Suarez, who had recovered from a multi-car accident on lap 2, lost the lead on a restart with five of 260 laps remaining, but was able to power to the outside lane on the last lap as Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney raced side-by-side.
Suarez made it three-wide coming off Turn 4 and the trio raced that way to the checkered flag, with no clear winner and prompted a NASCAR review.
Once completed, NASCAR declared Suarez the winner by .003 seconds over Blaney, handing the Mexican his second career win and first since the 2022 season. Officially, it’s the third closest finish in series history.
“It was so damn close, man. It was so damn close,” an emotional Suarez said after the race. “It was good racing.
“Ryan Blaney there, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric also was doing a great job giving pushes. In the back straightaway he didn’t push me because he knew I was going to (expletive) his teammate, but man, what a job.
“We wrecked lap 2. The guys did an amazing job fixing this car. I can’t thank everyone enough … all the amazing fans here. Let’s go!”
Suarez, who hasn’t had much luck at the superspeedways of Daytona or Talladega, has performed well at the reconfigured Atlanta, now with four finishes of sixth or better in five starts.
The win all-but ensures Suarez will be one of the 16 drivers to compete for the 2024 series championship.
Kyle Busch was credited with a third-place finish, Cindric fourth and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top five.
Completing the top 10 are Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ross Chastain, Michael McDowell, Chris Buescher and Ty Gibbs.
Race winner Daniel Suarez, Trackhouse Racing, Chevrolet Camaro
Photo by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images
Stage 1
McDowell edged Blaney by 0.248 seconds in a one-lap dash to take the Stage 1 win, his third career stage victory. Chastain was third, Kyle Larson fourth and Busch fifth.
A large 16-car accordion-like wreck erupted on the outside line on Lap 2 that ended up knocking several drivers out of contention early, including Christopher Bell, Noah Gragson, Alex Bowman and Josh Williams.
Stage 2
Cindric claimed the Stage 2 win under caution as his Penske teammate, Joey Logano, got caught up in a wreck with Denny Hamlin and Buescher. Larson ended up second, Blaney third, Suarez fourth and Maritn Truex Jr. fifth.
During a round of green flag pit stops late in the stage, McDowell and William Byron collided while entering pit road, but both cars were…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Motorsport.com – NASCAR – Stories…