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Author: Andrew Kim

  • Bowman locks up Busch Light Pole Award for Bristol Night Race

    Bowman locks up Busch Light Pole Award for Bristol Night Race

    Alex Bowman notched his first Busch Light Pole Award of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on Friday, September 20.

    The 31-year-old Bowman from Tucson, Arizona, the ninth-fastest competitor during the event’s lone practice session earlier on Friday, was one of 10 competitors from two qualifying groups to transfer into the final qualifying round for the pole position. During the final round, Bowman posted his best qualifying lap at 126.720 mph in 15.142 seconds, which was enough to place his No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry atop the leaderboard and in the top starting spot for Saturday night’s main event at Thunder Valley.

    With his accomplishment, Bowman notched his fifth career pole at the NASCAR Cup Series level, his first at Bristol Motor Speedway and his first since winning the pole position for the 2023 Daytona 500. In addition, Bowman recorded the second Cup pole award for the Chevrolet nameplate in recent weeks and he became the first Hendrick Motorsports competitor to start on the pole position since teammate Kyle Larson started first at the Chicago Street Course in July.

    With Saturday’s main event at Bristol serving as the third and final Round of 16 events in the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs, Bowman is currently ranked in fourth place in the Playoff standings and is 41 points above the top-12 cutline after finishing fifth and 18th, respectively, during the first two events of the first Playoff round. With the Arizona native also set to remain at Hendrick Motorsports for the 2025 season, he strives to advance into the Round of 12 for the first time since the 2022 season and continue his pursuit of his first championship in NASCAR’s premier series.

    “We’re, obviously, in a pretty good spot in points,” Bowman said on USA Network. “We qualified like 400th here in the spring, so definitely studied hard and worked hard to try to come here and be better. We were OK in practice. I feel like I struggled on the top of [Turns] 1 and 2 a little bit. [I] Had a really awesome car in qualifying. Just really proud of everybody at Hendrick Motorsports. They gave me a really fast Ally No. 48 Camaro. That’s what mattered today.”

    Kyle Larson, Bowman’s teammate at Hendrick Motorsports and another Playoff contender, will start alongside Bowman on the front row after he posted his best qualifying lap at 126.378 mph in 15.183 seconds. Teammate William Byron will start in third place with his best qualifying lap at 126.695 mph in 15.145 seconds, thus placing three Hendrick Motorsports Playoff contenders in the top three starting spots.

    Playoff contenders Martin Truex Jr. and Chase Briscoe will start in the top five and ahead of sixth-place starter Christopher Bell, who is also in the Playoffs. With Playoff contenders Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott grabbing eighth and 10th place on the starting grid, rookie Carson Hocevar and teammate Corey LaJoie were the only two non-Playoff contenders to qualify in the top 10 as they will start seventh and ninth, respectively.

    The remaining Playoff contenders include Ty Gibbs, Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Austin Cindric, Harrison Burton and Daniel Suarez will start 13th, 15th, 20th, 22nd, 23rd, 27th, 34th and 35th, respectively.

    Currently, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. and Harrison Burton are the four Playoff contenders who are scored below the cutline while both Chase Briscoe and Ty Gibbs occupy the final two transfer spots into the Playoffs by six points.

    *All 37 entered competitors made the main event.

    Qualifying position, best speed, best time:

    1. Alex Bowman, 126.720 mph, 15.142 seconds
    2. Kyle Larson, 126.378 mph, 15.183 seconds
    3. William Byron, 126.695 mph, 15.145 seconds
    4. Martin Truex Jr., 126.220 mph, 15.202 seconds
    5. Chase Briscoe, 126.486 mph, 15.170 seconds
    6. Christopher Bell, 125.889 mph, 15.242 seconds
    7. Carson Hocevar, 126.096 mph, 15.217 seconds
    8. Denny Hamlin, 125.666 mph, 15.269 seconds
    9. Corey LaJoie, 125.166 mph, 15.330 seconds
    10. Chase Elliott, 125.248 mph, 15.320 seconds
    11. Bubba Wallace, , 125.477 mph, 15.292 seconds
    12. Ross Chastain, 124.727 mph, 15.384 seconds
    13. Ty Gibbs, 125.428 mph, 15.298 seconds
    14. Ryan Preece, 124.565 mph, 15.404 seconds
    15. Tyler Reddick, 125.330 mph, 15.310 seconds
    16. Noah Gragson, 124.355 mph, 15.430 seconds
    17. Chris Buescher, 125.256 mph, 15.319 seconds
    18. Michael McDowell, 124.323 mph, 15.434 seconds
    19. AJ Allmendinger, 124.954 mph, 15.356 seconds
    20. Joey Logano, 124.250 mph, 15.443 seconds
    21. Daniel Hemric, 124.946 mph, 15.357 seconds
    22. Ryan Blaney, 124.058 mph, 15.467 seconds
    23. Brad Keselowski, 124.889 mph, 15.364 seconds
    24. Todd Gilliland, 123.953 mph, 15.480 seconds
    25. Josh Berry, 124.776 mph, 15.378 seconds
    26. Justin Haley, 123.746 mph, 15.506 seconds
    27. Austin Cindric, 124.662 mph, 15.392 seconds
    28. John Hunter Nemechek, 123.491 mph, 15.538 seconds
    29. Kyle Busch, 124.654 mph, 15.393 seconds
    30. Austin Dillon, 123.364 mph, 15.554 seconds
    31. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 124.058 mph, 15.467 seconds
    32. Erik Jones, 123.356 mph, 15.555 seconds
    33. Zane Smith, 123.554 mph, 15.530 seconds
    34. Harrison Burton, 123.277 mph, 15.565 seconds
    35. Daniel Suarez, 123.411 mph, 15.548 seconds
    36. Kaz Grala, 122.084 mph, 15.717 seconds
    37. Josh Bilicki, 118.518 mph, 16.190 seconds

    The 2024 Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway is scheduled to occur this Saturday, September 21, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Layne Riggs doubles down with second consecutive Truck victory at Bristol

    Layne Riggs doubles down with second consecutive Truck victory at Bristol

    Three weeks after winning the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoff opener as a non-Playoff contender, rookie Layne Riggs spoiled the Playoffs for a second consecutive race by grabbing a late dominant victory in the UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Thursday, September 19.

    Riggs, a second-generation racer from Bahama, North Carolina, led the final 80 of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he qualified 18th and methodically carved his way up the leaderboard, where he would finish in the top 10 at the conclusion of the first stage period before he moved up into the top-five by the end of the second stage period.

    Then at the start of the final restart period with 80 laps remaining, Riggs overtook Playoff contender Corey Heim to lead for the first time. Despite having his momentum stalled twice due to a pair of late-race caution periods, starting with 44 laps remaining before occurring again with 19 laps remaining, Riggs, who prevailed during the proceeding restarts, capitalized on the final one with 13 laps remaining to muscle his Ford away from a bevy of Playoff contenders and cruise to his second Truck Series career victory in back-to-back races and of his career at Thunder Valley.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Thursday, Connor Zilisch scored his second pole position in three Truck Series starts after he posted a pole-winning lap at 125.207 mph in 15.325 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Corey Heim, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 124.186 mph in 15.451 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Kaden Honeycutt and Playoff contender Ty Majeski dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. As a result of Majeski’s penalty, his truck chief Tyler Shullick was ejected for the event and the driver was revoked a pit selection for next weekend’s event at Kansas Speedway.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Connor Zilisch gained an early advantage from the outside lane and proceeded to fend off Corey Heim through the first two turns. As the field jostled for early spots through the backstretch before navigating back to Turns 3 and 4, Zilisch led the first lap in his No. 7 Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Silverado RST.

    Over the proceeding four laps, Zilisch maintained a steady advantage over Heim and William Sawalich while Playoff contenders Rajah Caruth, Christian Eckes and Nick Sanchez followed suit in the top six ahead of Stewart Friesen and Tanner Gray. Behind, Playoff contender Daniel Dye started to battle Tanner Gray for eighth place as Chase Purdy overtook Ty Dillon for 10th place.

    Through the first 10-scheduled laps, Zilisch was leading by half a second over Heim as Sawalich, Caruth, Eckes and Sanchez continued to follow suit in the top six. Meanwhile, Friesen, Dye, Tanner Gray and Purdy also followed suit in the top 10 while Matt Crafton, Playoff contender Tyler Ankrum, Ty Dillon, Dean Thompson, Layne Riggs, Playoff contender Grant Enfinger, Stefan Parsons, Jake Garcia, Playoff contender Taylor Gray and Connor Mosack all occupied the top-20 spots. Behind, Playoff contender Ben Rhodes was mired in 23rd place and teammate Ty Majeski was back in 32nd place behind Bret Holmes and Matt Mills.

    Fifteen laps later, Zilisch stabilized his advantage to two-tenths of a second over Heim while third-place Sawalich and fourth-place Caruth both trailed by a second. With Eckes and Sanchez continuing to follow suit in fifth and sixth, respectively, ahead of Friesen, Dye, Purdy and Matt Crafton, Majeski was still mired in 28th place and in jeopardy of being lapped by Zilisch while the remaining Playoff contenders that included Ankrum, Enfinger, Taylor Gray and Ben Rhodes were racing within the top-21 mark.

    Another 10 laps later, Zilisch retained the lead by a tenth of a second over Heim, who started to close in to Zilisch’s rear bumper as the latter was getting mired in lapped traffic. Behind, Caruth overtook Sawalich for third place while Eckes, who was radioing brake issues to his truck, was trying to fend off Sanchez for fifth place.

    On Lap 42, Heim made his move beneath Zilisch through the backstretch before he assumed the lead for the first time through Turns 3 and 4. As Heim started to muscle away with a steady advantage by the Lap 45 mark, Caruth started to challenge Zilisch for the runner-up spot while Sawalich, Sanchez and Eckes trailed by more than a second in the top-six mark.

    By Lap 50, Caruth managed to fend his way through lapped traffic to overtake teammate Zilisch for the runner-up spot. While Eckes and Friesen pinned the lapped competitor of Keith McGee in a three-wide battle for sixth place ahead of Riggs, Caruth would then overtake Heim for the lead from the outside lane and through the frontstretch on Lap 52.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 55, Caruth, who came into the event four points below the top-eight cutline in the Playoff standings, fended off Heim amid a bevy of lapped traffic to notch his first Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Heim settled in second ahead of Eckes, Zilisch and Sanchez while Friesen, Sawalich, Riggs, Purdy and Daniel Dye were scored in the top 10. Meanwhile, Playoff contenders Taylor Gray, Majeski, Ankrum, Rhodes and Enfinger were mired in 17th, 20th, 21st, 22nd and 24th, respectively, while 30 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Caruth pitted for a first round of pit service while Timmy Hill remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Heim exited pit road first ahead of Caruth, Eckes, Zilisch and Sanchez while Sawalich, Riggs, Tanner Gray, Friesen and Dye followed suit in the top 10, respectively.

    The second stage period started on Lap 65 as Timmy Hill and Heim occupied the front row. At the start, Heim used the four fresh tires on the inside lane to rocket his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro away from Hill with the lead entering the backstretch. With Heim pulling away, Caruth and Eckes overtook Hill for second and third, respectively, as the field behind scrambled for positions. With Zilisch making his way up to fourth place and a series of on-track battles ensuing, Heim proceeded to lead just past the Lap 70 mark.

    At the Lap 75 mark, Heim was leading by nearly half a second over Caruth while third-place Eckes trailed by nearly a second. Behind, Zilisch and Riggs were in the top five ahead of Sanchez, Friesen, Sawalich, Crafton and Timmy Hill as Dean Thompson, Purdy, Daniel Dye, Tanner Gray and Majeski trailed in the top 15 ahead of Taylor Gray, Enfinger, Conner Jones, Mosack and newcomer Corey Day. With Playoff contenders Rhodes and Ankrum mired within the top-30 mark, Heim maintained the lead by half a second by Lap 80.

    Just past the Lap 90 mark, Heim’s advantage stabilized to four-tenths of a second over Caruth, with both approaching lapped traffic, as Eckes trailed in third place by a second. As Zilisch and Riggs continued to trail in the top five ahead of Sanchez on the track, Caruth started to issue his challenge on Heim for the lead from the inside lane and he would emerge ahead to lead the Lap 100 mark before Heim fought back from the outside lane. Eckes then joined the battle a few laps later and he would overtake Caruth for the runner-up spot while Heim maintained the lead. Heim would then lap Rhodes, who was mired in 29th place, another lap later.

    Then on the final lap of the second stage period, the caution flew due to Zilisch spinning in Turn 4 from the top five after he got a bump from Sanchez’s No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST exiting the backstretch. The incident involving Zilisch, who lost a lap while trying to straighten his truck, was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 110 to officially conclude under caution as Heim, who came into the event 41 points above the cutline, claimed his seventh Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Eckes, Caruth, Riggs and Sanchez followed suit in the top five while Friesen, Sawalich, Crafton, Thompson and Purdy were scored in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Dye, Taylor Gray, Majeski, Enfinger, Ankrum and Rhodes were mired in 11th, 12th, 13th, 16th, 24th and 30th, respectively, while 27 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    During the stage break, select names led by Nick Sanchez pitted for service while the rest led by Heim, including a majority of the front-runners, remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, newcomer Corey Day was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.

    With 80 laps remaining, the final stage commenced under green as Heim and Eckes occupied the front row. At the start, Heim gained a strong launch from the outside lane to retain the lead through the first two turns. Then as Heim transitioned to the inside lane in front of Eckes, Riggs, who restarted behind Heim, remained on the outside lane to challenge and overtake Heim for the lead through the frontstretch. With Riggs leading the following lap by a hair, he then cleared Heim while remaining on the outside lane and proceeded to lead the next lap mark. With Riggs continuing to lead with 75 laps remaining, Heim and Eckes followed suit in second and third, respectively, while Friesen and Caruth battled for fourth place in front of Sawalich and Crafton.

    With 65 laps remaining, Riggs stretched his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Heim as Eckes, Caruth and Friesen followed suit in the top five. As non-Playoff contenders Sawalich, Crafton, Purdy and Thompson followed suit in the top nine, Playoff contenders Sanchez, Majeski, Taylor Gray, Daniel Dye, Ankrum and Enfinger followed suit from 10th to 15th, while Rhodes was mired in 30th and trapped a lap down.

    Fifteen laps later, Riggs stabilized his steady advantage to half a second over Heim as both Caruth and Eckes trailed by a second in third and fourth, respectively. With Friesen retaining fifth place ahead of Sawalich, Crafton and a hard-charging Sanchez, Playoff contenders Majeski, Taylor Gray, Dye, Ankrum and Enfinger were all mired in the top 15 as Rhodes, who was lapped for a second time, was back in 30th place.

    Six laps later, the caution flew when Playoff contender Daniel Dye, who was running in 14th place and had a flat tire to his No. 43 Champion Container Chevrolet Silverado RST, slipped sideways entering the frontstretch and was hit by Kaden Honeycutt as the latter sustained significant damage to his No. 45 Moore’s Venture Foods Chevrolet Silverado RST. With Honeycutt being taken out of contention, Dye would drop out of the lead lap category as his truck was being repaired.

    During the caution period, select names including Bayley Currey, Ty Dillon, Enfinger, Tanner Gray, Stefan Parsons, Matt Mills, Lawless Alan and Rhodes pitted while the rest led by Riggs remained on the track.

    The start of the following restart period with 29 laps remaining featured Riggs and Heim dueling for the lead through the first two turns until Heim got loose underneath Riggs entering the backstretch. Heim’s slip allowed Riggs to muscle his No. 38 Love’s Travel Stops Ford F-150 ahead with two clear lanes to his advantage as he led the following lap. Riggs would proceed to lead with 25 laps remaining while Playoff contenders Heim, Eckes and Caruth followed suit in the top four ahead of Crafton, Friesen, Sanchez, Sawalich, Purdy and Taylor Gray.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Riggs extended his advantage to nine-tenths of a second over Heim as Eckes, Caruth and Crafton trailed in the top five by within two seconds. Another lap later, however, Riggs’ momentum was stalled due to the caution returning as Jack Wood, who was running within the top-20 mark, spun his No. 91 Mongoose Chevrolet Silverado RST due to contact from Ben Rhodes that started when they exited the backstretch before the incident concluded with Wood sliding to a halt below the apron in Turn 4. By then, Dye lost more laps after he pitted under green earlier.

    With the race restarted under green with 13 laps remaining, Riggs and Heim again dueled for the lead as Caruth tried to make the battle fanned out to three lanes entering the first two turns. Amid the battle, Riggs used the outside lane to muscle ahead with the lead through the backstretch as Heim, Caruth and Eckes battled for second place in front of the field. With Heim, Caruth and Eckes fiercely battling for the runner-up spot, Riggs continued to lead with 10 laps remaining.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Riggs extended his advantage to over a second over a three-truck battle involving Heim, Caruth and Eckes as Sanchez was up to fifth place ahead of Crafton, Purdy, Majeski, Friesen, Ankrum and Sawalich.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Riggs remained as the leader by a second over Heim and Caruth while Eckes was losing ground and trailing by two seconds in fourth place. With a comfortable advantage and no challengers closing in from behind, Riggs was able to smoothly cruise his way around the Bristol circuit for a final time before he cycled back to the frontstretch and zipped back across the finish line for his second consecutive checkered flag of the 2024 Truck Series season.

    With the victory, Riggs, who celebrated his first career win at the Milwaukee Mile three races ago in late August, became the first competitor to back up a first career victory with a second in back-to-back Truck Series starts since Chase Briscoe made the last accomplishment between winning his first career race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November 2017 and winning in his one-race series’ return at Eldora Speedway in July 2018. Riggs also became the 26th competitor overall to win a Truck race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    Riggs’ victory was the fourth of the season and in recent weeks for the Ford nameplate and the 10th overall for Front Row Motorsports in the Truck Series. While this season marks the first time a competitor won the first two Truck races of the Playoffs since Sheldon Creed made the previous accomplishment in 2021, Riggs became the first non-Playoff competitor to commence the Playoffs with back-to-back victories.

    “Oh my gosh,” Riggs said on FS1. “We have just learned so much with the cars and trucks. My team, Dylan [Cappello], my crew chief, he’s badass. He works so hard at night. We as a team, we’re a young team. I think the average age [of the No. 38 team] is like in the 20s. It’s so amazing. To be running fifth, 10th and all of sudden, go back to back [with victories] in the Playoffs. Man, I wish I was in the Playoffs so bad. I think we’d be a real threat to win this championship.”

    Behind Riggs, Corey Heim edged a hard-charging Rajah Caruth to claim his third runner-up result of the 2024 season. The result was enough for Heim to clinch a spot by points into the Playoff’s Round of 8 as he continues his pursuit for his first series’ championship.

    “[I] Didn’t quite have it when the grooves started to move around there,” Heim said. “Every time we got a heat cycle on the tires, it seemed like it got tighter and tighter. Just didn’t quite have it, but solid points day in the Playoffs. That’s what you need. I’ll keep moving forward with TRICON Garage, Safelite, Toyota Racing. Huge thanks to all those guys and looking forward to my favorite place next week [at Kansas].”

    In addition to Heim, Christian Eckes and Nick Sanchez have also secured their spots into the Round of 8 by finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.

    “It’s a great turnaround for us because I felt like we were maybe a 10th to 12th-place race car in practice,” Eckes said. “Kudos to [crew chief] Charles [Denike] and the [No. 19] guys for getting [the truck] tuned up to run top five. We weren’t race-winning capable, but still a decent run. Just proud of everybody. It’s cool to be locked in the next [Playoff] round, but I got to go take care of business at Kansas first.”

    “[I’m] Happy to recover to fifth,” Sanchez added. “Obviously, I show up to win, so [I] need to be a little better than fifth on my end on some things, but yeah, good night. We locked in the Rev Racing Gainbridge Chevrolet [into the Round of 8]. We go to Kansas and just focus on winning.”

    Matt Crafton, Chase Purdy, Ty Majeski, Stewart Friesen and Tyler Ankrum finished in the top 10 on the track while the remaining Playoff contenders that included Taylor Gray, Grant Enfinger and Ben Rhodes ended up 12th, 17th and 30th, respectively.

    As a result, Daniel Dye and Ben Rhodes are the two Playoff contenders who enter next weekend’s Round of 10 finale below the cutline in the Playoff standings while Enfinger holds sole possession of the eighth and final transfer spot above the cutline by seven points.

    There were eight lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 39 laps. In addition, 23 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Layne Riggs, 80 laps led

    2. Corey Heim, 65 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Rajah Caruth, nine laps led, Stage 1 winner

    4. Christian Eckes

    5. Nick Sanchez

    6. Matt Crafton

    7. Chase Purdy

    8. Ty Majeski

    9. Stewart Friesen

    10. Tyler Ankrum

    11. William Sawalich

    12. Taylor Gray

    13. Bret Holmes

    14. Dean Thompson

    15. Bayley Currey

    16. Stefan Parsons

    17. Grant Enfinger

    18. Corey Day

    19. Connor Zilisch, 41 laps led

    20. Connor Mosack

    21. Jake Garcia

    22. Timmy Hill, five laps led

    23. Tanner Gray

    24. Lawless Alan, one lap down

    25. Matt Mills, one lap down

    26. Jack Wood, one lap down

    27. Ben Rhodes, two laps down

    28. Justin Mondeik, two laps down

    29. Spencer Boyd, two laps down

    30. Ty Dillon, two laps down

    31. Mason Maggio, four laps down

    32. Daniel Dye, six laps down

    33. Keith McGee, six laps down

    34. Tyler Tomassi, eight laps down

    35. Kaden Honeycutt – OUT, Accident

    36. Conner Jones – OUT, Overheating

    *Bold indicates Playoff competitors

    Playoff standings

    1. Christian Eckes – Advanced

    2. Corey Heim – Advanced

    3. Nick Sanchez – Advanced

    4. Ty Majeski +58

    5. Rajah Caruth +35

    6. Tyler Ankrum +25

    7. Taylor Gray +23

    8. Grant Enfinger +7

    9. Daniel Dye -7

    10. Ben Rhodes -12

    The Round of 10 in the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs is set to conclude at Kansas Speedway for the Kubota Tractor 200, where the first of two elimination processes will occur. The event is scheduled to occur next Friday, September 27, and air at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Bubba Wallace inks multiyear contract to remain at 23XI Racing in Cup competition

    Bubba Wallace inks multiyear contract to remain at 23XI Racing in Cup competition

    Bubba Wallace ceased all uncertainties of his future plans by inking a new multiyear contract extension to continue to drive the No. 23 Toyota Camry XSE entry for 23XI Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series division, an announcement that was posted by 23XI Racing via social media.

    The news comes as the 30-year-old Wallace from Mobile, Alabama, is currently campaigning in his seventh consecutive full-time season in NASCAR’s premier series and fourth in recent seasons with 23XI Racing.

    Despite missing the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs, Wallace, who is ranked in 19th place in the drivers’ standings, has recorded five top-five results and 10 top-10 results through 28-scheduled starts. Amid a two-year winless drought, the Alabama native’s current season stats of top fives and top 10s are tied with the most he has accumulated in a season with the 2022 and 2023 seasons, thus giving him additional opportunities to both add and set new career-high stats to both categories with eight races remaining to the 2024 season.

    “From day one Bubba has been an integral part of 23XI,” 23XI Racing said in a release statement through social media. “We’re excited to announce that he has signed a multi-year renewal and will continue to play a key role in helping 23XI grow and succeed. #ForwardTogether“

    Wallace, who made his Cup Series debut as an interim competitor for Richard Petty Motorsports in select events in 2017 before spending the next three seasons as a full-time competitor for the Petty organization, first joined 23XI Racing, an organization founded and co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan and fellow Cup competitor Denny Hamlin, as the team’s first competitor in 2021. During the season, Wallace made history by becoming the second African-American competitor to win in NASCAR’s premier series at Talladega Superspeedway in the fall, where he notched the first Cup victory for himself, veteran crew chief Bootie Barker and 23XI Racing. The following season, he notched his second Cup career victory at Kansas Speedway, which currently stands as his latest victory in the series.

    This past season, Wallace made the Cup Series Playoffs for the first time in his career. Despite falling short of transferring past the Round of 12, he would settle in a career-best 10th place in the final championship standings. By then, he recorded a personal-best average-finishing result of 15.9 and led a career-high 285 laps in a season.

    Through 247 current starts in the Cup Series, Wallace has accumulated two victories, three poles, 21 top-five results, 42 top-10 results, 658 laps led and an average-finishing result of 20.0. He has also made a total of 88 starts in the Xfinity Series and won a total of six races apiece in both the Craftsman Truck Series and the ARCA Menards Series East, the latter two divisions in which he became the African-American competitor to win in both.

    With his future set, Bubba Wallace’s 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season continues with the upcoming Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The event is scheduled to occur this Saturday, September 21, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Nick Sanchez named full-time Xfinity competitor for Big Machine Racing in 2025

    Nick Sanchez named full-time Xfinity competitor for Big Machine Racing in 2025

    Nick Sanchez will be graduating to the NASCAR Xfinity Series division on a full-time basis in 2025, where he will be piloting the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro entry for Big Machine Racing.

    The news comes as the 23-year-old Sanchez from Miami, Florida, is campaigning in his second full-time season in the Craftsman Truck Series with Rev Racing. It also comes a week after Parker Kligerman, who currently drives for Big Machine Racing in the Xfinity circuit, announced that he will not be returning to the organization nor pursue any full-time NASCAR driving activities next season.

    The move for Sanchez to Big Machine Racing marks a reunion for both parties after the Miami native drove for the organization in six of the final eight races of the 2022 Xfinity season. During the six-race stint, Sanchez’s best on-track result was seventh at Martinsville Speedway. Amid his part-time Xfinity campaign, he was competing full-time in the ARCA Menards Series for Rev Racing, where he would proceed to win the championship.

    For the 2025 season, Sanchez’s No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet entry will continue to receive primary sponsorship support from Big Machine Vodka SPIKED Coolers. In addition, Gainbridge, which sponsors Sanchez in the Truck Series, will continue to support the Miami native in his first full-time Xfinity stint by serving as his associate sponsor.

    “I couldn’t be more excited to join Big Machine Racing with Chevrolet next year in the Xfinity Series,” Sanchez said in a released statement. “I’m grateful to get the opportunity to work with [CEO] Scott Borchetta, [crew chief] Patrick Donahue, and the whole Big Machine team next year. This amazing opportunity would not be possible without Big Machine Records, Big Machine Vodka SPIKED Coolers, Chevrolet, Gainbridge, the NASCAR Diversity program, Rev Racing, Bono, and everyone at Spire, who made this dream a reality. As a driver, I feel that I’m ready to move to the next level and I look forward to competing for wins and ultimately a championship next year driving the #48 for Big Machine Racing!”

    Sanchez, who grew up competing in go-karts before transcending his way to compete in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series for Rev Racing and as a Drive for Diversity member, is a recipient of the 2019 Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award. After inking a full-time ARCA Menards Series East deal with Rev in 2020, he notched his first ARCA Menards Series career victory during the 2021 season-finale event at Kansas Speedway.

    During the 2022 season, Sanchez notched the first ARCA Menards Series drivers’ championship for himself and Rev Racing in a season where he recorded three victories. He also made his first eight career starts on the Xfinity circuit, six with Big Machine Racing and two with BJ McLeod Motorsports. The following season, Sanchez became a full-time competitor for Rev Racing in the Truck Series. Despite missing the cutoff to the Championship 4 in a tie-breaker during his first Playoff run, the Miami native notched the series’ Rookie-of-the-Year title. He commenced this season by winning for the first time ever at Daytona in February before winning the series’ 700th Truck race overall at Charlotte in May. To go along with a total of seven top-five results and 10 top-10 results throughout the 16-race regular-season stretch, Sanchez made the Playoffs for a second consecutive season.

    With a 10th-place result during the Truck Series’ Playoff opener at the Milwaukee Mile, Sanchez is ranked in fourth place in the Playoff standings as he continues his pursuit to win his first Truck title while also continuing to impress Big Machine Racing’s CEO Scott Borchetta.

    “In 2022 we put Nick in our car for a handful of races and he was fast right out of the gate,” Borchetta said. “At Martinsville in particular, I watched him go full-on, elbows out, putting the car right where it needed to be, with no fear against the best-of-the-best in the series. Since then, he’s done a fantastic job in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and I know that he and Crew Chief Patrick Donahue and the entire Big Machine Racing Team are going to be a force to be reckoned with in 2025.”

    Amid the excitement of Sanchez joining Big Machine Racing in 2025, Borchetta also took a moment to recognize the team’s current driver Parker Kligerman’s contributions since both first joined forces at Talladega Superspeedway in October 2022 before campaigning on a full-time basis in 2023.

    Through 58 races, Kligerman piloted Big Machine Racing’s No. 48 entry to a total of 12 top-five results, 30 top-10 results, 58 laps led and average-finishing results within the top-13 mark. Kligerman also made the 2023 Xfinity Series Playoffs, where he settled in 10th place in the final standings, and is in a prime position to make the Playoffs for a second consecutive season in 2024.

    “I am so grateful to Parker Kligerman for coming to Big Machine Racing for the 2023 and 2024 seasons,” Borchetta added. “He was the perfect driver at just the right time to help us go to the next level in the Xfinity Series. His smarts as a race driver have been on display since his first race with us. He’s simply a very fast driver that makes very few mistakes and unforced errors.

    “His ability to bring home race cars with all four corners intact while battling door to door is absolutely top percentile in the series, which is fully on display with him on the eve of clinching our second consecutive playoff appearance. He and the team are determined to go as far as we possibly can in the playoffs and, who knows, maybe we’ll cap this off at the finale in Phoenix! I have nothing but great things to say about Parker and I hope that our relationship continues at the highest level as he navigates his next career moves. He will always be a Big Machine Driver.”

    With Sanchez securing next year’s plans for himself and Big Machine Racing, any future plans involving Rev Racing within NASCAR’s top three national touring series remains to be determined.

    Prior to the 2025 season, Nick Sanchez’s 2024 Truck Series Playoff run with Rev Racing continues with the upcoming UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway this Thursday, September 19, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1. Big Machine Racing’s Xfinity Series season with Parker Kligerman also continues at Bristol for the Food City 300 and the series’ regular-season finale that will air this Friday, September 20, at 7:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.

  • Ryan Truex to make 100th Xfinity start at Bristol

    Ryan Truex to make 100th Xfinity start at Bristol

    Ryan Truex is set to achieve a milestone start in his ninth season with at least one start in the NACAR Xfinity Series division. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s event at Bristol Motor Speedway, the part-time competitor for Joe Gibbs Racing will make his 100th career start in the Xfinity circuit.

    A native of Mayetta, New Jersey, Truex made his inaugural presence in the Xfinity Series at World Wide Technology Raceway in July 2010. By then, he had achieved the 2009 ARCA Menards Series East championship and was still contending in the series full-time to defend his title. Driving the No. 00 Toyota Camry for Diamond Waltrip Racing, Truex started 19th and finished 28th in his Xfinity debut after being involved in a single-car incident with nearly 20 laps remaining.

    Following his Xfinity debut, Truex would make six additional starts in the Xfinity circuit throughout the remaining 16 events on the schedule. During the schedule, he split driving duties between Diamond-Waltrip Racing’s Nos. 00 and 99 Toyota entries. Within the six-race stretch, Truex notched a season-best 12th-place finish at Michigan International Speedway in August. He also recorded two 15th-place results at Kansas Speedway and at Gateway in October.

    The following season, Truex, who had claimed his second consecutive ARCA East title in 2010 and was initially attempting to campaign for the 2011 Xfinity Rookie-of-the-Year title with Pastrana-Waltrip Racing, ended up competing in 10 of the 14-scheduled events with the team, where he piloted the No. 99 entry to eight top-20 results, including an eighth-place run at Richmond Raceway in late April. Then after finishing 20th at Chicagoland Speedway in June, he was released by Pastrana-Waltrip Racing due to a lack of sponsorship.

    Three months later, he returned at Atlanta Motor Speedway behind the wheel of Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 Toyota Camry, where he finished 11th before notching a strong fourth-place result at Richmond during the following event. He would proceed to finish 13th, eighth and 10th, respectively, during his next three starts with the Gibbs organization before making a brief return to Diamond-Waltrip Racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October, where he ended up in 34th place after being involved in an accident during the second half of the event. Truex’s 17th and final Xfinity start of the season occurred at Phoenix Raceway in November with Joe Gibbs Racing, where he ended up in eighth place. In total, Truex notched a total of five top-10 results throughout his 17-race schedule.

    The 2012 Xfinity season was an eventful one for Truex, who made a total of 11 Xfinity starts in five entries between three organizations. He commenced the season by making his first series start at Daytona International Speedway with Tommy Baldwin Racing in February, where he ended up in 31st place after being involved in a late multi-car wreck. He then finished in the top 11 in two starts with Joe Gibbs Racing and ended up in 32nd place with RAB Racing at Texas Motor Speedway in April during his next three series starts.

    Then at Dover Motor Speedway in June, Truex, who started on the pole for the first time in his career and had led 43 of 200 laps, was within striking distance of achieving his first Xfinity career victory. However, he was pinned behind the lapped competitors of Jamie Dick and Brad Teague, allowing teammate Joey Logano to quickly narrow the deficit and overtake Truex with five laps remaining, thus resulting in the latter settling in a career-best runner-up result. Making six additional starts in the remaining 19 events on the schedule between Joe Gibbs Racing and RAB Racing, Truex racked up two additional top-10 results before the season’s conclusion.

    After qualifying the No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford Mustang entry for Marcos Ambrose at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in August 2013 while being a development competitor for the Petty organization, Truex, who did not compete in a single Xfinity event during the 2013 and 2014 seasons, returned to the Xfinity circuit for four events in 2015. Driving the No. 98 Ford Mustang for Biagi-DenBeste Racing, he managed to secure a season-best 17th-place result at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October.

    In 2018, Truex inked a full-time ride in the Xfinity circuit for the first time in his career as he joined forces to pilot Kaulig Racing’s No. 11 Chevrolet Camaro entry. He commenced the season by finishing seventh at Daytona after contending for the victory amid five overtime shootouts before finishing in the top 15 during his next seven starts. Despite ending up in 38th place at Talladega in May after being involved in an early multi-car wreck, the New Jersey native proceeded to finish in the top 10 during his next 10 events before notching his first top-five result of the season at Mid-Ohio in August.

    Despite finishing no higher than eighth during the final four regular-season events on the schedule, he managed to secure a spot in the 2018 Xfinity Series Playoffs. After finishing 11th, 16th and 10th, respectively, throughout the Round of 12, he was eliminated from title contention. Managing three top-15 runs during the final four events on the schedule, Truex settled in 12th place in the final driver’s standings. Overall, he racked up a total of 11 top-10 results, 26 top-15 results and an average-finishing result of 14.0 in his first full-time campaign in the Xfinity Series.

    After losing his Kaulig Racing ride to Justin Haley following the 2018 season, Truex inked a part-time Xfinity campaign with JR Motorsports for the 2019 season. He commenced his part-time campaign on a strong note by finishing in the runner-up spot for the second time in his career at Phoenix Raceway in March behind Kyle Busch. He proceeded to finish eighth at Kentucky Speedway and seventh at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July before settling in 14th at Las Vegas in September and 10th at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in October. He then ended up in 38th place in his sixth and final Xfinity start of the season at Kansas Speedway in October following an early retirement due to an engine issue.

    Three years later, Truex returned to the Xfinity Series for another part-time campaign, this time for the season opener at Daytona with Sam Hunt Racing before returning to Joe Gibbs Racing for a five-race campaign in the No. 18 Toyota Supra. He commenced the season by finishing 12th at Daytona with SHR before ending up in 30th place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after being involved in a late accident during his first start of the season with Gibbs. He would then proceed to finish seventh at Martinsville Speedway in April, 30th at Darlington Raceway in May and sixth at Texas Motor Speedway in June before capping off the season with a strong third-place run at Atlanta Motor Speedway in July.

    This past season, Truex achieved a breakthrough moment in his eventful career that started when he returned for a six-race campaign with Joe Gibbs Racing and in the team’s No. 19 Toyota Supra entry. He commenced his part-time campaign by finishing in the runner-up spot for the third time in his career at Phoenix in March before notching a third-place result at Atlanta the following weekend after avoiding a final lap accident.

    Then after finishing within the top 20 during his next two starts at Martinsville and Talladega, Truex achieved his first elusive career victory both in the Xfinity Series and across NASCAR’s top three national touring series at Dover in April. The victory occurred in an event where he led a race-high 124 of 200 laps, swept both stages and beat runner-up Josh Berry by more than four seconds. He also got to cherish the victory with his older brother and former Cup Series champion, Martin Truex Jr. Ryan Truex would then end up in 35th place in his sixth and final Xfinity start of the season at Darlington after being swept up in an early multi-car wreck.

    Returning for a third consecutive part-time Xfinity campaign with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2024, both in the organization’s Nos. 19 and 20 Toyota Supra entries, Truex commenced the season by finishing 21st at Daytona after getting collected in a final lap incident. He would proceed to finish ninth during the following weekend at Atlanta before finishing seventh and 34th, respectively, during his next two starts in April. 

    Then in the series’ return at Dover in late April, Truex persevered through two overtime attempts, including the last one as he muscled away from newcomer Carson Kvapil, to snatch his second Xfinity career win and his second in a row at the Monster Mile, this time while driving the No. 20 Toyota entry. Despite finishing no higher than 19th during his next two starts, the New Jersey native then elevated his racing status to a new height by scoring his third series victory at Daytona after fending off the field during an overtime attempt and claiming the checkered flag under caution. As a result, he notched the first Xfinity victory for both Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota at Daytona since Matt Kenseth made the last accomplishment in July 2013. During Truex’s recent Xfinity start at Atlanta, he finished 10th.

    Truex’s upcoming Xfinity Series start at Bristol Motor Speedway is set to mark his 10th start of the 2024 season and eighth in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing entry, which is set to contend for this year’s Xfinity owners’ championship on the strength of seven victories, two of which were made by Truex, and 17 top-10 results through 25 events. Meanwhile, Truex’s plans for the 2025 season remain to be determined despite his continuous goal to return to full-time NASCAR competition and contend for more victories and a championship.

    Through 99 career starts in the Xfinity Series, Truex has achieved three victories, one pole, 10 top-five results, 35 top-10 results, 222 laps led and an average-finishing result of 15.6.

    Ryan Truex is scheduled to make his 100th Xfinity Series career start at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City 300. The event is scheduled to occur this upcoming Friday, September 20, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.

  • Ben Beshore to call 100th Cup event at Bristol

    Ben Beshore to call 100th Cup event at Bristol

    In his return as a full-time crew chief in the NASCAR Cup Series, Ben Beshore, who works atop the pit box of the No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota Camry XSE team piloted by John Hunter Nemechek, is poised to achieve a milestone feat. By participating in this weekend’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Beshore will call his 100th event as a crew chief in NASCAR’s premier series.

    A native of The York, Pennsylvania, Beshore, who earned an engineering degree from Virginia Tech, previously worked for Brewco Motorsports in a variety of roles before becoming a race engineer for Roush Fenway Racing in 2007. Seven years later, he joined Joe Gibbs Racing and continued to work as a race engineer for Kyle Busch and the No. 18 team.

    During the 2017 season, Beshore made his inaugural presence as a Cup Series crew chief at Pocono Raceway in June. The role was an interim one for Beshore, who was filling in for the suspended Adam Stevens after Stevens was suspended for four events due to a wheel that came off of Busch’s car amid an early pit stop during the previous event at Dover Motor Speedway.

    During the Pocono event, Busch, who started on the pole and led a race-high 100 laps, ended up in ninth place. Beshore would then navigate Busch and the No. 18 team to a seventh-place result at Michigan International Speedway and a fifth-place finish at Sonoma Raceway, respectively, before he was suspended from participating at Daytona International Speedway in July amid a lug nut infraction as Busch’s No. 18 entry had two loose lug nuts following the post-race inspection process at Sonoma.

    After returning to his role as race engineer for the remainder of the 2017 season and the entire 2018 season, Beshore scaled back to the Xfinity Series to work as a crew chief for JGR’s No. 18 Toyota entry that was piloted by seven different competitors throughout the 2019 season. During the season, he notched four victories, all occurring with Busch, and led the No. 18 team to a 12th-place finish in the final owner’s standings. The following season, Beshore was paired with Harrison Burton in the Xfinity circuit. Together, the duo notched four victories, 15 top-five results, 22 top-10 results, 291 laps and an average-finishing result of 10.0. After qualifying for the 2020 Xfinity Series Playoffs before being eliminated following the Round of 12, Burton would settle in eighth place in the final standings and claim the 2020 Xfinity Series Rookie-of-the-Year title.

    In 2021, Beshore returned to the Cup Series and reunited with Kyle Busch as he was named as the full-time crew chief of Busch’s No. 18 Toyota entry. In their first event together, Busch won the Busch Clash at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course after he overtook Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott amid a last-lap tussle. The duo recorded two top-five results and five top-10 results during the first 10-scheduled events before Beshore achieved his first Cup points-paying victory at Kansas Speedway in May. Busch, who celebrated his 36th birthday on race day, fended off the field and a hard-charging Kevin Harvick during a two-lap shootout. Beshore and Busch would then achieve a second victory of the season at Pocono Raceway in June after Busch overtook teammate Denny Hamlin prior to the final lap and had enough fuel to coast the No. 18 Toyota across the finish line in first place. To go along with an additional seven top-five results and nine top-10 results for the remaining 15 regular-season events, the duo qualified for the 2021 Cup Series Playoffs.

    After recording three top-nine results throughout the 2021 Playoff’s first six events, Beshore and Busch were able to transfer from the Round of 16 to 8. Then, Beshore was suspended from participating in the Round of 8 opener at Texas Motor Speedway following a lug nut infraction with two loose lug nuts amid the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course post-race inspection process. Returning for the following Playoff event at Kansas Speedway in mid-October, Busch finished 28th and second at Martinsville Speedway throughout the Round of 8 but missed the cutline to the Championship 4 round by three points. The duo would proceed to finish seventh in the season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway in November before Busch settled in ninth place in the final standings.

    Beshore’s 2022 season started on a rough note after he was suspended from the inaugural Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as a result of another lug nut infraction involving two loose lug nuts stemming from the 2021 finale at Phoenix. Returning atop the pit box for the 64th running of the Daytona 500, Beshore’s season with Busch commenced with a sixth-place finish followed by four additional top-10 results during the next seven events on the schedule. Then at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course in April, Beshore and Busch notched their first victory of the season after Busch overtook a spinning Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe on the final lap to notch his 60th series victory. Despite finishing in the top five four additional times for the final 15 regular-season events, Beshore and Busch secured a spot into the Cup Series Playoffs for a second consecutive season.

    Their title hopes, however, came to an early end after finishing no higher than 26th throughout the Round of 16. Then coming off two consecutive third-place finishes at the Charlotte Roval and Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October, Beshore was suspended for four races for a loose wheel violation that occurred at Las Vegas. The suspension would cause Beshore to miss the remainder of the 2022 Cup Series season as Busch, who was down to his final four events with Joe Gibbs Racing, ended up in 13th place in the final standings.

    This past season, Beshore returned to the Xfinity Series to work as the crew chief of the No. 20 JGR Toyota team piloted by John Hunter Nemechek. Together, the duo notched a season-high seven victories, two poles, 17 top-five results, 24 top-10 results, 1,083 laps led and an average-finishing result of 9.5. In addition to making the 2023 Xfinity Series Playoffs, they transferred all the way into the Championship 4 round and contended for the title at Phoenix. However, Nemechek got shuffled during an overtime shootout and ended up in 28th place after being involved in a final lap accident, which relegated Nemechek to fourth place in the final standings.

    Nine days after the 2023 season concluded, Beshore was promoted back to the Cup Series as a crew chief for Legacy Motor Club’s No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE entry piloted by Nemechek, who made his return to the Cup circuit following a three-year absence. Through 28 scheduled events, the duo of Beshore and Nemechek recorded only three top-10 results, with their highest finish being a sixth-place run at Bristol Motor Speedway in March. With an average-finishing result of 24.7, they are mired in 34th place in the 2024 drivers’ standings with eight races remaining on the schedule.

    Through 99 previous Cup appearances, Beshore has achieved three victories, one pole, 23 top-five results and 42 top-10 results while working with a total of two competitors.

    Ben Beshore is scheduled to call his 100th Cup Series career event as a crew chief in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 21, with the event’s coverage to occur at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Chris Buescher outduels Shane van Gisbergen in overtime for wild Cup victory at Watkins Glen

    Chris Buescher outduels Shane van Gisbergen in overtime for wild Cup victory at Watkins Glen

    In a season mired with missed opportunities that resulted in him missing the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs by a single points position, Chris Buescher took advantage of the chance to cap off this season on a strong note by winning the Go Bowling at The Glen (Watkins Glen International) on Sunday, September 15, amid a wild overtime shootout and a final lap bump and pass on Shane van Gisbergen.

    The 2015 Xfinity Series champion from Prosper, Texas, led three times for 19 of 92 over-scheduled laps in an event where he qualified 24th and utilized pit strategy to methodically carve his way up the leaderboard. With a bevy of Playoff contenders encountering on-track issues from start to finish, Buescher, who pitted prior to the second stage’s conclusion, utilized fresher tires than the leaders to briefly lead for the first time with 33 laps remaining before he pitted two laps later. He then cycled back to the lead with 17 laps remaining during a late round of green flag pit stops.

    Then among three late-race caution and restart periods, including the third and latest restart that sent the event into overtime, Buescher, who had maintained the lead during all restart periods, was bumped out of the lead by van Gisbergen, who proceeded to lead the penultimate lap while Buescher remained within striking distance. Van Gisbergen then made the slightest contact with the guardrails through the Bus Stop that got him loose through the curbs and the turns, which enabled Buescher to reassume the lead amid another round of contact between both through the Inner Loop. With van Gisbergen unable to return the favor within the course’s final pair of turns, Buescher drove away to claim his first victory of the 2024 Cup Series season and become the first non-Playoff competitor to win a Playoff event this season.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, September 14, Ross Chastain notched his first Cup Series pole position of the 2024 season and the second of his career after he posted a pole-winning speed at 122.279 mph in 72.130 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Martin Truex Jr., who posted the second-fastest qualifying speed at 122.052 mph in 72.264 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Todd Gilliland and rookie Carson Hocevar dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Ross Chastain launched ahead with an early advantage through the frontstretch and he maintained the top spot through the opening set of turns through the Esses and the backstretch while the field behind jostled for early spots amid multiple lanes.

    Then through the Bus Stop corner, early trouble struck as Corey LaJoie bumped and sent Kyle Busch, who was running towards the top-15 mark, for a spin towards the middle of the turn, where he clipped Playoff contender Christopher Bell as Bell spun while his teammate and Playoff contender Denny Hamlin clipped Busch and sustained damage to his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE entry after he got bumped by Ryan Preece. Among other competitors who were involved included Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Bubba Wallace, both of whom hit the guardrails while going off the course, while Busch’s wrecked No. 8 zone Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry was left stalled in the Inner Loop turn.

    During the chaos, Ryan Blaney, the reigning Cup Series champion and a 2024 Playoff contender, drove his No. 12 Menards/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry off the course and came to a stop due to a broken steering column as a result of hitting Brad Keselowski while avoiding the opening lap carnage. The issue was enough for NASCAR to rule Blaney out of contention to continue without having completed the first lap, though Blaney was left heated at NASCAR for not allowing his team to repair the car despite not sustaining any significant damage from the carnage. By then, Bell continued without sustaining any significant damage to his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry XSE entry while Hamlin and Busch dropped out of the lead lap category with damage to their respective entries.

    When the race restarted under green on the fifth lap, Chastain, who led the opening four laps under caution, rocketed ahead with another strong start through the frontstretch and the Esses while the rest of the field behind fanned out. In the process, Allmendinger, who restarted in the top five, was dropping off the pace due to a mechanical issue with his No. 13 Go Bowling Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry. With Allmendinger dropping out of contention, the rest of the field navigated smoothly through the backstretch, Bus Stop, Inner Loop and the final set of turns from Turns 5 to 7 as Chastain retained the lead and led the following lap.

    Over the next three laps, Chastain stabilized his early advantage to six-tenths of a second over Truex while van Gisbergen, Bowman and Playoff contender Chase Briscoe were running in the top five ahead of Playoff competitors Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez and Chase Elliott. With Michael McDowell occupying ninth place, he was ahead of five Playoff contenders that included Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano, William Byron, Kyle Larson and Ty Gibbs while Erik Jones occupied 15th place ahead of Chris Buescher, rookie Zane Smith, Noah Gragson, Daniel Hemric and Corey LaJoie.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Chastain continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over Truex while van Gisbergen, Bowman and Briscoe continued to run in the top five ahead of Cindric, Suarez, Elliott, McDowell and Reddick. By then, 11 of 15 remaining Playoff contenders on the track were running in the top 14 on the track while Brad Keselowski, Harrison Burton and Bell were mired back from 25th to 27th, respectively. In addition, Denny Hamlin was mired a lap down in 34th place following repairs to his No. 11 Toyota.

    Five laps later, Chastain extended his advantage to three seconds over van Gisbergen, who overtook Truex for the runner-up spot a lap earlier, while Bowman and Briscoe battled for fourth place in front of Suarez. Behind, Cindric, Elliott, McDowell and Reddick were racing in the top 10 ahead of Larson, Logano, Zane Smith, Byron and Ty Gibbs while Keselowski, Bell, Burton and Hamlin all continued to be mired outside the top-20 mark.

    Another lap later, McDowell pitted his No. 34 Benebone Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry under green from ninth place. A host of names that included van Gisbergen, Logano, Zane Smith, Byron, Buescher, Ty Gibbs, Corey LaJoie, rookie Carson Hocevar, Noah Gragson, rookie Josh Berry, Justin Haley, Keselowski, Juan Pablo Montoya, Harrison Burton, John Hunter Nemechek, Todd Gilliland and Austin Dillon pitted during the next lap period before the leader Chastain pitted his No. 1 Busch Light Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry on Lap 18. As a result, Truex cycled into the lead as he was followed by Bowman, Briscoe, Suarez and Cindric while Keselowski was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 20, Truex, who came into the event 19 points below the top-12 cutline in the Playoff standings, notched his fourth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Playoff rivals Bowman, Briscoe, Suarez, Cindric, Elliott, Reddick and Larson followed suit in the top eight, respectively, while non-Playoff competitors Erik Jones and Daniel Hemric were scored in the top 10. By then, the remaining Playoff contenders on the track that included Logano, Ty Gibbs, Byron, Keselowski, Bell, Burton and Hamlin were scored in 17th, 20th, 21st, 25th, 28th, 30th and 34th, respectively. Despite being mired a lap down, Hamlin was able to fend off Kyle Busch to be the first competitor scored a lap down at the first stage’s conclusion and receive the free pass to cycle back on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, some led by Truex, including a host of competitors who remained on the track before the first stage’s conclusion, pitted while the rest led by Chastain, including those who pitted prior to the stage’s conclusion, remained on the track. Among the Playoff contenders who pitted with Truex included Bowman, Briscoe, Suarez, Cindric, Elliott, Reddick and Larson.

    The second stage period started on Lap 24 as Chastain and McDowell occupied the front row in front of van Gisbergen and Logano. At the start, Chastain fended off both McDowell and van Gisbergen through the frontstretch and the first set of turns including the Esses as the field fanned out while navigating up the Esses. With Suarez making contact and sending Reddick for a spin in the first turn amid a stack-up as the race remained under green flag conditions, Chastain would proceed to lead the first through the backstretch, the Bus Stop and the Inner Loop before he navigated his way through the final set of turns and led the following lap.

    Over the next five laps, starting on Lap 26, and with most of the field settling in a long single-file line, Chastain increased his advantage to as high as a second over van Gisbergen before the advantage shrunk to two-tenths of a second by Lap 29. Chastain would stabilize his lead to two-tenths of a second over van Gisbergen by the Lap 30 mark while McDowell, Logano, Zane Smith, LaJoie, Ty Gibbs, Byron, Hocevar and Buescher were scored in the top 10 ahead of Gragson, Bell, Berry, Montoya and Nemechek. By then, Playoff contenders Burton, Truex, Briscoe and Bowman were mired just inside the top-20 mark while Elliott, Cindric, Larson, Suarez and Keselowski were mired in the top-30 mark. In addition, Reddick was down in 33rd place in front of team owner Hamlin.

    At the Lap 35 mark, Chastain maintained the top spot by eight-tenths of a second over van Gisbergen while McDowell and Logano battled fiercely for third place. Behind, Zane Smith trailed in fifth place ahead of teammate LaJoie while Ty Gibbs, Byron, Hocevar and Buescher were running in the top 10. By then, Bell was in 13th as Burton, Briscoe, Truex and Bowman were mired inside the top-20 mark. With Elliott, Cindric, Larson and Keselowski trailing back in 22nd, 24th, 25th and 28th, respectively, Reddick was still mired in 32nd in front of Suarez and Hamlin.

    A lap later, a host of names including Buescher, Montoya, Erik Jones, Larson, Justin Haley, Keselowski and Kaz Grala pitted under green. More names including McDowell, Zane Smith, LaJoie, Noah Gragson, Bell, Berry, Nemechek, Truex, Gilliland, Elliott, Hemric, Cindric, Austin Dillon and Reddick pitted during the following lap before the caution flew due to Suarez spinning and getting his No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry stuck in the gravel trap in Turn 6. During the pit stops, Keselowski was penalized for a second time, this time for an uncontrolled tire violation as a tire rolled out of his pit stall. Larson was also penalized for causing vehicle interference.

    With the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 40 officially concluding under caution, Chastain, who was unable to enter pit road to pit under green before the caution being flown for teammate Suarez spinning and instead remained on the track, proceeded to claim his second Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Van Gisbergen, who was also trying to pit with Chastain, followed suit in second along with Playoff contenders Logano, Ty Gibbs, Byron, Burton, Briscoe and Bowman while Ryan Preece and Hamlin were scored in the top 10. By then, the remaining Playoff contenders on the track that included Bell, Truex, Cindric, Elliott, Larson, Keselowski, Reddick and Suarez were mired in 20th, 21st, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, 33rd and 35th, respectively.

    During the stage break, some led by Ty Gibbs and Byron pitted while the rest led by Chastain remained on the track.

    With 48 laps remaining, the final stage commenced under green as Chastain and van Gisbergen occupied the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out through the frontstretch, Chastain maintained the top spot ahead of van Gisbergen and a hard-charging Briscoe while the rest of the field scrambled while bumping and navigating through the Esses, the backstretch and the Bus Stop corner. With the field still jostling for spots through the Inner Loop and the final set of turns, Chastain led the following lap ahead of van Gisbergen, Briscoe, McDowell and LaJoie.

    At the halfway mark with 45 laps remaining, Chastain retained the lead by nearly six-tenths of a second over van Gisbergen, Briscoe, McDowell and LaJoie while Buescher, Hocevar, Montoya, Gragson and Logano were running in the top 10 ahead of Truex, Nemechek, Berry, Bell, Elliott, Cindric, Haley, Bowman, Kaz Grala and Hemric. By then, Playoff contenders Ty Gibbs, Byron, Hamlin, Burton, Keselowski, Larson, Reddick and Suarez were mired outside the top 20.

    A lap later, the caution returned when Hamlin, who was pinned in a tight three-wide battle with Keselowski and Larson just outside the top-20 mark towards the entry of the Esses, was sent sideways and into the guardrails by Keselowski as he sustained more damage to his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE entry. Despite continuing, the incident jeopardized Hamlin’s hopes of advancing to the Round of 12 in the Playoffs following his final lap accident at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

    During the caution period, some including Logano, Keselowski and Larson pitted while the rest led by Chastain remained on the track. Hamlin also pitted to continue to have more repairs made to his entry.

    The start of the next restart period with 41 laps remaining featured Chastain rocketing away from the field with the lead through the frontstretch and the first set of turns leading up to the Esses as the field scrambled for late spots. The field proceeded to navigate through the backstretch, the Bus Stop and the Esses smoothly as van Gisbergen and McDowell tried to keep the leader Chastain within close pursuit. As Chastain led the following lap, LaJoie and Buescher were scored in the top five while Briscoe was trying to fend off Hocevar and teammate Gragson for sixth place while Truex and Montoya were up into the top 10.

    With 35 laps remaining, Chastain retained a narrow lead by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging van Gisbergen as McDowell, Buescher, LaJoie, Hocevar, Gragson, Briscoe, Truex and Elliott were scored in the top 10. By then, the following Playoff contenders that included Bell, Cindric, Bowman, Byron and Ty Gibbs were mired in the top-20 mark while Reddick, Logano, Larson, Keselowski, Suarez and Burton were mired in the top-30 mark. Meanwhile, Hamlin was down in 34th place.

    Two laps later, Buescher, who had fresher tires than the leader Chastain, rocketed past Chastain through the frontstretch as he assumed the lead. By then, van Gisbergen was down in third place and losing the spot to McDowell entering the first turn while LaJoie and Hocevar followed suit in the top six. Another lap later, Chastain and van Gisbergen pitted for fresh tires and fuel before Buescher pitted from the lead during the following lap.

    With 30 laps remaining, some including Montoya, Byron, Hocevar, Erik Jones and Haley pitted under green as Bell was bumped and sent for a spin by Austin Dillon in Turn 7 while trying to enter pit road. With the race remaining under green flag conditions, Bell pitted along with Nemechek and Ty Gibbs. As the pit stop cycle continued with a bevy of names including Gragson and Elliott pitting, McDowell retained the lead before he pitted with 25 laps remaining.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Logano was leading ahead of Zane Smith as third-place Larson pitted under green. By then, Cindric, LaJoie, Bubba Wallace, Austin Dillon and Gilliland had pitted. Shortly after, Zane Smith pitted from the runner-up. With Buescher cycling his way up the leaderboard, he would then overtake Logano for the lead with 17 laps remaining while Keselowski, van Gisbergen, Hocevar and Chastain trailed in the top six. As Kaz Grala crashed in Turn 7 with help from Hemric, the race remained under green flag conditions.

    With 15 laps remaining, Buescher extended his advantage to four seconds over Logano as van Gisbergen, Keselowski and Hocevar were scored in the top five ahead of Chastain, McDowell, Preece, Briscoe and LaJoie. By then, Playoff contenders Truex, Byron and Elliott were scored in the top-14 mark on the track while Cindric, Bowman and Larson were trailing in the top-20 mark. Meanwhile, Ty Gibbs, Suarez, Bell, Reddick and Burton were mired in the top-30 mark while Hamlin was back in 33rd place.

    Four laps later, the caution flew due to debris reported in Turn 6 as a result of Playoff contender Harrison Burton blowing a left-rear tire and leaving debris scattered in the turn. By then, Keselowski and Logano had pitted while Buescher was leading ahead of a hard-charging van Gisbergen. During the caution period, some including Playoff contenders and teammates Bowman, Byron and Elliott pitted while the rest led by Buescher remained on the track. Among those who pitted included Playoff contender Reddick.

    With the race restarting with seven laps remaining, Buescher and Hocevar, both of whom restarted on the front row in front of van Gisbergen and Chastain, dueled for the lead through the frontstretch and the first turn as the field fanned out entering the Esses. In the midst of the battles, Buescher maintained the lead in front of Hocevar and van Gisbregen through the backstretch. Just then, the caution returned when Logano made contact with Keselowski in the Esses resulting in Keselowski turning into Byron and Byron’s No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry coming off the ground and on top of the left side of Keselowski’s No. 6 King’s Hawaiian Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry while being pinned towards the guardrails as both were left with heavily damaged race cars.

    The start of the next restart period with three laps remaining did not last long as Elliott and Berry, both of whom were running in the middle of the pack, were bumped into one another by Gilliland entering the Esses, which in turn ignited an accordion effect as both hit the guardrails along with Truex and Logano while Reddick was sent sideways and in front of Kyle Busch. Amid the incident, Buescher had maintained the lead ahead of Hocevar, Chastain, van Gisbergen, McDowell and Briscoe while the event was sent into overtime.

    The start of the first overtime attempt featured Buescher and Hocevar dueling for the lead through the frontstretch until van Gisbergen gave Buescher a little tap entering the first turn. The contact caused both Buescher and Hocevar to go wide as van Gisbergen made a three-wide pass on both to assume the lead through the Esses. With van Gisbergen leading, Buescher remained within striking distance of the former up the Esses and through the backstretch, Bus Stop and Inner Loop corners while the field behind jostled for late spots.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, van Gisbergen remained as the leader by three-tenths of a second over Buescher while Chastain was trying to fend off Hocevar and a bevy of competitors for third place. From the first turn to the backstretch, van Gisbergen maintained a reasonable lead over a hard-charging Buescher.

    Then through the Bus Stop, van Gisbergen made the slightest of contact with the right-side guardrails, which got him through the corner and the curbs as Buescher quickly closed the gap. Buescher then veered to the right and despite van Gisbergen’s effort to defend, made contact with the leader as he muscled his No. 17 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry into the lead through the Inner Loop. Van Gisbergen then tried to close the gap back through a brief straightaway leading up to Turn 6, but he got loose in Turn 6 and had to step out of the gas to keep his No. 16 WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry running straight in Turn 7. With van Gisbergen losing ground after going sideways, Buescher was able to smoothly navigate his way through Turn 7 and muscle back to the frontstretch victorious and to his first elusive checkered flag of the 2024 Cup Series season by nine-tenths of a second over van Gisbergen.

    With the victory, Buescher, who missed the 2024 Playoff field by a single points position amid a strong regular-season stretch, notched his sixth NASCAR Cup Series career win in his 321st series start, his first both at The Glen and on a road course venue, and his first since winning the 2023 regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway. The victory was also the ninth of the season and the fourth in recent weeks for the Ford nameplate while Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing notched its second Cup victory of the 2024 season and first since teammate/co-owner Brad Keselowski won at Darlington Raceway in May. As an added bonus, this season marks the first time where Roush’s Nos. 17 and 6 entries won in the same Cup season since 2011.

    Buescher’s Cup victory at The Glen over van Gisbergen marked the first time a last-lap pass for the win was made since Joey Logano made the last accomplishment over Kevin Harvick in 2015. It also marked the first time a non-Playoff competitor won a Playoff event since AJ Allmendinger made the last accomplishment last October at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.

    “I thought we lost it there on the last [restart],” Buescher said on the frontstretch on USA Network. “Man, to stay right there with [van Gisbergen]. [The Bus Stop] was the spot that he was better than us and he missed it, so I tried to cross over. He went to cut. Just hard racing there. Just such an awesome finish. To be that good for so much at the end of the race, all race. To get a win, it’s good. We came here to be [Playoff] spoiler. We’re going to do that. Man, we would’ve like to have won a couple of weeks ago, but this is huge. It’s such a big win for us. Everybody at [Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing]’s worked so hard. To finally get a road course win, we’ve been so close so many times. To finally pull that off is fantastic.”

    Meanwhile, as Buescher celebrated in Victory Lane, van Gisbergen, who only led the penultimate lap, managed to smile despite being left “gutted” after capping off his strong run with his first top-two result of the season. His previous best result through his last seven Cup starts was 20th, which occurred at Circuit of the Americas in March. The three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, is scheduled to compete at Talladega Superspeedway and at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October, which will also mark his final pair of races of the season and with Kaulig Racing overall before he graduates to a full-time Cup campaign in 2025 with Trackhouse Racing.

    “I knew Chris [Buescher] was really going to send it and push me if [he] could get there,” van Gisbergen said. “As I turned [the car] and got a bit loose and clipped the inside wall, just driver error. I’m gutted. [The] WeatherTech Camaro was really good. The race was awesome with Ross [Chastain] and Chris and the others at the end. I’m gutted we couldn’t get [the win]. I had a lot of fun, but I’m pretty angry at myself. It was just a little bump to get [Buescher] wide [during the overtime shootout] and I knew I was going to get it back, so that’s why I was pushing so hard. It is what it is, but just gutted.”

    Rookie Carson Hocevar notched a career-best third-place result ahead of the pole-sitter Ross Chastain, who led a race-high 51 laps, while rookie Zane Smith achieved his second Cup career top-five result by finishing fifth.

    Chase Briscoe was the highest-finishing Playoff contender in sixth place while Michael McDowell, Corey LaJoie, Ryan Preece and Playoff contender Austin Cindric finished in the top 10.

    The remaining Playoff contenders on the track that included Kyle Larson, Daniel Suarez, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin, Harrison Burton, Brad Keselowski, Tyler Reddick and William Byron ended up finishing 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 26th, 27th and 34th, respectively.

    As a result, the four Playoff competitors who enter next weekend’s Round of 16 finale at Bristol Motor Speedway below the top-12 cutline are Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. and Harrison Burton. Currently, Hamlin is six points behind Chase Briscoe and teammate Ty Gibbs for the 12th and final transfer spot into the Round of 12 while Keselowski, Truex and Burton trail the cutline by 12, 14 and 20 points, respectively.

    There were 11 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured seven cautions 21 for laps. In addition, 31 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Chris Buescher, 19 laps led

    2. Shane van Gisbergen, one lap led

    3. Carson Hocevar, one lap led

    4. Ross Chastain, 51 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    5. Zane Smith

    6. Chase Briscoe

    7. Michael McDowell, seven laps led

    8. Corey LaJoie, two laps led

    9. Ryan Preece

    10. Austin Cindric

    11. Noah Gragson

    12. Kyle Larson

    13. Daniel Suarez

    14. Christopher Bell

    15. Joey Logano, six laps led

    16. Todd Gilliland

    17. Bubba Wallace

    18. Alex Bowman, one lap led

    19. Chase Elliott

    20. Martin Truex Jr., four laps led, Stage 1 winner

    21. John Hunter Nemechek

    22. Ty Gibbs

    23. Denny Hamlin

    24. Harrison Burton

    25. Josh Berry

    26. Brad Keselowski

    27. Tyler Reddick

    28. Austin Dillon

    29. Justin Haley

    30. Kyle Busch

    31. Daniel Hemric

    32. Juan Pablo Montoya, one lap down

    33. Erik Jones, two laps down

    34. William Byron, two laps down

    35. Kaz Grala, five laps down

    36. AJ Allmendinger – OUT, Transmission

    37. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident

    38. Ryan Blaney – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. Joey Logano – Advanced

    2. Christopher Bell +46

    3. Austin Cindric +43

    4. Alex Bowman +41

    5. Daniel Suarez +36

    6. Tyler Reddick +30

    7. Chase Elliott +30

    8. Ryan Blaney +29

    9. Kyle Larson +26

    10. William Byron +25

    11. Chase Briscoe +6

    12. Ty Gibbs +6

    13. Denny Hamlin -6

    14. Brad Keselowski -12

    15. Martin Truex Jr. -14

    16. Harrison Burton -20

    The Round of 16 in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is set to conclude next Saturday, September 21, at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race and where the first of three elimination processes will occur. The event’s broadcast time is slated to occur at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Alex Palou: 2024 NTT IndyCar Series Champion

    Alex Palou: 2024 NTT IndyCar Series Champion

    A year after joining an exclusive club of 28 competitors to record multiple championships in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES division, Alex Palou elevated his status to another exclusive club, this time comprised of 13 names who have recorded three or more championships in IndyCar at the conclusion of an eventful and strong 2024 season.

    Palou, a native of Sant Antoni de Vilamajor, Spain, muscled through a season that was highlighted with two race victories, six podiums, three poles, 263 laps led and an average-finishing result of 6.5 throughout the 17-race schedule. Despite finishing outside the top-10 mark during the final two-scheduled events of the season, including an 11th-place run during the season-finale event at Nashville Superspeedway, Palou was not overthrown by a pair of Team Penske competitors (Scott McLaughlin and Will Power) serving as his title rivals as he wrapped up the big crown by 31 points.

    The start of the 2024 season featured an overhaul to Palou’s No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) Dallara-Honda livery as DHL ended its dozen-year partnership with Andretti Global by joining forces with CGR to serve as a primary sponsor for Palou. By then, the Spaniard was coming off his dominant season to date, where he won his second IndyCar championship and notched career-high season stats in race victories (five), podiums (10) and laps led (379) along with a personal-best average-finishing result of 3.7.

    When the 2024 season commenced at the Streets of St. Petersburg for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg during the second weekend of March, Palou kicked off his quest to win his third IndyCar title by initially finishing in sixth place. He would later be promoted to fourth place amid a massive penalty and disqualification layout levied on Team Penske and its race-winning competitor Josef Newgarden along with third-place finisher Scott McLaughlin due to both violating the IndyCar’s “Push to Pass” parameters.

    Then during IndyCar’s inaugural $1 Million Challenge at The Thermal Club in Thermal, California, in late March, Palou capped off a dominant weekend where he was the fastest competitor during the event’s practice sessions and led all the laps during both his heat event and the main event to win. He would proceed to notch his first podium result of the season at the Streets of Long Beach and finish fifth at Barber Motorsports Park, the site where he achieved his maiden IndyCar victory in 2021.

    Palou then commenced the series’ month of May competition at Indianapolis Motor Speedway by notching his first points-paying victory of the 2024 season in the Sonsio Grand Prix at Indianapolis’ Road Course venue. The victory was enough for him to assume the points lead for the first time of the season. After qualifying in 14th place for the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500, Palou would proceed to finish in fifth place during the main event.

    Despite stumbling to a 16th-place result during the following Grand Prix weekend at the Streets of Detroit which caused him to lose the championship lead, Palou responded with three consecutive top-four runs that allowed him to reassume the lead. Mired within the three-race span was his second victory of the season in the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, which marked his second victory at the venue overall.

    The series’ doubleheader feature at Iowa Speedway that occurred during the second weekend of July featured mixed results for Palou, who wrecked out of the first event and was strapped with his first DNF of the season in 23rd place. Initially having his points lead decrease from 48 to 37, the Spaniard would lose another two points during the second Iowa feature of the weekend despite rallying to finish second behind Will Power.

    Over his next four starts, Palou finished no lower than fifth while he picked up another podium result by finishing second at Portland International Raceway in late August. Despite Power winning at Portland during the four-race stretch, Palou both increased and maintained his points lead to 43 points.

    Then after finishing 19th during the second of a Milwaukee Mile doubleheader feature in late August, Palou had his points lead cut to 10 points over Power as Scott McLaughlin, Power’s teammate, kept himself within the championship game after he won the second Milwaukee feature. Despite qualifying in 24th place for the season-finale event at Nashville Superspeedway, where he started 20 spots behind Power and 15 spots behind McLaughlin, Palou quickly took care of early business by mathematically eliminating McLaughlin from title contention by starting the race.

    Then on Lap 13 of 206 of the finale, Power’s hopes for a third IndyCar championship and second in three seasons evaporated due to the Australian making an unscheduled pit stop under green to have a lap belt adjusted as he lost multiple laps in the process. Despite continuing, Power could only work his way up to 24th place in the final running order as he was trapped eight laps down. For Palou, he cruised his No. 10 DHL Honda entry to an 11th-place run, which was enough to wrap up the title by 31 points over Colton Herta, who leap-frogged McLaughlin and Power to end up a career-best second place in the final standings.

    Despite being aware of Power’s early issues, Palou did not hesitate nor let off the throttle for the remainder of the event on the track as he maximized all opportunities to cap off his championship season on a strong note.

    “We just had to keep on going,” Palou said on NBC. “I have to thank everybody working on the 10 car. Everybody at [Chip Ganassi Racing] back at the shop. Super proud. It’s been an amazing year and I’m happy we got the championship back home.”

    With his accomplishment, Palou, who became the first Spaniard to win an IndyCar title in 2021, became the first competitor to achieve three IndyCar championships and the first to defend a title since Dario Franchitti last made both accomplishments in 2011. Palou also delivered the fourth IndyCar drivers’ championship for Honda over the last six seasons and the 16th IndyCar title overall for Chip Ganassi Racing, which places the organization one title away from tying Team Penske for the most all-time at 17.

    Palou joins Louis Meyer, Ted Horn, Jimmy Bryan, Rick Mears, Al Unser, Bobby Rahal and Sam Hornish Jr. as competitors to currently have three IndyCar championships. The Spaniard is one away from tying Mario Andretti, Sebastien Bourdais and Franchitti for the third-most IndyCar titles all-time at four.

    Despite being pleased with adding another IndyCar championship to his resume, Palou sets his sights on being more competitive which would enable him to win more races compared to this season while also defending his crown.

    “What a year,” Palou said on the championship stage. “I think we’ve been really close. Just didn’t maximize in some places. We’ll learn from what we can improve from this year and hopefully next year, we can do it.”

    Palou’s 2024 IndyCar championship received high praise from team owner Chip Ganassi, whom Palou steered with to his 11 current victories and three championships in IndyCar since they first joined forces at the start of the 2021 season.

    “[Palou] never broke a sweat,” Ganassi said. “Just unbelievable [with] the way he drives. The way he came into our team a few years ago down in Alabama. Won his first race out. It’s been smooth sailing since. [The team] like winning. It helps.”

    With the NTT IndyCar Series’ teams and competitors entering an off-season period, Alex Palou’s quest to both win his fourth INDYCAR championship and defend his title is scheduled to commence at the Streets of St. Petersburg for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 2, 2025. While the event will be aired on FOX, the event’s start time remains to be determined.

  • Connor Zilisch muscles through two overtime attempts and late fuel drama to win in Xfinity debut at The Glen

    Connor Zilisch muscles through two overtime attempts and late fuel drama to win in Xfinity debut at The Glen

    On a day when Connor Zilisch made his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at Watkins Glen International, he added another pair of first-time accomplishments to his impressive racing resume, with his first career pole and first career win.

    The 18-year-old Zilisch from Charlotte, North Carolina, led three times for a race-high 45 of 90 over-scheduled laps in an event where he commenced his Xfinity Series debut by notching his first pole position and claiming the first stage victory after leading all of the stage’s laps. Despite enduring a slow pit stop while pitting during the first stage break period, Zilisch methodically raced his way back up the leaderboard and settled in third place when the second stage period concluded.

    The start of the final stage period with 38 laps remaining was where Zilisch’s opportunity to contend for the victory appeared to evaporate after he along with the leader Ty Gibbs and Sam Mayer were sent to the rear of the field due to driving through the Inner Loop’s off-course turn and not serving a “stop-and-go” penalty just as a caution flew for Justin Allgaier getting stuck in the Turn 6 gravel trap. However, since the following restart period with 33 laps remaining, Zilisch methodically carved his way back up the leaderboard with a fast car again. As fuel shortages became a highlighted topic in the closing laps, the Charlotte native, who had more fuel in his fuel tank compared to most of the front-runners who pitted, cycled back to the lead with 15 laps remaining. He would then maintain a healthy lead and conserve as much fuel in his fuel tank until a late-caution period with six laps remaining for Matt DiBenedetto stalling his car on the course briefly stalled his progress.

    Then through another caution period during an attempted two-lap shootout and two overtime shootouts, Zilisch had enough fuel and muscle within his No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro entry to fend off the field amid a series of on-track chaos and coast to the finish line during the event’s race-ending caution for a multi-car wreck to win the Mission 200 at The Glen on Saturday, September 14, for his first career victory and become the seventh competitor overall to win in an Xfinity debut.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup on Saturday, newcomer Connor Zilisch notched his first Xfinity pole position in his series debut with a pole-winning speed at 124.176 mph in 71.028 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ty Gibbs, who posted the second-fastest qualifying speed at 123.927 mph in 71.171 seconds.

    Before the event, Ed Jones started at the rear of the field due to an engine change to his Sam Hunt Racing Toyota entry. The following names that include Jeb Burton, Ross Chastain, rookie Shane van Gisbergen, Joey Logano and Josh Williams also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Connor Zilisch and Ty Gibbs dueled for the lead through the frontstretch until Zilisch, who was among select front-runners who briefly went off the course entering Turn 1, managed to fend off Gibbs to retain the lead. He would proceed to lead the next set of turns that included the Esses before he navigated his way through the backstretch and both the Inner and Outer Loops. Following the final set of turns that included a left-hand turn following a brief straightaway and a right-hand turn through Turn 7 back to the frontstretch, Zilisch proceeded to lead the first lap in front of Gibbs, Justin Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger and Chandler Smith.

    Over the next four laps, Zilisch retained the lead ahead of a hard-charging Ty Gibbs, who trailed the leader by a second by the fifth lap mark, while third-place Allgaier followed suit by two seconds. With fourth-place Allmendinger trailing by five seconds, Chandler Smith retained fifth place ahead of William Byron while Sam Mayer, Aric Almirola, Sheldon Creed and Austin Hill were running in the top 10. Behind, rookie Jesse Love, Cole Custer, Riley Herbst, Ryan Sieg and Brandon Jones followed suit in the top 15 ahead of Sammy Smith, Parker Kligerman, Jeremy Clements, Parker Retzlaff and Mike Skeen while Shane van Gisbergen was up to 23rd place in front of Ross Chastain and Joey Logano.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Zilisch extended his lead to three seconds over runner-up Gibbs while Allgaier and Allmendinger remained in third and fourth, respectively. Behind, Byron was up into fifth place ahead of Mayer while Chandler Smith dropped to seventh ahead of Almirola, Creed and Hill. Meanwhile, van Gisbergen cracked the top-20 mark as he was running in 19th place behind Jeremy Clements while Love, Herbst, Custer, Brandon Jones and Ryan Sieg were mired in the top 15 ahead of Sammy Smith and Kligerman.

    Five laps later, Zilisch continued to extend his advantage as he was now leading by over Gibbs while Allgaier, Allmendinger and Byron continued to run in the top five. Earlier, Herbst performed a stop-and-go on the course for missing the Inner Loop, which dropped him from 12th to 14th. In addition, Kligerman, who was reporting a gearing issue to his No. 48 Borchetta Bourbon Chevrolet Camaro entry, had dropped to 24th place from outside the top-15 mark. Amid the on-track battles, van Gisbergen carved his way up into the top-15 mark while Mayer, Chandler Smith, Almirola, Creed and Hill continued to run in the top 10.

    Before the Lap 17 mark, select front-runners including Gibbs, Allmendinger, Byron, Mayer, Hill, Brandon Jones, van Gisbergen and Austin Green pitted their respective entries while Zilisch kept his pole-winning No. 88 Carolina Carports Chevrolet Camaro entry on the track with the lead.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 20, Zilisch captured his first Xfinity stage career victory. Teammate Allgaier trailed by in second place by more than 10 seconds followed by a trio of Joe Gibbs Racing competitors that included Almirola, Chandler Smith and Creed while Custer, Love, Herbst, Ryan Sieg and Clements were scored in the top 10. By then, 36 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap, with van Gisbergen remaining on the lead lap and in front of the leader Zilisch in 36th place.

    Under the stage break, Chandler Smith made an unscheduled pit stop from third place due to his No. 81 Smith General Contracting Toyota Supra entry overheating on water temperature due to a piece of debris lodged in his front grille. Once pit road became accessible for the field, a majority of the field led by Zilisch pitted for service while the rest led by Ty Gibbs remained on the track.  Following the pit stops, Allgaier exited pit road first while teammate Zilisch was the sixth competitor to exit the pits following a slow pit service. Amid the pit stops, Alon Day and Thomas Annunziata were penalized for speeding on pit road. Not long after, Sammy Smith made a second pit stop to have a right-rear shock repaired.

    The second stage period started on Lap 24 as Gibbs and Allmendinger occupied the front row. At the start, Gibbs and Allmendinger dueled for the top spot through the frontstretch and the first turn until Allmendinger managed to rocket his No. 16 Celsius Chevrolet Camaro entry ahead with the lead through the Esses. As the field behind jostled for spots through the backstretch and both the Inner and Outer Loops, Allmendinger retained the lead through the final set of turns that led back to the frontstretch as he led the following lap while Mayer and Byron battled for third place. Byron would manage to overtake Mayer for third place entering the first turn while Allmendinger retained a narrow lead over Gibbs. Meanwhile, Zilisch was back in 11th place as Allgaier, Brandon Jones, van Gisbergen, Creed, Custer and Herbst were scored in the top 10.

    At the Lap 30 mark, Byron, who dueled and overtook Allmendinger through the frontstretch a lap prior, was leading by a second over Allmendinger while Gibbs and Allgaier also followed suit by a second. Meanwhile, Mayer had dropped to fifth place after he went off the course just past the Outer Loop while van Gisbergen, Jones, Zilisch, Creed and Custer trailed in the top 10 ahead of Herbst, Almirola, Ryan Sieg, Hill and Clements. By then, Logano and Chastain were mired in 18th and 19th, respectively, while Kligerman was back in 21st place in front of Parker Retzlaff and Chandler Smith. In addition, Sammy Smith was trapped a lap down in 36th place.

    Five laps later, Byron stretched his advantage to more than two seconds over Gibbs while Allmendinger and Mayer trailed by four seconds. Behind, Zilisch navigated his way back into the top five after he overtook teammate Allgaier a lap earlier, while van Gisbergen, Jones, Creed and Custer were racing within the top 10 ahead of Herbst, Hill, Ryan Sieg, Clements and Love.

    Another lap later, select names including Allmendinger, van Gisbergen, Jones, Creed, Chandler Smith and Josh Bilicki pitted their respective entries under green. By then, Logano had also pitted under green as Byron kept his No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro entry on the track with the lead.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 40, Byron claimed his first Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Gibbs trailed in second place by more than three seconds while Zilisch, Mayer, Allgaier, Custer, Herbst, Hill, Ryan Sieg and Clements were scored in the top 10. By then, 34 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    During the stage break, Almirola made an unscheduled pit stop to address losing both his third and fourth gears on his No. 20 Go Bowling Toyota Supra entry. Once pit road became accessible for the field, some, led by Allgaier, pitted while the rest, led by Byron and including Gibbs and Zilisch, remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Jeremy Clements was penalized for speeding on pit road. Not long after, Joey Gase filled in for Thomas Annunziata, who was taken to the care center due to feeling dehydrated. Allmendinger made a second pit stop to have a left-front tire changed.

    With 38 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Byron and Gibbs occupied the front row. At the start, both dueled for the lead through the frontstretch until Byron got loose from Zilisch and went wide in Turn 1. This allowed Gibbs to move in front of the field as the field fanned out entering the Esses. Then after the field navigated through the backstretch and both the Inner and Outer Loops, trouble occurred as both Allgaier and Mike Skeen were sent sliding off the course in Turn 6, with Allgaier getting his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro entry stuck in the gravel trap. Amid the incident, the race remained under green flag conditions before the caution flew a lap later. By then, Gibbs was the leader ahead of Mayer, Zilisch and Custer while Byron had dropped to fifth place.

    Shortly after, however, the top three competitors including Gibbs, Mayer and Zilisch were penalized and sent to the rear of the field due to driving through the Inner Loop and not stopping for a stop-and-go penalty for missing the corner. The trio of penalties allowed Cole Custer to cycle into the lead as he was followed by Byron, van Gisbergen, and Austin Green.

    During the caution period, some including Hill, Creed, Brandon Jones, Love, Jeb Burton, Josh Williams, Allmendinger, Josh Bilicki and Almirola pitted their respective entries while the rest led by Gibbs remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Hill was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    The start of the next restart period with 33 laps remaining featured Custer retaining the lead following a strong start through the frontstretch and the first turn while van Gisbergen challenged Byron for the runner-up spot. With Herbst up to fourth place in front of Chandler Smith, Custer retained the lead through the backstretch and both the Inner and Outer Loop, with the field behind fanning out. As van Gisbergen was being intimidated by Herbst and Chandler Smith for third place, Byron retained second ahead of the trio battle while Custer led the following lap.

    Then with 30 laps remaining, Byron gained a strong run beneath Custer through the frontstretch to reassume the lead. With Byron leading, Custer was being challenged by van Gisbergen for the runner-up spot through the Esses and backstretch while Herbst and Chandler Smith remained within close pursuit in the top five. Meanwhile, Kligerman was up to sixth place while Ed Jones, Logano, Austin Green and Ross Chastain were scored in the top 10.

    A lap later, Byron surrendered the lead to pit under green, which allowed van Gisbergen, who overtook Custer for the runner-up spot a lap earlier, to cycle his No. 97 WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro entry into the lead for the first time. Custer, Chastain, Austin Green, Mike Skeen, Kyle Sieg and Chandler Smith would all pit during the following two laps as Herbst, Kligerman, Ed Jones and Logano moved up into the top five. With Love and Creed following suit in sixth and seventh, respectively, Zilisch was up to eighth place ahead of Allmendinger and Brandon Jones while Gibbs and Mayer were mired in 14th and 15th, respectively. As more names including Logano and Brennan Poole pitted their respective entries, van Gisbergen retained the lead by three seconds over Herbst and Kligerman with 25 laps remaining.

    With 20 laps remaining, van Gisbergen continued to lead by four seconds over Herbst while Kligerman, Zilisch and Creed trailed in the top five ahead of Allmendinger, Gibbs, Brandon Jones, Mayer and Love. By then, Ed Jones, who was dealing with a cool suit malfunction, pitted under green from fourth place two laps earlier, though he would then encounter a mechanical issue while trying to exit his pit stall. In addition, Retzlaff pitted his Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet entry.

    A few laps later, Herbst surrendered the runner-up spot to pit his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang entry for both tires and enough fuel to the event’s scheduled distance. Kligerman, who briefly inherited the runner-up spot, would also pit, which allowed Zilisch to move into the runner-up spot. Zilisch, who was also trying to stretch his fuel tank to the event’s scheduled distance, would then return atop the leaderboard with 15 laps remaining as van Gisbergen pitted for fuel under green, though the latter would be penalized for speeding on pit road. With Zilisch leading, Creed, Gibbs, Allmendinger, Brandon Jones and Mayer followed suit in the top six. By then, Byron returned to pit road to address a vibration concern.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Zilisch continued to lead by more than five seconds over Creed while Ty Gibbs followed suit by within six-tenths of a second to teammate Creed. Behind, fourth-place Allmendinger trailed the lead by 13 seconds while JR Motorsports’ Brandon Jones and Mayer trailed in the top six by less than 20 seconds on the track.

    Two laps later, teammates Gibbs and Creed dueled for the runner-up spot, with the former prevailing with the spot while Zilisch retained the lead by more than six seconds as he was also trying to stretch his fuel tank to the distance. A lap later, Creed surrendered his top-three spot on the track to pit for a quick splash of fuel, which allowed Allmendinger, Brandon Jones and Mayer to move up the leaderboard in the top five.

    Then with six laps remaining, the caution flew due to Matt DiBenedetto coming to a stop in the Inner Loop after he endured a mechanical issue through the backstretch. The caution all but erased Zilisch’s steady advantage of six seconds over Gibbs as Allmendinger, Brandon Jones and Mayer were scored in the top five.

    During the caution period, some including Love, Custer, Hill, Josh Bilicki, Ryan Sieg, Ryan Ellis and Anthony Alfredo pitted while the rest led by Zilisch remained on the track.

    With the race restarting with two laps remaining, Allmendinger tried to throw a three-wide move beneath both Zilisch and Gibbs for the lead exiting the frontstretch and in Turn 1, but Zilisch managed to retain the lead as multiple competitors were sent spinning and colliding into one another, among which included Ed Jones, Josh Williams, Logano, Byron, Mike Skeen, Sammy Smith, Hill and Alfredo.

    Amid the incidents, the race remained under green flag conditions as Zilisch retained the lead through the Esses and the backstretch. Then caution returned for the incidents, that left carnage and leaked fluid left from Turn 1, with Alfredo and Hill sustaining the most damage to their respective entries. With the caution being flown, the race was sent into overtime. It was also sent into a red flag period to have the carnage and the spilled fluid cleared, with Alfredo hitting the guardrails while trying to nurse his damaged No. 5 Ferguson Chevrolet Camaro entry that was leaking fluid back to the infield.

    Twenty-two minutes later, the red flag was lifted and the field led by Zilisch proceeded under a cautious pace. During the caution period, select names led by Sammy Smith and including those involved during the previous caution period pitted while the rest led by Zilisch remained on the track.

    The start of the first overtime attempt featured Zilisch fending off Mayer through the frontstretch, the first turn and the Esses with the lead. By then, Gibbs ran out of fuel and dropped out of contention during the restart as the field scattered through the opening turns. Zilisch, who was continuing to try and stretch his fuel tank to the distance, would proceed to lead through the backstretch and both the Inner and Outer Loops just before teammate Brandon Jones was sent for a spin from the middle of the field through the Inner Loop. Jones was then hit hard by Mike Skeen as the caution returned and the event was sent into a second overtime attempt.

    Following an extensive caution period, the start of the second overtime attempt featured teammates Zilisch and Mayer dueling for the lead exiting the frontstretch before the former muscled ahead through the first turn, where Custer spun. Mayer, Allmendinger and van Gisbergen then went three wide through the Esses and backstretch in a battle for the runner-up spot. Shortly after, Mayer was seen slowly losing pace with the front-runners as he was shaking the car back and forth to keep it under power while Allmendinger and van Gisbergen continued to fiercely duel for the runner-up spot as Chandler Smith, Sheldon Creed and Kligerman joined the battle.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Zilisch remained as the leader by three seconds over Creed, who overtook Allmendinger, van Gisbergen and Chandler Smith for the runner-up spot through the frontstretch as Mayer spun entering Turn 7. Before this, Allgaier spun in the Inner Loop. Amid the chaos, the race remained under green flag conditions.

    Then with numerous bumps and on-track chaos continuing to ensue around the course, the event concluded under caution as a multi-car wreck erupted on the backstretch that started when Ryan Sieg, who was running inside the top 10, got Herbst loose as Herbst spun back in front of Sieg and both were sent wrecking hard against the guardrails while clipping Austin Green in the process as more names, including Ed Jones, Clements and Brennan Poole, would also get collected.

    With the caution being displayed, Zilisch, who was exiting the Outer Loop at the moment the event was deemed official, had enough fuel in his dry tank to coast his No. 88 Carolina Carports Chevrolet Camaro entry through the final two turns under reduced pace and back to the frontstretch for his first checkered flag in his debut in the Xfinity circuit.

    With the victory, Connor Zilisch, who inked a sponsorship deal with Red Bull a day ago and is set to become a full-time Xfinity Series competitor for JR Motorsports in 2025, became the 179th competitor overall to win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series division as he joined Jesse Love and Shane van Gisbergen as competitors to notch a first-time Xfinity victory in 2024. He also joined an exclusive list that includes Dale Earnhardt, Ricky Rudd, Joe Ruttman, Terry Labonte, Kurt Busch and recently Ty Gibbs as competitors to win in an Xfinity Series debut. As added bonuses, he also became the second-youngest winner in the Xfinity Series division at age 18 years, one month and 23 days while becoming the first competitor to record a first-time Xfinity victory at The Glen since Austin Cindric made the last accomplishment in 2019.

    Zilisch’s Xfinity victory at The Glen marked his second trip to Victory Lane of the weekend after he won Friday’s ARCA Menards Series event at The Glen, with the Charlotte native etching the fifth victory of the season for JR Motorsports, the first victory for JR Motorsports’ No. 88 Chevrolet entry in two seasons and the first ever for crew chief Andrew Overstreet.

    “Man, I don’t even have words,” Zilisch, who fought tears of emotions on the frontstretch, said on USA Network. “I worked so hard for this one. I’ve been working for this one for months. It’s so special. I don’t even have words right now. I don’t know how I saved enough [fuel]. I sputtered up the hill with two [laps] to go. I didn’t think I was gonna make it back to the line. I was saving the last two laps. I’m gonna enjoy this one for a while. That’s special. One-on-one [in the Xfinity Series], not bad.”

    “Coming into today, I just wanted to run all the laps,” Zilisch added. “I ran all the laps and I came home with a win too. I can’t complain about that. I just can’t thank everyone who’s helped me get to this point. It’s special [to] come out here and win my first race. Hopefully, the first of many.”

    With Zilisch winning the race, Sheldon Creed settled in second place for the 12th time in his career while AJ Allmendinger came home in third place. The top three results were enough for both Allmendinger and Creed to secure their spots into the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs by points.

    “[I was] Just trying to keep the nose on [the car] there,” Creed said. “[The race was] Actually really fun. I felt like that was the battle for the win probably if [Zilisch] ran out [of fuel]. I thought I put myself in really good position. To end up second again, I could be mad, but I’m actually happy for kind of how our day was going. We were a top-10 car, but I just didn’t know how good we were to run in the top three there. Another top five for our team. Just good momentum for the Playoffs and I can’t wait for Bristol next week. I’m having a lot of fun right now, so that’s what’s important.

    Chandler Smith settled in fourth place while Shane van Gisbergen ended up in fifth place. Ross Chastain, Parker Kligerman, Jesse Love, Joey Logano and Josh Bilicki completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    There were 10 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 19 laps. In addition, 21 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Following the 25th event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Justin Allgaier continues to lead the regular-season standings by 43 points over Cole Custer, 62 over Chandler Smith and 99 over Austin Hill.

    With next weekend’s Xfinity Series event at Bristol Motor Speedway marking the final regular-season event of the 2024 season, the following names that include Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer, Chandler Smith, Austin Hill, AJ Allmendinger, Sheldon Creed, rookie Jesse Love, Riley Herbst, rookie Shane van Gisbergen and Sam Mayer have clinched spots into the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs either by regular-season victories or by points.

    Currently, Parker Kligerman holds one of two vacant spots in the Playoffs by 85 points. Lastly, Sammy Smith, who fell back to 19th place in the final running order at The Glen, holds the 12th and final transfer spot into the Playoffs by 43 points over Ryan Sieg, who ended up in 22nd place after he was unable to complete the final lap amid his multi-car wreck.

    Results.

    1. Connor Zilisch, 45 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. Sheldon Creed

    3. AJ Allmendinger, five laps led

    4. Chandler Smith

    5. Shane van Gisbergen, 14 laps led

    6. Ross Chastain

    7. Parker Kligerman

    8. Jesse Love

    9. Joey Logano

    10. Josh Bilicki

    11. Austin Green

    12. William Byron, 16 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    13. Riley Herbst

    14. Parker Retzlaff

    15. Ryan Ellis

    16. Leland Honeyman

    17. Justin Allgaier

    18. Jeremy Clements

    19. Sammy Smith

    20. Sam Mayer, one lap led

    21. Cole Custer, six laps led

    22. Ryan Sieg, one lap down

    23. Brennan Poole, one lap down

    24. Ed Jones, one lap down

    25. Ty Gibbs, one lap down, three laps led

    26. Aric Almirola, two laps down

    27. RC Enerson, five laps down

    28. Brandon Jones – OUT, Accident

    29. Thomas Annunziata, six laps down

    30. Mike Skeen – OUT, Accident

    31. Jeb Burton – OUT, Oil Leak

    32. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident

    33. Austin Hill – OUT, Accident

    34. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident

    35. Matt DiBenedetto – OUT, Rear Gear

    36. Alon Day – OUT, Brakes

    37. Kyle Sieg – OUT, Axle

    38. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Rear End

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City 300, which will serve as this year’s regular-season finale and determine the 12-car Playoff field. The event is scheduled to occur next Friday, September 20, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.

  • Austin Dillon to make 400th Cup start at Watkins Glen

    Austin Dillon to make 400th Cup start at Watkins Glen

    Austin Dillon is primed to achieve a milestone in his 11th full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series. By competing in this weekend’s Cup Playoff event at Watkins Glen International, the driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing (RCR) Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will make his 400th career start in NASCAR’s premier series.

    A native of Welcome, North Carolina, Dillon made his inaugural start in the Cup Series at Kansas Speedway in October 2011. At the time, he was campaigning in his second full-time season in the Craftsman Truck Series for Richard Childress Racing after clinching the Rookie of the Year title in 2010. Driving the No. 98 Chevrolet Impala for Curb Racing, Dillon finished 26th in his first Cup event.

    The following two seasons, Dillon competed full-time in the Xfinity Series for RCR, where he achieved the 2012 Xfinity Series’ Rookie of the Year title before notching the drivers’ championship a year later. During the two-year stint, he made 12 Cup Series starts, his first occurring at Michigan International Speedway in June 2012 as he piloted RCR’s No. 33 Chevrolet to a 24th-place finish. The remaining 11 Cup starts occurred in 2013, with his first being the 55th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway as he finished 31st.

    In total, Dillon made five Cup starts with RCR, four with Phoenix Racing and two with Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) as an interim competitor for the injured three-time Cup champion Tony Stewart. Within the starts, he notched a season-best 11th-place finish at Michigan in June with RCR and a 14th-place run at Michigan in August with SHR. At Talladega Superspeedway in October, Dillon, who was driving the No. 14 SHR Chevrolet SS, was running in third place on the final lap when he slipped sideways off the front nose of Ricky Stenhouse Jr., came back across the track in the backstretch and was sent airborne after being rammed by Casey Mears, with the result dropping Dillon to 26th place in the final running order.

    Less than a month after winning the 2013 Xfinity Series title, Dillon was announced as a full-time Cup Series competitor in RCR’s No. 3 Chevrolet SS for the 2014 season, which marked the return of the No. 3 in NASCAR’s premier series for the first time since the 2001 Daytona 500, last piloted by the late seven-time NASCAR champion Dale Earnhardt.

    Dillon commenced his rookie Cup season on a strong note by securing the pole position for the 56th running of the Daytona 500, which was his first in the series, and becoming both the fourth competitor to place a No. 3 entry and the fifth rookie candidate on the pole for the Great American Race. During the main event, Dillon, who led the opening lap, rallied after being involved in a late multi-car wreck to record his first top-10 result in the series with a ninth-place finish. He would then finish no higher than 11th three times during his next 16 starts before securing his first top-five result in the form of a fifth-place finish at Daytona in July.

    With only an additional top-10 result, being a 10th-place run at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July, occurring in the final eight regular-season events, Dillon was unable to qualify for the 2014 Cup Series Playoffs. He would proceed to finish no higher than eighth during the final 10 events on the schedule before settling in 20th place in the final standings and the runner-up spot behind Kyle Larson for the Rookie-of-the-Year title. Overall, Dillon achieved a single pole, one top-five result, four top-10 results, 10 laps led and an average-finishing result of 17.5 during his first full-time Cup Series season.

    Dillon’s sophomore Cup season in 2015 was mired with a harrowing final lap accident at Daytona in July, where his car went airborne after colliding with a spinning Denny Hamlin. He flew over four competitors and smashed upside-down into the frontstretch’s catchfence before the car came back on the speedway on the roof and was hit by a spinning Brad Keselowski before coming to a rest on the roof. Amid the wild wreck that ripped the engine out of the No. 3 car, Dillon, who managed to finish seventh before the wreck, emerged uninjured as he only sustained a bruised tailbone and a bruised forearm.

    The Daytona result would serve as one of Dillon’s five total top-10 results he earned throughout the 2015 Cup season, with his best on-track result being a fourth-place finish at Michigan International Speedway in August after leading 19 laps. After missing the Playoffs, Dillon settled in 21st place in the final standings with an average-finishing result of 21.0.

    Like his rookie Cup season, Dillon commenced his junior Cup Series season with a ninth-place result during the 58th running of the Daytona 500. Two races later, he recorded a strong fifth-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March followed by a ninth-place run at Phoenix Raceway before notching his second Cup career pole at Auto Club Speedway, an event where he would finish 24th. Nabbing three additional top-five results and a total of six top-10 results during the final 21 regular-season events, Dillon was able to race his way into his first career Cup Series Playoffs based on points.

    After finishing 14th, 16th and eighth throughout the Round of 16, Dillon transferred into the Round of 12. With respective finishes of 32nd, sixth and ninth throughout the Round of 12, however, he did not transfer to the Round of 8 amid a tie-breaker against Denny Hamlin. Scoring his second pole of the season at Texas Motor Speedway in November, Dillon finished no higher than 12th during the final four events on the schedule before settling in 14th place in the final standings. Overall, Dillon achieved two poles, four top-five results, a career-high 13 top-10 results, 17 laps led and an average finishing result of 15.9. He had also surpassed 100 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series.

    Dillon began the 2017 Cup Series season with a 19th-place finish during the 59th running of the Daytona 500. Then after managing only one top-five finish during the first 11 events on the schedule, he scored his first Cup career victory in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May after overtaking seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson with two laps remaining and having enough fuel to coast his No. 3 Chevrolet across the finish line ahead of Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr.

    With the victory, Dillon became the 188th different competitor to win a Cup Series event and the seventh to notch a first Cup victory in the Coke 600. It was the first victory for the No. 3 since Dale Earnhardt won at Talladega Superspeedway in 2000. Despite finishing in the top 10 only twice during the final 14 regular-season events, the Coke 600 victory enabled Dillon to automatically advance to the Playoffs for a second consecutive season. After having his title hopes come to an early end after finishing no higher than 16th twice and not advancing past the Round of 16, Dillon proceeded to notch five top-15 results within the final seven events on the schedule before settling in a career-best 11th place in the final standings.

    Returning for a fifth full-time Cup campaign in 2018, Dillon commenced the season with a thriller after spinning Aric Almirola on the final lap to win the 60th running of the Daytona 500 and notch his second Cup career victory. With the accomplishment, Dillon, who only led the final lap and piloted a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to its first NASCAR victory in its first event, became the 39th competitor to win the Great American Race as he delivered the third Daytona 500 victory for Richard Childress Racing and the first for the No. 3 since Dale Earnhardt won his first and only 500 event in 1998.

    The victory also occurred 11 years to the day when Kevin Harvick delivered the second and latest 500 victory for RCR. With the 500 victory guaranteeing Dillon and the No. 3 team a spot in the 2018 Cup Series Playoffs, the North Carolina native proceeded to finish in the top 10 three additional times during the remaining 25 regular-season events. Having his title hopes eliminated early after finishing 11th, sixth and 39th throughout the Round of 16, Dillon proceeded to finish in the top 11 five times during the final seven events on the schedule before settling in 13th place in the final standings. Despite achieving one less top-five result from his previous season (two), he doubled his top-10 results (eight) and improved his average-finishing result from 18.6 to 17.5.

    After missing the 2019 Cup Series Playoffs and finishing 21st in the final standings, where he notched a total of six top-10 results, a career-high three poles and surpassed 200 Cup career starts throughout the season, Dillon began the 2020 Cup season with a 12th-place finish in the 62nd running of the Daytona 500 before notching a fourth-place run during the following event at Las Vegas. Then after recording three additional top-10 results during his next 15 starts, Dillon snapped an 88-race winless drought and returned to the Victory Lane in the Cup Series at Texas for the third time in his career after leading 22 laps and fending off teammate Tyler Reddick during a two-lap shootout.

    The Texas victory also enabled Dillon to clinch a spot in the 2020 Cup Series Playoffs, which marked his fourth time making the postseason title battle, as he concluded the regular-season stretch with two additional top-10 results, amid being absent from the Daytona International Speedway Road Course event in August following a positive COVID-19 test. After notching a strong runner-up result during the Playoff opener at Darlington Raceway in September followed by a fourth-place finish at Richmond Raceway and a 12th-place run at Bristol Motor Speedway, respectively, Dillon transferred into the Round of 12. After being eliminated from the Playoffs due to finishing no higher than 12th throughout the Round of 12, he secured two 11th-place finishes during the final four-scheduled events before tying his career-best result in the final standings in 11th place. Overall, Dillon still managed to notch a career-high 135 laps led along with a total of four top-five results, nine top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 16.2.

    Throughout the 2021 Cup Series season, where he reached 300 Cup career starts at season’s end, Dillon accumulated a total of eight top-10 results and a season-best third-place finish in the 63rd running of the Daytona 500. Despite winning the second Bluegreen Vacations Duel at Daytona in February following a final lap where he overtook Bubba Wallace, Dillon did not make the 2021 Cup Series Playoffs and concluded the season in 17th place in the final standings. Nonetheless, he still secured a career-best average-finishing result of 14.4 on the strength of 27 top-15 results throughout the 36-race schedule.

    The 2022 Cup season began with a 25th-place finish during the 64th running of the Daytona 500, Dillon collected two runner-up results and a total of seven top-10 results throughout the following 24 regular-season events. Then during the regular-season finale at Daytona in August, he raced his way into the Playoffs after dodging a wreck that eliminated nearly the entire field with 23 laps remaining and withstanding a lengthy rain delay period to lead 10 laps and overtake Austin Cindric with three laps remaining before leading teammate Tyler Reddick across the finish line as part of a 1-2 finish for Richard Childress Racing.

    The victory was Dillon’s fourth of his Cup career and the fifth time he made the Playoffs. Although his title hopes were eliminated early after finishing no higher than 14th throughout the Round of 16, Dillon notched a fourth-place finish and two 10th-place runs during the final seven-scheduled events before ending up in 11th place in the final standings for the third time in his career. By then, Dillon notched career-high stats in top fives (five) and top 10s (11) while emerging with an average finishing result of 16.5.

    This past season, Dillon notched a strong runner-up result in the non-points Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Two weeks later, he was in contention and battling for the victory in the Daytona 500 before he was swept up in a multi-car wreck during an overtime shootout and ended up in 33rd place. Dillon proceeded to finish in the top five once and in the top 10 six times during the following 25 regular-season events but missed the Playoffs for the fifth time in his career. Finishing no higher than 10th throughout the 2023 Playoffs, Dillon ended up in 29th place in the final driver’s standings, the lowest of his career as a full-time Cup competitor.

    Dillon started the 2024 Cup Series season with only two top-10 results through the first 22 scheduled events, which left him mired outside the top-30 mark in the regular-season standings. Then at Richmond Raceway this past August, he endured a high-turned-low career moment that started when he assumed the lead from Denny Hamlin with 28 laps remaining. Initially poised the seal the victory during the event’s scheduled distance, the event was sent into overtime due to a late multi-car wreck. Despite retaining the lead during the event’s caution period, Dillon would lose the lead to Joey Logano at the start of the overtime shootout. Then on the final lap, Dillon stepped on the gas and bumped into Logano and sent him spinning through the final turn. Dillon then veered dead left and turned Hamlin into the frontstretch’s outside wall to reclaim the lead and streak across the finish line to win for the fifth time in his career.

    After initially guaranteeing himself and his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team a spot into the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs, disaster struck three days later after NASCAR revoked his Playoff eligibility due to the North Carolinian’s deliberate actions to win and make the postseason. Following two appeal processes made by Dillon and Richard Childress Racing, both of which were denied, Dillon plummeted back down towards the top-30 mark in the regular-season standings. Despite finishing in 15th place in the regular-season finale at Darlington, Dillon was unable to race his way back into the Playoffs, which he missed for the sixth time in his career.

    Through 399 previous Cup starts, Dillon has achieved five victories, six poles, 23 top-five results, 78 top-10 results, 411 laps led and an average-finishing result of 18.4. He is currently ranked in 29th place in the 2024 drivers’ standings.

    Austin Dillon is scheduled to make his 400th Cup Series career start at Watkins Glen International for the Go Bowling at The Glen on Sunday, September 15, with the event’s broadcast scheduled to occur at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.