the new Atlanta Motor Speedway.

However, this might not have been the case for all. While Ryan Blaney had improved from sixth position to finish second and Suarez had surpassed all odds to win from 23rd in qualifying, Kyle Busch was one of the few left unimpressed by the historic photo finish.

Busch, who was also a part of the dramatic end, shared with RACER, “I hate that we had a Lightning McQueen-style finish there, with so close of three-wide and we were the worst of it. It’s frustrating; I hate it because I felt like we were one of the top five cars today and had a good shot”

READ MORE: Atlanta Pit Road Drama: William Byron & Michael McDowell Wreck Amid Brutal Speeding Penalty Barrage

With that said, Kyle Busch was indeed one of the only ones still left dissatisfied with the action in Atlanta. The rest of the grid had quite a fulfilling weekend at the Superspeedway, with many painting a far prettier picture after the adrenaline had settled.

Apart from breaking historic records, the 2024 Ambetter Health 400 gifts a new perspective to critics

While a majority of the opinion on the race seemed to be negative, some saw the potential the 1-and-a-half-mile oval possessed. Keselowski sided with the track when discussing its unpredictability in comparison to Daytona as a superspeedway.

Keselowski shared with Frontstretch, “I feel like you can control your destiny a little bit more here in Atlanta than you can at Daytona. We had a lot of wrecks here in 2022 but 2023 I thought was a really clean race, some really good races here. I hesitate to say the same in comparison.” While the 2024 edition may not have been as clean as last year’s, it certainly produced some heart-stopping moments, which at the end of the day, is what NASCAR is built upon.

Speaking of which, even Denny Hamlin put aside his sorrow from getting wrecked thrice to congratulate the trio on bringing home a historic podium finish.

On the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, he shared, “Great job Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, Daniel Suárez, just racing it out. For them to just see how this all was gonna play out, it just made for such a great and fantastic finish and hopefully, this gives some well-needed momentum for NASCAR to start their 2024 season.”

Similarly, Ryan Blaney was also quick to sideline the shorthand he was dealt to highlight the adrenaline-pumping action. Blaney stated post-race, “It was fun racing, but just a couple of inches short. I’m happy for Daniel, though. That was fun racing him and Kyle. That was fun.”

And he wasn’t the only one who had a fair amount of fun at Atlanta. Ricky Stenhouse Jr, who made a solid recovery from P27 in qualifying to finish sixth, summed up a lot of the change of hearts that was going on across the grid after that finish. He shared with NBC Sports, “It was a wild race, but a fun race. I think the track is kind of coming into itself a little bit.” 

READ MORE: 2024 Ambetter 400: Daniel Suarez Locks in Career Second Playoff Spot at Atlanta as Kyle Busch Goes Winless Again

Only a few hours before the Ambetter Health 400, a lot of the driver consensus remained on the gloomier side of things. It seems like for some, including Busch, the prospects won’t change. But, at the same time, it also looks like a lot of other drivers will perhaps approach Atlanta with a lot more enthusiasm next time around. With that said, do you think NASCAR is going in the right direction with its superspeedway approach?