Pit Stops

Quaker State 400

Sunday, September 8th, 2024

Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, GA

  • 14 Ford
  • 8 Toyota
  • 16 Chevrolet

  • Wednesday, September 4th, 2024
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer
First round of NASCAR Cup Playoffs features plenty of peril

After a dramatic regular-season finale that saw Chase Briscoe charge into the Playoffs with an 11th-hour victory at Darlington Raceway, the NASCAR Cup Series begins the 10-race process of identifying a champion.

Arguably, this is the most unpredictable Playoff since NASCAR implemented the elimination format in 2014, and not just because the first race of the postseason is the Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“I’ll be honest, the first round is the scariest it’s been in a long time with Atlanta, a superspeedway starting us off,” said Christopher Bell, who enters the Playoffs as the No. 2 seed with 32 Playoff points. “We all know how that can go.

“And then we go to Watkins Glen, which should be a normal race track, but with the expected tire degradation with the tire change that we’ve had, it could be a Bristol-style race where people are wearing tires out really early and struggling to make laps and having to pit all of the time.

“So, that could be another wild card race. And then Bristol, I think everybody is expecting it to be more of the same as what we had in the spring. So, the first round could be very different than what we’ve seen in the past.”

Thanks to a repaving and reprofiling of the track in 2021, NASCAR has adopted a superspeedway competition package at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which produced the closest three-wide finish in the sport’s history earlier this year.

On February 25, in the second race of the season, Daniel Suarez earned his Playoff spot by 0.003 seconds over reigning series champion Ryan Blaney, with third-place Kyle Busch trailing the winner by a mere 0.007 seconds.

That was the high point of the season so far for Suarez, who has posted only one other top-five result, a fifth-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway. But with the Cup Series returning to Atlanta for the first Playoff race, the Trackhouse Racing driver has cause for optimism.

“It’s going to be around 20 degrees warmer than last time, so we’re going to have less grip,” said Suarez, who enters the postseason as the No. 11 seed, with six Playoff points. “So, if you were seeing cars moving around, you will see it even more.

“I believe we had a great car last time there, and we’re hoping we have even a better one there this time. We just have to continue to push, continue to work hard and focus on one race at a time.”

Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson, the 2021 series champion, enters the Playoffs as the top seed with 40 Playoff points. Atlanta, however, has been problematic for the driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet.

In five races since the repaving, Larson has a best finish of 13th and four other results of 30th or worse.

“Yeah, I don’t love seeing Atlanta in the Playoffs at all,” Larson said. “And even Watkins Glen, for that matter, just because—yes, I like those tracks, but they’re just sketchy places. But if they’re going to be in the Playoffs, I would rather them be in the first round than the second or third round.

“So, yeah, I mean I think having the bonus points and Playoff points that we’ve earned throughout the regular season is nice. But it still doesn’t guarantee anything. You still have to not run into any trouble, especially in back-to-back weeks, and hopefully you can just make it through.”

  • Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart
  • Busch Pole Award Pole Winner: Michael McDowell
  • Age: 39
  • Team : No 34 - B'laster Work It Like A Pro Ford
  • Owner: Bob Jenkins
  • Crew Chief: Travis Peterson
  • Michael McDowell won the Pole Award for the Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart with a lap of 30926 seconds, 179267 mph
  • This is his fifth pole in 492 NASCAR Cup Series races
  • This is his fifth pole and 13th top-10 start in 2024
  • This is his second pole in 18 races at Atlanta Motor Speedway
  • Ryan Blaney (second) posted his 14th top-10 start of 2024 and his eighth in 13 races at Atlanta Motor Speedway
  • Todd Gilliland (third) posted his third top-10 start at Atlanta Motor Speedway It is his fifth in 27 races this season
  • Josh Berry (fourth) was the fastest qualifying rookie

  • Sunday, September 8th, 2024
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer
Joey Logano advances in NASCAR Cup Playoffs with dramatic win at Atlanta

With a strong last-lap push from Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano rocketed into the Round of 12 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs with an overtime victory in Sunday’s Quaker State 400 available at Walmart at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

In a two-lap shootout that sent the first Playoff race of the 2024 season six laps past the posted distance of 260 laps, Logano had the lead by more than a car-length when NASCAR called a caution on the final circuit for a mid-pack wreck behind the leader.

The victory was Logano’s second at Atlanta, his second of the season and the 34th of his career. The driver of the No. 22 Ford vaulted to fifth in the Playoff standings, but the win guaranteed him a spot in the next round.

“They just give me really fast cars on superspeedways, and we always find ourselves towards the front of them, (but) we just end up wrecking more times than not,” said Logano, who led twice for nine laps, a far cry from teammate Austin Cindric’s race-high 92.

“So, to be able to finally capitalize on a fast race car and win here in Atlanta again, I lived right over there in condo 805 for a long time (as a child racing Legend Cars), waking up dreaming of just racing on this racetrack.

“So pulling into Victory Lane here is always a special one. We had such a really good team here today. It’s awesome to get (sponsor) Autotrader into Victory Lane, and the JL Kids Crew (one of Logano’s charitable enterprises) are here today, so it’s really cool to finally win with them here.”

When NASCAR called the caution on the final lap, February Atlanta winner Daniel Suarez was inches ahead of Blaney, the defending series champion. But with the third-place finish that entailed surviving a three-car wreck on Lap 205, Blaney took over the series lead by five points over Christopher Bell, who finished fourth.

After a strong, consistent run throughout the race, Alex Bowman finished fifth, as Playoff drivers claimed nine of the top 10 positions.

The Lap 205 wreck Blaney survived proved the undoing of Martin Truex Jr. After repeated trips to pit road, Truex left the race 12 laps down and heads for next Sunday’s second Playoff race at Watkins Glen International 15th in the standings, 18 points below the current cutoff for the Round of 12.

Suarez raced beside Logano on the first lap of overtime but lost his pusher when Trackhouse Racing teammate Ross Chastain washed up the track in Turn 3 and fell back.

“No, definitely not satisfied,” Suarez said of the second-place result. “I am happy with it, but not satisfied. I lost my pusher, my teammate. He was doing a great job, and I felt like we were going to have a great shot at it.

“Ross was doing an amazing job of pushing, and I don’t know if he got a flat tire or something, but once I lost him, I knew it was going to be tough. But that is part of racing, right?”

The race was incident-free for the first 55 laps, but on the 56th circuit, calamity struck top-seeded Kyle Larson and fellow Playoff driver Chase Briscoe.

As cars at the front of the field were exiting Turn 2 on Lap 56, Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet, running third, broke loose and shot into the outside wall at roughly 160 mph.

As the car rebounded off the SAFER barrier and slid sideways in the middle of the track, Briscoe’s Ford slammed into Larson’s Camaro, ripping the left front quarter panel off the No. 14 Mustang.

Both Larson and Briscoe exited the race, in 37th and 38th, respectively, and scored one point each for their efforts on Sunday.

“I’m OK,” Larson said after leaving the infield care center. “Thankfully, everything held up well inside the car. That was a huge hit. I’m not really sure what caused it.

“I was actually sort of tight and loaded in the corner. And then I was pretty far around the corner, and it just stepped out. I don’t know, it all just happened really fast.”

Briscoe, who earned his Playoff spot with a victory a week earlier at Darlington Raceway, leaves Atlanta below the current cut line with a win-or-bust mentality.

“It was a big hit, one of the biggest hits I’ve had in a long time,” Briscoe said. “I’m glad I’m all right, and we just have to go win. That’s what we had to do at Darlington, and I know we’re capable of doing it again, so we’ll just have to go to Watkins Glen and Bristol and try to do the same.”

Larson leaves Atlanta in 10th place, 15 points above the current cut line for the Round of 12. Briscoe is 16th in the standings, 20 points on the wrong side of the equation.

Regular-season champion Tyler Reddick came home sixth, overcoming issues on pit road. Non-Playoff driver Kyle Busch finished seventh after leading 24 laps in the final stage. Chase Elliott was eighth, followed by William Byron and Cindric.

Collected in the last-lap wreck, Playoff driver Harrison Burton finished 31st and is 15 points behind Ty Gibbs, who finished 17th after leading 37 laps and is 12th in the standings. Brad Keselowski ran 19th and is tied with Gibbs.

Denny Hamlin ran at the back of the pack throughout the race and was collected in the last-lap wreck, finishing 24th. He heads for Watkins Glen 11th in the standings, a mere two points ahead of Keselowski.

  • Drivers Entered: 38
  • Laps Scheduled: 260
  • Laps Actual: 266 - NASCAR OVERTIME!
  • Margin of Victory: Under Caution Seconds
  • Time of Race: 3 Hours 6 Minutes 12 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 132.000
  • Cautions: 24 for 14 laps
  • Lead Changes: 24
  • Green Flag Passes: 8,963 (35.6 passes per green flag lap)

  • Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart
  • Race Winner: Joey Logano
  • Age: 34
  • Team : No 22 - Autotrader Ford
  • Owner: Roger Penske
  • Crew Chief: Paul Wolfe
  • Joey Logano won the Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart, his 34th victory in 570 Cup Series races
  • This is his second victory and ninth top-10 finish in 2024
  • This is his second victory and eighth top-10 finish in 22 races at Atlanta Motor Speedway
  • Daniel Suarez (second) posted his sixth top-10 finish in 12 races at Atlanta Motor Speedway It is his seventh top-10 finish in 2024
  • Ryan Blaney (third) posted his eighth top-10 finish in 13 races at Atlanta Motor Speedway
  • Carson Hocevar (16th) was the highest finishing rookie
  • Ryan Blaney leads the point standings by 5 points over Christopher Bell
Cup Series pit stops at Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Florida - February 8, 2020 : Cup Series pit stops at Daytona International Speedway
Brian LawdermilkGetty Images

Pit Stop Summary Report

Summary of each driver's pit stop during the race. Detailed Report is below the Summary Report.

Average Driver and Crew Pit Stop Time
Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway Pit Stop Summary
DRIVER ST FIN STATUS # STOPS AVG DRV TIME DRV RNK AVG CREW TIME CREW RANK AVG TOT TIME TOT RNK FASTEST STOP SLOWEST STOP
Martin Truex Jr 22 35 Suspension 6 54.272 1 10.750 13 65.022 1 55.483 71.093
Bubba Wallace 24 29 Running 2 58.661 3 7.508 1 66.168 2 63.117 69.219
Austin Dillon 8 20 Running 5 58.661 4 8.088 2 66.749 3 63.283 70.564
Chris Buescher 17 36 Accident 2 58.852 9 8.842 4 67.694 4 64.771 70.616
Todd Gilliland 3 27 Running 4 59.170 20 8.750 3 67.920 5 64.212 71.594
Michael McDowell 1 22 Running 4 59.016 14 9.251 6 68.267 6 63.632 73.562
William Byron 9 9 Running 3 59.173 21 9.187 5 68.360 7 64.096 70.675
Brad Keselowski 19 19 Running 4 58.818 7 9.718 8 68.536 8 63.767 72.560
Corey Lajoie 25 15 Running 3 59.160 19 9.398 7 68.559 9 66.363 70.593
Chase Elliott 16 8 Running 3 58.955 11 10.210 9 69.165 10 63.610 72.341
Ross Chastain 18 13 Running 3 58.829 8 10.700 12 69.528 11 68.489 71.569
Kyle Busch 15 7 Running 3 58.626 2 11.033 14 69.659 12 69.136 70.670
Ricky Stenhouse Jr 27 14 Running 4 59.463 27 10.485 10 69.948 13 68.978 71.126
Harrison Burton 12 31 Accident 3 58.674 5 11.567 15 70.241 14 69.264 70.989
Ryan Preece 21 18 Running 2 59.786 31 10.611 11 70.396 15 69.935 70.857
Carson Hocevar 32 16 Running 4 59.136 17 11.912 16 71.048 16 69.477 73.657
Alex Bowman 11 5 Running 2 58.965 12 12.112 18 71.077 17 69.874 72.279
Daniel Hemric 14 11 Running 4 58.726 6 12.546 22 71.272 18 68.684 75.894
Ty Gibbs 20 17 Running 3 58.921 10 12.512 21 71.433 19 69.210 74.528
Denny Hamlin 38 24 Running 4 59.072 15 12.629 24 71.701 20 69.261 74.231
Shane van Gisbergen 28 32 Running 4 59.352 23 12.421 20 71.773 21 70.071 74.577
Joey Logano 7 1 Running 2 59.113 16 12.746 25 71.859 22 71.696 72.022
Noah Gragson 13 34 Accident 4 59.547 29 12.596 23 72.142 23 69.720 74.159
Tyler Reddick 23 6 Running 2 59.906 32 12.346 19 72.251 24 72.016 72.486
Ryan Blaney 2 3 Running 2 59.436 26 12.863 26 72.299 25 71.800 72.798
Daniel Suarez 30 2 Running 2 59.325 22 13.130 27 72.454 26 72.366 72.542
Cody Ware 31 30 Running 4 61.175 36 12.020 17 73.195 27 70.843 75.363
Josh Berry 4 28 Running 4 59.723 30 13.563 28 73.286 28 68.430 76.549
Austin Cindric 5 10 Running 2 59.140 18 14.198 29 73.338 29 71.144 75.531
Justin Haley 29 12 Running 4 59.001 13 14.564 31 73.564 30 65.657 85.331
Zane Smith 34 21 Running 4 59.476 28 14.439 30 73.915 31 68.664 79.980
Christopher Bell 26 4 Running 4 59.421 24 15.429 32 74.850 32 69.432 84.652
Erik Jones 33 26 Running 3 60.198 34 15.860 34 76.058 33 67.917 89.367
BJ McLeod 36 25 Running 5 60.678 35 15.769 33 76.447 34 72.449 84.205
JJ Yeley 37 23 Running 5 59.970 33 19.579 35 79.549 35 75.122 82.979
John Hunter Nemechek 35 33 Running 3 59.425 25 20.666 36 80.092 36 72.012 87.743

Pit Stop Detailed Report

Each 2- and 4-wheel pit stop during the race.

Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway Pit Stop Detail
DRIVER LDR LAP DRV LAP DRV TIME CREW TIME TOT TIME TYPE
Brad Keselowski 177 177 58.729 5.038 63.767 Right-sides only
Brad Keselowski 251 251 58.649 9.976 68.625 4-wheel change
Brad Keselowski 207 207 58.681 10.510 69.191 4-wheel change
Brad Keselowski 162 162 59.213 13.347 72.560 4-wheel change
Denny Hamlin 207 207 59.084 10.177 69.261 4-wheel change
Denny Hamlin 162 162 58.720 12.212 70.932 4-wheel change
Denny Hamlin 116 116 59.367 13.013 72.380 4-wheel change
Denny Hamlin 62 62 59.116 15.115 74.231 4-wheel change
JJ Yeley 116 116 59.907 15.215 75.122 4-wheel change
JJ Yeley 208 208 59.951 17.818 77.769 4-wheel change
JJ Yeley 63 63 59.684 20.086 79.770 4-wheel change
JJ Yeley 163 163 60.117 21.986 82.103 4-wheel change
JJ Yeley 251 251 60.190 22.789 82.979 4-wheel change
Joey Logano 162 162 59.150 12.546 71.696 4-wheel change
Joey Logano 62 62 59.076 12.946 72.022 4-wheel change
Kyle Busch 115 115 58.759 10.377 69.136 4-wheel change
Kyle Busch 162 162 58.595 10.577 69.172 4-wheel change
Kyle Busch 62 62 58.525 12.145 70.670 4-wheel change
Martin Truex Jr 232 226 44.839 10.644 55.483 4-wheel change
Martin Truex Jr 241 232 45.511 10.110 55.621 4-wheel change
Martin Truex Jr 162 162 58.282 9.910 68.192 4-wheel change
Martin Truex Jr 115 115 58.935 10.711 69.646 4-wheel change
Martin Truex Jr 252 242 59.283 10.811 70.094 4-wheel change
Martin Truex Jr 62 62 58.781 12.312 71.093 4-wheel change
Michael McDowell 177 177 59.294 4.338 63.632 Right-sides only
Michael McDowell 162 162 58.990 6.740 65.730 Right-sides only
Michael McDowell 261 261 58.664 11.478 70.142 4-wheel change
Michael McDowell 62 62 59.115 14.447 73.562 4-wheel change
Austin Dillon 207 207 58.645 4.638 63.283 Right-sides only
Austin Dillon 251 251 59.043 4.972 64.015 Right-sides only
Austin Dillon 261 261 58.175 9.376 67.551 4-wheel change
Austin Dillon 162 162 58.387 9.943 68.330 4-wheel change
Austin Dillon 115 115 59.053 11.511 70.564 4-wheel change
Ricky Stenhouse Jr 115 115 59.068 9.910 68.978 4-wheel change
Ricky Stenhouse Jr 162 162 59.249 10.143 69.392 4-wheel change
Ricky Stenhouse Jr 62 62 59.718 10.577 70.295 4-wheel change
Ricky Stenhouse Jr 207 207 59.815 11.311 71.126 4-wheel change
Alex Bowman 62 62 58.730 11.144 69.874 4-wheel change
Alex Bowman 162 162 59.200 13.079 72.279 4-wheel change
Ryan Blaney 162 162 59.154 12.646 71.800 4-wheel change
Ryan Blaney 62 62 59.718 13.080 72.798 4-wheel change
Corey Lajoie 162 162 59.022 7.341 66.363 Right-sides only
Corey Lajoie 251 251 58.543 10.177 68.720 4-wheel change
Corey Lajoie 115 115 59.916 10.677 70.593 4-wheel change
Chase Elliott 115 115 58.839 4.771 63.610 Right-sides only
Chase Elliott 62 62 58.632 12.913 71.545 4-wheel change
Chase Elliott 162 162 59.395 12.946 72.341 4-wheel change
Chris Buescher 162 162 59.065 5.706 64.771 Right-sides only
Chris Buescher 115 115 58.638 11.978 70.616 4-wheel change
Erik Jones 115 115 61.911 6.006 67.917 Right-sides only
Erik Jones 162 162 58.877 12.012 70.889 4-wheel change
Erik Jones 62 62 59.805 29.562 89.367 4-wheel change
BJ McLeod 251 251 60.404 12.045 72.449 4-wheel change
BJ McLeod 207 207 58.724 13.746 72.470 4-wheel change
BJ McLeod 177 177 62.356 13.180 75.536 4-wheel change
BJ McLeod 116 116 60.525 17.050 77.575 4-wheel change
BJ McLeod 163 163 61.383 22.822 84.205 4-wheel change
Ryan Preece 207 207 59.558 10.377 69.935 4-wheel change
Ryan Preece 177 177 60.013 10.844 70.857 4-wheel change
Daniel Suarez 62 62 59.620 12.746 72.366 4-wheel change
Daniel Suarez 162 162 59.029 13.513 72.542 4-wheel change
Cody Ware 177 177 59.999 10.844 70.843 4-wheel change
Cody Ware 162 162 61.136 11.111 72.247 4-wheel change
Cody Ware 62 62 62.280 12.045 74.325 4-wheel change
Cody Ware 115 115 61.283 14.080 75.363 4-wheel change
Ross Chastain 162 162 58.746 9.743 68.489 4-wheel change
Ross Chastain 115 115 58.717 9.810 68.527 4-wheel change
Ross Chastain 62 62 59.023 12.546 71.569 4-wheel change
Bubba Wallace 115 115 58.379 4.738 63.117 Right-sides only
Bubba Wallace 207 207 58.942 10.277 69.219 4-wheel change
Daniel Hemric 207 207 58.440 10.244 68.684 4-wheel change
Daniel Hemric 162 162 58.901 10.877 69.778 4-wheel change
Daniel Hemric 178 178 58.251 12.479 70.730 4-wheel change
Daniel Hemric 62 62 59.311 16.583 75.894 4-wheel change
William Byron 115 115 58.824 5.272 64.096 Right-sides only
William Byron 62 62 59.199 11.111 70.310 4-wheel change
William Byron 162 162 59.497 11.178 70.675 4-wheel change
Tyler Reddick 162 162 60.405 11.611 72.016 4-wheel change
Tyler Reddick 62 62 59.406 13.080 72.486 4-wheel change
Justin Haley 115 115 59.284 6.373 65.657 Right-sides only
Justin Haley 178 178 58.847 10.410 69.257 4-wheel change
Justin Haley 62 62 59.197 14.814 74.011 4-wheel change
Justin Haley 163 163 58.674 26.657 85.331 4-wheel change
John Hunter Nemechek 115 115 58.966 13.046 72.012 4-wheel change
John Hunter Nemechek 252 248 58.894 21.626 80.520 4-wheel change
John Hunter Nemechek 62 62 60.416 27.327 87.743 4-wheel change
Christopher Bell 207 207 58.755 10.677 69.432 4-wheel change
Christopher Bell 162 162 59.778 10.243 70.021 4-wheel change
Christopher Bell 62 62 59.522 15.773 75.295 4-wheel change
Christopher Bell 115 115 59.628 25.024 84.652 4-wheel change
Austin Cindric 62 62 59.232 11.912 71.144 4-wheel change
Austin Cindric 162 162 59.048 16.483 75.531 4-wheel change
Harrison Burton 207 207 58.821 10.443 69.264 4-wheel change
Harrison Burton 162 162 58.592 11.878 70.470 4-wheel change
Harrison Burton 62 62 58.610 12.379 70.989 4-wheel change
Noah Gragson 251 251 59.043 10.677 69.720 4-wheel change
Noah Gragson 115 115 59.464 12.312 71.776 4-wheel change
Noah Gragson 62 62 59.634 13.280 72.914 4-wheel change
Noah Gragson 177 177 60.045 14.114 74.159 4-wheel change
Zane Smith 162 162 58.821 9.843 68.664 4-wheel change
Zane Smith 251 251 58.675 10.777 69.452 4-wheel change
Zane Smith 115 115 59.781 17.784 77.565 4-wheel change
Zane Smith 62 62 60.628 19.352 79.980 4-wheel change
Josh Berry 251 251 58.787 9.643 68.430 4-wheel change
Josh Berry 62 62 59.437 13.046 72.483 4-wheel change
Josh Berry 115 115 60.535 15.148 75.683 4-wheel change
Josh Berry 177 177 60.133 16.416 76.549 4-wheel change
Ty Gibbs 162 162 59.000 10.210 69.210 4-wheel change
Ty Gibbs 62 62 58.683 11.878 70.561 4-wheel change
Ty Gibbs 115 115 59.079 15.449 74.528 4-wheel change
Todd Gilliland 251 251 59.074 5.138 64.212 Right-sides only
Todd Gilliland 115 115 59.155 5.372 64.527 Right-sides only
Todd Gilliland 162 162 59.603 11.745 71.348 4-wheel change
Todd Gilliland 62 62 58.848 12.746 71.594 4-wheel change
Carson Hocevar 207 207 59.233 10.244 69.477 4-wheel change
Carson Hocevar 178 178 59.108 10.410 69.518 4-wheel change
Carson Hocevar 163 163 58.926 12.612 71.538 4-wheel change
Carson Hocevar 62 62 59.276 14.381 73.657 4-wheel change
Shane van Gisbergen 115 115 59.360 10.711 70.071 4-wheel change
Shane van Gisbergen 162 162 59.178 11.111 70.289 4-wheel change
Shane van Gisbergen 252 249 59.942 12.212 72.154 4-wheel change
Shane van Gisbergen 62 62 58.928 15.649 74.577 4-wheel change