Last Week at Daytona…
A thrilling Daytona 500 through 150 laps rapidly devolved into a shower of sparks as multiple drivers saw their races end in a trio of accidents just miles away from victory.
Ryan Preece took to the skies after contact with Christopher Bell’s wounded Toyota, sending Preece’s Ford into a wheelie before blowing over into a series of barrel rolls.
Though Preece walked away from the accident relatively unscathed, he warned that crashes like his could prove to be a mortal threat to the drivers if changes aren’t made to the NextGen car for superspeedway races.
On the final lap, it came down to a pair of Daytona 500 champions: Austin Cindric and Denny Hamlin. The two spared over the final five miles, trading bump drafts and taking turns controlling the race until ill-timed moves from Chase Briscoe and Cole Custer set off the final crash of the evening.
The smoke cleared, giving way to glowing flames on the side of William Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet as he led what was left of the field back to the checkered flag to become the first back-to-back winner of the Great American Race since Hamlin in 2019 and 2020.
Atlanta: Worn and Wonderful?
It was three short years ago when the Atlanta Motor Speedway reconfiguration debuted to mixed reception. Since then, the maligned superspeedway played host to one of the greatest finishes in NASCAR history when Daniel Suárez outdueled Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch last spring.
Atlanta now represents more of the superspeedway-style racing that fans clamor for at traditional superspeedways like Daytona and Talladega where the racing has grown stale to many.
What has come as a surprise to everyone is the track surface. Paved just six race weekends ago, Atlanta’s track surface appears to be aging at an enhanced rate compared to other tracks (Daytona, Talladega, Charlotte, Michigan, etc.) that have been repaved in the last two decades.
For a track that experienced so many tire issues in its first season of racing, a rapidly-wearing surface should give teams cause to pause when it comes to playing with tire pressures during pit stops.
Today’s Ambetter Health 400 will be a 400-mile race run over 260 laps split among three stages that end on the following laps: 60-160-260. The race will be broadcast on FOX at 3pm Eastern time with Mike Joy, Kevin Harvick, and Clint Bowyer in the booth.
Pole sitter Ryan Blaney laid down the hottest lap, logging a time of 30.908 seconds. He is surrounded by Penske teammates Joey Logano and Austin Cindric as well as Wood Brothers Racing driver Josh Berry at the front. That quartet is a smaller part of the nine Fords in the top-10 with Kyle Busch breaking up the blue ovals.
For a complete look at the starting lineup, head on over to NASCAR’s website.
As for an average race at the new Atlanta layout, it looks something like this: 9 cautions for 55 caution laps, 38 lead changes, 6,345 green-flag passes (or 31 per lap), 3 hours and 26 minutes race duration, and no Overtime finishes to this point, with the last caution flying around lap 235.
Trucks & Xfinity in Atlanta
Following up on a contentious story from last week’s races, Parker Kligerman and Henderson Motorsports lost their appeal on Thursday for a ride-height violation at Daytona that saw the sport strip Kligerman of his Cinderella victory and award it to Corey Heim, the second-place finisher.
Speaking of the Truck Series, a relatively calm race took place on Saturday afternoon where an odd Rajah Caruth crash provided one of the few disruptions of the day.
A flurry of racers slotted in at the front of the field over the closing laps, each vying to unseat Kyle Busch from the lead. With two laps to go, owner-driver Stewart Friesen ripped the lead away and held on for dear life.
In the end, it would be a duel to the line between Busch and Friesen with the former coming out on top, narrowly eking out a .017-second victory over Friesen in the FR8Auctions 208 that extended Busch’s all-time Truck Series wins record to 67.
An equally tame race broke out in the Xfinity Series after a chaotic start that saw several cars break traction on the exit of turn 2. Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love and Austin Hill commanded the race from the beginning with Hill securing his third and fourth stage victories of 2025.
Hill continued his dominance as the field fell to pieces behind him, securing his first win of the new season and locking his No. 21 team into the postseason.
NASCAR News
The biggest news item of the past week resides inside the hallowed halls of Joe Gibbs Racing.
Daytona 500 pole sitter Chase Briscoe and his crew chief James Small received a massive penalty from NASCAR that included both driver and team being docked 100 points, Briscoe losing out on $100,000, and a four-week suspension for Small.
The infraction involved an illegal modification to the spoiler area that essentially allowed Briscoe’s No. 19 Toyota to go faster on the straights. Joe Gibbs Racing has since filed an appeal. Fox Sports’ Bob Pockrass also noted that Todd Gilliland and Cody Ware received minor 10-point penalties for improper ballast containers.
Outside of the penalty report, Catchfence.com’s Chris Knight was the first to break the news that Dodge has formally submitted its bid to become the fourth manufacturer in the Truck Series for 2026. The American car company also intends to submit an additional bid to join the NASCAR Cup Series as early as 2027.
23XI Racing made an announcement this morning that solidified Corey Heim’s status as a development driver for the burgeoning organization. The 22-year-old racer will be adding select Cup (with 23XI) and Xfinity races (with Sam Hunt Racing) to his full-time Truck Series schedule that you can read more about here.
If you’re looking for some commentary on last week’s race, some of my Pit Box Press teammates put out some great articles this week.
Our very own Joe Sell dropped his race review of the Daytona 500 this past week, so if you’re looking to get a more detailed description of last week’s events, check out his review here.
Not only did Jey Allen submit an article of their own this week where they discussed the parallels between NASCAR and professional wrestling, they also collaborated with me for our first installment of “Burning Questions” that discuss topics relevant to the 2025 NASCAR season.
Writer’s Pick
Though I correctly predicted Daniel Suárez would win last year’s race, I won’t be sticking with Daniel this season as i will be opting for yesterday’s fast qualifier: Ryan Blaney.
Since the track’s reconfiguration, Ryan Blaney holds a strong record in the Peach State, finishing outside the top-10 just once in six races with two podium finishes at the facility last year.
The Cup Series’ points leader wants to punch his Playoff ticket as early as possible, and a victory in Atlanta seems almost inevitable at this point. Why not Sunday?
(Top Photo Credit: Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
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