Joey Logano won Sunday’s NASCAR playoff opener race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in overtime and will advance into the second round of the playoffs.
“When it’s playoff time, it’s our time,” Logano told NBC Sports post-race.
Sunday’s win for Logano comes one year after he was eliminated from the first round of the playoffs in 2023.
Rounding out the top five were Daniel Suarez in second, Ryan Blaney in third, Christopher Bell in fourth and Alex Bowman in fifth.
Kyle Larson, who entered Sunday’s race as the points leader crashed out on Lap 56 along with last week’s winner at Darlington Chase Briscoe.
The tail end of Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet got loose and shot up into the wall, slamming the right front of his car. When Larson’s car came back down the track, it was then hit again by Chase Briscoe.
“Thankfully everything held up well inside of the car. That was a huge hit. I’m not really sure like what caused it. I was actually sort of like tight loaded in the corner. That was pretty far out the corner and stepped out. I don’t know. It just all happened really fast,” Larson told NBC Sports after being released from the infield care center.
Ty Gibbs currently sits on the cutline 12th in points.
The four drivers who are below the cutline are Brad Keselowski (-1), Harrison Burton (-15), Martin Truex Jr. (-19) and Chase Briscoe (-21).
Martin Truex Jr., who is 15th in points standings after Atlanta, had to start from the rear on Sunday after his team had to change plug wires prior to the race. Truex was then caught with a speeding penalty and his day got worse on Lap 206, when he made contact with Ryan Blaney’s car after Chris Buescher had made contact with Blaney.
Rounding out the top ten were Tyler Reddick in sixth, Kyle Busch in seventh, Chase Elliott in eighth, William Byron in ninth and Austin Cindric in tenth.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Watkins Glen International Sunday, Sept. 15 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern on USA network.
Stage 1 Winner: Ryan Blaney
Stage 2 Winner: Austin Cindric
Race Winner: Joey Logano
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