NASCAR Atlanta: Three winners and three losers from the Cup Series Playoffs

The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs are officially underway now that the Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway has seen the checkered flag.

A compelling race on this miniature superspeedway has already resulted in massive implications for the 2024 Cup Series championship.

Winners and losers from the NASCAR Cup Series at Atlanta

Winner: Joey Logano

Team Penske No. 22’s Joey Logano is the first driver to punch his ticket to the next round of the NASCAR Playoffs thanks to his win at Atlanta. It was a hard-fought victory for him, requiring him to avoid plenty of chaos en route to victory.

In the final laps, Ty Gibbs and Daniel Suarez looked set to battle for victory, but heading into the final overtime restart, teammate Ryan Blaney pushed Logano beyond Suarez, who had disconnected from his Trackhouse teammate and therefore lost momentum.

Any win in one round of NASCAR Playoffs guarantees you entry to the next round of Playoffs, so we’ll see him in the Round of 12, and Logano can breathe a sigh of relief heading into challenging races at Watkins Glen and Bristol.

Loser: Kyle Larson

On Lap 58, Playoff contender Kyle Larson darted sharply into the wall after the rear end began to spin around on him. His No. 5 was absolutely demolished in the crash, then was struck again by Chase Briscoe. Thankfully he was able to climb out of his car under his own power — but it’s a terrible start to the Playoffs for the driver hoping to secure another NASCAR Cup Series championship.

The banking at Atlanta is different on the lower groove compared to the higher groove, and Larson was trying to toggle between both racing grooves at once. He lost control of the rear of his car in the process, resulting in his loss of control. Speaking to NBC afterward, he noted that he wasn’t sure what happened to the car.

Points-wise, Larson was the Playoff driver best situated to make it to the next round; his championship pursuit is by no means over, but this is certainly not what he was hoping for.

Winner: Christopher Bell

Christopher Bell had two pit road violations during the Quaker State 400 — and that would generally be enough to land any driver on the “loser” list (including a violation that resulted in a pit box fire). And yet Bell somehow rallied to finish fourth at Atlanta.

After the race, gushed about Atlanta, saying his goal was simply to survive. But Bell did much more than survive; he thrived.

Fourth at Atlanta leaves him third in the current NASCAR Playoffs standings. We can’t quite consider that a guaranteed entry into the Round of 12, but Bell generally performs at the two final events in this Round of 16: Watkins Glen and Bristol.

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Loser: Chase Briscoe

From hero to zero in one week’s time. No. 17 driver Chase Briscoe took a heroic victory at Darlington, thus securing himself a slot in the Playoffs and giving him a shot at securing his first-ever Cup Series Championship. But in Atlanta, the first round of the Playoffs, he suffered a frankly absurd crash.

It kicked off when Kyle Larson lost control of his No. 5. As the cars immediately behind Larson swerved out of the way, Briscoe found himself with nowhere to go — and was seemingly unable to actually slow down. He smashed into the back of Larson’s car, ending his own day at the same time.

Briscoe sits at the bottom of the Playoff points at the moment. Where Larson still has a shot of making it to the next round of the Playoffs, Briscoe will likely need to win again to punch his ticket to the Round of 12.

Winner: Daniel Suarez

What could have been for Daniel Suarez! The Mexican racer restarted for the final overtime run to the flag on the front row — but he didn’t quite make it.

Suarez’s teammate Ross Chastain helped push the No. 99 driver into the lead, but the two cars disconnected too soon, opening up an opportunity for Team Penske to shove past the Trackhouse crew.

Still, a top-three finish for Suarez is hugely impressive. The No. 99 was involved in some pit lane chaos; he was released out of his box just as Logano dipped in front of him for a stop of his own. The two made contact, and Suarez lost out on the track position he’d worked so hard to secure.

He would have loved a second win at Atlanta in the same year — but Suarez’s finish helped insulate him from the Playoff drivers bunched up around the Playoff cut line.

Loser: Joe Gibbs Racing

The Quaker State 400 was a hot mess for the Joe Gibbs Racing Nos. 11 and 19. Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11, faced powertrain issues during qualifying — and the three JGR cars all took last-minute repairs in order to prevent any similar problems hitting them in the race itself.

Hamlin, unfortunately, was nowhere during the entire race. No. 19 driver Martin Truex Jr. had much better luck battling to the front of the field, only to be caught up in a crash.

Truex pitted for repairs, earned a penalty, and had to head back to the pits for even more repairs.

Both of these JGR drivers are in the Playoffs, but both flirted with the cutline all race long. They’ll both have to hope for much stronger races at Watkins Glen and Bristol in order to proceed to the Round of 12.

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