Live updates: Daniel Suarez wins NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta in photo finish

Charlotte Observer NASCAR reporter Shane Connuck will be passing along live updates throughout Sunday’s Cup race from Atlanta Motor Speedway in the section below. Refresh this page for the latest news. Full results will be posted at the conclusion of the race.

Lap 260: THREE-WIDE FOR THE WIN!!!! Daniel Suarez couldn’t have beaten Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney by a much narrower margin. What a race!

Lap 255: Green! Five to go! Daniel Suarez leads us to green on the inside, followed by Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Bubba Wallace.

Lap 249: Caution! Austin Cindric gets loose in the middle and slips. Chase Elliott, Josh Berry, Carson Hocevar all spin.

Lap 245: Back to green! Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez and Martin Truex Jr. lead.

Lap 240: And it’s another caution! Denny Hamlin makes contact with Chase Briscoe. Harrison Burton, Josh Berry and Justin Haley were also collected. Red flag is out.

Lap 232: What a move by Ryan Blaney! The defending champion gets the outside and makes it three-wide for the lead with Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin.

Lap 225: Green again! Denny Hamlin leads the field. What a race this has been!

Lap 219: Caution! Brad Keselowski made contact with Kyle Larson. John Hunter Nemechek and Corey LaJoie also involved. Under yellow for the eighth time this afternoon.

Lap 217: Denny Hamlin passes Austin Cindric! Kyle Busch, Chase Briscoe and Brad Keselowski round out the top five.

Lap 211: Four-wide for the lead! Four! Austin Cindric surges back into the race lead after lining up side-by-side with Martin Truex Jr., Michael McDowell and Kyle Busch on the front row. How about that?

Lap 205: Green flag! Michael McDowell is back into the lead, side by side with Martin Truex Jr. Fifty-five laps to go!

Lap 199: Chase Elliott spins! The Dawsonville, Ga., native was hit by Ross Chastain coming around Turn 3. Caution!

Lap 193: Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr. are battling for the lead! Todd Gilliland continues pushing, currently running in third. Brad Keselowski is fourth and Denny Hamlin, who spun earlier in the race, is in fifth.

Lap 180: Green again! Todd Gilliland, Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin are out in front.

Lap 174: Caution! Kyle Busch made contact with Kaz Grala, who spun from ninth place. Busch receives a free pass.

Lap 170: Green for the Final Stage! It’s still light out, but clouds now mostly cover the sun and the temperature is dropping. Todd Gilliland leads the field to green.

Lap 168: The Top 10 following Stage 2: Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Daniel Suarez, Martin Truex Jr., Todd Gilliland, Brad Keselowski, Harrison Burton, Chase Briscoe and Chase Elliott.

Stage 2

Lap 160: And, we almost made it to the end of Stage 2 without a caution! Chris Buescher got into the wall and swept up Joey Logano, who’d been running second, and Denny Hamlin. Austin Cindric wins Stage 2 as it ends under caution.

Lap 158: Pit road is closed! Two laps left in Stage 2. Austin Cindric is trying to hold off Joey Logano and others for the stage win.

Lap 139: Multiple speeding penalties on pit road! Josh Berry, Kyle Busch Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Erik Jones and Bubba Wallace are penalized for speeding. Austin Cindric moves into the lead as most drivers pit.

Lap 135: Crash, but no caution! Big damage to Michael McDowell’s front right tire as he was hit by William Byron coming to pit road.

Lap 128: Brad Keselowski moves into the lead! Kyle Larson has been fast and currently runs second.

Lap 116: A good stretch of green-flag racing here at Atlanta. Joey Logano, who was dropped to the rear at the start of the race, has grabbed a commanding lead. Ross Chastain and Ryan Blaney are among a host of drivers keeping him close.

Your Top 10: Logano, Blaney, Chastain, Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher, Deny Hamlin, Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson, Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland.

Lap 94: Zane Smith is done for the day as the damaged vehicle policy clock ran out while his team made repairs. Gilliland, Logano, Buescher, McDowell and Harrison Burton are your current top five.

Lap 80: For the second straight week, Todd Gilliland sets a new record for most laps led in a race. After leading for 16 laps at Daytona, Gilliland has paced the field for 17 laps here at Atlanta. Joey Logano runs behind him, and Michael McDowell keeps pushing as well.

Lap 68: Green for Stage 2! Todd Gililand, Joey Logano, Chris Buescher are out in front. Denny Hamlin, who spun on Lap 52, is running 13th.

Lap 62: Your Top 10, who earned stage points: McDowell, Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Bubba Wallace, William Byron and Todd Gilliland.

Stage 1

Lap 60: Michael McDowell wins a long Stage 1! Third career stage win for the veteran driver who started on the pole.

Lap 59: Green again!

Lap 52: There goes Denny! Kyle Busch made contact with Hamlin, who spun on the frontstretch from sixth place. Caution again!

Lap 46: Another good stretch of racing, as pole-sitter Michael McDowell, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson all battle for the lead. After yesterday’s Truck and Xfinity Series races at Atlanta saw periods of single-file driving, Cup drivers continue using the bottom lane effectively.

Lap 31: We’re green again! Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson and Michael McDowell in front.

Lap 25: Chris Buescher loses his grip and spins coming around Turn 4. Under caution again!

Lap 23: Good racing at the front of the pack right now as Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney trade leads. Kyle Busch slips back into the second row.

Lap 10: Green again! Kyle Busch leads the field, with Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher right behind.

Lap 9: Josh Williams’ debut in the NASCAR Cup Series ends early. He headed to the garage and is the only driver involved in the wreck who won’t finish the race.

Fourteen cars were involved in the Lap 2 wreck, making it the biggest in the history of Atlanta Motor Speedway (120 races).

Lap 6: Joey Logano was serving his pass-through lap when the wreck happened on Lap 2, so he won’t even lose a lap. Still under caution.

Lap 2: Carnage! Already! Alex Bowman, Christopher Bell, Austin Dillon, Tyler Reddick, Erik Jones, Noah Gragson and John Hunter Nemechek are among 14 drivers caught up in a big wreck heading into Turn 1. Todd Gilliland was trying to make a hole for Michael McDowell toward the front, and chaos ensued behind him.

Green flag, 3:22 p.m.: “Make sure we’re there at the end,” Joey Logano, who is starting second but will serve a pass-through penalty and drop to the rear, says on his radio. Green flag is in the air! Let’s go racing!

3:13 p.m.: Cars are on the track! Racin’ soon!

3:08 p.m.: “To everyone who has ever listened to NASCAR on the radio — thank you! Thank you very much. Drivers! Start your engines!” Doug Rice, longtime NASCAR broadcaster for PRN who is retiring after 36 years, gets us started! Engines are fired!

2:50 p.m.: Driver introductions are complete! Fans are making their way back to the grandstands as the Cup Series cars remain lined up on pit road. Under a half-hour from racing!

1:30 p.m.: In addition to Logano serving a pass-through penalty, Chase Elliott has been dropped to the rear for unapproved adjustments.

1:25 p.m.: Timing info for today, from NASCAR: the invocation begins at 3 p.m. Georgia-based country artist Mary Kate Farmer will perform the national anthem at 3:01. Legendary PRN broadcaster Doug Rice, who is retiring after this season, will give command at 3:08. Honorary starter Eric Izquierdo of Intouch Financial Group will wave the green flag at 3:19 p.m.

1:23 p.m.: Joey Logano has been dropped to the rear to start today’s race. His “gloves do not meet SFI specification,” NASCAR said, and more penalties could come Tuesday. Logano, the two-time Cup champion, qualified on the front row and will have to serve a pass-through penalty after the green flag.

1 p.m.: Good afternoon from Atlanta Motor Speedway! The NASCAR Cup Series hits the track for the second time this season, set to go green just past 3 p.m. on FOX.

Who’s going to win?

Joey Logano, who won last year’s race at Atlanta and will start Sunday’s race on the front row, is currently the favorite to win at +900 odds, according to DraftKings Sportsbook. Chase Elliott (+1000), Kyle Larson (+1000), Brad Keselowski (+1100), Ryan Blaney (+1100) and Kyle Busch (+1100) round out the drivers with the best odds.

Charlotte Observer reporter Shane Connuck is picking Ryan Blaney to get his first win of 2024. The defending NASCAR Cup Series champion — who starts in the sixth position — boasts six Top 10 finishes in his previous seven races here, including a win three years ago. Some of the sport’s best drivers have won at Atlanta, from William Byron to Jimmie Johnson to Dale Earnhardt. Many of them own multiple victories at the 1.54-mile track, and I’m predicting Blaney will be the latest.

How to watch and stream the NASCAR Cup race at Atlanta

• Race: Ambetter Health 400

• Place: Atlanta Motor Speedway (Hampton, Ga.)

• Date: Sunday

• Time: 3 p.m.

• Purse: $9,137,793

• TV: FOX, 2 p.m.

• Streaming: FOX Sports

• Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

• Distance: 400 miles (260 laps)

• Stages: Stage 1 ends on Lap 60; Stage 2 ends on Lap 160; Final Stage ends on Lap 260.

Starting lineup for the Ambetter Health 400