Joey Logano and Team Penske orchestrate brilliant last lap pass on Brad Keselowski to win at Atlanta

Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano finds himself back in Victory Lane as the #22 Ford Mustang driver logged his first win of the 2023 Cup Series season. The Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway saw the Team Penske driver execute a last-lap pass to clinch P1 in the 400-mile-long race, after managing to dominate stage 1.

The final lap of the 260-lap long race saw Logano make a move on leader Brad Keselowski, passing him on the outside after receiving a push from Christopher Bell. Keselowski, who had controlled the race in the dying stages, defended as hard as he could without making contact with Logano. Coming to the finish line to cross the checkered flag, both Logano and Keseloski's cars were split by 0.193.

Joey Logano looked back on memories from his early days in NASCAR when he used to race Legends cars on the Hampton, Georgia track's infield 1/4-mile track and said after the race:

“First off, winning at Atlanta is so special to me. So many memories of me and my dad and racing right here on the quarter-mile and this is the full circle. So many memories racing here in the Legends car and having a good time and dreaming of going straight on the quarter-mile and on to the big track."

"That was always the dream to do. To finally win here means so much to me personally."

Ambetter Health 400 also marked Joey Logano's first stage win of the season, with the 32-year-old holding off teammate Austin Cindric. Brad Keselowski finished in third during that same time, marking a good performance from the RFK Racing camp.

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Joey Logano credits his victory at Atlanta to great pace from his car

Having claimed the Busch Light Pole Award going into the race on Sunday (March 19), it was clear that Ford-manufactured cars were going to excel at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The qualifying session saw eight Ford-manufactured cars seal the top-8 positions of the race, with Joey Logano sitting on pole.

Further reassuring the blue oval's performance on superspeedway-style tracks, winner Joey Logano said after the race:

“This (car) was an animal. It was very, very fast. I was able to lead a ton of laps, raced really hard there at the end and got a good push from (Bell) to clear myself (for the lead). Huge victory. Nice to get one early in the season, always feels better."

NASCAR goes live from The Circuit of the Americas next weekend for the first road-course action of the 2023 season.