Entry List

Ambetter Health 400

Sunday, March 19th, 2023

Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, GA

  • 16 Chevrolet
  • 14 Ford
  • 6 Toyota

  • Atlanta Motor Speedway
  • Ambetter Health 400
  • Busch Pole Award Pole Winner: Joey Logano
  • Age: 32
  • Team : No. 22 - Autotrader Ford
  • Owner: Roger Penske
  • Crew Chief: Paul Wolfe
  • Joey Logano won the Pole Award for the Ambetter Health 400 with a lap of 31.256 seconds, 177.374 mph.
  • This is his 28th pole in 512 NASCAR Cup Series races.
  • This is his second pole and fourth top-10 start in 2023.
  • This is his second pole in 19 races at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
  • Austin Cindric (second) posted his third top-10 start of 2023 and his second in four races at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
  • Ryan Blaney (third) posted his fifth top-10 start at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It is his fifth in five races this season.
  • Noah Gragson (22nd) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

  • Sunday, March 19th, 2023
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer
Joey Logano drives dominant Ford to victory in NASCAR Cup race at Atlanta

Deftly maneuvering his No. 22 Ford through the final two laps of Sunday's Ambetter Health 400, Joey Logano finished the NASCAR Cup Series race where he started—at the front of the field.

With a push from Christopher Bell on the backstretch on the final lap, Logano moved to the outside of leader Brad Keselowski with huge momentum and charged past Keselowski's No. 6 Ford into the lead.

Logano pulled down to the inside lane through the final two corners and crossed the finish line .193 seconds ahead of Keselowski and .194 seconds ahead of third-place Bell.

"Yeah, first off so special to win Atlanta for me," said Logano, a Connecticut native who began to refine his talent racing Legends cars at Atlanta. "So many memories of me and my dad racing right here on the quarter mile. This is the full circle for us. So many memories gritting over there with the Legends car, racing, having a big time.

"Dreaming of going straight at the quarter mile and going onto the big track. That was always the dream to do it. To finally win here means so much to me here personally, but the team.

"The Auto Trader Mustang—this thing was an animal. Very, very fast. Able to lead a ton of laps, race really hard there at the end, get a good push from the 20 (Bell) to clear myself. Huge victory. Nice to get one early in the season. Always feels better, but what a great day for us."

Logano's first victory of the season and first at Atlanta was no surprise. On Saturday, the reigning series champion led eight Ford drivers into the top eight starting positions for Sunday's race.

Logano won the first stage wire-to-wire, leading the first 63 laps. In Stage 2, he finished second to Team Penske teammate Austin Cindric. All told, Logano led 140 of the 260 laps. Keselowski was second with 47 laps led.

The victory was Ford's first of the season after Chevrolet drivers claimed trophies in the first four events. Logano is the second straight driver to win from the pole at Atlanta, following Chase Elliott last summer.

Disappointed with second place, Keselowski was nevertheless elated with the quality of racing in the closing laps.

"The coolest thing about this race is two veterans showed you can run a race here side-by-side, bump-drafting, and not wreck the field," Keselowski said. "It can happen if you race respectfully. I thought everybody did a great job.

"We were right there. Proud of my team and the effort. Nothing much we could do there at the end."

Not that there wasn't plenty of action before the final laps ended with Logano's 32nd career victory.

After two relatively placid stages where single-file racing predominated, the intensity increased exponentially as the end of the race approached.

On Lap 190, one lap after Kevin Harvick had taken the lead for the first time, Chastain pulled up close behind Harvick in the draft. Harvick's No. 4 Ford broke loose and triggered a massive wreck on the backstretch that involved 14 cars.

Harvick was eliminated, along with William Byron, Chris Buescher, Harrison Burton and BJ McLeod. The defending race winner, Byron was seeking his third straight Cup victory of the season.

"It looked like the No. 1 (Chastain) and the No. 4 just got connected there into Turn 1 and got the No. 4 loose," Byron said after a mandatory visit to the infield care center. "It's just part of racing. That's the way it goes—not really in our control. We were up there running in the top-five and doing what we needed to do."

Harvick's assessment of the wreck was essentially the same.

"I think he just caught me so quick right there in the middle of the corner, and then he kind of was up on the right rear part of the (car) and he came back down, and when he came back down it just spun the thing out," Harvick said. "I don't think he actually even hit me, but it started chattering the rear tires, and then I was just along for the ride."

Nineteen laps later, a five-car accident off Turn 4—triggered when one of then-leader Aric Almirola's tires went flat—knocked Almirola, Kyle Larson and Daniel Suárez out of the race.

"There was nowhere to go," Larson said ruefully. "Nobody had been having tire issues, so I wasn't even expecting the No. 10 (Almirola) to have a tire issue in front of me. Even if I did, I didn't have time to react.

"It's a bummer. Just frustrating.. I was finally up front on this style of race track and still end up with a DNF (did not finish). I don't know—just frustrating."

Corey LaJoie finished a career-best fourth, followed by Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Erik Jones, Ty Gibbs and Kyle Busch. LaJoie also gave Logano a push as the winner worked his way back to the front.

"I hope he gives me a shout-out for pushing him," LaJoie said. "Gave him a good shot there at the end."

  • Drivers Entered: 36
  • Laps Scheduled: 325
  • Laps Actual: 260 - Race Shortened
  • Margin of Victory: 0.193 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 2 Hours 53 Minutes 5 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 138.800
  • Cautions: 5 for 34 laps
  • Lead Changes: 20
  • Green Flag Passes: 6,059 (26.8 passes per green flag lap)

  • Atlanta Motor Speedway
  • Ambetter Health 400
  • Race Winner: Joey Logano
  • Age: 32
  • Team : No. 22 - Autotrader Ford
  • Owner: Roger Penske
  • Crew Chief: Paul Wolfe
  • Joey Logano won the Ambetter Health 400, his 32nd victory in 512 Cup Series races.
  • This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in 2023.
  • This is his first victory and seventh top-10 finish in 19 races at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
  • Brad Keselowski (second) posted his 10th top-10 finish in 17 races at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It is his second top-10 finish in 2023.
  • Christopher Bell (third) posted his second top-10 finish in six races at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
  • Ty Gibbs (ninth) was the highest finishing rookie.
  • Joey Logano leads the point standings by 1 points over Christopher Bell.
Chase Elliott celebrates after winning
Hampton, Georgia - July 10, 2022 : Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Jared C TiltonGetty Images
Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway Entry List
ENTRY # DRIVER HOMETOWN DOB AGE MAKE SPONSOR TEAM CREW CHIEF
1 16 AJ Allmendinger Los Gatos, CA Dec 16, 1981 42 Chevrolet Action Industries Kaulig Racing Matt Swiderski
2 10 Aric Almirola Tampa, FL Mar 14, 1984 40 Ford Smithfield Stewart-Haas Racing Drew Blickensderfer
3 6 Brad Keselowski Auburn Hills, MI Feb 12, 1984 40 Ford King's Hawaiian RFK Racing Matt McCall
4 11 Denny Hamlin Chesterfield, VA Nov 18, 1980 43 Toyota Shingrix Joe Gibbs Racing Chris Gabehart
5 15 JJ Yeley Phoenix, AZ Oct 5, 1976 48 Ford Barnett Southern Corporation Rick Ware Racing Billy Plourde
6 22 Joey Logano Middleton, CT May 24, 1990 34 Ford Autotrader Team Penske Paul Wolfe
7 4 Kevin Harvick Bakersfield, CA Dec 8, 1975 48 Ford Busch Light Stewart-Haas Racing Rodney Childers
8 8 Kyle Busch Las Vegas, NV May 2, 1985 39 Chevrolet Lenovo Richard Childress Racing Randall Burnett
9 19 Martin Truex Jr Mayetta, NJ Jun 29, 1980 44 Toyota Bass Pro Shops Joe Gibbs Racing James Small
10 34 Michael McDowell Phoenix, AZ Dec 21, 1984 39 Ford FR8Auctions.com Front Row Motorsports Travis Peterson
11 3 Austin Dillon Lewisville, NC Apr 27, 1990 34 Chevrolet Andy's Frozen Custard Richard Childress Racing Keith Rodden
12 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Olive Branch, MS Oct 2, 1987 37 Chevrolet Kroger/Nature Valley JTG Daugherty Racing Mike Kelley
13 5 Kyle Larson Sacremento, CA Jul 31, 1992 32 Chevrolet HendrickCars.com Hendrick Motorsports Cliff Daniels
14 48 Alex Bowman Tuscon, AZ Apr 25, 1993 31 Chevrolet Ally Hendrick Motorsports Blake Harris
15 12 Ryan Blaney High Point, NC Dec 31, 1993 30 Ford BodyArmor Sport Water Team Penske Jonathan Hassler
16 7 Corey Lajoie Kannapolis, NC Sep 25, 1991 33 Chevrolet Celsius Spire Motorsports Ryan Sparks
17 77 Ty Dillon Lewisville, NC Feb 27, 1992 32 Chevrolet Ferris Commercial Mowers Spire Motorsports Kevin Bellicourt
18 17 Chris Buescher Prosper, TX Oct 29, 1992 31 Ford Violet Defense RFK Racing Scott Graves
19 43 Erik Jones Byron, MI May 30, 1996 28 Chevrolet Alegiant LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Dave Elenz
20 78 BJ McLeod Wauchula, FL Nov 17, 1983 40 Chevrolet B'laster Live Fast Motorsports David Ingram
21 41 Ryan Preece Berlin, CT Oct 25, 1990 33 Ford Autodesk/HaasTooling.com Stewart-Haas Racing Chad Johnston
22 99 Daniel Suarez Monterrey, Mexico Jan 7, 1992 32 Chevrolet Tootsies Orchid Lounge Trackhouse Racing Travis Mack
23 51 Cody Ware Greensboro, NC Nov 7, 1995 28 Ford Biohaven / Jacob Companies Rick Ware Racing Jerry Kelley
24 1 Ross Chastain Alva, FL Dec 4, 1992 31 Chevrolet AdventHealth Trackhouse Racing Phil Surgen
25 23 Bubba Wallace Mobile, AL Oct 8, 1993 31 Toyota DoorDash 23XI Racing Bootie Barker
26 24 William Byron Charlotte, NC Nov 29, 1997 26 Chevrolet Liberty University Hendrick Motorsports Rudy Fugle
27 45 Tyler Reddick Corning, CA Jan 11, 1996 28 Toyota Xfinity 10G Network 23XI Racing Billy Scott
28 31 Justin Haley Winamac, IN Apr 28, 1999 25 Chevrolet LeafFilter Gutter Protection Kaulig Racing Trent Owens
29 20 Christopher Bell Norman, OK Dec 16, 1994 29 Toyota DeWalt Joe Gibbs Racing Adam Stevens
30 2 Austin Cindric Columbus, OH Sep 2, 1998 26 Ford Menards\Knauf Team Penske Jeremy Bullins
31 14 Chase Briscoe Mitchell, IN Dec 15, 1994 29 Ford HighPoint.com Stewart-Haas Racing Johnny Klausmeier
32 21 Harrison Burton Huntersville, NC Oct 9, 2000 24 Ford Motorcraft / Quick Lane Wood Brothers Racing Brian Wilson
33 42 Noah Gragson Las Vegas, NV Jul 15, 1998 26 Chevrolet Sunseeker Resort LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Luke Lambert
34 9 Josh Berry Hendersonville, TN Oct 22, 1990 33 Chevrolet NAPA Auto Parts Hendrick Motorsports Alan Gustafson
35 54 Ty Gibbs Charlotte, NC Oct 4, 2002 22 Toyota Monster Energy Joe Gibbs Racing Chris Gayle
36 38 Todd Gilliland Sherrills Ford, NC May 15, 2000 24 Ford Gary Martin Hays Rick Ware Racing Billy Plourde