Ryan Blaney sums up exciting 3-wide finish to NASCAR Cup race at Atlanta: “What a cool finish”

Ryan Blaney lost the Ambetter Health 400 to Daniel Suarez by a small margin of 0.003 seconds on Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The defending NASCAR Cup Series champion took the lead on a restart with five laps to go. He stayed out front until Kyle Busch made a daring move to his inside on the last lap, using a push from Bubba Wallace Jr. to create a three-wide fight for the lead as Daniel Suarez moved outside of Busch.

The three drivers remained side-by-side in a drag race before Suarez took the checkered flag by mere inches. Despite moving to the runner-up spot, Ryan Blaney lauded the clean and exciting competition at the Atlanta track.

“What a cool finish. Appreciate the fans for sticking around. That’s a lot of fun. That’s always a good time when we can do that, race clean, three-wide finish to the end. Happy for Daniel. That was cool to see. Fun racing with Kyle. I can’t complain. I’ve won them by very, very little, too, so I can’t complain too much when I lose them by that much. I’m proud of the BodyArmor Zero Sugar car. Our Ford Mustang was fast and close,” Blaney said as quoted by motorsports.com.

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“It was the safest place to be” – Ryan Blaney on three-wide battle for the win

The #12 Ford Mustang admitted that there wasn't much more he could have done to make up the inches required at the finish line. During the post-race interview, when asked if he could have done anything different to turn the outcome of the race in his favor, Blaney replied:

“No. Not at the finish line. I thought I laid back enough in (Turns) 1 and 2 to not let both lanes get that big of a run. I did that like the three laps before the end and I was able to manage it kind of fairly well, and they just got both lanes shoving super hard. I just chose the bottom (lane), and it was the safest place to be."

With a P2 finish at Atlanta, Ryan Blaney moved to fifth place in the points table with 69 points. Catch Blaney and the #12 Team Penske Ford team in a hunt for their first win of the season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 3.