It looked like Kyle Larson was going to drive away from the field after he came out from his final green flag pit stop at Atlanta on Sunday.
But there was some March Madness.
Thanks to a bit of help from Team Penske teammate Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney erased a three-second lead that the No. 5 car had and passed Larson with seven laps remaining in the race.
The race-winning pass from Ryan Blaney on Kyle Larson got a little dicey.
That might be one of the best endings of the year. #NASCAR
🎥 @NASCARONFOX pic.twitter.com/pV09sKauOt— Connor Ferguson (@cfchangs9) March 21, 2021
The move put Blaney in the lead and delivered his first victory of the season for both him and the Roger Penske-owned team.
Although, it might not have happened if it wasn’t for the driving of the No. 22.
Logano, who was running P13 as Larson came around to lap him late in the race, started to adjust his groove and where he was entering and exiting turns in order to make it harder for the No. 5 to get by.
Whatever he did, it worked, and it frustrated Larson on the way there.
“I hate Logano,” Larson said on his radio after being passed by Blaney.
The win is Blaney’s first trip to victory lane since he won last year’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega and maintains what is now a five-year streak of having at least one win for the young driver.
So far in his career, a second win in the same season as eluded him.
Alex Bowman, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five. Austin Dillon scored his second top 10 of the year.
Chris Buescher had his best finish of the season in P7 and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top 10 after a horrid start to his afternoon.
Six races into the year, the streak of different winners continues, as Blaney added his name to the potential playoff list.
Next week could get as unpredictable as ever, though, as the NASCAR Cup Series heads to the Bristol Dirt Track for something fans truly haven’t seen before.
NASCAR Cup Series Atlanta Results
1. Ryan Blaney
2. Kyle Larson
3. Alex Bowman
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Kyle Busch
6. Austin Dillon
7. Chris Buescher
8. William Byron
9. Martin Truex Jr.
10. Kevin Harvick
11. Matt DiBenedetto
12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
13. Ryan Newman
14. Ross Chastain
15. Joey Logano
16. Bubba Wallace
17. Daniel Suarez
18. Cole Custer
19. Michael McDowell
20. Aric Almirola
21. Christopher Bell
22. Austin Cindric
23. Chase Briscoe
24. Erik Jones
25. Ryan Preece
26. Tyler Reddick
27. Anthony Alfredo
28. Brad Keselowski
29. Corey LaJoie
30. Justin Haley
31. Cody Ware
32. James Davison
33. Quin Houff
34. BJ McLeod
35. Joey Gase
36. Timmy Hill
37. Josh Bilicki
38. Chase Elliott
39. Kurt Busch
| 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Grid | ||||||
| After 6 of 26 Regular Season Races – Next Race Sunday @ Bristol Dirt | ||||||
| Position | Driver | Wins | Points | Cutoff | PP | |
| 1 | Kyle Larson | 1 | 234 | x | 8 | |
| 2 | Martin Truex Jr. | 1 | 212 | x | 5 | |
| 3 | Ryan Blaney | 1 | 191 | x | 6 | |
| 4 | William Byron | 1 | 188 | x | 6 | |
| 5 | Christopher Bell | 1 | 183 | x | 5 | |
| 6 | Michael McDowell | 1 | 158 | x | 5 | |
| 7 | Denny Hamlin | 277 | +139 | 3 | ||
| 8 | Joey Logano | 214 | +76 | 1 | ||
| 9 | Brad Keselowski | 206 | +68 | 1 | ||
| 10 | Kevin Harvick | 203 | +65 | 0 | ||
| 11 | Chase Elliott | 183 | +45 | 1 | ||
| 12 | Austin Dillon | 170 | +32 | 0 | ||
| 13 | Kyle Busch | 163 | +25 | 0 | ||
| 14 | Alex Bowman | 157 | +19 | 0 | ||
| 15 | Kurt Busch | 152 | +14 | 0 | ||
| 16 | Chris Buescher | 144 | +6 | 1 | ||
| Playoff Cutoff | ||||||
| 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 138 | -6 | 0 | ||
| 18 | Ryan Preece | 135 | -9 | 0 | ||
| 19 | Bubba Wallace | 118 | -26 | 0 | ||
| 20 | Ryan Newman | 108 | -36 | 0 | ||
| 21 | Ross Chastain | 108 | -36 | 0 | ||
