NASCAR Ambetter Health 400 Takeaways – Surprising Winner!

Christopher Bell won a wild Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, leading on the final lap en route to his first win of 2025 and the 10th of his Cup Series career. Here are the major takeaways following the second race of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Ford unable to capitalize on speed again

For the second consecutive week, the Team Penske Fords were the class of the field. For the second straight week, a Team Penske Ford failed to end up in victory lane. Despite leading a combined 131 laps, Ryan Blaney, (fourth) nor Joey Logano (12th) nor Austin Cindric (28th) was able to snag the win. Fords will likely be quick again at Talladega Superspeedway, but the Blue Ovals – in particularly, those owned by Roger Penske – have to find a way to capitalize on their speed.

Veterans overcome myriad setbacks

Denny Hamlin started Sunday’s race in 37th, and failed to move through the pack at a very quick pace early in Stage 1. However, a methodical Hamlin slowly but surely moved his way through the pack and ended up sixth by race’s end, a much better result than the torn-up car Hamlin had at Atlanta in September of 2024.

Michael McDowell ended up in 13th, but based off the way his race started, that might as well be a win. McDowell suffered power-steering issues early in Sunday’s race and fell five laps down, but thanks to a multitude of free passes, was able to get back on the lead lap. From there, the 2021 Daytona 500 winner navigated through the chaos to score a solid top-15 finish that has McDowell 14th in the Cup Series standings.

Daytona defense comes up short for Byron

Daytona 500 winner William Byron was trying to become the first driver since Matt Kenseth in 2009 to win the first two races of a NASCAR Cup Series season. For the second year in a row, a crash on the backstretch at Atlanta ended his hopes of doing so. The Daytona 500 winner was caught up in a crash with Austin Cindric with four laps to go, letting Kenseth’s mark stand. it has now been 16 years since a Cup Series driver won the first two events of a Cup Series season.

Ambetter Health 400 Results:

Stage 1:

1. Josh Berry
2. Austin Cindric
3. William Byron
4. Bubba Wallace
5. Chase Elliott
6. Tyler Reddick
7. Todd Gilliland
8. Ryan Blaney
9. Carson Hocevar
10. Joey Logano

Stage 2:

1. Kyle Larson
2. Bubba Wallace
3. Joey Logano
4. William Byron
5. Alex Bowman
6. Tyler Reddick
7. Carson Hocevar
8. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
9. Austin Cindric
10. Noah Gragson

Race Results:

1. Christopher Bell
2. Carson Hocevar
3. Kyle Larson
4. Ryan Blaney
5. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
6. Denny Hamlin
7. Kyle Busch
8. Ross Chastain
9. Bubba Wallace
10. John Hunter Nemechek
11. Zane Smith
12. Joey Logano
13. Michael McDowell
14. AJ Allmendinger
15. Todd Gilliland
16. Austin Dillon
17. Riley Herbst
18. Ryan Preece
19. Tyler Reddick
20. Chase Elliott
21. Chase Briscoe
22. BJ McLeod
23. Shane van Gisbergen
24. Justin Haley
25. Josh Berry
26. Alex Bowman
27. William Byron
28. Austin Cindric
29. Ty Dillon
30. Chris Buescher
31. Erik Jones
32. Ty Gibbs
33. Daniel Suarez
34. Noah Gragson
35. Cody Ware
36. Cole Custer
37. JJ Yeley
38. Corey LaJoie
39. Brad Keselowski

The third race of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season will be held at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on March 2.

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