Daniel Suarez wins wild Atlanta race in three-wide photo finish

Suarez, who had recovered from a multi-car accident on the second lap, lost the lead on a restart with five of 260 laps remaining, but was able to power to the outside lane on the final lap as Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney raced side-by-side.

Suarez made it three-wide coming off Turn 4 and the trio raced to the chequered flag, and with no clear winner it prompted a NASCAR review.

NASCAR declared Suarez the winner by 0.003 seconds over Blaney, handing the Mexican his second career win and first since the 2022 season, in what was the third closest finish in series history.

“It was so damn close, man. It was so damn close,” an emotional Suarez said after the race. “It was good racing.

“Ryan Blaney there, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric also was doing a great job giving pushes. In the back straightaway he didn’t push me because he knew I was going to **** his team-mate, but man, what a job.

“We wrecked lap 2. The guys did an amazing job fixing this car. I can’t thank everyone enough…all the amazing fans here. Let’s go!”

Suarez, who hasn’t had much luck at the superspeedways of Daytona or Talladega, has performed well at the reconfigured Atlanta, and now has four finishes of sixth or better in five starts.

The Mexican was also fortunate to recover from a 16-car accordion-like crash that erupted on the outside line on the second lap that knocked out several drivers from contention early, including Christopher Bell, Noah Gragson, Alex Bowman and Josh Williams.

Suarez also had to get through a 12-minute red flag period after Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin clashed at Turn 3 on lap 240 which spilt fluid on the track.

The race returned to green with 15 laps to go and Blaney leading Cindric and Suarez.

The win all-but ensures Suarez will be one of the 16 drivers to compete for the 2024 series championship.

With Blaney second, Kyle Busch was credited with a third-place finish, as Cindric led home the rest of the runners in fourth as Bubba Wallace rounded out the top five.

Completing the top 10 are Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ross Chastain, Michael McDowell, Chris Buescher and Ty Gibbs.

NASCAR Cup Atlanta – Race results (260 laps)