Joey Logano celebrates after winning the NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 19, 2023. Photo: Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Relatively speaking, the 2023 season has been slim pickings for Ford drivers. Joey Logano won at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the fifth race of the season, and Ryan Blaney picked up an intermediate speedway victory in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte.
That’s the sum total of wins for the Ford camp — compared with 11 for Chevrolet and five for Toyota.
Accordingly, Logano’s victory at Atlanta in March has been magnified as he tries to sweep this year’s Atlanta events.
“You assume the win is big, and it gets you in the Playoffs and all that, but you fast forward however many races it’s been since we’ve been here, and it’s bigger than what we thought it would be,” Logano said. “Unfortunately, you hope it’s not.
“You wish it was the other way around, but we’re 10th in points right now, and we’d have been probably in a decent spot to make the Playoffs I’m sure still, but it’s a lot more comfortable when you have a win and you know that you’re in the Playoffs and you can focus in on some other things and trying to grow your team and get smarter and all those things.
“We’re not where we need to be, that’s for sure. There’s a lot of hard work going on right now to try to close the gap, and we keep hustling and trying and swinging the bat and doing everything we possibly can do. There are only so many things you can do, but work in the areas we’re allowed to and keep trying to find something.”
Now In Different Camps, The Busch Brothers Don’t See As Much Of Each Other
Kurt Busch’s 2022 season didn’t end the way he expected or wanted it to. Busch hasn’t raced since sustaining a concussion during a wreck in qualifying at Pocono Raceway last July.
But Busch transitioned into a competition role at 23XI Racing, and he and brother Kyle Busch saw a lot of each other while Kyle was driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, given that both JGR and 23XI are Toyota teams.
The dynamic has changed since Kyle moved to Richard Childress Racing, which fields Chevrolets. The brothers — both NASCAR Cup Series champions — aren’t as closely aligned, though Kyle did induct Kurt into the West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame in June.
“Yeah, I got to work with him on the sidelines last year being with the Toyota camp for the last half of the year, but really haven’t seen a whole bunch of him and haven’t talked a whole bunch with him – just not working with that group anymore,” Kyle said on Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
“Being with Team Chevy, we’ve kind of I guess re-distanced a little bit. But you know, it was not due to what he wanted as a timeline of stepping aside and being out of the car. But the way it all went down, the way he’s handled it, the way he’s still been a part of 23XII and working with Tyler (Reddick) and Bubba (Wallace) over there – I think he’s an instrumental part to some of the success they’ve had early on.
“We’ll see what his choices are going forward on if he continues that.”
NASCAR Cup Series
Atlanta Motor Speedway – Hampton, GA
Quaker State 400 – July 9, 2023
Sunday’s Starting Line Up
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
1. 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield/IHOP Ford 31.261 177.346
2. 12 Ryan Blaney Wurth Ford 31.275 177.266
3. 14 Chase Briscoe Magical Vacation Planner Ford 31.296 177.147
4. 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 31.344 176.876
5. 21 Harrison Burton DEX Imaging Ford 31.357 176.803
6. 4 Kevin Harvick Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford 31.373 176.712
7. 54 Ty Gibbs # He Gets us Toyota 31.375 176.701
8. 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 31.388 176.628
9. 38 Todd Gilliland Georgia Peanuts Ford 31.404 176.538
10. 2 Austin Cindric Menards/Quaker State Ford 31.482 176.101
11. 6 Brad Keselowski Castrol Edge Ford 31.477 176.129
12. 45 Tyler Reddick The Beast Unleashed Toyota 31.494 176.034
13. 41 Ryan Preece Sony Mobile ES Ford 31.506 175.966
14. 11 Denny Hamlin Coca-Cola Toyota 31.511 175.939
15. 17 Chris Buescher Fastenal Ford 31.527 175.849
16. 19 Martin Truex, Jr. Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota 31.574 175.588
17. 31 Justin Haley LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 31.574 175.588
18. 24 William Byron Axalta Chevrolet 31.579 175.560
19. 16 A.J. Allmendinger Farmsmart Chevrolet 31.598 175.454
20. 34 Michael McDowell FR8Auctions.com Ford 31.611 175.382
21. 51 Cole Custer(i) Jacob Companies Ford 31.650 175.166
22. 8 Kyle Busch Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet 31.731 174.719
23. 9 Chase Elliott NAPA/Children’s Chevrolet 31.751 174.609
24. 15 J.J. Yeley(i) Patriot Mobile Ford 31.770 174.504
25. 43 Erik Jones Allegiant Chevrolet 31.773 174.488
26. 99 Daniel Suarez Quaker State Chevrolet 31.834 174.153
27. 77 Ty Dillon Raze Energy Blue Shock Chevrolet 31.877 173.918
28. 7 Corey LaJoie Gainbridge Chevrolet 31.880 173.902
29. 47 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Kroger/Slim Jim Chevrolet 31.924 173.662
30. 1 Ross Chastain Worldwide Express Chevrolet 32.278 171.758
31. 42 Noah Gragson # Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet 32.346 171.397
32. 62 Austin Hill(i) Bennett Transportation/Beard Chevrolet 32.501 170.579
33. 3 Austin Dillon Dow Salutes Veterans Chevrolet 32.525 170.453
34. 20 Christopher Bell Rheem Toyota 32.754 169.262
35. 78 B.J. McLeod Gunk Chevrolet 32.990 168.051
36. 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 33.539 165.300
37. 23 Bubba Wallace Leidos Toyota 0.000 0.000
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
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