Original subtitles

You cannot survive outside the race car

who you must become inside the race car.

When a quarterback puts a helmet on,

when a pitcher steps on the mound,

or when a NASCAR driver puts on his helmet,

he must become somebody

that perhaps isn't accepted outside the race car,

but that's who you must become to survive at the top level of stock car racing.

That is the sport.

Drivers, start your engines!

The NASCAR Playoffs driver has got to be perfect.

There's only 16 of us right now.

This is the most fun time of the year for sure.

How can you step up, and how can you rise to the occasion.

This is when a lot of teams will crack.

The mentally toughest ones will thrive.

You gotta be good for ten weeks. That's how the NASCAR Playoffs work.

Here we go. Ready. Green, green, green.

When I get high, I get high on speed

Top fuel funny car's a drug for me

My heart, my heart

Kickstart my heart…

There's so much on the line. So many different storylines.

All of a sudden, Netflix wants to talk to me again.

So many different things have to go your way.

Oh man, he just let go.

Yeah, baby!

I'll just keep betting on myself each and every year.

- Denny! - You suck!

Yeah, are you ready, girls?

Yeah, are you ready now…

The 2024 NASCAR season has been unbelievable.

I don't know what more you want.

Some of the closest finishes in NASCAR history…

- We won! - …decided by that much.

Wins it by an eyelash.

A banzai move.

- Joey Logano, very upset. - It's a joke.

Denny Hamlin, he'll be upset.

Absolutely tried to kill you to win.

Talladega!

Every single race, I think, "Okay, Daniel can win this."

It's hard.

You don't ever want to watch them be sad for what they worked hard for.

Before him, I've never been in this world. I'm appreciative of every part of it.

This isn't sport to them. This is, "I have to find another job."

I'm starting to get terrified. I'm not gonna lie.

I don't feel bad for him. This is life. Everybody goes through this shit.

When I'm enraged or hitting the stage

Adrenaline rushing through my veins

And I'd say we're still kicking ass…

Bloodbath's back there.

Oh my goodness.

There's fuel, there's oil.

I don't care if you have seatbelts, a helmet.

Oh, dammit!

Going 200 miles an hour is dangerous.

- It's fucking on now. - Keep your head in the game.

Whoa, yeah

Kickstart my heart Hope it never stops

Whoa, yeah, baby…

Nice job staying in there, bud.

I wouldn't trade it.

We gonna drink some beer tonight.

As soon as you think you know what's gonna happen, boom.

Everything's magnified.

Kickstart my heart, give it a start

Whoa, yeah

Okay, boys, let's rock the house…

This is the most difficult championship

in all of sport to win.

It is almost impossible to win this thing.

Hell yeah, man, let's go.

Back to your spot.

All right, Joey.

Who had to paint all these blocks? Seems like quite the project.

- I've been up all night. - Have you? I knew it.

You guys are really sitting us low down here, huh?

Do you love the playoffs? Are you pumped for this?

No, I get excited about it.

My favorite quote is, "Pressure is a privilege."

Pressure is earned. Like, this is where you want to be.

I'd rather live in some of that stress and that, um, uncomfortable feeling

with the opportunity to win the big prize.

Two years ago, you won your second Cup Championship.

And then last year, you became the first defending champion

to be knocked out in the first round.

Dammit.

How'd it feel watching that on Full Speed, Season One?

So painful in the moment.

I hated watching that back because I didn't want to relive it.

How do I feel? I'm a little angry at the moment.

But there's not much I can do about it at this point. So…

But, thanks to Netflix, I got to do that.

Hopefully, I can relive better moments this year.

What would be the moment you want to relive this year?

Winning the championship, obviously.

That's the only one you really want to relive.

You gonna teach me how to do that?

I always tell everyone, the most important decision

you ever make in your life is who you marry.

Brittany and I have known each other for a long, long time.

I was 16 years old, and my parents ran an ice rink.

I drove the Zamboni. Brittany worked at the rink.

She worked in the concession stand, so…

You drive the Zamboni right by the concession stand,

and I'd have it sideways drifting. I'd try to show off.

It worked?

Uh, well, I don't know if the Zamboni driving actually did anything,

um, but she was my first date,

she was my first kiss, and we've known each other ever since.

Okay.

Get your helmet on, baby.

Put my helmet on and say a prayer, and we'll be ready to go. All right.

- Here we go. - Oh shit.

- Oh yeah. - Oh god. Okay.

- Just-- - Oh, I like it.

- Little bit more gas. - Okay.

There you go. Yep, all right, there we go.

He's the most impatient person you've ever met,

which I think is also what makes him so good at what he does.

He's a winner. He always wants more.

So he's… he's not very patient. He wants things immediately,

but he's also not afraid to do the work for something either.

Daytona 500, guys!

Winning, it's all in, like, that type of moment, right?

You cross the start-finish line, and it's… it happens.

It is raw emotion that comes over you.

There's no other moment in my life that I can compare it to.

Getting married, having kids, like, those are special moments,

but racing's just in a different category.

There's nothing else that I can think of

that can bring that much raw emotion and excitement.

It's…

It gives me chills thinking about it. Like, it is the most badass thing.

It's Joey Logano who wins!

Yeah!

The 2018 NASCAR Cup Series Champion!

You're the man! You are the man.

Joey Logano is the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Champion!

Two-time, baby!

Logano has just stepped into elite status.

Joey's a two-time champion, no disrespect,

but nobody looks at Joey as a problem.

He wins a race or two, but he'll have some really down times.

And he looks like he's not a contender.

He looks like he's not gonna be a threat.

Here comes the 22! All over the back bumper now!

No driver in the NASCAR field, in my opinion,

defines the split personality required better than Joey Logano.

He's the nicest guy you know when you see him out to dinner,

and when he puts the helmet on, he's nothing like that.

He does whatever it takes to win,

at really whatever means necessary.

He raced me hard, so I raced him hard back.

I think there is a lot of different sides to Joey,

but the side that we see is the caring, funny, great dad, great husband.

To be honest, we don't really talk about work much at home.

He's not that type of person.

When he comes home, he truly does shut it off.

- All right, hang on tight. Here we go. - Let's get wet.

Oh, J, you're soaked!

I think he understands when it is time to push and when to not,

when it is time to maybe not work one afternoon

and spend time with his family.

He knows how to manage the 40, basically, calendar weeks of the NASCAR schedule.

He's constantly striving for more,

and he never feels like he's good enough.

To me, that's why he is so good,

because he just never feels like he's at par,

and so he continuously just tries, tries, tries, tries, tries harder.

It's so freaking hard to win at this level.

It's so hard.

The only thing that you can argue makes it a little easier

is you've done it before.

All right, like, now you know the formula it takes to go win a championship.

- I want to do it again! - You want to do it again?

But everybody is different.

There's no two seasons that mimic each other perfectly,

or really two drivers that do it the same.

What do you think is the number one trait

you need to win a Cup?

Wow, okay, you're going deep here.

Mental is the most important.

There's a little bit of, you know, a mental factor in there, for sure.

You have to execute well but also have the speed.

This year, it's all about speed.

Pushing boundaries and finding the limit of things.

Momentum and confidence.

No other team has nothing to lose like I do.

You just cannot have one bad race anymore.

There's just really no room for error.

You just need to not do something dumb.

Just the slightest little mistake can, uh, can put you in trouble.

- Road course racing, Superspeedway racing. - It's hard.

- That's what makes it fun. - It is fun.

There's only 16 of us right now

that at the end of the year have a chance to hoist the ultimate trophy.

- Dude, thank you so much. - Sweet.

- Really appreciate it, Joey. - Yep. Thank you.

At the beginning of every year, there are 36 teams.

After the regular season, 16 of those are gonna make the Playoffs.

If you win a race, you're basically locked into the Playoffs.

If we don't have 16 winners, then it comes down to a points total.

You gain points on every race.

Once we get to the playoff, it is 16 drivers and 10 races.

After three races, four are gone.

After three more races, four more are gone.

After three more, four more are gone,

leaving us with one race,

four drivers for a championship.

Is that a good way to describe it?

Got to suck carrying all that in.

We decided to break a world record.

- How you doing, buddy? - Good, how are y'all doing?

Are you stoked to be the guy

that's sitting on top of the crown right now?

Yeah, I mean, we're the fortunate ones that have the shot to defend.

I look at… I look at that as a positive.

You know, I mean, hey, everyone's trying to gun for you.

We have an opportunity to do something really unique,

and that's win back-to-back.

We've accepted that challenge, which you always have to,

like, find challenges.

And, uh, I think that's kind of the one that we've… we've landed on.

- Okay, I love you. - Thanks.

- Good luck. Be safe. I'm proud of you. - Thank you.

White flag is in the air.

White flag. It's white flag.

Ryan Blaney is a NASCAR Cup Series Champion.

One hell of a job, man. One hell of a job.

Hell of a job, driver.

Proud of you for sticking with it all year.

Way to go, Team 12.

I'm getting emotional. Thank you, guys.

I got emotional in the car. I'm not a very emotional guy, but…

So cool. Thank you, guys, for coming. I hope it was an awesome show.

You know, Ryan Blaney has just kind of the "it."

He kind of oozes cool.

Him and his fiancée are this beautiful couple.

He has represented the sport as well as anyone as the champion.

He doesn't take that patch on his fire suit lightly,

but he also doesn't let him define him.

I think he's as hungry to win his second as he was to win his first.

Blaney! Blaney!

To win back-to-back titles is a huge undertaking.

Can he do that again in 2024?

So, my little present to myself, mainly Gianna.

She told me last year that she's been wanting a pool forever.

She wants a pool, wants a pool. I was like, "No, no, no."

And then we get to May.

I was like, "If we win a race this year, I'll get you a pool."

So, we won the 600 in May last year. And she's like, "Can we get that pool?"

I was like, "Eh… We win the championship, we'll get a pool."

Sure as shit, six months later, here we are, win the championship.

One of the first things she said to me on the stage was like,

"So we're getting that pool?"

We'll get you that pool after all.

- You don't have a choice now. - We'll get a fucking nice one.

Yeah, I can't go back on this one, so we started this project,

I'd say, in April, May this year, this pool project.

And come look at the fucking disaster that it is.

I'm almost hungrier now than what I was before I won the first.

It's almost like you've, like, tasted the forbidden fruit

and, like, you want another bite of it.

And you also have people like,

"Well, you know, you didn't deserve it," and all that BS and stuff like that.

It's like, "I'll prove you wrong again."

"I'm gonna win another and shove it in your face."

Don't you want to go swimming in that? Doesn't that look awesome?

Man, hot day, just get out. I might do it right now.

Big year between wedding planning and what is going on with the pool.

It's a constant topic of our house right now.

The first thing you mentioned, you got engaged.

Yeah, so I got engaged in the winter.

People came up to me like, "Oh, won the championship, got engaged."

I was like, "Whoa, I planned on doing this way before we ever won the championship."

So when you walk out, you'll just…

- Okay. - All right.

All right, ladies.

Oh my gosh!

Can I go over and…?

Yeah, you can face the mirror there, and then you'll drop that lace down. Yep.

You look like a snow princess.

- Thanks. - It's perfect for a winter…

- It's so perfect. - Yeah, it's perfect for, like, a winter…

- Oh my gosh. - …snowflake.

- Oh my gosh. - Yeah.

Now that we're planning a wedding, I'm excited for the wedding.

Definitely taking it all in as we go,

and I'm really appreciative of every part of it.

Especially because our wedding is closer to the holidays, and it's our offseason,

so we're gonna have everyone that's super special to us

in the same place.

Now, where are y'all getting married? Remind me again.

Aspen, Colorado.

Oh my goodness. Oh, that'll be so pretty.

Yeah, 12/12.

- So, December 12th. - Yeah.

He's a NASCAR driver, and his car number is 12.

Oh, cool.

I said to him, I said, "I hope you love the number 12 forever," and he laughed.

- That's so funny. - He was like, "Shit, me too."

We're gonna do vows in the morning of the wedding,

just drinking coffee in our pajamas…

- That's sweet. - …before I'm in hair and makeup.

Then he'll see you for the first time in the gown.

- Yeah, just 'cause he'll calm my nerves. - I love that.

He's good. He's like my little weighted blanket.

I'm a very, like, "We'll figure it out when it gets here."

I'm not really stressing about it. It's gonna be fun regardless.

But she wants everything perfect, right? I don't blame her for that at all.

- Perfect. - Yeah.

- I think that'll be really pretty. - Yeah, I love it.

The planning process is like, phew, racing.

It's just as important, if not-- It's more important.

I got to say that for when she watches this.

This is more important than trying to race for a championship.

Let's take bets.

What do you guys think Ryan's reaction is gonna be?

I think he's gonna sob.

- Really? - Yeah.

I either think that or really serious and, like,

play with his hands because he'll be nervous.

People ask me, "Well, you won the championship last year."

"You got engaged. Like, how do you top '24?"

Like last year, repeat.

Where it all started, "Be Ryan Fucking Blaney."

She's become, like, famous for that line, which is great, so…

Isn't that amazing?

That's what I try to be, man. Just try to be Ryan Fucking Blaney.

Team Penske is a team that demands perfection.

There is a saying, "Penske perfect," for a reason.

Every single crew member has perfectly tucked-in shirts

and all buttoned up, to…

If you've ever been into their race shop, it is absolutely pristine.

It's clean. Everything is in its spot.

And they have all three drivers in the Playoffs.

Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric,

they seem so comfortable to be teammates.

They obviously work well together to find the success.

Joey Logano has two championships.

Ryan Blaney is the defending champion.

Austin Cindric continues to validate.

He's in the race car because he's a great driver.

You're a product of the environment you grow up around.

No one drives for Roger Penske that isn't capable of doing the job.

I feel like the three of us all have

a wide range of varying strengths and weaknesses.

We have the ingredients to go do this.

In the Playoffs, Penske Racing is absolutely a threat,

by all means a threat.

First three races of this playoff are wild cards.

Atlanta, door-to-door, bumper-to-bumper every single race now.

You never know who's gonna be able to survive.

Watkins Glen has become the most aggressive racetrack on the tour.

And then Bristol, short track, who knows what's gonna happen?

Drivers like to be in control,

and I believe that the first round of this Playoffs

have more out of their control than ever.

What can happen at Atlanta is you can make all the right decisions

and it still just not work out, more than at perhaps other tracks.

A lot like Talladega and Daytona, Atlanta's now in that bucket.

Atlanta, while a wild card, same guys always run up front.

Joey Logano's always up front.

William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell,

and one of those is Daniel Suárez.

Team Fastex is mine,

and Team Fastex doesn't need a driver like The Collector.

I've risked everything to get the NASCAR Unlimited Series started.

There's no name, just an ID number.

It was just to test the simulator.

And he didn't want the team he's driving for now

to know he was interested in the Unlimited Series, right?

I'm not so sure you'd want this driver, Dad.

I'll tell you what I want, Megan.

I want that man driving for Fastex.

Many people don't really know me as a person,

you know, where I came from.

I grew up with my two sisters and mom and dad

in a two-bedroom house with one bathroom.

My mom didn't even have a car. We had to use public transportation.

So we were not a wealthy family at all.

And I have done a lot of things that, honestly,

I never thought they were even possible.

And all those things have been possible just by following your dreams.

I have always wanted to be a race car driver,

and I was only 18 years old.

I drove my… my only car at the time, a 1994 Beetle,

and I drove all the way from Monterrey, Mexico, to here,

just trying to find opportunities, trying to learn the language.

Is there any truth to the story that you learned English from cartoons?

That can't be true.

Yeah, it is. Cartoons are made for kids. They articulate very well.

So, cartoons, they speak very clear, so kids are learning the language.

Daniel Suárez is a story of the American dream.

To leave Mexico in a Volkswagen Bug,

drive to Charlotte, North Carolina,

and try to figure it out.

And then navigate his way through all of that

and become one of the established 40,

who, again, doesn't just get a job.

He's a winner.

This is Daniel's eighth season in the NASCAR Cup Series,

fourth with his team Trackhouse Racing,

and he was the first Mexican-born driver to win a NASCAR National Series race.

Daniel Suárez is going to be the toast of the town

as he captures his first ever victory.

But since then, he's underperformed to what people thought he was capable of.

Last year, he didn't even make the Playoffs.

We start the year in 2024. Daniel Suárez is on the hot seat.

Daniel Suárez has to "win" and establish himself

as a competitive championship-caliber driver,

or he's going to get replaced in the 99.

So, what's he do? He goes out and wins the second race of the season

in a three-wide-at-the-line finish that was an absolute thriller.

Top three coming in checkered. If you get ahead, push him down.

Wow! Daniel Suárez wins it by an eyelash.

The race finish is under review.

It's really freaking close.

- Closest in history, probably. - Looks like us on this picture.

Race winner is the 99.

- Yeah! - We got it!

Fuck yeah, guys! Fuck yeah! Whoo!

Daniel Suárez's win at Atlanta was one of those moments.

It's gonna be in the highlight reels forever, the win by basically inches.

Maybe an inch.

Daniel went winless in 2023, missed the Playoffs.

How about this guy? How about this guy?

And that was weighing on him. He's a very, very competitive guy.

He goes, "I don't wanna do that again. I'm a winner, a championship contender."

So, coming into '24, and being able to get that win early

was hugely important to him and that group and this company.

Awesome.

He just looks like he is enjoying the moment.

I don't know if anyone's had a better year, right?

Won a race, got married.

So many things that were on his list got checked off this year.

We're good?

My name is Julia Piquet.

And I am Daniel Suárez's wife.

That's so weird to say.

- Well, congratulations. - Thanks.

The last time he was in the Playoffs was in 2021,

and he just didn't make the Round of 8.

And if there is that added pressure, I mean, he certainly doesn't show it.

Hopefully, things go his way this season.

I love to watch him race, and I love to rewatch races

with him racing, and being a part of that process.

I have to rewatch my races, you know, every single week.

And she'll rewatch it on Monday,

the day after.

And I'm like, "Oh my God, she's intense."

I don't think I could have found somebody that loves racing more than Julia.

I actually believe that she loves racing more than me.

So, for those who don't know, Julia Piquet's father, Nelson Piquet,

Formula One race car driver, found success at the Formula One level.

Julia's father is a three-time Formula One World Champion.

So, she grew up in the sport.

Her brother also has raced Formula One, NASCAR.

So, it is a world racing family.

She has seen both the highs and the lows of autosport.

That's the advantage that Daniel has having her in his corner.

A marriage can be a massive asset to a driver,

or it can be a distraction to a driver.

I would say that if your wife has race knowledge, it's an asset.

O'er the land of the free…

To be able to have everything that I have today

and everything that I have accomplished in my life,

it's very… it's very humbling.

It's the American dream. It's real. A lot of people talk about it.

It's real. It's real.

If you go to other countries,

it's real how bad some people want to come over here.

"It's time for Braves baseball. Let's play ball."

And you just say that nice and loud.

Don't fuck it up.

It's time for Braves baseball.

Let's play ball!

¡Vámonos!

You go right back.

Whoo!

Coming back to a race that we won as the first race of the Playoffs,

I think if I can pick something, the way I want to start the Playoffs,

it'd be just like this,

because it's going to be a little bit extra good energy

with a little extra confidence.

We are definitely starting the Playoffs exactly where we want.

Can you go back a couple clicks? Right there.

Check what the 1 does right there with the 12.

Atlanta looks like a normal racetrack

but with the increased banking, which happened a few years ago,

and now races like Daytona and Talladega.

What that means is the drivers can run laps around Atlanta

basically not lifting off the throttle.

That's a great move, you know?

Being in line increases the speed, so they draft.

So, it means you're kind of packed up as a group.

The thing about Atlanta is you have to have help.

You have to have teammates that are willing to push you in key moments.

You quite literally have to have someone put their front bumper on your back bumper

and shove you forward.

So, for Daniel Suárez, he has a teammate,

Ross Chastain.

Ross is not in the Playoffs.

So, his sole purpose is to make sure

that Daniel makes his way to the front

for the greater good of Trackhouse Racing.

Ross knows. He's been told.

Like, "Hey, man, the best thing you can do is help Daniel."

Conversely, three different Penske cars are all in the playoff.

So, while they still wanna help each other get to the front,

they don't necessarily wanna help each other win the race.

Now, if it got down to a position where they could help someone win

and they could, they're going to do that.

But really, it's every man for himself

when you have three guys all racing for the title at once.

Ryan!

- Come on, Ryan! - Blaney!

We've seen you here, and we've seen you in 'Dega.

- I told you to win, and you won them both. - All right.

- Win the championship, please. - Hopefully we'll do it.

- There you go. - Thank you, Ryan.

Denny Hamlin, 11 Playoffs in a row.

And you are next, eight Playoffs in a row.

What's that make you feel like?

I really try not to think about that stuff.

I look at it as, "Hey, we've run really good at these tracks."

I like to think I have a fair idea of what I'm doing at these places.

So, hopefully, we can contend for the win.

I look forward to it, but I know it's gonna be interesting.

A lot of guys' Playoffs are not gonna get started off on the right foot today.

That's for sure. But hopefully we get ours started off on the right one.

Awesome, it's so great to have you around.

Thank you, guys. Appreciate you being here.

- Give it up for Ryan Blaney. - Have a fun day.

How do you feel Penske is as a whole going into the Playoffs this year?

I think we feel pretty good.

We've proven you get hot at the right time and you win that first race.

Sitting pretty. There's no doubt on Superspeedways.

I'm pretty confident in… in what we've brought.

There's no telling what's gonna happen at the end of this thing.

So we'll try to position ourselves at the front,

try to stay there as long as we can.

Emma!

Emma is, uh… ten years old.

She's my soulmate.

Daniel always asks me, "Who do you love more, me or Emma?"

- I always say Emma. - Yeah. I haven't won that battle yet.

She's a seasoned traveler.

Emma has been traveling with us since day one,

and Pep is new in the travel schedule.

This is her third time.

She's like the chillest cat ever.

Tell them who you are.

Pressure is something that every single athlete

has to be comfortable with.

Pressure can either bring the best out of you, or it can break you.

I'm just living in the moment. It's very easy to say it.

"Hey, you have to be present. You have to live in the moment."

But we cannot control what happened yesterday,

and we cannot control what is gonna happen tomorrow either.

Just south of downtown Atlanta, Georgia,

is the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

This track produces some of the most thrilling racing in NASCAR.

Combine fast speeds with the threat of the Big One around every corner,

and you have the recipe for a wild start to the Playoffs for the NASCAR Cup Series.

One of the things that makes NASCAR's Playoffs so interesting

is somebody can have an amazing regular season.

They can be dominant. They can start the season really strong.

Maybe lose some speed throughout the season.

And then we get to that final ten-race run,

and you have to execute at such a high level

to get out of each of the rounds and advance to the next round.

And that's one of the things that makes the NASCAR Playoffs

so interesting and so captivating

is you can genuinely feel the intensity

of every single one of those races as these playoff drivers try to advance.

To advance into the next round, you can either win a race

or you have enough cumulative points to be above the cut line.

You get playoff points for winning a stage or winning a race.

If you win, you advance. That is the beauty of the sport.

That is the beauty of the system. A win fixes everything.

Congratulations to all. This is a championship-caliber team.

We can go deep in this team.

So what better way to start the Playoffs than the racetrack we won with in spring.

So, let's go do it again, all right? Appreciate you guys.

- One, two, three, team! - Team!

There are favorites. William Byron, Kyle Larson,

Denny Hamlin, always considered a favorite.

Tyler Reddick has absolutely the ability to make the Championship four.

And, overlooked for years,

I think Christopher Bell has finally earned his stripes

to be put up there as one of the favorites.

But I think that the championship is up for the taking.

And I wanna see who jumps up there and grabs it.

With the Playoffs, every time a driver climbs into a race car

he is hoping,

daydreaming about epic Game 7 moments.

Drivers, start your engines!

At the end of the day, this is a team sport.

The pit crew has to do their job.

And the spotter's job is to give them a bigger picture

of the things they might not be able to see.

And the crew chief,

who essentially is the equivalent of the head coach of a football team,

has to do his job.

Let's have a good day.

Got a couple amigos around you here,

so battle to the end, man.

He's responsible in some part with the headspace of his driver.

All right, guys, here we go.

Ten weeks. Believe in yourself.

Believe in each other, have each other's backs.

I got y'all's.

Yes, sir, man. Have fun out there. We're all gonna fight to the end.

All right, let's go in Atlanta. Awesome day for a race.

Got a good crowd on hand.

Five teams, 400 miles today in Atlanta. Let's go get it.

Ten races to go.

The Playoffs begin now. It's time to bring the action.

Atlanta Motor Speedway, let's go!

Green, green.

Racing at 180 miles an hour at Talladega

is kinda like going down a five-lane interstate.

180 miles an hour here is more like driving through your neighborhood.

It's condensed. There's just not as much space.

It even seems faster.

Joey's gonna push the 5 to you here.

Here's the 5 right to you, still clear.

Atlanta, Daytona, Talladega, these drafting tracks,

you're always looking for your teammates.

We've put a lot of time and effort into planning if we can get lined up

and work with each other.

Let's use your help on the bottom.

5 by himself, 2 coming to you.

2 should hook up with you. Pushing you.

Teammates working together here as Cindric pushes Blaney ahead.

It's now Penske teammates, Blaney, Cindric, top two.

At the end of the day,

you're looking out for yourself, but you can also trust your team.

My teammate, Austin, and I worked really well together.

We're up there next to each other, leading and controlling the race.

I'm kind of looking in my mirror, and I see Larson get free.

Kyle Larson nails the wall!

Whoa! That's a huge one for Larson!

That car just snapped on him and went straight into the wall.

And now Chase Briscoe, another playoff contender,

just slams his rear end.

Holy shit, that car's tore up.

That was purely violent.

You all right?

Yeah. I don't know if I blew a tire or what.

10-4, man. Are you okay?

Yeah.

Look at the 99 of Daniel Suárez, the February winner here in Atlanta.

He feels he's got a shot to repeat that victory.

Nice and smooth here.

99 is clear behind him, going inside of you.

- Big move down the straightaway. - Whoa! Suárez.

All the way down, below the white and red line

with the left-side tires.

Logano pushed him down below that line.

Those are situations that happen in the Playoffs.

And at that point,

it's extremely important just to stay calm, to stay neutral,

to execute a good race.

In the Quaker State, 99 for Trackhouse Racing.

Sometimes I just wanna, like, come in the motor home and, like, hide,

and then just see what the results were, you know?

Because it's so stressful.

So stressful.

Back to green, 80 to go in the Quaker State 400.

Let's get back to it.

With about 80 to go,

the 17 got loose underneath me and kind of overcorrected.

Trouble down the backstretch.

We've got an issue here.

Blaney and then Truex is involved. Two playoff drivers.

I got hit hard. I hit the wall.

My heart rate probably rose 60 beats a minute

in a span of, like, five seconds.

Looks like you got hit in the door.

As long as your steering wheel is okay, I think we're reasonable.

I think my steering wheel is all right.

They're gonna go around with tape, try to put that thing back in place,

get it all taped down.

They got a hole in the bumper in the right rear.

We dodged a bullet,

slapped some gauze on this thing, and continued to keep fighting.

All right, let's go.

What's in store today over these closing 13 laps?

Now drawing alongside the leader, Ty Gibbs, is Daniel Suárez.

Suárez now, though, he wants to defend that win from the spring.

Nearly a dead heat at the line.

It is Suárez leading that last lap by two-hundredths of a second.

And how about Joey Logano,

running at top ten with a shot at a victory?

The car is driving very good. I have good teammates around me.

I'm able to control the race in a very good way.

Yellow, yellow, yellow. It's yellow. Debris.

And that's the caution that I did not want to see.

We've got a banner that flew off of the side of the fence,

if you can believe this.

And that will bring the action to a halt.

When the track becomes unsafe,

whether that's debris on the track or an accident, they throw a yellow flag.

That's a caution.

It's a moment where whatever you were watching has been reset.

They're now all back together again,

sometimes to the good of your driver, sometimes to the bad of your driver.

And then we go back green flag racing.

Gonna get the flag with five to go in regulation.

A lot of pushing and shoving.

There ain't no way we make it to the end without another crash.

Ready. Green.

Suárez gets a great jump. He will take the lead side-by-side.

And that second row is going to be Ty Gibbs and Joey Logano.

Now Suárez to the low side!

Clear low. Now he's in there. Get ready for your help here.

Suárez on the bottom.

Now he makes contact with Logano's driver's door.

Suárez on the inside. Chastain giving him a push.

Ryan Blaney pushing Joey Logano.

It's Suárez and Logano two-wide for the lead.

Who's gonna pull ahead?

As the leader, it's your job

to make sure that you, one, don't get too far out front,

but you also wanna time it to where they push you at the right time,

to where they can't make a move on you.

And there's a caution.

Caution. We should be the leader.

Every single lap that goes by, the heart rate gets even higher.

I'm exhausted, and I'm just watching.

I think we want Blaney to push us, right?

A hundred percent.

If you can have anyone behind you, you would choose your teammate.

But you also know at some point the gloves are gonna drop,

and he wants to go out there and try to pass you and win the race.

Caution comes out. I am third on the restart.

Joey picks the bottom. 99 picks the top.

Obviously, I'm gonna line up behind my teammate

'cause this is our best chance for one of us to win.

When we are restarting, I knew that 1 is gonna be loyal to me,

but I also know that the 12 is gonna be loyal to the 22.

So, it's just extremely important to stay connected for as long as possible.

Big picture. Do what we can to win. Also be smart here.

Push him along. Here we go.

Ready. Ready. Ready.

Green, green.

Here comes a big push.

How big is that push from Blaney for his Team Penske teammate?

And then the Trackhouse boys are working together.

Chastain is pushing Suárez.

Right on you, two by two.

A little higher. He's getting pushed. You're getting pushed.

Logano gets another little shove from Ryan Blaney.

And the two Penskes clear Suárez.

Daniel Suárez, trying to fight back on the outside.

Bring it to the line. Let's go!

Joey Logano prevails in this first playoff race.

Now we start the playoff, boys. Yeah!

It ain't like I can make This kinda mess all by myself…

Good job.

Thanks, Blaney.

Pull that bottle off the shelf

Been deep in every weekend…

Nice job, boys.

Next round.

Hell, I had some help…

Joey Logano continues to deliver when it counts in the Playoffs.

What is it about this team, Joey,

that you guys can step up and make a difference in the Playoffs?

Incredible execution from the team, you know? It's…

Had my teammate, Blaney, behind me. It really helped out in that last lap

to be able to make sure a Penske car won and ultimately move on to the next round.

So, good day for the Penske cars.

Hello to my kids and wife at home. I wish they were down here.

But it was definitely a special week.

Welcome to the Round of 12. Joey Logano with the win here in Atlanta.

It's a big advantage we have with our race team.

We really lean on each other.

We're always pushing each other. That makes Team Penske strong.

But I had the little devil on my shoulder, like,

"Three-wide bottom. Three-wide bottom."

Uh, but then the little angel was like, "No, push Joey. Help those guys out."

Playoffs is stressful.

Just…

Playoffs is no joke.

Joey Logano now is guaranteed to make it

to the next round of the Playoffs.

He is locked and loaded and ready to go.

Ryan Blaney is the defending champion,

but he hasn't shown the consistent speed that the 22 has.

Who's the best driver at Penske?

Well, if you're asking me right now,

it's Joey Logano.

Joey closes.

I had some help

It ain't like I can make this kinda mess All by myself…

The goal when I was a kid wasn't to be a NASCAR driver.

It was to be a NASCAR champion.

That's two different things.

Don't you wanna win? Don't you wanna be the best of the best?

And that's what champions are.

Hell, I had some help

It's a big advantage, I think, for a team like Penske

to have three drivers in the Playoffs to a point.

Where that gets problematic is

it's human nature to be selfish.

It's human nature to think and do for yourself,

especially inside a race car.

You have to make this decision, "Do I break from this code?"

I expect to win the championship.

You have to have that expectation of yourself.

It's not an arrogant thing. It's not a cocky thing.

It's just a competitive mindset you have to have.

There is a moment

where all of the teamwork and the loyalty can fray.

You know they know us, we're shining

Yeah, we 'bout to glow up

We keep the stake high We 'bout to go live

We live for the rush

We're here to break rules And shake up the rules

So watch how you look

'Cause you got a limit

And we got the spirit To take the pace up

And we movin' past fast Double speed, you can hold that

And we movin' past fast

Double speed, you can hold that

Blast from the past, better know that

We last for the whole track

Now we're back for the recap show

This time make the speakers blow

Powered up, now I'm in control

We 'bout to glow up

We live for the rush

Watch how you look

We got the spirit to take the pace up