Kyle Larson finished the 2025 Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in third place after starting from P17, despite winning the second stage. The race changed dramatically in the final laps.

Austin Cindric, who started second, was still leading with ten laps remaining. However, he was locked in a fierce battle with Christopher Bell. As Larson passed Cindric for the lead, his attempt to defend his position failed, causing Cindric to collide with the outside wall.

Cindric then collided with William Byron, sending both cars skidding across the track and into the inside wall. Byron, despite his damage, managed to get his car back to the pits, while Cindric’s car suffered heavy damage and had to be towed back to the garage.

Taking responsibility for the collision, Larson admitted his mistake in affecting the Team Penske No. 2 driver as well as his teammate at Hendrick Motorsports.

“I was just a little bit careless when I got up there,” he said. “Cindric came up quicker than I thought. I thought he was just following me in turn two. But maybe that was my fault. I haven’t seen the video yet, but it was definitely my fault.”

On the final restart, which ended with a yellow flag, Larson was unable to pass Hocevar and Bell for the win. The No. 5 driver said that while he hoped Bell would push him into the lead, the race became a three-car affair.

Larson hoped NASCAR would delay the yellow flag to give him a chance to gain momentum on the inside, but that didn’t happen, leading to a third-place finish. Still, Larson was pleased with the team’s performance, especially since he was able to compete at a superspeedway — a track that isn’t his forte.

Larson’s track record in Atlanta has been poor, with four of his last six races failing to finish due to back-to-back crashes. However, this time he has made a significant breakthrough.

What happened in the last reboot

In overtime, Bell led with Larson on the inside. Hocevar quickly moved into the middle, creating a three-way battle for the win. However, a multi-car crash behind him, including Josh Berry, forced NASCAR to throw yellow flags.

After checking the car positions at the time of the yellow flag, Bell was confirmed as the winner, leading the No. 77 and No. 5 cars. Remarkably, Bell only led for one final lap in his No. 20 Toyota, after starting from P32 to take his first win at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Although Bell has had multiple top-five finishes here, including last fall and the 2023 Ambetter Health 400, he admitted, “This style of racing has always been a challenge for me.” So this win is especially meaningful for him.