Suarez wins Atlanta by just 0.003s in epic three-wide photo finish

It was a race of remarkable ebb and flow.

It was race of breathtaking four-wide action into corners not built to accommodate such derring-do.

And it was totally appropriate that Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway would end in a three-wide photo finish, with Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez eking out a victory over Ryan Blaney by what looked to be an inch or two at the finish line.

NASCAR timing and scoring showed Suarez ahead of Blaney by 0.003s at the stripe, with Kyle Busch in third, 0.007s behind the race winner.

As the three drivers sped through the final two corners, Suarez held the outside lane with Blaney on the bottom and Busch in the middle. Suarez surged forward approaching the finish line to earn his second career victory—and his first since June of 2022 at Sonoma—by the thinnest of margins.

Suarez, whose No. 99 Trackhouse Race Chevrolet suffered damage to the hood on a lap two crash in Turn 1, had the lead for a restart with five laps left, after the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of Josh Berry collided with Carson Hocevar’s No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet on lap 249 of 260 to cause the 10th and final caution of the race.

Blaney, the defending series champion, grabbed the top spot almost immediately and held it for four laps, but Suarez and Busch mounted runs on the final lap on in the top and middle lanes, respectively. Blaney chose to make his bid for victory from the bottom lane and fell just short.

“It was so close, man,” said Suarez, still marveling that he was the winner. “It was so close. 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 [screw] his teammate, but man, what a job.

“We wrecked [on] lap two. The guys did an amazing job fixing this car. I can’t thank everyone enough, Trackhouse Racing, Freeway Insurance, Chevrolet, all the amazing fans here. Let’s go!”

Blaney held the bottom line…but it wasn’t quite enough. Lesley Ann Miller/Motorsport Images

As the final lap unfolded, Blaney was shocked at the force of the runs challenging him.

“I thought I laid back enough in [Turns] 1 and 2 to not let both lanes get that big of a run,” Blaney said. “I did that like the three laps before the end, and I was able to manage it kind of fairly well, and they just got both lanes shoving super hard. I just chose the bottom, and it was the safest place to be.

“What a cool finish. Appreciate the fans for sticking around. That’s a lot of fun. That’s always a good time when we can do that, race clean, three-wide finish to the end. Happy for Daniel. That was cool to see. Fun racing with Kyle. I can’t complain; I’ve won them by very, very little, too, so I can’t complain too much when I lose them by that much.”

To Busch, the outcome was predictable, given the positions of the cars in the final two corners.

“Yeah, typically whoever is behind getting into [Turn] 3 prevails at the start-finish line with the side draft and everything, so I was… I think I was second to the No. 12 (Blaney) right there, and the No. 99 was the furthest back, and he made the ground back up with the side draft and stuff…