Atlanta doesn't disappoint as NASCAR playoff opener with eventful race

Sunday's Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway was the sixth time the NASCAR Cup Series has been to the track since its 2022 reconfiguration into a miniature superspeedway. However, it's the first time that the race has been part of the playoffs — and furthermore, it served as the playoff opener in 2024.

As has often been the case, the action did not disappoint.

Joey Logano took the win on an overtime restart, holding off February Atlanta winner Daniel Suarez and Logano's teammate Ryan Blaney. Several cars wrecked behind them, including title hopeful Denny Hamlin, who was uncompetitive all race long and takes a big hit in points as a result.

Hamlin wasn't the only notable driver to have issues on Sunday. Kyle Larson, who entered the playoffs with the most points, had a hard crash in the first stage and collected another playoff driver in Chase Briscoe. Martin Truex Jr. also was involved in an incident later on, causing him to finish 35th as his miserable summer concluded .

Austin Cindric looked to have the dominant car of the day, leading a race-high 92 laps and winning the second stage. However, problems on pit road dropped him to the middle of the pack and he was never quite able to recover, finishing 10th.

Blaney might have had the most impressive run of the race, though. After collecting damage in the same crash that took out Truex and Chris Buescher, he fought his way all the way to third at the end (and actually came across the finish line second, but NASCAR reverted to the running order at the moment of caution just before the leaders took the checkered flag). Blaney also won the race's first stage, and scored the most points on the afternoon with 53.

There were only a modest 24 lead changes, and there was no thrilling three-wide photo finish like there was in February, but the racing throughout the field was tight all day and handling played a major role.

Maneuverability through the pack was much easier than it is at NASCAR's other superspeedways of Daytona or Talladega, and there was enough action to write home about without the race turning into a demolition derby.

Even though it's already been announced that the 2025 Cup Series playoffs will return to opening at Darlington Raceway, Atlanta seemed to be a fitting venue to kick off the run to the championship.

Now, the field will prepare for an entirely different style of track as they head to road course Watkins Glen for Sunday's Go Bowling at the Glen.