What Happened?
A Team Penske vs. Trackhouse Racing duel in overtime went to teammates Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney, as Blaney pushed Logano into the lead and into the Round of 12 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday (Sept. 8).
Logano prevailed over Daniel Suarez, who was initially scored ahead of Blaney when a caution flew on the final lap.
Logano earned his 34th career win, and the No. 22 has won two of the last four at Atlanta. Ford continues its streak, winning its third consecutive race.
What Really Happened?
The Next Gen superspeedway era tends to produce side-by-side racing that can look intriguing but truly lacks action because the drivers are saving fuel rather than racing. This especially applies to Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, but not Atlanta.
Even the single-file racing in the first stage had its own excitement because drivers could play leapfrog and pop out of line without fear of being shuffled too far back in the field. That led to a lot of passing, especially as handling came into play during the run.
At Atlanta, drivers can’t necessarily hold the throttle wide open, especially not in the pack. That opens gaps and allows guys to slide in-between lanes, generate runs and hop back out of line to make moves.
As the race progressed, these moves became riskier, which only upped the intensity. However, one area that stayed completely unaffected by the strong pushes and aggressive moves was the very front of the field.
While drivers back in the pack bobbed and weaved, the front two to three rows during a run would stay fairly unchanged. For example, when Austin Cindric got the lead in the second stage, he didn’t have to do any blocking because he never faced any challenge from behind.
Sure, Cindric had Blaney, a teammate, taking care of him. It just seemed like the outside line of Alex Bowman and William Byron could never present a real challenge to the No. 2.
The lifting made for exciting runs and passes in the pack, but any time Byron would have a run to start pushing Bowman forward, all momentum would…
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