Joey Logano held off all comers to open the 2024 NASCAR Playoffs with a dramatic overtime victory in the Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford charged to the lead on the final restart to hold off the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Quaker State Chevrolet of Daniel Suarez, with Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, and Alex Bowman rounding out the top-five finishers. The field completed Lap 266 of the scheduled 260-lap event as the eighth yellow caution flag of the day waved above them due to a multi-car pileup behind the leaders in Turn 4. The field was frozen at that point but Logano was far enough ahead that it didn’t affect the outcome.

It was the second NASCAR Cup Series win for Logano at the track where he lived in the Turn 4 condominiums for eight years as a child while racing US Legends Cars. His first victory was in the March 2023 Ambetter Health 400.

The final restart was set up as the field was coming to take the initial white flag when Harrison Burton got into Noah Gragson who then tagged the inside wall in Turn 3. That set up the green/white/checkered scenario, with Logano lined up on the bottom, Suarez next to him, Team Penske’s Blaney behind his teammate with Trackhouse Racing’s Chastain behind his teammate.

Logano jumped out to a quick lead and held off Suarez for the victory, confirming his advancement into the Round of 12.

“They just give me really fast cars on superspeedways, and we always find ourselves towards the front of them, (but) we just end up wrecking more times than not,” said Logano, who led twice for nine laps, a far cry from teammate Austin Cindric’s race-high 92.

“So, to be able to finally capitalize on a fast race car and win here in Atlanta again, I lived right over there in condo 805 for a long time (as a child racing Legend Cars), waking up dreaming of just racing on this racetrack.

“So, pulling into Victory Lane here is always a special one. We had such a really good team here today.  It’s awesome to get (sponsor) Autotrader into Victory Lane, and the JL Kids Crew (one of Logano’s charitable enterprises) are here today, so it’s really cool to finally win with them here."

There were four cautions in the race’s final 55 laps, which created 11 lead changes among six drivers. In addition to Logano, Bubba Wallace led once while Busch, Bryon, Ty Gibbs and Suarez each led twice. Austin Cindric led twice and notched the most laps at the point with 91.

“I am happy with (finishing second), but not satisfied,” said Suarez. “I lost my pusher, my teammate. He was doing a great job, and I felt like we were going to have a great shot at it. Ross was doing an amazing job of pushing, and I don’t know if he got a flat tire or something, but once I lost him, I knew it was going to be tough. But, that is part of racing, right?

Caution with 12 laps to go set up the five-lap sprint for the checkers

The balance of the Top-10 finishers were Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch, Elliott Sadler, William Byron and Austin Cindric.

Playoff drivers who experienced a forgettable day and finish were Brad Keselowski (19th), Denny Hamlin (24th), Martin Truex Jr. (35th), Kyle Larson (37th) and Chase Briscoe (38th). All but Keselowski were involved in wrecks. Pole winner Michael McDowell finished 22nd. 

For more information on Atlanta Motor Speedway’s 2025 NASCAR events, visit www.AtlantaMotorSpeedway.com.