NASCAR at Atlanta: See the starting lineup for the Ambetter Health 400 with Michael McDowell on the pole

Some cool paint schemes lined up for NASCAR’s Atlanta weekend too.

Following Monday’s rain-delayed Daytona 500 — which William Byron won after some mild controversy from NASCAR officials at the very end — the NASCAR Cup Series is racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend.

The 2024 Ambetter Health 400 is set for Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on Fox at the 1.54-mile track, and Michael McDowell will start on the pole after having the best performance in qualifying Saturday. It’s the first pole in McDowell’s 17 Cup seasons for his 467th career start, and he edged out Joey Logano to start first.

Here’s a look at the starting lineup for the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

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NASCAR official explains the late Daytona 500 caution and how William Byron was declared the winner

What NASCAR looked at and how it determined when to throw the late caution, making William Byron the Daytona 500 winner.

No one wants a NASCAR race to finish under caution and definitely not the Daytona 500. But sometimes, it’s necessary, and that’s exactly what happened Monday night at the end of the rain-delayed 2024 Daytona 500 when William Byron took the checkered flag at Daytona International Speedway.

Finishing a race under caution — when the yellow flag is out and yellow lights are flashing — is hardly ideal because drivers aren’t actually racing. They’re maintaining their track positions and driving at a slowed, set pace, which doesn’t produce thrilling finishes.

But fans may want to know how and why NASCAR reached the decision to throw the caution flag at the end of Monday’s Daytona 500.

Here’s what happened: With a little more than one lap to go in the 200-lap race, Byron was leading the field on the inside lane ahead of Austin Cindric with Ross Chastain leading the outside lane. When Byron moved up to the outside lane, Chastain and Cindric made contact, which sent them both sliding off the track.

Unscathed, Byron and teammate Alex Bowman continued in the outside lane and crossed the start-finish line as the white flag was waving, signaling the last lap. But because of the crash, NASCAR threw the caution.

And because the caution came out after the last-lap white flag, and because Byron was the leader at the time of the yellow flag, he would be declared the winner once he completed the final caution lap.

Though Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet edged out Bowman’s No. 48 at the time of the caution flag, it was close.

So how did NASCAR officials come to this decision? NASCAR senior vice president of competition, Elton Sawyer, explained what factors were taken into consideration. He said, via NASCAR.com:

“At the end of a race, we use all available resources. So we’ll use [the time the] caution comes out. We’ll use video, timestamps. At the time of caution, it was the 24 [car] over the 48 [car].

“Obviously, we would love to have left it green and let it finish naturally. But once the [No.] 2 car had spun and started back up the race track and was going to be into traffic and oncoming traffic there, there was no choice but to throw the caution at that time.”

As Sawyer noted, the race likely would have continued under green if not for Cindric in the No. 2 Ford sliding back up the track into oncoming traffic. Understandably, that situation was dangerous, and NASCAR had throw the yellow flag.

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12 awesome photos of William Byron celebrating his 2024 Daytona 500 victory

William Byron won the 2024 Daytona 500 as cars around him wrecked.

The race started a day late and basically ended a lap early, but it all worked out pretty well for William Byron, who won Monday’s rain-delayed Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway’s iconic 2.5-mile track.

Coming to the white flag signaling the last lap of the race, Byron was racing hard to hold onto his lead the rest of the field, including Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman. But contact between Ross Chastain and Austin Cindric brought out a caution flag.

Because NASCAR officials determined Byron, the race leader, crossed the start-finish line to begin his final lap before the caution came out, the race was over, Byron was declared the winner and the No. 24 Chevrolet was back in Victory Lane at the Daytona 500. Bowman finished second, Christopher Bell third, Corey LaJoie fourth and Bubba Wallace fifth.

The season-opening win is the 11th career checkered flag of Byron’s career, as he begins his seventh full-time Cup Series season. And it comes on the heels of a standout career-best six-win 2023 season.

Here are 12 of the best photos from the end of the race and Byron and his team celebrating their 2024 Daytona 500 win.

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Twitter reacts to William Byron winning the Daytona 500 in a wild finish

William Byron escaped a massive accident at the end of the Daytona 500 and went on to win.

Hendrick Motorsports returned to victory lane in the Daytona 500 on Monday night, as William Byron finished ahead of teammate Alex Bowman at the line in a chaotic ending to the race.

The race for the win changed drastically inside of the final 10 laps, when a series of pushes from Bowman to Byron caused a massive accident that affected more than half of the field.

Byron was unable to keep his car straight and veered into the side of Brad Keselowski at the front of the pack. Keselowski shot up the track into Joey Logano, creating a huge pileup as cars had nowhere to go.

Crucially for Byron, he drove through unscathed, as did his teammate Bowman. Byron controlled the inside line coming to the white flag – but just as they were about to cross the line, a collision between Ross Chastain and Austin Cindric brought out a race-ending caution. As Byron had crossed the line to start the final lap before the caution began, he sealed his first Daytona 500 victory.

Here’s what fans were saying:

NASCAR history: Every Daytona 500 champion since 2000 (2024 edition)

The Daytona 500 is the biggest NASCAR race on the schedule, and drivers would do anything to win it.

Editor’s note: This story was originally published in 2022 and has been updated.

The Daytona 500 is one of the NASCAR Cup Series’ crown-jewel races. It’s the crown jewel of crown jewels and a race casually referred to as the Super Bowl of NASCAR. It is, by far, the biggest race of the NASCAR schedule, and it opens the season every year.

Drivers would do just about anything to take NASCAR’s most coveted checkered flag, and it has and continues to elude many of the sport’s best competitors.

RELATED: Why NASCAR’s Daytona track has its own massive lake

Winning the Daytona 500 can be a career- and life-changing moment, securing a driver’s permanent place in NASCAR history and hoisting the massive Harley J. Earl Trophy. So here’s a look back at all the Daytona 500 winners since 2000.

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2024 Daytona 500 starting lineup: Joey Logano starts season on pole

See the full starting lineup for Sunday’s Daytona 500, with broadcast info and green flag time.

A new NASCAR Cup Series season will begin on Monday afternoon with the sport’s biggest race: the Daytona 500.

Although the weather forecast could wreak havoc on festivities at Daytona International Speedway, the green flag is scheduled to fly at 4:30 p.m. ET on Fox.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will give the command to start engines, and DJ Khaled will wave the green flag.

Team Penske’s Joey Logano won the pole position in qualifying, and will be joined on the front row by former Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell.

Here’s the full lineup of 40 drivers for Sunday’s race. Follow along with Motorsports Wire for full coverage of NASCAR’s opening weekend.

 

10 NASCAR drivers share what they love — and don’t — about the Daytona 500

“It’s one of the few things that — having been in the Cup Series for 13, 14 years now — still give me chills.”

LOS ANGELES — The Daytona 500 is unlike any other NASCAR race. It’s the biggest event on the 36-race schedule, and it kicks off the season each year at Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR’s iconic 2.5-mile track.

It’s a crown-jewel race in the sport, and drivers would do just about anything to take NASCAR’s most coveted checkered flag. But it has and continues to elude many of the sport’s best competitors.

Before the start of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, For The Win caught up with several drivers at the Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a preseason exhibition race, to talk about the Daytona 500. We asked them what their favorite and least favorite things are about the race, and their answers didn’t disappoint.

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NASCAR drivers weigh in on the #daytona500 #nascar

♬ Dance You Outta My Head – Cat Janice

NASCAR at Daytona: Starting lineup for 2024 Daytona 500 and paint schemes for all 40 cars

Get a look at every paint scheme in starting order for the 2024 Daytona 500.

The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season officially kicks off Sunday with the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET, Fox), and for the first time in his career, Joey Logano will start on the pole after posting a 181.947-mile-per-hour lap at the 2.5-mile track.

The 2018 and 2022 Cup Series champ and driver of the No. 22 Ford — whose Daytona 500 pole is also a first for Team Penske — will start alongside 2021 Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell in the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford on the front row.

MORE NASCAR: Q&A: Kevin Harvick on wanting to be the John Madden of NASCAR broadcasts and reuniting with Clint Bowyer

It’s a bit of a surprise to have two Fords on the front row considering Chevrolets have won the previous 11 Daytona 500 poles with Hendrick Motorsports drivers winning eight of the last nine. But so much can change in a chaotic race like this, and often, the pole winner doesn’t finish first.

So ahead of the 2023 Daytona 500, here’s a look at the starting lineup, including all 40 paint schemes for the first race of the season.

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Jeff Gordon tells Dale Earnhardt Jr. why he’s a bit surprised Jimmie Johnson is still racing in NASCAR

When so many of Jimmie Johnson’s contemporaries have left NASCAR racing for good, the 48-year-old driver still going.

Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson was just inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame last month. He’s 48 years old and retired from full-time NASCAR racing after the 2020 season, then trying out other styles of racing, including the Indianapolis 500.

He obviously has nothing to prove. But Sunday, he’ll start 23rd in the 2024 Daytona 500 — a race Johnson won in 2006 and 2013.

Johnson competed in last year’s Daytona 500, along with two other Cup Series races, and he has a nine-race schedule planned with the team he co-owns, Legacy Motor Club, behind the wheel of the No. 84 Toyota.

But when so many of his contemporaries have left the cockpit for good, Johnson’s still going. And his former Hendrick Motorsports teammates, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr., are a little surprised Johnson is still racing.

But not entirely.

Recently, Gordon — currently the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports — was a guest on the Dale Jr. Download podcast, and he explained to Earnhardt about Johnson:

“I am surprised he’s driving, I’ll be honest. You know, like, again, I admire what he did in IndyCar. I’m like, ‘Man, phew!’ I went and did one sports-car race and got my butt kicked. And it was the hardest I’ve ever had to work in a race car in a long time. And it made me think a lot about Jimmie and that commitment that he made to go run IndyCar. Whether you could say it was successful or not successful, just taking that step and committing to it is what I admired so much about it.

“It just goes to show you, I think, his mindset, his talent, his ability. So on one hand, I’m surprised he’s gonna run in the Cup Series, especially with the Next Gen car right and how different this car is. But at the same time, I’m not because I’ve seen him take on big challenges throughout his whole life.”

Johnson weighed in on this recently as well. He told Fox Sports’ Bob Pockrass that the nine races he has planned for 2024 are because he truly wants to race in them and running this schedule still allows him to balance his family life and business ventures, along with more racing.

More from Johnson, via Fox Sports:

“I know my friends that have all retired are like, “Why in the world would you want to go back to a plate race?” But this is Daytona. I just can’t see not racing in this race. I’ve always been after the marquee events. Sure, this is a plate race. But, man, having a shot to win another Daytona 500 is really something I want to experience.”

For Sunday’s Daytona 500, Johnson had to race his way into the 40-car field on Thursday at Daytona International Speedway, and he made it but just barely.

And this is exactly where he wants to be, telling Fox Sports:

“I am in race cars now because it’s truly what I love to do and want to do. … The desire to win, the desire to increase the win total number, to experience the thrill of victory — that’s always there. And that’s a given. So, one, I’m just going to continue to chase that. I love that aspect of it. But what will make me stop? There isn’t some number I’m trying to achieve and say, ‘OK now that’s enough.’ It’s probably going to be when my wife grabs him by the ear and says, ‘Look, you don’t need to be out there anymore. If you’ve been doing this long enough.'”

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Q&A: Kevin Harvick on wanting to be the John Madden of NASCAR broadcasts and reuniting with Clint Bowyer

“It’s as relaxed as I’ve ever been coming into the first race of the season,” Kevin Harvick told For The Win.

LOS ANGELES — Kevin Harvick retired from NASCAR at the end of the 2023 Cup Series season after 23 years at the sport’s highest level. But he didn’t go far.

After gaining some on-and-off broadcasting experience with Fox Sports since 2015, the 48-year-old former driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford joined Fox’s booth full time as an analyst, working alongside Mike Joy and fellow former NASCAR driver and teammate Clint Bowyer. And he’s pumped about his new day job.

“I’m super happy with the way that everything has worked out,” Harvick — a future NASCAR Hall of Famer with the 2014 Cup championship, the 2007 Daytona 500 trophy and 60 Cup wins — recently told For The Win. “And for me, it’s as relaxed as I’ve ever been coming into the first race of the season and not having to worry about that competitive mindset.”

For the first time in more than two decades, he doesn’t have to worry about how fast his car is or being collateral damage in someone else’s wreck. And with his new gig, he’s at ease with a 24-year Fox veteran like Joy alongside him and running the booth.

“It’s hard to have somebody talking in your ear, talking about what you’re talking about on the screen and make sure everything’s going in the in the right direction,” Harvick said. “So having Mike be able to steer the ship and keep us all under control definitely takes a lot of pressure off.”

Ahead of NASCAR’s 2024 season-opening Daytona 500 — which is set for Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET on Fox — For The Win caught up with Harvick to discuss how he’ll approach broadcasting, Trackhouse Racing driver Ross Chastain taking over his iconic Busch Light paint scheme and why he’ll still always be a vocal advocate for drivers.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.