In a thrilling finish to the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Christopher Bell managed to secure the victory, leading only on the final lap. A yellow caution flag on the last lap sealed the win for Bell in a three-way race, marking the second consecutive year this event has featured such a tight competition for the checkered flag.
Bell, a 30-year-old native of Oklahoma, managed to edge out Carson Hocevar, a second-year driver, and Kyle Larson, the 2021 series champion, to secure his 10th career series victory. This victory marks his first triumph on a drafting-style course like Atlanta, Daytona, or Talladega and is also a much-needed win for the Joe Gibbs Racing team, their first since June of the previous year.
Speaking after his victory, Bell expressed his elation, acknowledging the challenges of racing on superspeedways. Despite starting the race in the back, Bell praised his team for their hard work in improving the car’s performance throughout the race.
On the other hand, Larson, despite missing the win, seemed content with his third-place finish. The race marked his 48th attempt without a victory on speedway-type tracks. He had a run-in with Austin Cindric’s No. 2 Team Penske Ford with three laps to go, triggering the overtime finish but led 12 laps in the race.
Hocevar’s second-place finish was a career-best for the 22-year-old driver of the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. However, his aggressive racing style attracted the attention of veterans Ross Chastain and former series champ Ryan Blaney. Blaney, who finished fourth, advised Hocevar to improve his decision-making skills on the track after being spun out due to contact with Hocevar’s car with 27 laps left.
The race was initially dominated by Ford cars, including Blaney’s pole position in the No. 12 Team Penske Ford and Joey Logano leading a race-best 83 laps. But strategies shifted as the race progressed, and the final yellow flag came out when Josh Berry, Justin Haley, and Ryan Preece collided on the backstretch during overtime.
Amid the chaos, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. of HYAK Motorsports finished fifth, followed by Denny Hamlin, who had a strong showing despite starting far down the grid. Kyle Busch of Richard Childress Racing was the only one of three cars from last year’s photo-finish race to avoid an accident, finishing seventh.
With his fourth-place finish, Blaney now leads the championship by 12 points over Daytona 500 winner, William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports. A.J. Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing clocked the fastest lap of the race.
The next NASCAR Cup Series race is the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, the first road course race of the season, taking place next Sunday. This race will be a new challenge, but for now, the dust is settling, and the engines are cooling after a heart-stopping race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
