Though the NASCAR Chevy teams have been a dominant force so far through the 2023 Cup Series season, their luck changed for the worse at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 19th, 2023.
The first two stages of the race passed with relative calmness, as one-lane freight train-style racing dominated. The Bow Tie-badged Chevy Camaro ZL1 race cars chased the No. 22 Ford Mustang of Joey Logano, who put on a dominant performance throughout the race after setting the pole position.
Meanwhile, Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 Mustang also showed strength, and took control of the lead on Lap 190, with the No. 1 Camaro of Ross Chastain on his tail. Chastain put the bumper of the No. 1 Camaro close to the rear of the No. 4 Mustang, and while the two cars never actually made contact, Harvick’s No. 4 Ford got loose and spurred a wreck that swept several race cars up. William Byron’s No. 24 Camaro was involved while running in the top five, forcing him to retire from the race.
“It looked like the No. 1 and the No. 4 just got connected there into Turn 1 and got the No. 4 loose,” Byron said after exiting his Camaro. “It’s just part of racing. That’s the way it goes – not really in our control. We were up there running in the top-five and doing what we needed to do.”
Kyle Larson, whose No. 5 NASCAR Chevy hung near the front of the pack for most of the day, was then caught in a wreck just 19 laps later when the No. 10 Mustang of Aric Almirola blew a tire while leading. Daniel Suárez found his No. 99 Camaro also involved in the crash.
“There was nowhere to go,” Larson said of the crash. “Nobody had been having tire issues, so I wasn’t even expecting the No. 10 (Almirola) to have a tire issue in front of me. Even if I did, I didn’t have time to react.”
Logano’s No. 22 Mustang ended up winning, thanks in part to a push from the No. 7 Camaro of Corey Lajoie.
“I hope he gives me a shout-out for pushing him,” LaJoie said of Logano after finishing fourth. “Gave him a good shot there at the end.”
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 22 | Joey Logano | Autotrader Ford | 260 | 140 | Ford Mustang |
| 2 | 4 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | King's Hawaiian Ford | 260 | 47 | Ford Mustang |
| 3 | 10 | 20 | Christopher Bell | DeWalt Toyota | 260 | 6 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 4 | 31 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Celsius Chevrolet | 260 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 5 | 16 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | Xfinity 10G Network Toyota | 260 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 6 | 14 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Shingrix Toyota | 260 | 14 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 7 | 3 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | BodyArmor Smart Water Ford | 260 | 5 | Ford Mustang |
| 8 | 28 | 43 | Erik Jones | Allegiant Chevrolet | 260 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 9 | 35 | 54 | Ty Gibbs # | Monster Energy Toyota | 260 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 10 | 17 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Lenovo Chevrolet | 260 | 7 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 11 | 2 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Menards/Knauf Ford | 260 | 5 | Ford Mustang |
| 12 | 22 | 42 | Noah Gragson # | Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet | 260 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 13 | 18 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Advent Health Chevrolet | 260 | 5 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 14 | 15 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 260 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 15 | 23 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Gary Martin Hays Ford | 260 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 16 | 30 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Action Industries Chevrolet | 260 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 17 | 27 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Kroger/Nature Valley Chevrolet | 260 | 7 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 18 | 21 | 9 | Josh Berry(i) | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 260 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 19 | 29 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 260 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 20 | 13 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Andy's Frozen Custard Chevrolet | 260 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 21 | 12 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Fr8Auctions.com Ford | 260 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 22 | 20 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 260 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 23 | 26 | 77 | Ty Dillon | Ferris Commercial Mowers Chevrolet | 260 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 24 | 8 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | HighPoint.com Ford | 259 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 25 | 32 | 51 | Cody Ware | Biohaven/Jacob Co. Ford | 258 | 1 | Ford Mustang |
| 26 | 34 | 15 | JJ Yeley(i) | Barnett Southern Corporation Ford | 258 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 27 | 19 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | DoorDash Toyota | 255 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 28 | 24 | 41 | Ryan Preece | Autodesk/HaasTooling.com Ford | 244 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 29 | 25 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet | 213 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 30 | 5 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Ford | 208 | 17 | Ford Mustang |
| 31 | 9 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 208 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 32 | 11 | 24 | William Byron | Liberty University Chevrolet | 192 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 33 | 6 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Busch Light Ford | 190 | 1 | Ford Mustang |
| 34 | 33 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford | 190 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 35 | 7 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Violet Defense Ford | 189 | 5 | Ford Mustang |
| 36 | 36 | 78 | BJ McLeod | B'laster Chevrolet | 189 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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