There's a saying in racing that no one ever remembers who finished second, and by extension, that means no one ever remembers who finished third. But that's not necessarily true.
When you finish second and third in the way Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch did at Atlanta -- runners-up in a three-wide finish and the third-closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history -- it's kind of hard to ever forget where they crossed the line. Daniel Suarez's victory is sure to become a part of the highlight reel at this racetrack, and no matter how many times it gets played back, it'll be Blaney and Busch racing him to the stripe in a race that will be talked about for many years to come and stacks up with the best photo finishes in the history of the track -- just like Dale Earnhardt's win over Bobby Labonte in 2000, Kevin Harvick's win over Jeff Gordon in 2001 and Carl Edwards' win over Jimmie Johnson in 2005.
While Blaney and Busch both may have fallen just short of first place at Atlanta, they're both now at the top of the standings in the CBS Sports NASCAR Power Rankings. Blaney goes to first and Busch goes to second, leading a top 10 that includes some of NASCAR's biggest stars as well as some of the best drivers to start 2024, including an unlikely face in Todd Gilliland, who has spent more time at the front of the pack than anyone else in this young season.
Here's a look at CBS Sports' updated NASCAR Power Rankings following Atlanta:
| Rank | Driver | Change | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan Blaney | There's something about Ryan Blaney and being in a photo finish. Atlanta marked the second time he's been on the losing end of one, having previously come short by just inches in the 2020 Daytona 500 | ||
| 2 | Kyle Busch | As for Kyle Busch, that's the second-narrowest margin separating him from first at the finish line. In 2007, Busch lost the Pepsi 400 at Daytona in a photo finish to Jamie McMurray by .005 | ||
| 3 | Joey Logano | Just when you think you've heard of everything in racing: The optics of Joey Logano's penalty for using illegal gloves suggested that his gloves were altered in a way that it would give him an aerodynamic advantage when he held his hand up to the window net during qualifying. We'll see what comes out of that on penalty day this week. | ||
| 4 | William Byron | There aren't a lot of instances where NASCAR doesn't throw a caution for an accident, but color me surprised it held the yellow flag when William Byron had his accident coming to the pit road commit line. It's likely NASCAR held out in order to not have a bunch of drivers trapped one or more laps down given the very long pit road Atlanta has. | ||
| 5 | Denny Hamlin | Things you overhear in the garage area: I walked past one of Denny Hamlin's crew guys, and he said something to the effect of, "I think we were in every f---in' caution" to someone else. | ||
| 6 | Bubba Wallace | Through two races so far, Bubba Wallace is the only driver in Cup who can say he's finished in the top five in each race so far. There's a good chance he keeps that up next week, as Wallace finished fourth in the spring race at Las Vegas a year ago. | ||
| 7 | Austin Cindric | Austin Cindric gets move of the race -- and maybe move of the year -- for the four-wide pass he made for the lead at Atlanta. It was a daring and awe-inspiring pass that worked absolutely beautifully and made for a breathtaking highlight. | ||
| 8 | Ross Chastain | Ross Chastain was among several drivers who got nabbed for speeding on pit road during Sunday's cycle of green flag pit stops. But three of them -- Bubba Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse, and Chastain -- ended up recovering to finish inside the top 10. | ||
| 9 | Corey LaJoie | Nose damage suffered in a late accident kept him from doing any better, but a 13th-place run marks back-to-back top 15s to open the season for Corey LaJoie. Next week will be a big test for him and his race team, as Las Vegas will be the first showcase to see what gains Spire has made with their 1.5-mile program. | ||
| 10 | Todd Gilliland | If you had Todd Gilliland as leading the most laps in the Cup Series after the opening two races of the season: (A) I don't believe you (B) Please tell me what stocks to buy | ||
| 11 | Alex Bowman | Sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes you're the bug. After a second-place finish in the Daytona 500, it only took two laps at Atlanta for Alex Bowman's race to get ruined by a crash. He had to carry a beat-up racecar to a 27th-place finish, multiple laps down. | ||
| 12 | Christopher Bell | I got a lot of positive feedback for my SportsLine column, and I referred some readers who won money based on my advice that I was picking Christopher Bell to win Atlanta. I realize that Bell getting wrecked on Lap 2 wasn't in my or anyone else's control, but I'm sorry to those guys. | ||
| 13 | Daniel Suarez | In his post-race press conference, I hit Daniel Suarez with the ole "Have you ever" invoking Mike Joy's famous line following the Ricky Craven-Kurt Busch finish at Darlington in 2003. Prior to Atlanta, Suarez said the wildest finishes to a race he won came in his Xfinity championship season in 2016. | ||
| 14 | Kyle Larson | There have been five races at Atlanta Motor Speedway since the track was reconfigured for 2022 and beyond. Kyle Larson has only finished one of them (July 2022). | ||
| 15 | Brad Keselowski | For the second week in a row, Brad Keselowski looked set to have a real chance to win only to end up with a DNF after a crash. He's likely at the top of the list of drivers glad to be done with speedway racing until Talladega in April. | ||
| 16 | Martin Truex Jr. | If you only experienced the final laps at Atlanta through the highlight of the final lap, here's something you didn't see: Martin Truex Jr. was going to have a shot to win, but he got shuffled up to the high side and fell back in the pack in the run to the finish before coming home 12th. | ||
| 17 | Ty Gibbs | Ty Gibbs' crew has to appreciate the start he's had to 2024, as he's one of the few drivers in Cup who has brought home a clean racecar both weeks. Gibbs earned his first top 10 of the season by finishing 10th at Atlanta. | ||
| 18 | Michael McDowell | Back in his start-and-park days, it used to be that qualifying would either make or break Michael McDowell's weekend. After all those years of qualifying success meaning making the field, McDowell finally earned his first Cup pole at Atlanta in his 467th career start. | ||
| 19 | Chase Briscoe | Atlanta offered yet another encouraging sign for Chase Briscoe and his race team, but not the result to show for it. Briscoe was set to have a chance to race for the win, but didn't make it to the final 20 laps after a hard hit into the Turn 3 wall. | ||
| 20 | Chris Buescher | I learned before the green flag Sunday that Chris Buescher named his new son, born just before the Daytona 500, Rhett. Given that I was on Georgia soil, that piece of information was extra appreciable. | ||
| 21 | Chase Elliott | Many people in the crowd at Atlanta came to see their home state driver in Chase Elliott, and they saw him have quite the day: Elliott was involved in a pair of accidents before finishing 15th. | ||
| 22 | John Hunter Nemechek | If nothing else came out of John Hunter Nemechek's weekend, I will say that I absolutely loved his black No. 42 Family Dollar Toyota. Reminded me a little bit of Jamie McMurray's old paint scheme from 2004-05. | ||
| 23 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | It was a battle of the dog food brands in Atlanta: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. with Blue Buffalo sponsorship and Michael McDowell with Benebone sponsorship were parked next to each other in the garage area, and Stenhouse was best in class in sixth. | ||
| 24 | Erik Jones | I guess he couldn't get that lucky two weeks in a row: After he survived The Big One at Daytona to get a top 10, the damage Erik Jones suffered in the Lap 2 crash forced him to putt around all day on his way to 25th. | ||
| 25 | Noah Gragson | The Lap 2 crash was a downer for Noah Gragson given his top 10 finish in the Daytona 500. He'll get to lick his wounds next week with a trip back home to Las Vegas. | ||
| 26 | Daniel Hemric | A solid start to Daniel Hemric's return to Cup: His statistics aren't mind blowing, but two top-20 finishes in 16th and 18th aren't anything to sneeze at either. | ||
| 27 | Ryan Preece | Ryan Preece leaves the two season-opening speedway races with a baseline that's trending upward by just a touch. He followed up a 23rd-place finish in the 500 with a 16th-place run at Atlanta. | ||
| 28 | Tyler Reddick | For the second-straight week, a big crash ensnared Tyler Reddick and kept him from earning the sort of finish he and his team are capable of. Given 23XI's strengths in the aero and horsepower departments, he'll likely be glad to get to Vegas next weekend. | ||
| 29 | Harrison Burton | It wouldn't have felt right at all for Harrison Burton's first two races of the season to end in two accidents in the opening laps. Fortunately, the Lap 2 crash at Atlanta didn't ruin Burton's race, and he ended up just missing out on a top 10 in 11th. | ||
| 30 | Justin Haley | Among the Cup teams that have been building toward being more competitive, Rick Ware Racing had a nice day at Atlanta. Both their cars finished in the top 20 with Kaz Grala in 14th and Justin Haley in 20th. |
