The reigning NASCAR Cup champion was one of the few drivers in Sunday’s wild race – which produced a track record 48 lead changes among 14 drivers – that was able to stay up front and in contention for any length of time.
Blaney grabbed the lead on a restart with five of 260 laps remaining and stayed out front until Kyle Busch powered to his inside on the start of the last lap.
Entering Turn 3, Daniel Suarez – who led on the final restart but fell back briefly – moved into the outside lane. By the exit to Turn 4, Suarez moved to the outside of Busch, who was racing alongside Blaney to create a three-fight for the lead.
Surprisingly, the trio remained side-by-side in a drag race to the finish line, with NASCAR finally determining Suarez had edged Blaney by 0.003 seconds.
OMG THREE WIDE PHOTO FINISH! @Daniel_SuarezG 🇲🇽 wins at @ATLMotorSpdwy!
— Motorsport.com (@Motorsport) February 26, 2024
@NASCARONFOX pic.twitter.com/e0QYGL13pU
Asked if he could have done anything different to change the outcome, Blaney said, “No. Not at the finish line. I thought I laid back enough in (Turns) 1 and 2 to not let both lanes get that big of a run.
“I did that like the three laps before the end and I was able to manage it kind of fairly well, and they just got both lanes shoving super hard. I just chose the bottom (lane), and it was the safest place to be.”
Despite being relegated to a runner-up finish, Blaney found some solace in the entertaining nature of Sunday’s race.
“What a cool finish. Appreciate the fans for sticking around. That’s a lot of fun. That’s always a good time when we can do that, race clean, three-wide finish to the end,” he said.
“Happy for Daniel. That was cool to see. Fun racing with Kyle. I can’t complain. I’ve won them by very, very little, too, so I can’t complain too much when I lose them by that much.
“The Ford Mustang was fast. Close.”
The race was still a good rebound for Blaney, who ran well in last week’s season opening Daytona 500 but got caught up in a late-race 23-car pile-up which left him with a 30th-place finish.
Entering next weekend’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – the first non-speedway race of the year – Blaney now sits fifth in the series standings.
