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Author: Andrew Kim

  • Aric Almirola clinches owner’s championship berth for No. 20 team with a dominant victory at Martinsville

    Aric Almirola clinches owner’s championship berth for No. 20 team with a dominant victory at Martinsville

    With two vacant spots to this year’s Championship 4 round on the line amongst eight NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff contenders, Aric Almirola motored his way to a dominant victory for his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team in the National Debt Relief 250 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, November 2.

    The 40-year-old Almirola from Tampa, Florida, led five times for a race-high 150 of 250-scheduled laps in an event where he started in ninth place and muscled through four early caution periods to claim the first stage victory in a photo finish over Playoff contender Cole Custer. Then after racing his way to win the second stage period, Almirola survived a bevy of caution periods and ensuing restart periods, including the final one with 16 laps remaining where he was leading, to fend off Playoff contenders Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith to capture his third Xfinity victory of the 2024 season and clinch a spot to this year’s Xfinity owner’s championship battle for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 team for next weekend’s finale at Phoenix Raceway.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, November 1, Parker Retzlaff notched his second Xfinity pole position of the 2024 season and his career with a pole-winning lap at 95.151 mph in 19.901 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Anthony Alfredo, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 95.094 mph in 19.913 seconds.

    Prior to the event, the following names that include Parker Kligerman, William Sawalich and Kyle Sieg 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, Parker Retzlaff and Anthony Alfredo briefly dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Retzlaff muscled his No. 31 The Visual Pak Companies Chevrolet Camaro ahead with both lanes under his control through the backstretch. As the field slowly began to fan out to three lanes, Retzlaff led the first lap as Playoff contender Chandler Smith overtook Alfredo for the runner-up spot. Behind, Aric Almirola made a bold three-wide move beneath Playoff contenders Sammy Smith and Austin Hill as he made his way up to sixth place.

    Over the next four laps, Retzlaff would proceed to stabilize his early advantage to four-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith as Playoff contender Justin Allgaier, Alfredo and Playoff rookie Jesse Love followed suit in the top five. Behind, Almirola retained sixth place ahead of Playoff contender Austin Hill and Sheldon Creed while Playoff contenders AJ Allmendinger and Sammy Smith pursued in the top 10.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps and amid a series of early jostling for spots within the field, Retzlaff retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith while Allgaier and Alfredo followed suit. Behind, Almirola made his way into fifth place over Love and Hill while Creed, Allmendinger and Playoff contender Cole Custer were in the top 10. As both Custer and Allmendinger bumped one another while battling for 10th place, Riley Herbst, Playoff contender Sam Mayer, Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones and Bubba Pollard were in the top 15.

    On Lap 12, the event’s first caution flew after Allmendinger, who had fiercely bumped and rubbed with Custer for a top-10 spot over the last few laps, blew a right-front tire amid another round of contact with Custer entering the backstretch and went dead straight into the outside wall in Turn 3. The incident was enough to end Allmendinger’s event early, but it did not affect his secured spot to this year’s Championship 4 round after he had won the Playoff’s Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway two weeks earlier.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 18, Chandler Smith dueled with Retzlaff for the lead through the first two turns before he muscled ahead and cleared Retzlaff through the backstretch. Smith would proceed to lead the following lap as Allgaier followed suit in third place. Behind, Almirola muscled his way up to fourth place while Alfredo was pinned in a tight three-wide battle for a top-10 spot that involved Herbst and Creed as both Custer and Sammy Smith joined the battle. With Love and Hill moving up to fifth and sixth on the track, Chandler Smith retained the lead just past the Lap 20 mark.

    At the Lap 25 mark, Chandler Smith was leading by six-tenths of a second over Retzlaff while Allgaier, Almirola and Love followed suit in the top five ahead of Hill, Herbst, Custer, Alfredo, and Creed. Over the next five laps, Allgaier and Almirola dueled fiercely for third place while Stewart-Haas Racing’s Herbst and Custer battled for seventh place in front of Sam Mayer. In the process, Almirola stabilized his lead to nearly eight-tenths of a second.

    On Lap 36, the event’s second caution flew after Myatt Snider, who was racing in 18th place, was bumped and sent for a spin by Ryan Sieg entering Turns 3 and 4. During the caution period, some led by Chandler Smith and including Allgaier, Hill, Love and Sammy Smith pitted while the rest led by Retzlaff and including Custer and Sam Mayer remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Ryan Ellis was penalized for vehicle interference while Hill endured a slow pit service after he had to reverse to avoid hitting Dawson Cram while exiting his pit stall.

    As the event restarted under green on Lap 43, Retzlaff and Custer dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Custer used the outside lane to assume the lead through the backstretch. Behind, Retzlaff fended off rookie Shane van Gisbergen through Turns 3 and 4 to retain second place before the latter crossed over and reignited his challenge for the spot. Behind, a series of jostles for spots between competitors with fresh tires versus those with worn tires ensued as Custer continued to lead. The caution, however, would return on Lap 47 after Leland Honeyman spun in Turn 2 from the top 20 after getting hit by Blaine Perkins.

    The start of the next restart period on Lap 53 did not last long as Retzlaff, who restarted on the front row with Custer, was shoved dead straight into the outside wall in Turn 1 by Mayer as Retzlaff emerged with significant front-end damage to his pole-winning car. The incident was enough to knock Retzlaff out of contention while Mayer continued.

    With the event restarting under green with a single lap remaining to the first stage period, Custer and Almirola dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. They continued to battle dead even against one another through Turns 3 and 4 as they crossed the start/finish line in a photo finish to complete the first stage. At the line, Almirola emerged with the stage victory by a nose for the fifth time in the 2024 Xfinity Series season. Custer settled in second followed by Allgaier, Chandler Smith, Love, Herbst, Josh Williams, Sammy Smith, Creed and Jeb Burton. By then, five of seven remaining Playoff contenders on the track recorded the event’s first round of stage points as the list did not include Mayer or Hill.

    Under the stage break, some led by Custer and including Williams, Jeremy Clements, Patrick Emerling, Mason Maggio and Logan Bearden pitted while the rest led by Almirola remained on the track.

    The second stage period started on Lap 70 as teammates Almirola and Chandler Smith started on the front row. At the start, Almirola gained the advantage from the inside lane as he muscled away with the lead entering the backstretch. Almirola proceeded to lead the following lap while Chandler Smith fended off Allgaier for the runner-up spot. Allgaier would then be challenged by Love and Herbst for third place as Smith started to close in on Almirola for the lead.

    Towards the Lap 80 mark, Almirola retained a steady advantage over teammate Chandler Smith, with the latter bumping and intimidating his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota teammate through every corner and straightaway. Smith would then make his way beneath Almirola’s No. 20 He Gets Us Toyota Supra through the first two turns and muscle his No. 81 QuickTie Toyota Supra into the lead through the backstretch on Lap 81. With Smith leading, Allgaier trailed in third place by six-tenths of a second while Love, Sammy Smith and Herbst trailed by more than two seconds.

    On Lap 85, Herbst bumped and nearly turned Love’s No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro in a fierce battle for fifth place in Turn 3. The contact dropped Love to ninth place as Herbst proceeded to fend off Sheldon Creed for fifth place. In the process, Chandler Smith continued to lead by within a tenth of a second over teammate Almirola. Almirola, however, would gain a run beneath Smith through the first two turns and reassume the lead on Lap 94.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Almirola stretched his advantage to a second over teammate Chandler Smith as Sammy Smith would proceed to overtake Chandler Smith for the runner-up spot during the following lap. Behind, Allgaier trailed in fourth place by two seconds while Herbst, Creed, Sawalich, Ryan Sieg, Alfredo and Jeb Burton followed suit in the top 10.

    Following a caution period on Lap 102 as Mason Maggio spun in Turn 1 just in front of the leaders, some led by Ryan Sieg and including Myatt Snider, Brennan Poole and Garrett Smithley remained on the track while the rest led by Almirola pitted. Amid the pit stops, Chandler Smtih endured a slow pit service.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 110, Ryan Sieg and Poole dueled for the lead in front of a stacked field as Sieg proceeded to muscle ahead through the backstretch. By the following lap, Almirola, who was racing on fresh tires, had carved his way up to third place. Almirola would proceed to duel and overtake Poole for the runner-up spot during the next lap as teammate Sheldon Creed was also muscling his way towards the top five.

    Then with three laps remaining in the second stage period, Almirola caught and made his move beneath Ryan Sieg for the lead entering the first two turns. Almirola and Sieg would then duel for the lead through the backstretch as Sieg refused to surrender the spot. With both continuing to battle dead even for the lead during the following lap, Almirola would muscle ahead of Sieg through Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 118.

    During the final lap of the second stage period, Ryan Sieg tried to execute a crossover move beneath Almirola through the frontstretch, but Almirola muscled away with his fresh tires and teammate Creed began to challenge Sieg for the runner-up spot. Amid the battles within the field, Almirola proceeded to capture his sixth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season and second of the day. Sieg fended off Creed for the runner-up spot while Sammy Smith, Allgaier, Chandler Smith, Custer, Herbst, Sawalich and Poole were scored in the top 10. With four of seven Playoff contenders on the track racking up the event’s second round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders including Mayer and Hill did not achieve points.

    During the stage break, Logan Bearden was the only competitor who pitted as the rest led by Almirola remained on the track.

    With 120 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as teammates Almirola and Creed occupied the front row. At the start, Almirola rocketed away with the lead through the first two turns and he would retain the lead for the following lap. Behind, a series of on-track battles ensued as Allgaier made his way to fourth place behind Ryan Sieg while Custer fended off Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith for fifth place. The caution would return with 117 laps remaining as William Sawalich spun and slapped into the outside wall in Turn 1 amid contact with Alfredo.

    During the start of the next restart period with 110 laps remaining, Almirola dueled with teammate Creed for the lead for a full lap as Creed managed to lead the first lap by a hair from the outside lane. Creed would then clear Almirola to have both lanes under his control entering the first two turns while Allgaier was trying to fend off Custer and Ryan Sieg for third place. Shortly after, Custer moved his No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang into third place over Allgaier and Chandler Smith followed in close pursuit in fifth place.

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Creed continued to lead by a tenth of a second over teammate Almirola, who spent the last several laps dueling and challenging Creed for the top spot through every corner. Almirola would then prevail in the heated battle with teammate Creed with 96 laps remaining as he bumped and muscled ahead of the latter with the top spot. Meanwhile, third-place Custer trailed by a second. Creed then went wide entering Turn 1 during the following lap, which allowed Custer to battle him for the runner-up spot as Almirola stretched his advantage to more than a second.

    With 85 laps remaining, Almirola retained the lead over both Custer and Creed as Logan Bearden pitted with his right-front hub on fire. Amid Bearden’s incident, the event remained under green flag conditions. The caution would then fly with 77 laps remaining due to Preston Pardus spinning in Turn 3. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Almirola pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Almirola retained the lead after he exited pit road first as he was followed by Creed, Custer, Allgaier, Herbst, Chandler Smith, Mayer, Burton, Alfredo and Sammy Smith. Amid the pit stops, Creed was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    The start of the next restart period with 68 laps remaining featured Almirola fending off Custer through the first two turns to lead the field through the backstretch. Just before Almirola could reach the start/finish line to lead the following lap, the caution returned when Dawson Cram, who was racing outside the top 20, received a bump from Love that sent him spinning and backing into the outside wall in Turn 3.

    As the race restarted under green with 60 laps remaining, Almirola used the inside lane to fend off Custer through the first two turns as he retained a steady lead through the backstretch, Despite getting bumped in the rear by Custer through Turns 3 and 4, Almirola led the following lap ahead of Custer as he had Allgaier, Herbst, Chandler Smith and Jeb Burton all following in close pursuit. With the latter four bumping and dueling against one another for position, Allgaier would retain third place ahead of Chandler Smith and Burton over the next four laps while Mayer and Sammy Smith made their way past Herbst for sixth and seventh, respectively. The caution would then return with 54 laps remaining as Creed bumped Blaine Perkins into Josh Williams, all of whom were battling for a top-15 spot, which sent the latter for a spin towards the outside wall in Turn 2.

    The start of the next restart period with 48 laps remaining featured Almirola muscling ahead with a slight advantage over Custer as he proceeded to motor past him through the first two turns and retain the top spot through the backstretch. With Almirola leading the following lap, Custer retained second as Allgaier and Chandler Smith dueled for third place in front of Burton. Behind, teammates Mayer and Sammy Smith dueled for sixth place in front of Herbst, Alfredo and Kligerman as Almirola proceeded to lead with 45 laps remaining.

    With less than 40 laps remaining, Almirola stretched his advantage to more than a second over Custer, who had Chandler Smith and Allgaier pressuring him for the runner-up spot through every corner and straightaway. Custer would retain the runner-up spot from both Smith and Allgaier over the next five laps as Almirola’s advantage also stabilized to more than a second.

    Not long after, the caution returned with 31 laps remaining when Brandon Jones slid and wrecked his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro against the Turn 1 outside wall from 13th place after he got bumped by Creed entering the turn. The incident occurred shortly after Chandler Smith had bumped Custer out of the racing groove for the runner-up spot in Turn 1.

    Just as the event was restarting under green with 24 laps remaining, a stack-up ensued from the front of the field that left Mayer, who restarted in seventh place, with a dented hood and Burton attempting to fan out beneath Mayer. Then entering Turns 1 and 2, Custer returned the favor to Chandler Smith by bumping the latter into the turn as both went up the racetrack through the first two turns. Despite Smith managing to remain in front of Custer, both dropped to fifth and seventh, respectively, through the backstretch. In the process, Mayer, who had a tire rub, continued in sixth place with a dented hood while Almirola pulled away with the lead ahead of Allgaier, Sammy Smith and Herbst.

    On the following lap, the caution returned as both Ryan Sieg and van Gisbergen wrecked in Turn 4. During the caution period, Mayer, who pitted to have the damage addressed, had his No. 1 10X Health Chevrolet Camaro pushed behind the wall as his event came to a late end. Mayer’s retirement also ended his hopes of returning to the Championship 4 round for a second consecutive season.

    Down to the final 16 laps remaining, the race restarted under green as Almirola and Sammy Smith occupied the front row. At the start, Almirola muscled away from Smith’s No. 8 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet Camaro and the field to lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. As Almirola led the following lap, Smith followed suit in second while Allgaier was trying to fend off Herbst, Chandler Smith, Custer and Jeb Burton for third place. During the following lap, Chandler Smith got Herbst loose entering Turn 3, which allowed Smith to draw himself alongside Allgaier for third place as Custer tried to follow suit. Custer would then grab fifth place from teammate Herbst while Almirola continued to lead over Sammy Smith with 14 laps remaining.

    With 10 laps remaining, Almirola retained the lead by four-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Sammy Smith while Chandler Smith trailed the lead by more than a second. By then, both of the Smith competitors were placed in “must-win” situations to maintain their Playoff hopes. Behind, Custer, who currently occupied the fourth and transfer spot to the Championship 4 round, made his way up to fourth place over Allgaier, who held the other vacant spot to the final Playoff round, while Creed was up to sixth place.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Almirola continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over Sammy Smith as third-place Chandler Smith followed suit by a second. Over the next four laps, Almirola would stabilize his advantage over both Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith, with the latter two unable to close in despite charging their respective cars through every corner and straightaway.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Almirola remained in the lead by half a second over Sammy Smith and by more than a second over Chandler Smith. With the two Smiths unable to narrow the deficit for a final lap charge, Almirola coasted his No. 20 Toyota smoothly around the Martinsville circuit for a final time before he cycled back to the frontstretch and for his third Xfinity checkered flag of the 2024 season.

    With the victory, Almirola, who won at Martinsville in April, notched his seventh career win in his 117th start in the Xfinity circuit and 13th of the 2024 season. The victory was the 11th of the season for both the Toyota nameplate and Joe Gibbs Racing, with the organization’s No. 20 team winning for the ninth time overall.

    As a result of the victory, Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 Toyota team will contend for the 2024 Xfinity Series owner’s championship as Almirola will compete against Austin Hill, AJ Allmendinger and Justin Allgaier for the title during next weekend’s season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway.

    Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “Wow, what an amazing race car,” Almirola said on the CW Network. “So proud of [crew chief] Tyler [Allen] and all the guys on this team. We had an amazing car here in the spring. We made a few tweaks to it because I wasn’t totally happy with it, honestly, in the spring. We showed up yesterday and we were awful. I was like, ‘Oh no. What did we do?’ [The team] went to work last night and came up with a lot of changes to make to the car. It was so hooked up today. It would just do everything I wanted it to. Man, this is such a special place, This is, by far, my favorite racetrack and I’m just so thankful to Coach [Gibbs], everybody at Toyota. There’s so much more to it than just me and this race team. I’m just so lucky and blessed to have this opportunity with so many great partners. What an amazing race car. Just so proud, so, so proud and we’re going to go race for an owner’s championship in Phoenix.”

    As Almirola celebrated the Martinsville race victory, teammate Chandler Smith, who settled in third place on the track was left heated over Custer, who finished fourth, following their pair of bumps and on-track contact that took them both out of contention for the race victory as Smith also failed to make the Championship 4 field by 28 points. Once Smith parked his car on pit road at the event’s conclusion, he confronted Custer and both exchanged words before Smith attempted to throw a punch across Custer’s face before both were separated by NASCAR officials and their respective crew members.

    Ironically, this marks the second run-in and post-race confrontation between Custer and Chandler Smith after the former had confronted the latter during the Playoff opener at Kansas Speedway in late September, where he criticized Smith for costing both the victory from Almirola following a late duel on the track.

    “I was planning to do a lot more than [throwing a punch], to be completely frank with you,” Smith, whose racing status for 2025 remains unknown, said. “I was extremely pissed off. I gave him five laps before that caution came out and beat his bumper off and never shipped him or anything like that. Then finally, it’s like all right, the laps are winding down, I’m in a must-win [situation]. [Almirola]’s starting to drive away. He was really good all day. I can’t waste any more time with [Custer], so I finally had a good enough run and pushed him up the racetrack and went on our way, but I gave him a chance for five laps before that…He didn’t even give me a chance to make the corner when we got to Turn 1. It is what it is. He can think we’re even and all, but he’s the one that’s got more stakes than I do next weekend.”

    Meanwhile, Custer, who was initially left frustrated with Smith, was also left pleased on pit road as he claimed a Championship 4 berth to next weekend’s finale at Phoenix as he will attempt to defend his title before moving back up to the Cup Series with the rebranded Haas Factory Team in 2025.

    “[Chandler Smith]’s not happy, but at the end of the day, he’s put us in the wall a few times this year and his mistakes caught up with him,” Custer said. “He used the bumper on me, I used the bumper on him. What comes around goes around in this deal. I’m so proud of this team. We brought out everything we had today. [The team] Kept us in the fight, but [crew chief Jonathan Toney] and the guys did a great job all year maximizing everything we had. [I] Can’t wait to go to Phoenix now and see what we can do.”

    Overall, Custer joins AJ Allmendinger, Austin Hill and Justin Allgaier, the latter of whom finished fifth at Martinsville, as the four Playoff contenders who will contend for the 2024 Xfinity Series championship next weekend at Phoenix. Meanwhile, Chandler Smith joins Martinsville runner-up finisher Sammy Smith, rookie Jesse Love and Sam Mayer as the bottom four Playoff contenders in the standings who did not make the Championship 4 round.

    There were 12 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured 13 cautions for 84 laps. In addition, 26 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Aric Almirola, 150 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner

    2. Sammy Smith

    3. Chandler Smith, 34 laps led

    4. Cole Custer, 17 laps led

    5. Justin Allgaier

    6. Sheldon Creed, 13 laps led

    7. Anthony Alfredo

    8. Parker Kligerman

    9. Jeb Burton

    10. Myatt Snider

    11. Riley Herbst

    12. Jesse Love

    13. Brennan Poole

    14. Austin Hill

    15. Ryan Sieg, 13 laps led

    16. Matt DiBenedetto

    17. Josh Williams

    18. Ryan Ellis

    19. Blaine Perkins

    20. Dylan Lupton

    21. Kyle Sieg, three laps led

    22. Mason Maggio

    23. Patrick Emerling

    24. Preston Pardus

    25. Dawson Cram

    26. Greg Van Alst

    27. Jeremy Clements, one lap down

    28. Shane van Gisbergen, one lap down

    29. Brandon Jones – OUT, DVP

    30. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

    31. Bubba Pollard, 27 laps down

    32. Garrett Smithley – OUT, Ignition

    33. William Sawalich – OUT, Suspension

    34. Logan Bearden – OUT, Brakes

    35. Leland Honeyman – OUT, Accident

    36. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident, 20 laps led

    37. Carson Ware – OUT, Brakes

    38. AJ Allmendinger – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff competitors

    Playoff standings

    1. Austin Hill – Advanced

    2. AJ Allmendinger – Advanced

    3. Justin Allgaier – Advanced

    4. Cole Custer – Advanced

    5. Chandler Smith – Eliminated

    6. Jesse Love – Eliminated

    7. Sam Mayer – Eliminated

    8. Sammy Smith – Eliminated

    The 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season is set to conclude at Phoenix Raceway, where a champion will be crowned. The finale is set to occur next Saturday, November 9, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.

  • Martin Truex Jr. claims first Cup pole of 2024 at Martinsville

    Martin Truex Jr. claims first Cup pole of 2024 at Martinsville

    In his penultimate start as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series competitor, Martin Truex Jr. notched his first Busch pole position of the 2024 season and for this weekend’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, November 2.

    The 2017 Cup Series champion from Mayetta, New Jersey, commenced the weekend by being the fastest during the series’ lone practice session earlier on Saturday. He then was one of 10 from a total of 37-entered competitors to transfer to the final qualifying round following two qualifying group rounds. During the final qualifying round, he posted his best qualifying lap at 96.190 mph in 19.686 seconds, which was enough to claim the top-starting spot over Playoff contender Chase Elliott, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 95.840 mph in 19.758 seconds.

    With this accomplishment, Truex is currently ranked in 10th place in the standings by notching his 24th career pole in NASCAR’s premier series. Additionally, it was his third at Martinsville and his first since he started on the pole in the fall Martinsville event in late October 2023. Overall, the 2024 season marks Truex’s 11th season where he has achieved a pole position in the Cup Series as he strives to record a victory while down to his final two races as a full-time Cup competitor with Joe Gibbs Racing.

    “I felt great about our car on stickers [tires],” Truex said. “You never want to get too optimistic, but [the car] fired off really good in practice, especially that second run with the track rubbered in. I was like, ‘Alright, if we can just hit the balance here for qualifying, it should be really fast.’ Proud of [crew chief] James [Small] and all the guys. We haven’t had a whole lot of good going for us lately. This feels awesome. Anytime you’re first in anything in this series, it’s special and it’s exciting. We got some work to do for tomorrow, but hopefully, we can make a gain on it and have a good day.”

    Highlights

    Joining Truex on the front row will be Chase Elliott, who emerged as the highest-starting Playoff contender in the field. This weekend’s event at Martinsville is the third and final race in the Round of 8, Elliott is currently ranked in eighth place in the Playoff standings and is 43 points below the top-four cutline to make the Championship 4 round and contend for his second Cup title.

    William Byron, Elliott’s teammate at Hendrick Motorsports, will start in third place ahead of Chase Briscoe and Ty Gibbs. Rounding out the top-10 starting spots are Harrison Burton, Alex Bowman, Ryan Preece, Playoff contender Kyle Larson and Austin Dillon. With three of eight Playoff contenders starting in the top 10 for Sunday’s main event, the remaining Playoff contenders that include Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin will start 12th, 14th, 16th, 31st and 37th, respectively.

    Notably, Hamlin will start in 37th place, dead last, after opting not to post a qualifying lap due to wrecking his primary car during Saturday’s practice session. Despite Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team managing to repair the car, Hamlin, who is 18 points below the top-four cutline, will have to navigate his way through the field from the rear to maintain his title hopes.

    Currently, Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick are the only two Playoff contenders to be guaranteed berths to the Championship 4 field after winning the Round of 8 events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway, respectively. Christopher Bell and William Byron occupy the remaining two vacant spots above the cutline while Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott trail.

    All 37 competitors entered for Sunday’s event at Martinsville earned a starting spot.

    Qualifying position, best speed, best time:

    1. Martin Truex Jr., 96.190 mph, 19.686 seconds
    2. Chase Elliott, 95.840 mph, 19.758 seconds
    3. William Byron, 95.951 mph, 19.735 seconds
    4. Chase Briscoe, 95.796 mph, 19.767 seconds
    5. Ty Gibbs, 95.912 mph, 19.743 seconds
    6. Harrison Burton, 95.603 mph, 19.807 seconds
    7. Alex Bowman, 95.908 mph, 19.744 seconds
    8. Ryan Preece, 95.487 mph, 19.831 seconds
    9. Kyle Larson, 95.593 mph, 19.809 seconds
    10. Austin Dillon, 95.367 mph, 19.856 seconds
    11. Josh Berry, 95.752 mph, 19.776 seconds
    12. Joey Logano, 95.661 mph, 19.795 seconds
    13. Todd Gilliland, 95.738 mph, 19.779 seconds
    14. Ryan Blaney, 95.656 mph, 19.796 seconds
    15. Daniel Hemric, 95.670 mph, 19.793 seconds
    16. Christopher Bell, 95.632 mph, 19.801 seconds
    17. Michael McDowell, 95.593 mph, 19.809 seconds
    18. Brad Keselowski, 95.622 mph, 19.803 seconds
    19. Bubba Wallace, 95.492 mph, 19.830 seconds
    20. Daniel Suarez, 95.612 mph, 19.805 seconds
    21. Erik Jones, 95.487 mph, 19.831 seconds
    22. Ross Chastain, 95.516 mph, 19.825 seconds
    23. Kyle Busch, 95.434 mph, 19.842 seconds
    24. Austin Cindric, 95.237 mph, 19.883 seconds
    25. Noah Gragson, 95.362 mph, 19.857 seconds
    26. Chris Buescher, 95.036 mph, 19.925 seconds
    27. Carson Hocevar, 95.319 mph, 19.866 seconds
    28. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 95.032 mph, 19.926 seconds
    29. Shane van Gisbergen, 95.180 mph, 19.895 seconds
    30. Justin Haley, 94.680 mph, 20 seconds
    31. Tyler Reddick, 95.146 mph, 19.902 seconds
    32. John Hunter Nemechek, 94.354 mph, 20.069 seconds
    33. Kaz Grala, 94.237 mph, 20.094 seconds
    34. Corey LaJoie, 94.162 mph, 20.110 seconds
    35. Josh Bilicki, 93.299 mph, 20.296 seconds
    36. Zane Smith, 93.947 mph, 20.156 seconds
    37. Denny Hamlin, 0.000 mph, 0.000 seconds

    The 2024 Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway is set to occur on Sunday, November 3, and air at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Christian Eckes clinches Championship 4 berth at Martinsville with bump and run

    Christian Eckes clinches Championship 4 berth at Martinsville with bump and run

    Christian Eckes capped off a dominant run by pulling a late bump-and-run move on Playoff rival Taylor Gray that enabled him to clinch a Championship 4 berth after winning the Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 200 at Martinsville Speedway on Friday, November 1.

    The 23-year-old Eckes from Greenville, New York, led all but 13 of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he started on the pole position. He captured the event’s first two stage periods before he pitted for the first and only time before the start of the final stage period with 90 laps remaining. After reassuming the lead from Ben Rhodes with 84 laps remaining, Eckes would retain the top spot through three caution periods and two restart periods.

    Then, during the event’s final restart period with five laps remaining, Eckes was caught in a controversial incident with Taylor Gray. It resulted in Eckes bumping and sending Gray up the racetrack and out of the lead after Gray had taken it from Eckes at the start of the restart. Eckes would then duel, swap spots and bump Rhodes for the top spot during the following two laps before he moved Rhodes out of the racing groove in the same turn as he moved Gray. With the late clean air to his advantage, Eckes retained the lead for the final two laps and cruised to his fourth NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory of the 2024 season and secured his first-ever berth to the Championship 4 round.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Playoff contender Christian Eckes notched the pole position with a lap at 96.830 mph in 19.556 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Ty Majeski, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 96.805 mph in 19.561 seconds.

    Before the event, the following names including Playoff contender Tyler Ankrum, Justin Carroll, Tanner Gray and Clayton Green dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective trucks.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Christian Eckes motored his No. 19 Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet Silverado RST ahead of Ty Majeski, who struggled to launch at the start, and the field through the frontstretch as he had both lanes to his control through the first two turns and the backstretch. As the field behind jostled for early spots, Eckes led the first lap while Majeski fended off Playoff contenders Nick Sanchez and Taylor Gray for the runner-up spot as rookie Layne Riggs followed suit.

    Over the next four laps, Eckes stretched his early advantage to as high as seven-tenths of a second over Majeski while Sanchez followed suit in third place as the field behind bumped and jostled amongst one another for early spots. Behind, Riggs was in fourth place ahead of Taylor Gray while Ben Rhodes, Playoff contender Corey Heim, Chase Purdy, Kaden Honeycutt and Playoff contender Rajah Caruth were in the top 10.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Eckes was leading by nine-tenths of a second over Majeski while Sanchez, Riggs and Taylor Gray were racing in the top five ahead of Rhodes, Heim, Purdy, Honeycutt and Caruth. Behind, Jack Wood, Johnny Sauter, William Sawalich, Dean Thompson and Matt Crafton were in the top 15 while Timmy Hill, Stewart Friesen, Daniel Dye, Landen Lewis and Matt Mills pursued in the top 20. Meanwhile, Playoff contender Grant Enfinger was up to 24th place while Playoff contender Tyler Ankrum was mired in 31st place.

    Ten laps later, Eckes extended his advantage to more than a second over Majeski while third-place Sanchez trailed by two seconds. Behind, Riggs and Taylor Gray remained in the top five ahead of Rhodes, Heim, Purdy, Honeycutt and Caruth as Enfinger and Ankrum were mired in 22nd and 31st, respectively.

    Another 10 laps later, Eckes stabilized his advantage to more than a second over runner-up Majeski and by more than three seconds over third-place Sanchez while Riggs and Taylor Gray remained racing in the top five. Meanwhile, Enfinger cracked the top 20 as he was up to 20th place while Ankrum gained four spots to 27th place. By then, Heim retained seventh place behind Rhodes while Caruth continued to race in 10th place behind Purdy and Honeycutt.

    Then on Lap 35, the event’s first caution period flew due to Matthew Gould slowly coming to a halt in the backstretch after he fell off the pace through the frontstretch earlier. During the caution period, some led by Rhodes and including Enfinger and Ankrum, the latter of whom was spared from losing a lap, pitted while the rest led by Eckes remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Matt Crafton and Landen Lewis were both penalized for speeding on pit road.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 42, Eckes fended off Majeski to retain the lead through the first two turns while 10th-place Caruth tried to throw a three-wide move beneath teammate Purdy for more positions towards the front. The following lap, Purdy and Dean Thompson made contact entering Turn 1 as Thompson tried to make a tight move beneath Purdy for position. With a bevy of competitors continuing to bump, fan out and jostle for spots, Eckes proceeded to drive away with the lead as he retained the top spot by the Lap 45 mark.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 50, Eckes, who came into Martinsville 38 points above the top-four cutline in his pursuit to make the Championship 4 round, captured his 10th Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Majeski followed suit in second as he was followed by Sanchez, Taylor Gray and Riggs while Heim, Honeycutt, Purdy, Sawalich and Connor Zilisch were scored in the top 10. Meanwhile, Caruth plummeted to 28th place after he went up the racetrack in Turn 3 on Lap 49 while Enfinger and Ankrum settled in 14th and 17, respectively.

    Under the stage break, some led by Taylor Gray and including Caruth pitted while the rest led by Eckes remained on the track. By then, the top seven competitors including Eckes, Majeski, Sanchez, Heim, Honeycutt, Purdy and Sawalich were the only ones who had yet to pit. During the pit stops, Jake Garcia was penalized for pitting outside his pit box.

    The second stage period started on Lap 60 as Eckes and Majeski occupied the front row. At the start, Eckes fended off Majeski and Sanchez to retain the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. Eckes retained the lead for the following lap while Majeski was racing in second place ahead of Sanchez and Heim. Towards the Lap 65 mark, Honeycutt was in fifth place and he was followed by Sawalich while Purdy, who was trapped on the outside lane, was dueling with Friesen and Rhodes for seventh place.

    Just past Lap 70, Eckes extended his lead to more than a second over Majeski while Sanchez and Heim continued to trail in third and fourth, respectively. As Honeycutt retained fifth place in front of Sawalich, Friesen, Rhodes and Zilisch, Purdy dropped to 10th place as he was racing ahead of Enfinger while Ankrum, Taylor Gray and Caruth were mired in 14th, 16th and 22nd, respectively.

    At the Lap 80 mark, Eckes’ advantage stood to nearly two seconds over runner-up Majeski while third-place Sanchez trailed by three seconds. With fourth-place Heim trailing by four seconds, Enfinger and Ankrum were mired in 10th and 11th, respectively, Taylor Gray was up to 15th place and Caruth was mired in 22nd place.

    Ten laps later, Eckes extended his advantage to more than three seconds over Majeski as Sanchez and Heim trailed as far back as six seconds. Behind, Sawalich was up into fifth place and trailing the lead by seven seconds while Friesen, Rhodes, Honeycutt, Enfinger and Ankrum were in the top 10 ahead of Zilisch, Riggs, Taylor Gray, Daniel Dye and Purdy.

    Another four laps later, Eckes lapped Caruth, who was the lowest-running Playoff contender on the track in 25th place and placed in a “must-win” situation to keep his Playoff hopes alive. Eckes would proceed to stretch his lead to four seconds over Majeski just past the Lap 95 mark as both Sanchez and Heim trailed by seven seconds.

    Then on Lap 97, the caution flew as Dylan Lupton slid and wrecked his No. 02 Young’s Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST hard against the Turn 2 outside wall. Lupton’s incident was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 100 to officially conclude under caution as Eckes captured his second Truck stage victory of the event and the 11th of the 2024 season. Majeski followed suit in second ahead of Sanchez, Heim and Sawalich while Friesen, Rhodes, Honeycutt, Ankrum and Enfinger were scored in the top 10. With seven of eight Playoff contenders racking up the event’s second round of stage points, Caruth, the only Playoff contender to not score stage points, was mired in 25th place.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Eckes pitted while Ben Rhodes remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, the following names that include Justin Carroll, Daniel Dye and Dean Thompson were all penalized for their respective pit crews jumping over the pit wall too soon. Soon after, Caruth, who pitted twice under the caution period, took his No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST behind the wall and the pit crew went under the hood of Caruth’s truck to address a potential left-front braking issue. The issue was enough to knock Caruth both out of the lead lap category and in contention to advance into the Championship 4 round.

    With 90 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced under green as Rhodes and Eckes occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out through the frontstretch as Rhodes retained the lead ahead of Eckes through the first two turns and the backstretch. Rhodes would proceed to lead the following lap ahead of Eckes while Majeski and Sanchez battled for third place in front of Heim. Behind, Taylor Gray, Ankrum and Enfinger were strapped from seventh to ninth, respectively, as Eckes closed in on Rhodes for the lead with 85 laps remaining.

    Then with 84 laps remaining, Eckes gave Rhodes a slight bump in Turn 3, which allowed Eckes to draw himself even with Rhodes’ No. 99 Kubota Ford F-150 through the frontstretch before he muscled back ahead and reassumed the lead. As Eckes proceeded to lead with 80 laps remaining, Sanchez started to close in on Rhodes for the runner-up spot while Majeski and Heim trailed in the top five.

    With 70 laps remaining, Eckes stretched his advantage to more than three seconds over Sanchez and Majeski while Rhodes dropped to fourth place. Meanwhile, Heim retained fifth place ahead of Friesen, Taylor Gray, Ankrum, Enfinger and Sawalich while Caruth, who had his left-front brakes addressed, returned to the track despite being strapped 20 laps down in 33rd place.

    Fifteen laps later, Eckes’ advantage grew to five seconds over runner-up Sanchez while third-place Majeski also trailed by five seconds. In the process, Heim retained fifth place while trying to fend off Friesen and both Taylor Gray and Ankrum battled for seventh place while Enfinger was in 10th place.

    Another 15 laps later, Eckes retained the lead by six seconds over Sanchez while Majeski trailed the latter by nearly a second in third place. Behind, Friesen moved up to fifth place as he trailed Rhodes on the track while Ankrum, Taylor Gray, Sawalich, Enfinger and Riggs occupied the top 10 in front of Heim, Corey Day, Honeycutt, Crafton and Zilisch.

    Then with 38 laps remaining, the caution flew when Honeycutt, who was racing in the top 15, made contact with the outside wall in between Turns 1 and 2 after he blew a right-front tire. During the caution period, some led by Rhodes and including Taylor Gray, Enfinger and Heim pitted while the rest led by Eckes and including Sanchez, Majeski and Ankrum remained on the track.

    The start of the ensuing restart period with 29 laps remaining featured Eckes muscling ahead and leading the field with both lanes under his control through the first two turns while Sanchez and Majeski dueled for the runner-up spot. As Eckes muscled away with a reasonable lead for the following lap, Sanchez, who was placed in a “must-win” situation to maintain his Playoff hopes, muscled his No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST away with the runner-up spot ahead of Majeski, who got bumped by Friesen in Turn 1.

    With Friesen settling in fourth behind Majeski, a three-wide action then ensued between Riggs, Rhodes and Taylor Gray during the next lap while Purdy almost got turned by Corey Day through the backstretch. As more bumping and jostling for late spots ensued within the field, Eckes was ahead by more than a second with the lead with 25 laps remaining.

    Then with 19 laps remaining, the caution returned when Dean Thompson bumped and sent teammate Tanner Gray into Brett Moffitt as both went up the track and wrecked against the Turn 3 outside wall while Corey Day slid sideways and spun past both to avoid the carnage. During the caution period, some including Riggs, Crafton, Sawalich and Ankrum pitted while the rest led by Eckes remained on the track.

    Down to the final 12 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Eckes fended off Taylor Gray, whom Eckes shared on the front row, through the first two turns and the backstretch to retain the lead. With Gray settling behind Eckes and in front of a stacked field, Sanchez tried to pursue both from third place as Eckes led the following lap. Then in Turn 1, Gray, who was placed in a “must-win” situation to advance to the Championship 4 round, bumped Eckes through the first two turns. Seconds later, the caution returned when Friesen, who was racing in sixth place, got bumped by Enfinger as the latter was hit by Purdy, which sent Friesen for a spin in Turn 2 as Sauter limped his No. 66 TSPORT Ford F-150 to pit road with damage and sparks flying out of the truck.

    The start of the next restart period with five laps remaining featured Eckes and Taylor Gray sharing the front row for a second time, where Gray dueled with Eckes through the first two turns until Gray used the outside lane to muscle his No. 17 JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro ahead with the lead through the backstretch. Then entering Turn 3, Eckes bumped and sent Gray up the racetrack, which allowed Eckes to reassume the lead while Gray dropped to fifth place.

    During the following lap, Rhodes bumped and drew himself into a side-by-side with Eckes through the first two turns and the backstretch before Rhodes muscled his way into the lead through Turns 3 and 4. Rhodes proceeded to lead the next lap before Eckes bumped and drew himself back beneath Rhodes through the first two turns and the backstretch. Eckes would then slip up and cause Rhodes to go up the track, which allowed Eckes to muscle back away with the lead as Purdy came storming in his No. 77 Bama Buggies Chevrolet Silverado RST into the runner-up spot. Purdy and Rhodes would both bump and jostle for the runner-up spot during the following lap as Eckes motored away.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Eckes remained in the lead ahead of a tight side-by-side battle between Purdy and Rhodes for the runner-up spot. With the latter two battling amongst one another and not closing the gap to the lead, Eckes would smoothly cycle his No. 19 Chevrolet around the Martinsville circuit for a final time before he returned to the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag by more than a second over Rhodes, who edged Purdy at the finish line for the runner-up spot.

    With the victory and the Martinsville sweep of the season, Eckes notched his ninth career win in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series division, his fourth of the 2024 season and his first since winning at Nashville Superspeedway in late June. He also recorded the fourth Truck victory of the season for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing and the 12th for the Chevrolet nameplate.

    Above all, Eckes, who is in his fourth and final campaign in the Truck Series before he graduates to the Xfinity Series in 2025, officially clinched his spot into this year’s Championship 4 round for the first time in his career as he will contend for his first Craftsman Truck Series championship next weekend at Phoenix Raceway.

    Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “[Contending for the championship] feels great,” Eckes, who was met with mixed reactions from the crowd, said on FS1.” Like I told everybody, I wasn’t gonna let us lose this race. The truck was too good. [Racing with Taylor Gray], it was just hard racing. I feel bad about [Rhodes]. I just got way too loose entering the corner, but everybody’s really happy with me. I don’t really care. Proud of everybody for working hard. We’ll go on to Phoenix.”

    Not long after, Eckes, who was bumped into the rear by Taylor Gray during the cooldown lap, was met with Gray on the frontstretch as the latter vented his verbal frustration over the late bump and contact caused by Eckes that took Gray out of contention for both the victory and a spot to the Championship 4 round. With both competitors exchanging words while being surrounded by crew members and officials, Gray would give Eckes a light shove to the chest after issuing his warning before he stormed away.

    “[Am I happy] With the exchange? No,” Gray, who finished fourth at Martinsville but missed the Championship 4 cutline by 28 points, said. “I got shipped to the fence whenever I raced him perfectly clean in [Turns] 1 and 2. What comes around goes around. I have to race him next year all year long. I guess he’s got that one for him.”

    Overall, Gray joins Nick Sanchez, Tyler Ankrum and Rajah Caruth as the bottom four Playoff contenders in the standings to not transfer into the Championship 4 round. On the contrary, Corey Heim and Ty Majeski, who finished seventh and 11th at Martinsville, respectively, claimed the final two berths to the Championship 4 round as both join Eckes and Grant Enfinger in the final Playoff round to contend for their first Truck Series championship.

    Rhodes and Purdy finished second and third on the track at Martinsville while Taylor Gray and Nick Sanchez finished in the top five. Layne Riggs, Corey Heim, Tyler Ankrum, Grant Enfinger and Stewart Friesen completed the top-10 final running order.

    There were six lead changes for three different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 46 laps. In addition, 19 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Christian Eckes, 187 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner

    2. Ben Rhodes, 12 laps led

    3. Chase Purdy

    4. Taylor Gray, one lap led

    5. Nick Sanchez

    6. Layne Riggs

    7. Corey Heim

    8. Tyler Ankrum

    9. Grant Enfinger

    10. Stewart Friesen

    11. Ty Majeski

    12. Connor Zilisch

    13. Matt Crafton

    14. William Sawalich

    15. Dawson Sutton

    16. Bayley Currey

    17. Dean Thompson

    18. Corey Day

    19. Matt Mills

    20. Jake Garcia, one lap down

    21. Timmy Hill, two laps down

    22. Spencer Body, two laps down

    23. Lawless Alan, two laps down

    24. Clayton Green, three laps down

    25. Justin Carroll, three laps down

    26. Jack Wood, four laps down

    27. Matthew Gould, five laps down

    28. Johnny Sauter – OUT, Accident

    29. Tanner Gray – OUT, Accident

    30. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Accident

    31. Rajah Caruth, 21 laps down

    32. Daniel Dye – OUT, Brakes

    33. Kaden Honeycutt – OUT, Accident

    34. Dylan Lupton – OUT, Accident

    35. Landen Lewis – OUT, Brakes

    36. Norm Benning – OUT, Brakes

    *Bold indicates Playoff competitors

    Playoff standings

    1. Grant Enfinger – Advanced

    2. Christian Eckes – Advanced

    3. Corey Heim – Advanced

    4. Ty Majeski – Advanced

    5. Taylor Gray – Eliminated

    6. Nick Sanchez – Eliminated

    7. Tyler Ankrum – Eliminated

    8. Rajah Caruth – Eliminated

    The 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season is set to conclude at Phoenix Raceway, where a champion will be crowned. The finale is scheduled to occur next Friday, November 8, and air at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Parker Retzlaff scores second Xfinity pole position at Martinsville

    Parker Retzlaff scores second Xfinity pole position at Martinsville

    Parker Retzlaff scored his second NASCAR Xfinity Series pole position of the 2024 season and of his career for the National Debt Relief 250 at Martinsville Speedway on Friday, November 1.

    The 21-year-old Retzlaff from Rhinelander, Wisconsin, posted his best qualifying lap at 95.151 mph in 19.901 seconds, which was enough to claim the top starting spot over Anthony Alfredo, who clocked in his best lap at 95.094 mph in 19.913 seconds.

    With his accomplishment, Retzlaff, who is set to make his 74th career start in the Xfinity Series on Saturday at Martinsville, notched his first Xfinity pole since he claimed his first at Richmond Raceway in April and he delivered the second NASCAR career pole for Jordan Anderson Racing. Retzlaff, who is ranked in 18th place in this year’s Xfinity standings, also joins JR Motorsports’ Brandon Jones as non-Playoff contenders to start on the pole throughout the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs as he continues his pursuit for his first victory in the series.

    Joining Retzlaff on the front row will be Anthony Alfredo, who posted his best starting spot of the 2024 season in second place. Alfredo’s previous best starting spot of the season was third at Bristol Motor Speedway in September.

    With the front row swept by non-Playoff contenders, Chandler Smith, who is 28 points below the top-four cutline to this year’s Championship 4 round, is the highest-starting Playoff contender in third place after he posted his best qualifying lap at 95.075 mph in 19.917 seconds. He will share the second row alongside Playoff rookie Jesse Love while Playoff contenders Justin Allgaier and Austin Hill will follow suit in the third row.

    Rounding out the top-10 starting spots are Playoff contender Sammy Smith, Sheldon Creed, Aric Almirola and Playoff contender Cole Custer.

    With six of eight Playoff contenders starting in the top 10 for the main event, the remaining Playoff contenders that include AJ Allmendinger and Sam Mayer will start 11th and 12th, respectively.

    Currently, Allmendinger and Austin Hill are the only two Playoff contenders to be guaranteed berths to the Championship 4 field after winning the Round of 8 events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway, respectively. Justin Allgaier and Cole Custer occupy the remaining two vacant spots above the cutline while Chandler Smith, Jesse Love, Sam Mayer and Sammy Smith trail.

    All 38 competitors entered for Saturday’s event at Martinsville earned a starting spot.

    Qualifying position, best speed, best time:

    1. Parker Retzlaff, 95.151 mph, 19.901 seconds
    2. Anthony Alfredo, 95.094 mph, 19.913 seconds
    3. Chandler Smith, 95.075 mph, 19.917 seconds
    4. Jesse Love, 95.051 mph, 19.922 seconds
    5. Justin Allgaier, 94.993 mph, 19.934 seconds
    6. Austin Hill, 94.965 mph, 19.940 seconds
    7. Sammy Smith, 94.855 mph, 19.963 seconds
    8. Sheldon Creed, 94.851 mph, 19.964 seconds
    9. Aric Almirola, 94.770 mph, 19.981 seconds
    10. Cole Custer, 94.590 mph, 20.019 seconds
    11. AJ Allmendinger, 94.557 mph, 20.026 seconds
    12. Sam Mayer, 94.496 mph, 20.039 seconds
    13. Riley Herbst, 94.176 mph, 20.107 seconds
    14. Brandon Jones, 94.003 mph, 20.144 seconds
    15. William Sawalich, 93.966 mph, 20.152 seconds
    16. Matt DiBenedetto, 93.780 mph, 20.192 seconds
    17. Bubba Pollard, 93.724 mph, 20.204 seconds
    18. Parker Kligerman, 93.696 mph, 20.210 seconds
    19. Brennan Poole, 93.682 mph, 20.213 seconds
    20. Shane van Gisbergen, 93.557 mph, 20.240 seconds
    21. Jeb Burton, 93.235 mph, 20.310 seconds
    22. Myatt Snider, 93.198 mph, 20.318 seconds
    23. Josh Williams, 93.189 mph, 20.320 seconds
    24. Blaine Perkins, 93.180 mph, 20.322 seconds
    25. Leland Honeyman, 93.074 mph, 20.345 seconds
    26. Ryan Ellis, 93.052 mph, 20.350 seconds
    27. Kyle Sieg, 92.569 mph, 20.456 seconds
    28. Dawson Cram, 92.362 mph, 20.502 seconds
    29. Jeremy Clements, 92.348 mph, 20.505 seconds
    30. Garrett Smithley, 91.864 mph, 20.613 seconds
    31. Dylan Lupton, 91.664 mph, 20.658 seconds
    32. Preston Pardus, 91.522 mph, 20.690 seconds
    33. Carson Ware, 90.521 mph, 20.919 seconds
    34. Logan Bearden, Owner Points
    35. Patrick Emerling, Owner Points
    36. Mason Maggio, Owner Points
    37. Greg van Alst, Owner Points
    38. Ryan Sieg, Owner Points

    The 2024 National Debt Relief 250 at Martinsville Speedway is set to occur on Saturday, November 2, and air at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network.

  • Christian Eckes claims Truck pole position for Round of 8 finale at Martinsville

    Christian Eckes claims Truck pole position for Round of 8 finale at Martinsville

    Christian Eckes struck first in his quest to contend for his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship by winning the pole position for the Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 200 at Martinsville Speedway on Friday, November 1.

    The 23-year-old Eckes from Greenville, New York, who was the fastest during Friday’s practice session, turned in his best qualifying lap at 96.830 mph in 19.556 seconds. The result was enough for him to claim the top-starting spot over Playoff contender Ty Majeski, who clocked in his best lap at 96.805 mph in 19.561 seconds.

    With the pole position, Eckes, who is in his second consecutive season piloting the No. 19 Chevrolet Silverado RST for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, notched his fourth Truck Series pole of the 2024 season, his 10th of his career and his first since claiming the top-starting spot at Richmond Raceway in August. With Friday night’s Truck event at Martinsville marking the third and final event in this year’s Playoff’s Round of 8, Eckes, who won at Martinsville earlier in April and enters the event 38 points above the top-four cutline to the Championship 4 round, strives to achieve a strong result that will net him a spot in next weekend’s finale at Phoenix Raceway and contend for the series championship.

    Playoff contender Ty Majeski, who finished second to Eckes in the spring Martinsville event and currently occupies the final transfer spot to the Championship 4 round by 22 points, will share the front row with Eckes. They will be followed by Playoff contenders Taylor Gray and Nick Sanchez, both of whom are currently scored below the cutline as they occupy the second starting row.

    Rookie Layne Riggs will start in fifth place while Ben Rhodes, Playoff contender Corey Heim (who is above the Playoff cutline), Chase Purdy, Kaden Honeycutt and Jack Wood complete the top-10 starting grid.

    With five of eight Playoff contenders starting in the top 10 for Friday’s main event, Playoff contender Rajah Caruth and Tyler Ankrum, both of whom are scored below the cutline, will start 11th and 23rd, respectively. In addition, Grant Enfinger, who is already guaranteed a spot in the Championship 4 field after winning the previous two Round of 8 events at Talladega Superspeedway and at Martinsville Speedway, respectively, will line up in 33rd place.

    Notably, Johnny Sauter, the 2016 Truck Series champion who is filling in for the suspended Conner Jones in ThorSport Racing’s No. 66 Ford F-150 entry, will start in 13th place while Landen Lewis, a three-time race winner across the ARCA Menards Series platform who is piloting the No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota Tundra TRD Pro in place of Sauter, will start alongside Sauter in 14th place. In addition, Matt Mills, who has been medically cleared to compete at Martinsville following his accident and run-in with Conner Jones last weekend at Homestead, will start in 21st place.

    All 36 competitors entered for Friday’s event at Martinsville earned a starting spot.

    Qualifying position, best speed, best time:

    1. Christian Eckes, 96.830 mph, 19.556 seconds
    2. Ty Majeski, 96.805 mph, 19.561 seconds
    3. Taylor Gray, 96.755 mph, 19.571 seconds
    4. Nick Sanchez, 96.529 mph, 19.617 seconds
    5. Layne Riggs, 96.529 mph, 19.617 seconds
    6. Ben Rhodes, 96.484 mph, 19.626 seconds
    7. Corey Heim, 96.450 mph, 19.633 seconds
    8. Chase Purdy, 96.386 mph, 19.646 seconds
    9. Kaden Honeycutt, 96.293 mph, 19.665 seconds
    10. Jack Wood, 96.097 mph, 19.705 seconds
    11. Rajah Caruth, 95.786 mph, 19.769 seconds
    12. William Sawalich, 95.636 mph, 19.800 seconds
    13. Johnny Sauter, 95.559 mph, 19.816 seconds
    14. Landen Lewis, 95.506 mph, 19.827 seconds
    15. Tanner Gray, 95.444 mph, 19.840 seconds
    16. Matt Crafton, 95.420 mph, 19.845 seconds
    17. Dean Thompson, 95.415 mph, 19.846 seconds
    18. Daniel Dye, 95.400 mph, 19.849 seconds
    19. Timmy Hill, 95.328 mph, 19.864 seconds
    20. Stewart Friesen, 95.175 mph, 19.896 seconds
    21. Matt Mills, 95.022 mph, 19.928 seconds
    22. Matthew Gould, 95.022 mph, 19.928 seconds
    23. Tyler Ankrum, 95.003 mph, 19.932 seconds
    24. Dawson Sutton, 94.960 mph, 19.941 seconds
    25. Bayley Currey, 94.813 mph, 19.972 seconds
    26. Jake Garcia, 94.732 mph, 19.989 seconds
    27. Connor Zilisch, 94.590 mph, 20.019 seconds
    28. Brett Moffitt, 94.125 mph, 20.118 seconds
    29. Dylan Lupton, 94.064 mph, 20.131 seconds
    30. Lawless Alan, 93.989 mph, 20.147 seconds
    31. Corey Day, 93.905 mph, 20.165 seconds
    32. Spencer Boyd, Owner Points
    33. Grant Enfinger, Owner Points
    34. Norm Benning, Owner Points
    35. Clayton Green, Owner Points
    36. Justin Carroll, Owner Points

    The 2024 Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 200 at Martinsville Speedway is set to occur on Friday, November 1, and air at 6 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Charles Denike replacing Bootie Barker as Bubba Wallace’s Cup crew chief in 2025

    Charles Denike replacing Bootie Barker as Bubba Wallace’s Cup crew chief in 2025

    Charles Denike has been named crew chief for Bubba Wallace and the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota Camry XSE team for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season.

    The news comes as Denike is currently in his second consecutive full-time season as a crew chief for the No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet Silverado RST team currently piloted by Christian Eckes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Since last season, Denike and Eckes have tallied a total of seven victories and two Playoff appearances, including this season as they contend for a Championship 4 berth.

    “I am excited for the 2025 season with the No. 23 team and to work with Bubba [Wallace] and all of 23XI Racing beginning in the offseason,” Denike said in a released statement. “Bubba is a proven winner, and I believe we will bring out the best in each other. Thank you to Michael [Jordan], Denny [Hamlin], and Dave [Rogers, 23XI Racing’s Director of Competition] for the opportunity to join the 23XI family.

    “They have built an incredible culture at Airspeed. I am a believer that winning is a process. When you step foot into Airspeed, you see the tools and resources that it takes to win and are surrounded by people with the same vision and mindset. I am looking forward to this next chapter and to be able to contribute to 23XI’s growth and journey to winning championships.”

    Denike is a former engineer officer in the U.S. Army who earned both a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Virginia and a Master of Science degree in engineering management from the Missouri University of Science and Technology. From 2012 to 2019, he transcended his way from being a team manager to ARCA Menards Series East crew chief and race engineer between the Truck and Xfinity Series divisions, where he was with Precision Performance Motorsports and GMS Racing.

    In 2020, Denike debuted as a crew chief within NASCAR’s top three national touring series for GMS Racing’s No. 24 “all-star” Truck Series program. He earned his first career victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway with Chase Elliott and would rack up another victory with Sam Mayer at Bristol Motor Speedway. Midway into the 2022 Truck season, he transitioned from GMS Racing to McAnally-Hilgemann Racing to work atop the pit box of the team’s No. 19 Chevrolet entry, a role he currently assumes.

    Denike’s upcoming role atop the No. 23 pit box for the 2025 season will mark his first season as a crew chief in NASCAR’s premier level: the Cup Series. It also means that veteran Robert “Bootie” Barker, who was hired by 23XI Racing as Bubba Wallace’s crew chief midway into the 2021 season, will call his final two Cup events with Wallace, beginning this weekend at Martinsville Speedway before concluding his crew chief tenure at Phoenix Raceway the following weekend and just as the 2024 season concludes.

    “23XI has been good to me, and I hope I have been as good for 23XI,” Barker said. “Loyalty is important to me and I will continue to do all I can in my new role to help everyone here succeed. I was fortunate to be a part of 23XI’s inception, and I look forward to being a part of the team’s continued journey.”

    Barker, who notched his first two Cup career victories as a crew chief with Wallace and 23XI Racing, will remain at 23XI Racing as he assumes a role in the competition leadership aspect that will involve strategizing and preparing the organization’s cars at the organization’s headquarters, Airspeed, in Huntersville, North Carolina.

    “Since joining 23XI, Bootie has provided Bubba and the No. 23 crew with the leadership and confidence they needed to grow into the team they are today,” Dave Rogers, 23XI Director of Competition, said. “As we began to look ahead to next season, we decided that Bootie’s experience would best serve the organization in a different role based at Airspeed. His input will continue to be an asset to our teams. We’re excited to welcome Charles to the organization and look forward to getting started with him at the end of the season. He will be a terrific addition to the No. 23 team and 23XI as we continue to work to be better.”

    “Bootie has meant a lot to me and the No. 23 team,” Wallace added. “We’ve been together for some special moments, and I’m glad he’s still going to be a part of what we’re building at 23XI. I’m excited to work with Charles and see what we can accomplish together.”

    Despite missing the 2024 Cup Playoffs amid a two-year winless drought, Barker and Wallace are currently campaigning in their best Cup season statistically with six top-five results, 13 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 15.4 through 34 of 36 scheduled races. To go along with a pole in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, they are currently ranked in 18th place in the driver’s standings and are 11 points behind 17th-place Chris Buescher with two races remaining on the 2024 schedule.

    With crew chief Charles Denike’s plans set for the 2025 season, his current campaign in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with McAnally-Hilgemann Racing and Christian Eckes continues for the upcoming Playoff event at Martinsville Speedway that will occur on Saturday, November 1, and air at 6 p.m. ET on FS1.

    Bubba Wallace’s 2024 Cup Series season continues at Martinsville Speedway this upcoming Sunday, November 3, as the event’s coverage will air at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • NASCAR reveals Homestead penalty report

    NASCAR reveals Homestead penalty report

    Conner Jones issued a one-race Truck Series Suspension

    Conner Jones was issued a one-race suspension for his on-track actions following this past weekend’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoff event at Homestead-Miami Speedway on October 26 as part of a triple-header weekend in South Florida.

    Jones’s actions occurred on Lap 75 of 134, where he deliberately hit the rear end of Matt Mills’ No. 42 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST entry following an earlier altercation between both competitors. The contact from Jones got Mills loose before he veered to the right across the racetrack and hit the Turn 4 outside wall on the right side hard as Mills’ damaged truck then erupted in flames.

    Mills escaped the wreckage with the aid of medical personnel and was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation. Two days later on October 28, he was released and took to social media to express his gratitude for the support he received during his recovery. He has also been medically cleared to race for this upcoming weekend’s event at Martinsville Speedway.

    Jones received a two-lap penalty for the incident and finished in 25th place of the 34-truck field. Following the event, he declined to speak to the media but later apologized for his actions through a statement.

    Jones, previously set to mark the 13th of 14 planned events on the Truck Series schedule during the upcoming weekend at Martinsville, will miss the race due to the suspension. However, he will return to action for next weekend’s season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway. As a result, former Truck Series champion Johnny Sauter, initially set to compete with Hattori Racing Enterprises, is will pilot Jones’ No. 66 ThorSport Racing Ford F-150 entry at Martinsville, per the qualifying order sheet.

    Layne Riggs Truck Series Team Issued L1 Penalty

    NASCAR also issued an L1-level penalty to the Craftsman Truck Series No. 38 Front Row Motorsports (FRM) Ford F-150 entry piloted by rookie Layne Riggs due to an improperly mounted ballast that resulted in Riggs starting at the rear of the field for the main event. Riggs would proceed to finish in 22nd place, the final truck scored a lap down, after he ran out of fuel while running in second place on the penultimate lap.

    Riggs’ No. 38 FRM Ford team was also docked 10 driver/owner points as a result of the ballast penalty, and crew chief Dylan Cappello was issued a one-race suspension. Amid the points penalty, Riggs remains in 11th place in the driver’s standings.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    Three Xfinity Series crew chiefs fined $5,000 each

    Three Xfinity Series crew chiefs were issued fines due to a single lug nut that was not secured on each of their respective entries The crew chiefs penalized include Mardy Lindley, crew chief for Playoff contender Sam Mayer and the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro team, Andy Street, crew chief for Playoff contender and race winner Austin Hill and the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing (RCR) Chevrolet Camaro team and Joe Williams, crew chief for Kyle Sieg and the No. 39 RSS Racing Ford Mustang team.

    The lug nut penalty issued to RCR’s No. 21 team and the fine to Street do not affect Hill’s victory as he is already guaranteed a spot into this year’s Championship 4 round and compete for the 2024 Xfinity Series championship at Phoenix Raceway next Saturday.

    NASCAR Cup Series

    There were no penalties levied on any Cup Series teams following this past Sunday’s Playoff event at Homestead which was won by Playoff contender Tyler Reddick.

    The NASCAR Craftsman Truck, Xfinity and Cup Series divisions return to action this upcoming weekend at Martinsville Speedway for the final Round of 8 events for all three series. The Truck division will commence the weekend on Friday, November 1, at 6 p.m. ET on FS1 while the Xfinity division will occur the following day, November 2, at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network. The Cup division will conclude the weekend on Sunday, November 3, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Michael McDowell to make 500th Cup start at Martinsville

    Michael McDowell to make 500th Cup start at Martinsville

    With the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season down to its final two races on the schedule, Michael McDowell is primed to achieve a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Cup Playoff event at Martinsville Speedway, the driver of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang Dark Horse will make career start No. 500 in NASCAR’s premier series.

    A native of Glendale, Arizona, McDowell, who grew up competing in BMX bicycles before transcending to go-karts, open wheels and the Grand-Am Series, where he claimed the Star Mazda championship in 2004, made his inaugural presence as a Cup Series competitor at Martinsville Speedway in April 2008. By then, he had made four career starts in the Xfinity Series and one in the Craftsman Truck Series. Driving the No. 00 Toyota Camry for Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR), McDowell started 34th and finished 26th in his series debut after cutting a tire in the closing laps.

    The following weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, McDowell was involved in a harrowing accident while qualifying for the event, where he slipped sideways after breaking a right-front sway bar and veered head-on into the outside wall in Turn 1 at full speed. The impact was enough for McDowell’s No. 00 Toyota to roll over on its roof, which it briefly slid and spun upside down towards the outside wall before the car tumbled seven times towards the bottom of the track and came to rest right-side up. Following the wild ride, McDowell managed to escape uninjured and he would proceed to finish 33rd in the main event while racing in a backup car.

    Following his first two Cup career starts, McDowell would make 18 additional starts in the No. 00 MWR Toyota over the next 21 races of the 2008 season, which started at Phoenix Raceway in April before concluding at Dover Motor Speedway in September as he was then released by the organization. During the span, McDowell achieved a season-best 20th-place result at Richmond Raceway in September. Combined with his first two starts of the 2008 season, he notched a total of 12 top-30 results and recorded an average-finishing result of 30.2.

    In 2009, McDowell made a total of eight Cup starts, all of which occurred in the closing stretches of the season. Driving the No. 36 Chevrolet Impala for Tommy Baldwin Racing in eight of the remaining 11 events on the schedule, he recorded an average-finishing result of 40.3 and a season-best 38th-place run at Dover in September despite retiring due to braking issues. He then competed in 24 events in 2010 between Prism Motorsports and Whitney Motorsports. After finishing in 14th place during the first of two Daytona Duel events, he qualified for the 52nd running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in February, where he would record a season-best 33rd-place result.

    During the 2011 season, McDowell competed in all but two of the 36-race Cup schedule. Thirty-one of his starts occurred with HP Racing, where he recorded a season-best 30th-place finish at Sonoma Raceway in June. His lone other start occurred in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota entry at Texas in November, where he filled in for veteran Kyle Busch after Busch was suspended for the remainder of the Texas weekend due to intentionally wrecking four-time Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday Jr. during the Truck race earlier in the weekend. Despite starting the event in 17th place, McDowell settled in 33rd place, four laps down.

    Over the next two seasons, McDowell primarily competed for Phil Parsons Racing in the Cup Series. During the 2012 season, where he surpassed 100 Cup career starts, he competed in all but three of the 36-race schedule and recorded a season-best 23rd-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway in August. He then notched his first top-10 career result by finishing in ninth place during the 65th running of the Daytona 500 in February 2013 and he would also record a 15th-place run at Talladega Superspeedway in October. Throughout the 2013 season, he also made a single start with Front Row Motorsports at Watkins Glen International in August and with HScott Motorsports at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September.

    From 2014 to 2017, McDowell made a total of 102 Cup starts with Leavine Family Racing, where he spent the latter season as a full-time competitor. Throughout the four-year span, the Arizona native recorded a total of four top-10 results, 10 laps led and his first top-five career result, which occurred at Daytona in July 2017 by finishing fourth. He also finished in the top 20 a total of 28 times and qualified for the Daytona 500 three times. After cracking the top-30 mark in the final standings in 2016, McDowell settled in 26th place in the final standings in 2017. By then, he boosted his average finishing result up to 22.3 and had surpassed 200 Cup career starts.

    The 2018 Cup Series season generated a new beginning for McDowell, who joined forces with Front Row Motorsports to pilot the No. 34 Ford entry as a full-time competitor. Despite recording a ninth-place finish during the 60th running of the Daytona 500, he would tally a total of nine top-20 results for the remainder of the season and tie his previous-best result in the standings in 26th place with an average-finishing result of 24.5. He then commenced the 2019 season by finishing fifth during the 61st running of the Daytona 500 and proceeded to record nine additional top-20 results for the remainder of the season before dropping to 27th place in the final standings and with an average-finishing result of 24.2. By then, he surpassed 300 Cup career starts.

    Then after concluding the 2020 Cup season with a total of four top-10 results and a 23rd-place finish in the final standings, McDowell commenced the 2021 season on a high note by winning the 63rd running of the Daytona 500 after dodging a final lap multi-car accident to escape with the victory with two turns remaining. The victory made McDowell the 40th competitor overall to win the 500 and the eighth to claim a first Cup victory in the Great American Race, with the event marking his 358th career start in NASCAR’s premier series. With the victory, the Arizona native became the 196th competitor overall to win in the Cup Series and he earned a guaranteed spot into the 2021 Cup Series Playoffs as he also delivered the first 500 victory for Front Row Motorsports.

    Following his Daytona 500 victory, McDowell finished in the top eight during his next two Cup starts. He would proceed to finish third at Talladega in April and seventh during the series’ inaugural event at Circuit of the Americas in May for the remainder of the 26-race regular-season stretch before he entered the Playoffs for the first time as a title contender. After finishing no higher than 24th during the Round of 16, however, McDowell’s 2021 title hopes came to an early end as he was one of four Playoff contenders to be eliminated from the title hunt. With four finishes in the top 17 to cap off the season, McDowell settled in 16th place in the final standings. By then, he boosted his average finishing result to 20.5.

    The 2022 Cup Series season generated McDowell’s best result in top 10s, where he tallied a total of 12, including two top-five results as he notched a pair of season-best third-place finishes at Sonoma in June and at Talladega in October. Despite concluding the season winless and missing the Playoffs, McDowell, who settled in 23rd place in the final standings, recorded a career-best average-finishing result of 16.7. By then, he surpassed 400 Cup career starts.

    The following season, McDowell finished in the top 20 six times during the first nine scheduled events. Despite finishing no higher than 22nd during his next five starts, he rallied by finishing in the top 10 four times over his next five. By Michigan International Speedway in August, McDowell was battling for a Playoff spot by points. Then at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in August, he led a race-high 54 of 82-scheduled laps, including the final 30, en route to his second Cup career victory as he also raced his way into the Playoffs for a second time. After capping off the regular-season stretch by finishing as high as 13th over his next two starts, McDowell’s Playoff hopes came to an early end following respective finishes of 32nd, 26th and sixth throughout the Round of 16. Finishing as high as ninth during the final seven events on the schedule, McDowell proceeded to finish a career-best 15th place in the final standings. Despite achieving four fewer top-10 results from his previous season at eight, he led 97 laps throughout the 2023 season and notched an average-finishing result of 19.0.

    This season, which marks his seventh driving on a full-time basis for Front Row Motorsports, McDowell ended up in 36th place during the 66th running of the Daytona 500 despite starting on the front row. He then notched his first Cup career pole position during the following weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where he led 27 laps and rallied from being involved in an on-track incident towards the pit road entrance to finish eighth. Throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, McDowell recorded a total of four Cup poles, which occurred at Talladega in April, World Wide Technology Raceway in June and at Daytona in August. Amid the qualification success, he notched a strong runner-up result at Sonoma in June, two top-five results and six top-10 results. The results, however, were not enough for him to make the 2024 Cup Playoffs. Nonetheless, he has since achieved two additional poles, the first at Atlanta in September and the other at Talladega in early October, and a seventh-place result, which occurred at Watkins Glen International in September, throughout eight of 10 Playoff events. With a current average-finishing result of 20.7, McDowell is ranked in 22nd place in the driver’s standings. The 2024 Cup Series season is set to mark the Arizona native’s final one with Front Row Motorsports as he is set to join Spire Motorsports in 2025.

    Through 499 previous Cup starts, McDowell has achieved two victories, six poles, 11 top-five results, 44 top-10 results, 534 laps led and an average-finishing result of 26.9.

    Michael McDowell is scheduled to make his 500th Cup Series career start at Martinsville Speedway for the Xfinity 500. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, November 3, and air at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Blake Harris to call 100th Cup event as crew chief at Martinsville

    Blake Harris to call 100th Cup event as crew chief at Martinsville

    In his third full-time season as a crew chief in the NASCAR Cup Series division, Blake Harris, who currently works atop the pit box of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team piloted by Alex Bowman, is scheduled to achieve a milestone feat. By participating in this weekend’s Cup Playoff event at Martinsville Speedway, Harris will call his 100th event as a crew chief in NASCAR’s premier series.

    A native of Maypearl, Texas, Harris, who grew up as a racer competing in go-karts and stock car touring series before transitioning to a mechanical phase in racing, first worked for Evernham Motorsports in the engine and chassis departments, beginning in 2006. Four years later, he joined forces with Furniture Row Racing and worked his way up to be a car chief. Working with notable competitors that included Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr., Harris was a part of the first Cup Series championship for both Truex and Furniture Row Racing in 2017.

    After Furniture Row Racing ceased operations following the 2018 season, Harris followed Truex to Joe Gibbs Racing, where he worked as the car chief for Truex’s No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry team. A year later, the Texan made his debut as a Cup Series crew chief for Truex at Texas Motor Speedway in October 2020, where he filled in for crew chief James Small after Small was ejected before the event and fined $35,000 due to NASCAR confiscating Truex’s rear spoiler during the event’s pre-race inspection process. During the main event, Truex finished in second place behind teammate Kyle Busch.

    In January 2022, Harris was named crew chief for veteran Michael McDowell and the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang team for the upcoming Cup Series season. Commencing the season with a seventh-place result during the 65th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, Harris and McDowell recorded two third-place results (Sonoma Raceway in June and Talladega Superspeedway in October) and seven top-10 results in 32 races. During the season, Harris was fined $100,000 and issued a four-race suspension due to McDowell’s No. 34 team being levied an L2 penalty for violating the body and overall vehicle assembly rules involving modifications of a single source supplied part from Pocono Raceway in July. With the duo missing the 2022 Cup Series Playoffs, Harris and McDowell proceeded to settle in 23rd place in the final drivers’ standings.

    A month before the 2022 season’s conclusion, Harris transitioned to Hendrick Motorsports to serve as the crew chief of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team piloted by Alex Bowman. In their first event together, Harris navigated Bowman to his third Daytona 500 career pole, where Bowman would proceed to finish in fifth place during the main event. Despite notching three consecutive top-nine results over the following three races, Harris would then be suspended for the following four races from late March through early April. The Texan’s suspension was due to Hendrick Motorsports being hit with a severe penalty both in points and fines due to the team’s hood louvers being confiscated from all four entries during the Phoenix weekend. The suspensions also affected Hendrick’s three crew chiefs that included Cliff Daniels, Rudy Fugle and Alan Gustafson.

    Despite returning by mid-April and working the following two races with Bowman driving the No. 48 Chevrolet, Harris would then spend the next four races, including the non-points All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, working with Josh Berry as Bowman was recovering from a sprint car accident at West Burlington, Iowa, in late April. During the four-race stretch with Berry, Harris navigated the No. 48 team to a victory in the non-points All-Star Open at North Wilkesboro Speedway that enabled them to transfer into the All-Star Race. Despite Bowman returning for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, he and Harris recorded only two top-six runs for the remaining 13 regular-season events on the schedule as they missed the 2023 Cup Playoffs. With two additional top-10 results recorded for the final 10 races on the schedule, Harris and Bowman concluded their first campaign in 20th place in the final drivers’ standings.

    Harris and Bowman commenced the 2024 Cup season on a strong note by finishing in second place in the 66th running of the Daytona 500 after being edged by teammate William Byron at the moment of caution on the final lap. They would proceed to record an additional three top-five results and a total of nine top-10 results over their next 18 starts.

    Then during the series’ second annual event at the Chicago Street Course, Harris achieved his first Cup Series career victory as a crew chief when Bowman capitalized on a late pit strategy to lead the final eight of 58-shortened laps and muscle away from the field during a late-race countdown to snap an 80-race winless drought and secure a guaranteed spot into the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs. After capping off the final six races of the regular-season stretch with an additional top-five run, the duo of Harris and Bowman would achieve respective results of fifth, 18th and ninth throughout the Playoff’s Round of 16 that enabled them to transfer into the Round of 12. They then transferred into the Round of 8 with respective finishes of sixth, 16th and 18th throughout the Round of 12.

    Following the Round of 12 finale at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (Roval), however, Harris, Bowman and the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team were disqualified from continuing in the Playoffs as title contenders due to Bowman’s entry being deemed too light and not meeting the minimum weight specifications during the event’s post-race inspection process. Since the Roval, Bowman has achieved two consecutive top-seven results and is currently ranked in ninth place in the driver’s standings with two races remaining of the 2024 season.

    Through 99 previous Cup events, Blake Harris has achieved one victory, two poles, 14 top-five results, and 38 top-10 results while working with four different competitors.

    Blake Harris is scheduled to call his 100th Cup Series event as a crew chief at Martinsville Speedway for the Xfinity 500. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, November 3, and air at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Tyler Reddick clinches first Championship 4 berth with thrilling last-lap victory at Homestead

    Tyler Reddick clinches first Championship 4 berth with thrilling last-lap victory at Homestead

    One week after rolling over in dramatic style at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Tyler Reddick responded in a monstrous way by notching a dramatic last-lap NASCAR Cup Series victory in the Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, October 27.

    The two-time Xfinity Series champion from Corning, California, led eight times for a race-high 97 of 267-scheduled laps in an event where he started on pole position and led the first 31 of 32 laps. Despite losing the lead during the event’s first round of green flag pit stops that started on Lap 32, Reddick would cycle back into the lead on Lap 55 and proceed to claim the first stage victory. Amid another cycle of green flag pit stops during the second stage period, he would collect an additional seven stage points by settling in fourth place at the stage’s conclusion.

    Then through various pit strategies that occurred within the final stage period that started with 95 laps remaining, Reddick, who restarted in the top five and spent a majority of the period racing towards the front and battling with his fellow Playoff contenders, attempted to pull a strategic move by stretching his fuel tank to the distance while leading, a move that started with 46 laps remaining. Ultimately, the Californian would then pit from the lead with 16 laps remaining as he plummeted below the leaderboard.

    After Playoff contender Kyle Larson spun with 13 laps remaining in his bid for the lead, Reddick remained on the track while the rest of the field pitted. Reddick would then lose the lead to team owner Denny Hamlin on the ensuing restart with seven laps remaining and spend the next six laps tracking both Hamlin and Ryan Blaney to remain in contention for the lead. Then after overtaking Hamlin for the runner-up spot at the start of the final lap, Reddick used the first two turns and the backstretch to reel in Blaney before he executed a bold race-winning pass to Blaney’s outside through Turns 3 and 4. With the momentum to his advantage, Reddick claimed his third Cup victory of the 2024 season and clinched a Championship 4 berth for the first time in his career.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, October 26, Playoff contender Tyler Reddick notched his third Cup pole position of the 2024 season with a pole-winning lap at 167.452 mph in 32.248 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Kyle Larson, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 167.053 mph in 32.325 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Playoff contender Joey Logano, who is guaranteed a spot in this year’s Championship 4 field by winning last weekend’s Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his No 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry. Chris Buescher also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his No. 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Tyler Reddick launched his No. 45 The Beast Killer Sunrise Toyota Camry XSE ahead with an early advantage. He was followed by Playoff contender Christopher Bell while Kyle Larson struggled to launch from the outside lane. The field then fanned out through the first two turns and the backstretch as Reddick retained the lead ahead of Bell and Larson.

    Then entering Turn 3, the event’s first caution flew as Justin Haley, who was running in sixth place, turned across the right-front fender of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and spun his No. 7 Chili’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 towards the bottom of the track through the turn as the field scattered to avoid him. With Haley managing to continue without sustaining any damage to his entry, Reddick proceeded to lead the first lap under caution.

    When the race restarted under green on the fifth lap, the field fanned out through the first two turns as both Reddick and Bell dueled for the lead. They continued to duel for the lead in front of Larson through the backstretch and through Turns 3 and 4 before Bell led the following lap by a fender. Larson then tried to make a move beneath Reddick through the frontstretch, but Reddick fended him off as Reddick stormed into the lead. Behind, Martin Truex Jr. challenged Larson for third place as Bubba Wallace tried to join the battle.

    Through the first 10-scheduled laps, Reddick was leading by half a second over Bell as Larson, Wallace and Playoff contender Chase Elliott were racing in the top five. Behind, Truex was back in sixth place ahead of Playoff contender Denny Hamlin, Alex Bowman, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and rookie Josh Berry while Daniel Hemric, Playoff contender Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch were in the top 15 ahead of Noah Gragson, Daniel Suarez, rookie Carson Hocevar, Playoff contender William Byron and Michael McDowell. Meanwhile, Playoff contender Joey Logano was mired in 27th place.

    Ten laps later, Reddick stretched his advantage to more than a second over Larson as Elliott was up to third place. Behind, Wallace and Hamlin, both of whom nearly had an incident as Wallace got loose in front of Hamlin in Turn 1, trailed in the top five while Bell, Truex, Berry, Bowman and Briscoe followed suit in the top 10 ahead of Blaney, Keselowski, Byron, Stenhouse and Suarez.

    Another 12 laps later, the event’s first cycle of green flag pit stops occurred as Byron pitted his No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. More names including McDowell, Chastain, Ty Gibbs and Corey LaJoie also pitted before the leader Reddick pitted during the next lap. Elliott, Hamlin, Blaney, Briscoe, Berry, Hocevar, rookie Zane Smith, Hemric and Erik Jones also pitted before Larson, who assumed a brief lead, pitted along with Wallace by the Lap 34 mark. Truex, Bell, Bowman, Austin Dillon, Gragson and John Hunter Nemechek would follow suit to pit road as Keselowski, who was among 11 competitors who had yet to pit, remained on the track and inherited the lead.

    Just past the Lap 40 mark, Keselowski continued to lead as he was ahead of Kyle Busch, Todd Gilliland, Logano and Austin Cindric on the track while Elliott, who managed to cycle ahead of Larson and Reddick following his green flag pit stop, trailed in eighth place. By then, Stenhouse, Kaz Grala and Chris Buescher had pitted earlier. Not long after, Busch, Logano and Cindric would pit their respective entries before Keselowski pitted from the lead on Lap 42. Once Gilliland pitted a lap later, Elliott would cycle past Haley, who has yet to pit, and assume the lead from teammate Larson and Reddick.

    Nearing the Lap 50 mark, the caution flew when Larson, who was running in second place, scraped the outside wall entering the backstretch after he blew a right-rear tire, which the tire rolled out of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Turn 4 as Larson limped to pit road. During the caution period, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Elliott returned to pit road for service while the rest including Busch, Logano, Austin Dillon and Haley remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Elliott exited pit road first as he was ahead of Wallace, Reddick, Blaney, Bell, Byron, Hamlin, Truex, Bowman and Hocevar.

    As the race restarted under green on Lap 53, Busch retained a brief advantage through the frontstretch before Wallace, who restarted in sixth place, threaded the needle between three competitors and proceeded to zip by both Logano and Busch to assume the lead through the first two turns. Elliott would follow suit in second place through the backstretch as the field fanned out. With a bevy of competitors jostling for spots, Wallace led the following lap as teammate Redick made his way into second place over Elliott while Blaney followed suit. Playoff contenders Bell, Byron and Hamlin would also make their way into the top seven while Logano was slowly fading back on his worn tires.

    Then on Lap 55, Reddick made a move beneath teammate Wallace through Turns 3 and 4 to assume the lead as he led the following lap. Reddick would proceed to lead to the Lap 60 mark while Wallace was fending off Elliott and Blaney for the runner-up spot. By then, six of eight Playoff contenders were racing in the top 10 on the track while Logano was drifting out of the top-20 mark. Meanwhile, Larson, who remained on the lead lap despite drawing the previous caution period, was trying to carve his way back into the top-25 mark on the track.

    At the Lap 70 mark, Reddick’s advantage grew to three seconds over teammate Wallace while third-place Elliott trailed by four seconds. Behind, Blaney and Bell followed suit in the top five while Hocevar was up to sixth place ahead of Byron, Bowman, Hamlin and Truex.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 80, Reddick, who came into Homestead 30 points below the top-four cutline to make the Championship 4 round, captured his sixth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate Wallace followed suit in second ahead of Elliott, Blaney and Hocevar while Bell, Hamlin, Byron, Bowman and Truex were scored in the top 10. With six of eight Playoff contenders racking up the event’s first round of stage points by finishing in the top 10, the remaining Playoff contenders including Larson and Logano were mired outside the top 20 on the track.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Reddick peeled off the track to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Blaney exited pit road first as he was followed by Wallace, Hocevar, Elliott, Bell and Hamlin while Reddick exited seventh as he lost six spots due to a slow pit service. Amid the pit stops, Buescher spun in his pit stall after he was bumped by Stenhouse. In addition, Kyle Busch was penalized for a safety violation.

    The second stage period started on Lap 87 as Blaney and Wallace occupied the front row. At the start, Elliott steered his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 beneath Blaney’s No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse through the frontstretch as both along with Wallace went three wide for the lead in front of the field entering the first turn. Elliott and Wallace would then duel for the lead through the backstretch while Blaney was left pinned with Reddick and Hamlin in a three-wide battle for third place. As Bell joined the battle for third place, Elliott would muscle ahead of Wallace and lead the following lap. With Elliott leading by the Lap 90 mark, Hamlin and Blaney battled for third place in front of another battle involving Bell, Reddick and Bowman before Reddick gained a strong run through the frontstretch to challenge both Blaney and Hamlin for third place.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Elliott stabilized his advantage to three-tenths of a second over Blaney as Hamlin, Reddick and Hocevar were scored in the top five. Behind, Wallace fell back to sixth place as he was ahead of Bell, Byron, Zane Smith and Bowman while Ryan Preece, Ty Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger, Logano and Berry followed suit in the top 15.

    Twelve laps later, another cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Blaney, who brushed the outside wall, pitted his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse. Teammate Cindric would also pit along with Byron, Preece, Bowman, Logano, Suarez, Gilliland, Logano, Chastain, Larson and Erik Jones before Elliott pitted from the lead on Lap 116. Bell would also pit with Elliott.

    As more names including Stenhouse, Buescher, Gragson, Wallace and Hemric pitted during the proceeding laps, Hamlin then pitted his No. 11 Mavis Toyota Camry XSE from the lead on Lap 123 as teammate Truex, Berry and Hocevar followed suit. Reddick, who assumed a brief lead, then pitted during the following lap as Kyle Busch and Keselowski, both of whom have yet to pit, moved into first and second ahead of Blaney and Elliott. By Lap 126, Blaney cycled into the lead as both Busch and Keselowski pitted. Elliott, however, would overtake Blaney for the lead two laps later.

    Just past the Lap 135 mark, Elliott was leading ahead of Bell, who made his way past Blaney for the runner-up spot, as Hamlin started to close in from fourth place. Behind, Reddick cycled to fifth place as Byron, Hocevar, Bowman, Preece and Zane Smith were in the top 10. Elliott would continue to lead by Lap 140 while Hamlin, who had fresher tires than Elliott, was up to second place.

    By Lap 150, Hamlin started to close in on Elliott for the lead. Then after spending the next five laps both stalking and closing in more to Elliott’s rear bumper, Hamlin started to make a move beneath Elliott for the lead. Amid lapped traffic, both dueled for the lead during the next five laps through every corner and straightaway before Hamlin used the inside lane in Turn 1 to rocket ahead and clear Elliott with the lead.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 165, Hamlin, who came into Homestead 27 points below the top-four cutline, captured his seventh Cup stage victory of the 2024 season as he had extended his advantage to more than a second. Elliott settled in second and Bell fended off Reddick to settle in third place while Blaney, Byron, Truex, Hocevar, Preece and Allmendinger were scored in the top 10. By then, six of eight Playoff contenders racked up the event’s second round of stage points while both Larson and Logano did not.

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Hamlin pitted for service. Following the pit services, Elliott reassumed the lead as he exited pit road first ahead of Bell, Hamlin, Blaney and Reddick while Byron, Hocevar, Truex, Preece and Bowman followed suit in the top 10. Amid the pit stops, Kyle Busch was penalized for pitting outside his pit box.

    With 95 laps remaining, the final stage commenced under green as Elliott and Bell occupied the front row. At the start, Elliott and Bell dueled for the lead as the field fanned out to multiple lanes entering the first turn. Bell and Elliott remained dead even for the top spot through the backstretch and for the final two sets of turns before Bell led the following lap by a fender. Elliott would then use the inside lane to muscle back ahead of Bell and reassume the lead. With Elliott leading, Blaney would then muscle past Bell and retain second while Hamlin, Byron and Reddick followed suit.

    With 85 laps remaining, Elliott retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Blaney as Bell, Reddick and Hamlin were in the top five. Meanwhile, Larson was back up to sixth place in front of teammate Bryon as Blaney started to close in on Elliott for the lead.

    Then with 81 laps remaining, the caution returned as Haley spun in Turn 3 for a second time, this time due to getting hit by Ty Gibbs. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Elliott returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Blaney managed to beat Elliott off of pit road first as they were followed by Bell, Reddick, Larson, Hocevar, Hamlin, Bowman, Byron and Preece.

    The start of the next restart period with 76 laps remaining featured Blaney rocketing ahead with the lead entering the first turn as Bell made his way into second place. Behind, Larson moved up to fourth place and battled Reddick and Byron to retain the spot while Elliott tried to battle Bell for second place. Amid a series of battles occurring within the field, Blaney led the following lap. As Blaney retained a steady lead over both Elliott and Bell with 70 laps remaining, Larson continued to fiercely battle with Byron and Reddick for fourth place while Hamlin overtook Hocevar for seventh place.

    Down to the final 60 laps of the event, Blaney stretched his advantage to more than a second over Elliott while Larson, who carved his way up to third place, trailed by more than two seconds. Behind, Bell and Reddick were in the top five as Hamlin, Byron, Bowman, Hocevar and Allmendinger were in the top 10.

    Ten laps later, Blaney stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Elliott while Larson continued to trail in third place by more than two seconds. Shortly after, a late cycle of green flag pit stops ensued as Keselowski, Wallace, Busch, Austin Dillon and Gilliland all pitted their respective entries. More names including LaJoie, Berry, Preece, Gragson and Byron pitted over the next three laps before teammates Elliott and Larson pitted their respective Chevrolets with 47 laps remaining. The leader Blaney would then pit with 46 laps remaining along with Bell as Reddick and Hamlin remained on the track to assume first and second.

    With 40 laps remaining, Reddick, who had yet to pit but opted to stretch his fuel tank to the furthest of its distance, continued to lead ahead of team owner Hamlin while Bowman, McDowell and Briscoe, all of whom had yet to pit, were in the top five. As Truex, Suarez, Logano, Nemechek and Cindric, all of whom have yet to pit, trailed in the top 10, Blaney, the first competitor who pitted, was up in 11th place and racing ahead of Elliott and Larson.

    A lap later, Hamlin pitted under green from the runner-up spot. By then Reddick, remained in the lead as he was leading by more than 21 seconds over Blaney. Reddick would continue to lead and stretch his fuel tank before he surrendered the lead to pit under green with 16 laps remaining. As Reddick pitted, Blaney cycled into the lead as he was leading by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Larson.

    Then with 13 laps remaining, the caution flew as Larson, who tried to thread the needle in between Blaney and the lapped competitor of Austin Dillon in a battle for the lead, was lightly bumped into both as he slid sideways and spun to the bottom of the track in Turn 4. Following the spin, Larson managed to proceed as he lost the runner-up spot to Hamlin as Blaney retained the lead.

    During the caution period, Blaney led nearly the entire lead lap field back to pit road for service while Reddick remained on the track as he inherited the lead. Following the pit stops, Blaney exited pit road first as he was followed by Hamlin, Elliott, Bowman, Byron, Bell, Allmendinger and Hocevar while Larson, whose No. 5 pit crew repaired the diffuser lap, exited ninth as he lost six spots in the process.

    Down to the final seven laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Reddick launched ahead of Blaney from the outside lane to assume the lead through the frontstretch. Then as the field fanned out entering Turn 1, Hamlin seized an opportunity through the first two turns and used the outside lane to dart his No. 11 Mavis Toyota into the lead. Behind, Blaney and Elliott battled for second along with Reddick. Hamlin would lead the next lap before Blaney launched his challenge on the former for the top spot entering the first turn. Despite Blaney having the advantage through the turns from the inside lane, Hamlin used the outside wall to gain the final advantage and retain the lead entering the straightaways. As Reddick and Elliott battled for third place, Hamlin continued to lead with five laps remaining.

    Over the next three laps, Hamlin fended off repeated challenges from Blaney through the corners to lead as Reddick tried to close in. Then entering the backstretch, Blaney gained a strong run beneath Hamlin and dueled with him before he muscled his No. 12 Menards Ford ahead in Turns 3 and 4.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Blaney was leading by a tenth of a second over Hamlin as Reddick started to close in on Hamin for the runner-up spot. Reddick then used the inside lane to overtake Hamlin through the first two turns as Blaney remained in the lead. Then after stalking Blaney through the backstretch, Reddick floored his No. 45 The Beast Toyota to the outside lane as he drew even with Blaney through Turns 3 and 4. With the outside lane working to his advantage, Reddick rocketed past Blaney and used the momentum to muscle ahead through the frontstretch as he claimed the checkered flag to cap off a dramatic battle and finish to the event.

    With the victory, Reddick notched his eighth Cup Series win in his 180th career start, his third of the 2024 season, his first at Homestead and his first since winning at Michigan International Speedway in August. The victory was also the ninth of the season for the Toyota nameplate and the eighth overall for 23XI Racing.

    Above all, Reddick, who is in his fifth consecutive full-time season as a Cup Series competitor, became the second Playoff contender to clinch one of four berths to the 2024 Championship 4 round at Phoenix Raceway as this season marks Reddick’s first time reaching the final Playoff round in NASCAR’s premier series. As a result, he joins Joey Logano as a championship finalist and will contend for the first Cup Series championship for himself and 23XI Racing.

    HOMESTEAD, FLORIDA – OCTOBER 27: Tyler Reddick, driver of the #45 The Beast Killer Sunrise Toyota, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on October 27, 2024 in Homestead, Florida. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images).

    “We’re backed into a corner and we had no other choice,” Reddick, who celebrated with his family, No. 45 team, and owner Michael Jordan, said on the frontstretch on NBC. “I knew we were on a tire deficit and here at Homestead, that’s a death sentence, but I don’t care. We did what it took to win this race and we’re fighting for a championship. I couldn’t believe it. I just knew I needed to get even with [Blaney] on his right-side door. I didn’t care what he did, but he raced me clean. I appreciate it, but just really, really excited that we’re going to get to have a shot at this championship. It’d mean the world [to win the championship]. We thankfully can take off from Martinsville [Speedway] a little bit and get ready for Phoenix [Raceway], but we’re pumped.”

    As Reddick celebrated both a victory and a locked-up Championship 4 berth, Blaney was left dejected on pit road after having his victory and Championship 4 berth slip out of his grasp on the final lap and final corner. Despite being 38 points below the top-four cutline, Blaney heads into next weekend’s Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway with a final opportunity to race his way back into the final round and defend his title.

    “It’s obvious [I am with] disappointment,” Blaney, who led 47 laps, said. “I had a great shot to win. I didn’t have a very good last lap. Man, I thought I got into [Turn] 3 hard and [Reddick] just blitzed it off in there and it stuck for him, which was pretty impressive. I hate to give one away there like that. I don’t know if we gave it away. I mean, we got the lead back after losing it on the restart. Just last lap didn’t really play out for us. Definitely stings. I appreciate everybody on the No. 12 team for bringing a really fast race car. [I] Had a great shot to go to Phoenix and still got one more chance, so we still got to look forward to that. I’ll be picking through [the finish] all night what I should have done different probably and that’s just the way it goes, but overall, really proud of the effort and hopefully, we can bring it to [the competition] next week.”

    Like Blaney, Hamlin, who led 21 laps and fell short of the victory after settling in third place, trails the cutline by 18 points as he strives to return to the Championship 4 round for the first time since 2021.

    “I tried to cover all lanes, but just couldn’t quite get off the corner as good as I needed to there on that short run,” Hamlin said. “Short run wasn’t my specialty all day obviously, but either way, controlling the race [with] two [laps] to go, you got to try to find a way to finish it and just didn’t. [Martinsville]’s another opportunity and certainly, you’re not out of it until [NASCAR] throws the checkered flag at Martinsville.”

    Christopher Bell and Chase Elliott, both of whom led a combined 84 laps, finished in the top five while William Byron, Alex Bowman, AJ Allmendinger, Carson Hocevar and Ryan Preece finished in the top 10. Meanwhile, Kyle Larson ended up in 13th place while Logano settled in 28th place.

    As a result of the final on-track finishes, Bell and Byron occupy the final two vacant spots to the Championship 4 round while Larson, Hamlin, Blaney and Elliott trail entering next weekend’s Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway.

    There were 33 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 30 laps. In addition, 33 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Tyler Reddick, 97 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. Ryan Blaney, 47 laps led

    3. Denny Hamlin, 21 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    4. Christopher Bell, three laps led

    5. Chase Elliott, 81 laps led

    6. William Byron

    7. Alex Bowman

    8. AJ Allmendinger

    9. Carson Hocevar

    10. Ryan Preece

    11. Josh Berry

    12. Chase Briscoe

    13. Kyle Larson, one lap led

    14. Michael McDowell

    15. Chris Buescher

    16. Daniel Suarez

    17. Brad Keselowski, eight laps led

    18. Bubba Wallace, two laps led

    19. Noah Gragson

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    20. Todd Gilliland, one lap led

    21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    22. Erik Jones

    23. Martin Truex Jr.

    24. Harrison Burton

    25. Austin Dillon

    26. John Hunter Nemechek

    27. Austin Cindric

    28. Joey Logano

    29. Daniel Hemric

    30. Zane Smith

    31. Kyle Busch, five laps led

    32. Kaz Grala

    33. Ross Chastain

    34. Justin Haley, one lap down, one lap led

    35. Corey LaJoie, one lap down

    36. Ty Gibbs, six laps down

    37. Chad Finchum, nine laps down

    38. JJ Yeley – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. Tyler Reddick – Advanced

    2. Joey Logano – Advanced

    3. Christopher Bell +29

    4. William Byron +7

    5. Kyle Larson -7

    6. Denny Hamlin -18

    7. Ryan Blaney -38

    8. Chase Elliott -43

    The Round of 8 in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is set to conclude next weekend at Martinsville Speedway for the Xfinity 500, which will determine this year’s Championship 4 field. The event is scheduled to commence next Sunday, November 3, and air at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.