In his sixth full-time season as a crew chief in the NASCAR Cup Series, Randall Burnett, crew chief for Kyle Busch and the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team, is within reach of achieving a milestone start. By participating in this weekend’s Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway, Burnett will call his 200th event as a crew chief in NASCAR’s premier series.
A native of Fenton, Missouri, Burnett is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a degree in mechanical engineering. He then spent 10 years at Chip Ganassi Racing, working in multiple engineering roles for the organization. During the span, Burnett served as Ganassi’s lead engineer for the No. 1 Chevrolet team piloted by Jamie McMurray, who won the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400 and the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway during the 2010 Cup Series season. Burnett also previously worked as the team engineer for CGR’s No. 42 Chevrolet team piloted by Juan Pablo Montoya in 2013 and Kyle Larson in 2014 and 2015.
In 2016, Burnett made his debut as a Cup Series crew chief as he joined JTG-Daugherty Racing to lead AJ Allmendinger and the No. 47 Chevrolet team for the upcoming season. Participating in all but one of the 36-race schedule, Burnett and Allmendinger achieved a season-best runner-up result at Martinsville Speedway in April, two top-five results, nine top-10 results, a 17.9 average-finishing result and a 19th-place result in the final driver’s standings. The only event Burnett was unable to attend was Pocono Raceway in June, which he was serving a one-race suspension due to violating NASCAR’s lug nut procedures stemming from the previous event at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May.
Burnett remained as Allmendinger’s crew chief in the early stages of the 2017 Cup season. Despite achieving a third-place result in the season-opening Daytona 500, Burnett was suspended for three races due to three loose lug nuts that were discovered on Allmendinger’s entry following the second event of the schedule at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February. Sitting out for four events, Burnett returned for five additional Cup races with Allmendinger before being replaced by veteran Ernie Cope, who had filled in during Burnett’s suspensions, for the remainder of the season, beginning in May.
Following his demotion as the crew chief for JTG-Daugherty Racing, Burnett joined Richard Childress Racing to serve as a crew chief for the organization’s No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro team in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Between 2017 to 2019, Burnett was an Xfinity Series crew chief for RCR in 89 races. During this span, he achieved six victories, six poles, 35 top-five results and 56 top-10 results, all while working with Austin Dillon, Daniel Hemric, Ben Kennedy, Paul Menard, Matt Tifft and Tyler Reddick. Burnett’s accomplishments as an Xfinity crew chief were guiding Hemric to the 2017 Xfinity Series Championship Round and winning the 2019 Xfinity Series title with Reddick, which marked Burnett’s first title in NASCAR as a crew chief.
A month after winning the 2019 Xfinity Series title, Burnett was named a full-time Cup crew chief for Reddick, who was also promoted to NASCAR’s premier series, and the No. 8 RCR Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team for the 2020 season. Throughout the season, Burnett and Reddick achieved a season-best runner-up result at Texas Motor Speedway in July, three top-five results, nine top-10 results and a 19th-place result in the final standings, with Reddick ending up as the runner-up finisher to the Rookie-of-the-Year battle behind Cole Custer.
Burnett remained as Reddick’s crew chief for the 2021 Cup season, where they achieved a single pole position at Circuit of the Americas in May along with a total of two runner-up results, three top-five results and 16 top-10 results in 35 events. The duo managed to claim the 16th and final berth in the 2021 Cup Series Playoffs, which marked their first presence in the Playoffs as title contenders, but they were eliminated following the Round of 16 after missing the Round of 12 cutline by two points. Burnett would then be absent from the finale at Phoenix Raceway in November due to COVID protocols as Reddick proceeded to finish in 13th place in the final standings.
For the 2022 season, Burnett and Reddick recorded three top-10 results through the first eight-scheduled events before being one lap away of achieving their first Cup victory at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course in April, where Reddick was hit and spun by Chase Briscoe on the final lap and final corner as Reddick was then beaten by Kyle Busch by 0.330 seconds to settle in a disappointing runner-up result. Nine races later, redemption came for the duo after Reddick prevailed in a late battle against Chase Elliott to notch his first Cup career victory at Road America in July, which also marked Burnett’s first career win as a crew chief in NASCAR’s premier series.
Another four races later, Burnett and Reddick solidified their spot into the 2022 Cup Playoffs after Reddick navigated his way amid a wild overtime shootout to win for the season time of the season at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. Despite having their Playoff hopes evaporated following respective finishes of third, 35th and 25th throughout the Round of 16, Burnett and Reddick notched their third Cup victory of the season during the Round of 12 opener at Texas Motor Speedway in September. They would then accumulate two top-10 results during the final six events on the schedule before settling in 14th place in the final standings.
This past season, Burnett was paired with two-time Cup champion Kyle Busch, who replaced Reddick in RCR’s No. 8 entry as Reddick transitioned to 23XI Racing. Despite finishing in 19th place during the 65th running of the Daytona 500 amid a final lap multi-car wreck, the new duo quickly navigated their way to Victory Lane at Auto Club Speedway in February as Busch achieved his first win driving for RCR. Burnett and Busch would win at Talladega Superspeedway in April and at World Wide Technology Raceway in June as they would also accumulate a total of 14 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch before securing their spot into the Playoffs. Despite finishing within the top 20 throughout the Round of 16 which enabled them to transfer into the Round of 12, their title hopes came to an end amid respective finishes of 34th, 25th and third throughout the Round of 12. Managing only a single top-five finish in the final four scheduled events, Burnett and Busch concluded their first campaign in 14th place in the final standings.
Through 199 previous Cup events, Burnett has achieved six victories, six poles, 31 top-five results, 72 top-10 results and 957 laps led while working with three different competitors. He and Busch are currently ranked in 14th place in the 2024 regular-season standings on the strengths of two top-five results and five top-10 results through the first 14 scheduled events.
Randall Burnett is scheduled to call his 200th Cup Series event as a crew chief at World Wide Technology Raceway for the Enjoy Illinois 300 on Sunday, June 2. The event’s broadcast time is slated to occur at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
1. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished fifth in the Coca-Cola 600.
“The weather really prevented what was sure to be an exciting finish in the 600,” Hamlin said. “It was the very definition of anticlimactic. Anticlimactic could also be used to describe a fight that starts with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. punching Kyle Busch in the face and ends with Busch punching Stenhouse’s father in the face.”
2. Christopher Bell: Bell won Stage 2 at Charlotte and outgunned Brad Keselowski on the final restart before the race was stopped and eventually called official due to weather.
“I was fortunate enough to be in the lead when the race was stopped for weather,” Bell said. “Some may call it luck; I call it ‘storming’ to the front at just the right time.”
3. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished second at Charlotte, his third runner-up finish of the year.
“I can certainly relate to both Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch,” Keselowski said. “Like Stenhouse, I’ve always wanted to punch Kyle, and like Kyle, I’ve been cursed with an extremely punchable face.”
4. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished seventh at Charlotte.
“My No. 9 Chevrolet featured the blacked-out NAPA paint scheme,” Elliott said. “Given the amount of alcohol my fans consume during a race, there’s a good chance they won’t even remember that paint scheme because they themselves have blacked out.”
5. Ty Gibbs: Gibbs started on the pole and finished seventh in the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600.
“NASCAR’s $75,000 fine of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. indicates that they don’t condone fighting,” Gibbs said. “Their social media promotion of it says otherwise. I think I speak for all drivers when I say that I don’t mind having a black eye on the sport, but only if you define ‘sport’ as ‘Kyle Busch’s face.’”
6. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex struggled with handling issues at Charlotte and finished 12th.
“Congratulations to my Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell,” Truex said. “He was in the right place at the right time. Similarly, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s right fist was in the right place at the left place, Kyle Busch’s cheek.”
7. William Byron: Byron won Stage 1 at Charlotte on his way to a third-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600.
“If not for a drive-through penalty at Indianapolis,” Byron said, “my HMS teammate Kyle Larson would have likely scored a top-10 finish in the 500. As it was though, he was a lot like Jerry Falwell watching his wife and the pool boy, because he ‘held his own.’”
8. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished ninth at Charlotte, posting his ninth top-10 of the season.
“Jimmie Johnson was at the Indianapolis 500 earlier on Sunday doing some commentating for NBC,” Bowman said, “and still made it to Charlotte to race in the 600. Jimmie’s still fast at getting from one point to another; now…just not getting from the starting line to the finish line.”
9. Ross Chastain: Chastain finished eight in the Coca-Cola 600.
“The Coca-Cola 600 is the longest single-day race in motor racing,” Chastain said. “It doesn’t quite last forever, although it may feel that way if you’re watching it.”
10. Kyle Larson: Larson finished 18th in the Indianapolis 500 earlier on Sunday then made his way to Charlotte Motor Speedway, where he arrived just as weather stopped the race and eventually ended it.
“There was also a weather delay at Indy,” Larson said, “so I really had to leave there in a hurry to even have a chance of driving in the Coco-Cola 600. So, while I didn’t get to ‘kiss the bricks,’ I did have to ‘hit the bricks.’”
CONCORD, N.C. – A lightning delay that turned into a heavy rainstorm made a winner of Christopher Bell in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Not that Bell didn’t deserve the victory in the rain-shortened race, which NASCAR was forced to call after 249 of 400 laps were complete. The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota started third, led a race-high 90 laps and won the second stage of the 14th NASCAR Cup Series race of the season.
NASCAR attempted to dry the track when the rain subsided but heavy humidity derailed their efforts. The victory signaled a shift in momentum for Bell, who has finished outside the top 10 in five of his previous six races.
“It feels so good,” Bell said. “And, really, the last two Coca-Cola 600s I felt like we had the potential to go to Victory Lane and both times we haven’t been able to do it. We’ve really been in a slump the last couple weeks so to come out here and have a banner day at such a high-profile, prestigious event is really big for us. Obviously, it’s a great thing to get stage points and the Playoff points that come with that. It’s a good day, for sure.
“You could feel the intensity of the race pick up (as Stage 3 began) and people were very aggressive for how early we were in a 600-mile event. I think it’s because everyone knew we were racing to the rain. I’m just very, very proud of this No. 20 group. I’ve been working really hard to get us back to where we need to be and today was a great step in the right direction.
“Man, it feels so good – to win or lose – just to have a great race to go off of,” Bell said. “A race where we led laps. We were able to pass cars. We lost the lead at times and were able to drive back to the lead.
“We had great pit stops. It was a team effort, and it was amazing to have a good race. Hopefully, this is something we can build on and get back to being more consistent.”
The turning point of the Coca-Cola 600 came when Bell held off Darlington winner Brad Keselowski during a 10-lap run after a caution for Corey LaJoie’s spin in Turn 2 on Lap 229.
Keselowski scored his third runner-up finish of the season in the No. 6 RFK Ford and was left wondering if he could have overtaken Bell if the race had not been shortened.
“We had a car that could win the race,” he said. We ran down (Bell) twice, but we didn’t get to see it play out. It slipped through our fingers there. All in all, I’m really happy with our performance.”
Stage 1 winner William Byron finished third behind Bell and Keselowski as Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five. Pole winner Ty Gibbs, Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman and Josh Berry completed the top 10.
Kyle Larson, who finished 18th in his Indy 500 debut, arrived at Charlotte Motor Speedway to take over driving duties in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. But, because of the weather delay and resultant race stoppage, he was denied the opportunity. Justin Allgaier, who was subbing for Larson in his absence, finished 13th.
Next Sunday, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to World Wide Technology Raceway for the Enjoy Illinois 300 race at 3:30 p.m. ET. It will be broadcast on FS1 with radio coverage provided by MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
NOTES: NASCAR officials completed post-race inspection in the Cup Series garage with no issues and confirmed Bell’s victory.
Kyle Larson capped off an eventful day and month of motorsports competition leading up to Memorial Day weekend on a bittersweet note that resulted with his plans of performing ‘Double Duty’ between the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 being partially spoiled due to on-track precipitation and resulting with him campaigning in the former over the latter.
The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, commenced his planned ‘Double Duty’ task by opting to remain at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to compete in this year’s 108th running of the Indy 500 with Arrow McLaren on Sunday, May 26, despite the event being delayed by four hours due to a heavy stream of precipitation.
Qualifying in fifth place during last Sunday’s qualifying session with a four-lap average-qualifying speed of 232.846 mph in two mintutes, 34.6083 seconds, Larson, who started the main event on the second row, dropped one spot on the track amid a multi-car wreck on the opening lap that knocked Pietro Fittipaldi, Tom Blomqvist and the 2022 Indy 500 champion Marcus Ericsson out of contention.
Then during the next restart period on the ninth lap, Larson endured a brief scary moment when he fell off the pace after missing a gear and getting his car to launch at the start. Larson’s gearing issues resulted with the Californian dropping to 14th place as he made wheel-to-wheel contact with Ryan Hunter-Reay through the frontstretch. Amid the contact, Larson was able to keep his No. 17 HendrickCars.com/Arrow McLaren Dallara-Chevrolet pointing straight as he remained within 14th place in the early stages.
After gaining two spots on pit road following his first INDYCAR pit service amid another caution period for Katherine Legge having a mechanical issue, Larson would remain in the top 15, starting through the event’s next restart period on Lap 26.
Over the course of the event, Larson, who would carve his way back into the top 10 on the track, was scored in ninth place by the Lap 50 mark before he moved up to seventh place at the halfway mark on Lap 100. Through a steady pace on the track and stellar pit stops from his team, Larson would run as high as fourth place on the track.
Then during a late cycle of green flag pit stops with 69 laps remaining, Larson’s strong run was foiled after he smoked his front tires while trying to reduce his speed to enter pit road while running in the top five. Amid his pit service, Larson would be assessed a drive-through penalty for speeding on pit road. After serving his pass-through penalty, Larson was mired back in 22nd place on the track.
During the final round of green flag pit stops that commenced with nearly 30 laps remaining, Larson, who was on a different pit strategy compared to the leaders, would lead his first lap in the Indy 500 with 20 laps remaining. He would lead the next four laps before he surrendered the lead to pit for the final time under green with 16 laps remaining. Returning to the track, Larson would cross the finish line in 18th place, which made him the lowest-finishing Arrow McLaren competitor of the day while his teammates Pato O’Ward, Alexander Rossi and Callum Ilott finished second, fourth and 11th, respectively.
“I would definitely love to be back next year,” Larson said on NBC. “I feel like I learned a lot throughout the race. [I] Felt like I did a really good job on the restarts and was able to learn a lot. Obviously, I smoked the left front [tire] or something into the green flag stop and killed our opportunity, so proud to finish, but pretty upset at myself. If I just could’ve executed a better race, you never know what could happen. Bummed at myself, but huge thank you to Arrow McLaren, Hendrick Motorsports, Hendrick Automotive Group, Rick Hendrick, Chevrolet, everybody that’s a part of this. We’ll go hop on a jet and see if I can get into the [Coca-Cola] 600 somehow.”
By the time Larson arrived at the track from his helicopter, however, the event, which had started without Larson present, was under a caution period due to precipitation and eventually red-flagged on Lap 249 of 400. By then, Justin Allgaier, an Xfinity Series veteran for JR Motorsports who was selected to serve as Larson’s standby competitor, had piloted the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 up to 13th place after Allgaier was forced to start at the rear of the field due to a driver change.
Eventually, the event was made official by NASCAR due to the precipitation around the Charlotte Motor Speedway circuit, with Christopher Bell claiming the rain-shortened victory and Allgaier being credited for 13th place by both starting and finishing the event while Larson, who had planned to contest in 1,100 miles between the Indy 500 and the Coke 600, was unable to pilot his No. 5 entry for a lap.
As a result, this season marks the first time where a competitor attempting the double during Memorial Day weekend ends up competing in one event over the other since Robby Gordon ended up only competing in the Indy 500, which was delayed by three hours and caused him to miss the Coke 600.
By missing this year’s Coca-Cola 600, Larson, who snaps a 121-race starting streak, and Hendrick Motorsports have yet to submit a waiver request to NASCAR that would keep Larson eligible to make the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs. In addition, Larson, who came into the Coke 600 with a 30-point lead in the 2024 Cup Series regular-season standings, drops to third place in the standings, but trails points leader Denny Hamlin by six points and runner-up Martin Truex Jr. by one.
With his 2024 Indianapolis 500 start complete, Larson shifts his focus back to his full-time Cup Series role for the upcoming series’ event at Gateway’s World Wide Technology Raceway for the Enjoy Illinois 300. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, June 2, and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
NASCAR is set to race Memorial Day Weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway headlined by the 65th running of the Coca-Cola 600 Sunday night. Once again NASCAR will pay tribute to the Armed Forces with the NASCAR Salutes Together with Coca-Cola program.
As part of the program, every NASCAR Cup Series car participating in the Coca-Cola 600 will feature the name of a fallen service member on the windshield and Goodyear tires will feature a special “Honor and Remember” sidewall design. NASCAR and Coca-Cola will also host Gold Star Families who have lost family members as a result of serving.
Team Penske driver, Ryan Blaney, is the defending race winner.
The ARCA Menards Series and the Craftsman Truck Series will compete Friday night as the Xfinity Series takes to the track Saturday afternoon.
Friday, May 24 11:40 a.m.: ARCA Menards Series Practice (Al Entries) Race Center 12:40 p.m.: ARCA Menard Series Qualifying (Impound, Timed, All Entries) Race Center
1:35 p.m.: Truck Series Practice (Timed, All Entries, 20 Minutes) FS1 2:05 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying (Impound, All Entries, Single Vehicle -1 Lap) FS1
3:35 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice (Timed, All Entries, 20 Minutes) FS1 4:05 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying (Impound, All Entries, Single Vehicle – 1 Lap) FS1
6 p.m.: ARCA General Tire 150 (100 Laps-150 Miles) FS1/MRN
8:30 p.m.: Truck Series North Carolina Education Lottery 200 Stages 30/60/134 Laps = 201 Miles – FS1/MRN/SiriusXM Purse: $782,014 NASCAR Press Pass: Post Race
Saturday, May 25 1 p.m.: Xfinity Series BetMGM 300 Stages 45/90/200 Laps = 300 Miles – FOX/PRN/SiriusXM Purse: $1,383,384 NASCAR Press Pass: Post Race
5:05 p.m.: Cup Series Practice (Groups A & B, 20 Minutes each) FS1/PRN/SiriusXM 5:50 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying (Impound, Groups A & B, Single Vehicle – 1 Lap/2 Rounds) FS1/PRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Press Pass: Post Qualifying
Sunday, May 26 6 p.m.: Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 Stages 100/200/300/400 Laps = 600 Miles FOX/PRN/SiriusXM Purse: $9,874,821 NASCAR Press Pass: Post Race
NASCAR announced penalties today following the All-Star Race confrontation between Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
The incident stemmed from contact with Kyle Busch at the beginning of the race, knocking him out of contention after only two laps. Stenhouse could not leave the venue because the facility has no tunnel or a pedestrian bridge to exit without walking across the track.
Stranded on the sidelines, a frustrated Stenhouse had plenty of time to think about what had happened and confronted Busch after the race. He ended the conversation by punching Busch in the face igniting a free-for-all between the two teams. Stenhouse’s father was also involved, grabbing Bush, as the fight escalated.
NASCAR announced the following penalties Wednesday.
“When crew members get involved and family members get involved, we’re going to react,” NASCAR Senior Vice President Elton Sawyer said. “That’s exactly what we did.”
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr has been fined $75,000. JTG Daugherty Racing team members suspended for fighting include engine tuner Keith Matthews for four races and mechanic Clint Myrick for eight races (fighting and putting his hands on Busch). Richard Stenhouse (father) has been indefinitely suspended for grabbing Busch.
Busch and his Richard Childress Racing team members did not receive any penalties.
Competing in his ninth full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series, Chase Elliott is poised to achieve a milestone start. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will make his 300th career start in NASCAR’s premier series.
A native of Dawsonville, Georgia, and the son of the 1988 Cup Series champion Bill Elliott, Chase Elliott made his inaugural presence in the Cup Series at Martinsville Speedway in late March 2015. By then, he was coming off his first full-time campaign in the Xfinity Series with JR Motorsports, where he achieved the series’ championship, and was campaigning in the series for a second season to defend his title. He had also been named the driver of Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 24 Chevrolet entry for the 2016 Cup season, where he would be replacing four-time Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon as Gordon was set to retire following the 2015 season. Driving the No. 25 Chevrolet SS for Hendrick Motorsports during his Cup debut at Martinsville, Elliott started 27th and finished 38th after making contact with Brett Moffitt just past a Lap 60 restart, which damaged his entry’s front and rear ends along with the power steering. He would make his second start at Richmond Raceway three races later, where he would notch a season-best 16th place. His final three starts of the season occurred at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July and at Darlington Raceway in September, where he would finish 18th, 18th and 41st, respectively.
Assuming the steering wheel of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in 2016, Elliott made early headlines by becoming the youngest pole-sitter of the Daytona 500 at age 20 and notching his first Cup career pole. Despite leading three laps, his bid for his first 500 victory came to an early end after he spun entering the frontstretch on Lap 18 and plowed through the tri-oval grass, which damaged the front end of the No. 24 Chevrolet and resulted with Elliott settling in 37th place. He would rebound during the following event at Atlanta Motor Speedway by achieving his first top-10 career result with an eighth-place finish before collecting two additional top-10 results during his next three starts. Beginning at Texas Motor Speedway in April, Elliott went on a nine-race stretch of finishing no lower than 12th as he accumulated eight top-10 results, a second career pole at Talladega Superspeedway in May, a third-place run at Dover Motor Speedway in May a fourth-place run at Pocono Raceway after leading a race-high 51 laps and a career-best runner-up finish at Michigan International Speedway in June. He also competed in his first All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May by virtue of achieving the Fan Vote title, where he ended up sixth. Despite finishing no higher than 15th twice during his next eight events, Elliott concluded the regular-season stretch by finishing second, 10th and 19th, respectively, in the final three events, which were enough for him to qualify for his first appearance in the Cup Series Playoffs.
During the 2016 Playoff opener at Chicagoland Speedway, Elliott led 75 laps and was in position of achieving his first Cup victory until a late caution period and an overtime shootout relegated Elliott to third place in the final running order. By finishing 13th and third during the following two Playoff events, he was able to transfer from the Round of 16 to 12. With respective finishes of 33rd, 31st and 12th throughout the Round of 12, however, Elliott was eliminated from title contention. Nonetheless, he capped off his rookie Cup campaign by notching four consecutive top-12 results during the final four events of the season before finishing in 10th place in the final standings and locking up the Rookie-of-the-Year title. Despite going winless in his rookie Cup season, Elliott notched his first two career poles, 10 top-five results, 17 top-10 results, 358 laps led and an average-finishing result of 14.6.
In a similar fashion to his rookie season, Elliott commenced his sophomore Cup season by notching his second consecutive Daytona 500 pole position and placing HMS’ No. 24 entry on the pole for the 500 for a third consecutive season. He would proceed to win the first Daytona Duel event and become the first competitor to win both a Daytona 500 pole and Duel event in the same season since Dale Earnhardt made the last accomplishment in 1996. During the 500, he led 39 laps and was leading in the closing laps until he started to run out of fuel with three laps remaining and drifted back to 14th place in the final running order. He would rally by notching a runner-up result at Michigan in June along with a total of six top-five results and 14 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, which were enough to make his second consecutive Playoffs based on points.
After finishing in second place during the 2017 Playoff opener at Chicagoland and 11th at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, respectively, Elliott led a race-high 138 laps and was in position of achieving his first victory until he was overtaken by Kyle Busch amid lapped traffic and settling in the runner-up spot, though he managed to transfer from the Round of 16 to 12. After transferring into the Round of 8 amid respective finishes of second, 16th and fourth throughout the Round of 12, Elliott was in another position of winning his first Cup event at Martinsville Speedway in late October as he led 123 laps and fended off Brad Keselowski during a late-race restart with four laps remaining. Then while leading the event with three laps remaining, Elliott was hit and sent spinning into the Turn 3 outside wall by Denny Hamlin, which plummeted Elliott down to 27th place in the final running order and both competitors to exchange harsh words prior to entering pit road. Faced in a “must-win” situation to keep his title hopes alive for the season, he rallied by finishing eighth and second during the final two Round of 8 events, but the results were not enough for him to make the Championship 4 cutline. With a fifth-place finish in the season-finale event at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Elliott ended up in fifth place in the final standings. By then, he earned two additional top-five results from his previous season (12), four additional top-10 results (21), 560 laps led and a new average-finishing result of 12.0.
The 2018 Cup season marked Elliott’s third consecutive season driving for Hendrick Motorsports, but first piloting his father’s number 9 alongside his entry in the Cup circuit as Hendrick assigned the number 24 to newcomer William Byron. Despite winning the second Daytona Duel event and starting on the second row for the 60th running of the Daytona 500, he ended up in 33rd place after being involved in a multi-car wreck just past the halfway mark. Elliott would proceed to finish in the top 10 three times during his next seven starts before notching his eighth runner-up result of his career behind Kyle Busch at Richmond in April. Then after notching three additional top-five results and six top-10 results during his next 12 starts, Elliott scored his first elusive Cup Series career win in his 99th series start at Watkins Glen International after muscling away with the lead during a restart with 32 laps remaining and having enough fuel to fend off a late challenge from the reigning series’ champion Martin Truex Jr. By then, Elliott became the 16th different competitor to win while driving for Hendrick Motorsports as he also recorded the 250th Cup career victory for HMS.
Nabbing three additional top-nine finishes in the final four regular-season events of the 2018 season while also surpassing 100 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series, Elliott commenced the Playoffs by finishing 36th, fourth and sixth, respectively, throughout the Round of 16, which enabled him to transfer into the Round of 12. Then during the Round of 12 opener at Dover Motor Speedway, he fended off Hamlin during an overtime shootout to score his second Cup career win and automatically race his way into the Round of 8. He would gain extra momentum two races by notching his third career victory at Kansas Speedway. Elliott’s title hopes, however, evaporated after finishing seventh, sixth and 23rd, respectively, throughout the Round of 8 as he proceeded to finish seventh at Homestead and sixth in the final standings. Amid a season where he notched his first three career victories, he matched his accumulated top-10 results from his previous season at 21 and achieved an average-finishing result of 12.3.
After notching a runner-up result at Martinsville Speedway in March and only a single additional top-10 result through nine events to commence the 2019 Cup Series season, Elliott notched his first victory of the season at Talladega Superspeedway after leading a race-high 45 laps and retaining the lead on the final lap prior to a multi-car wreck. He would proceed to finish in the top five four times during his next 11 starts before winning at Watkins Glen for a second consecutive season after leading a race-high 80 laps and fending off another late challenge from Truex. Concluding the regular-season stretch with three top-10 results in four races, Elliott finished fourth and 13th, respectively, during the Playoff’s first two events before claiming his third victory of the season at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in October while rallying from an early collision into the first turn’s wall, which enabled him to transfer into the Round of 12. Despite transferring into the Round of 12 by a mere margin, he missed the cutline to make the Championship 4 round for a third consecutive season after finishing no higher than 32nd throughout the Round of 8. With a 15th-place finish at Homestead, Elliott settled in 10th place in the final standings. Overall, he notched three victories, 11 top-five results, 15 top-10 results, 601 laps led and an average-finishing result of 15.1.
The 2020 Cup Series season was a memorable season for Elliott, who rallied from finishing no higher than 17th during the first two events on the schedule by finishing in the top seven during his next three starts. Then after finishing 38th and second during his next two events, he notched his first victory of the season at Charlotte in May. He proceeded to win the All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway in July and accumulate seven top-10 results during his next 14 points-paying events before winning the inaugural Cup event at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course in August. With two additional top-five results during the final three regular-season events, Elliott finished 20th, fifth and seventh, respectively, throughout the Round of 16, which were enough for him to transfer into the Round of 12.
After winning for the third time of the 2020 season and second in a row at the Charlotte Roval in October to transfer into the Round of 8, Elliott then finished sixth and 20th during the Round of 8’s first two events before winning at Martinsville in November and racing his way into the Championship 4 round for the first time in his career. Then during the finale at Phoenix, Elliott, who started at the rear of the field, led a race-high 153 laps and beat title rivals Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin to win both the finale and his first Cup Series championship. By then, Elliott became the 34th different competitor to win a championship in NASCAR’s premier series and the second-youngest champion in the series at age 24. In addition to delivering the 13th Cup championship for Hendrick Motorsports, Chase Elliott and his father Bill joined the Pettys and the Jarretts as the third father-son duo to win a Cup title. Elliott’s championship season occurred as the Georgian achieved career-high stats in victories (five), top fives (15), top 10s (22) and laps led, (1,247), with the driver also securing an average-finishing result of 11.7.
Entering the 2021 Cup Series season as the reigning champion, Elliott commenced the season by finishing in the runner-up spot during the 63rd running of the Daytona 500. He would accumulate four top-five results and six top-10 results during his next 12 starts until notching his first victory of the season in the inaugural, rain-shortened series’ event at Circuit of the Americas. Proceeding by finishing second in his 200th Cup career start in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte followed by another runner-up result at Sonoma Raceway in June, both behind teammate Kyle Larson, Elliott then finished no higher than 12th during his next three events until notching his second Cup victory of the season at Road America, where he led a race-high 24 laps. Concluding the regular-season stretch with five top-10 results in six events, Elliott notched four top-10 results in nine Playoff events, which were enough for him to transfer from the Round of 16 to the Championship 4 round for a second consecutive season. During the finale, however, Elliott finished in fifth place on the track and in fourth place in the final standings. Despite recording two victories, 15 top-five results, 21 top-10 results and 952 laps led throughout the 2021 season, he notched a career-best average-finishing result of 11.4.
Elliott commenced the 2022 Cup season by finishing in the top 10 six times through the first 10 events before winning for the first time of the season at Dover in May. Six races later, he would achieve a second Cup victory of the season at Nashville Superspeedway following a four-lap shootout before winning for the first time at his home track at Atlanta Motor Speedway in July after assuming the lead with two laps remaining and fending off a final lap challenge from Corey LaJoie. He would then be awarded a victory at Pocono in late July in an event where he finished third, but was promoted to first place after initial winner Denny Hamlin and initial runner-up finisher Kyle Busch were disqualified for failing the post-race inspection process. Finishing in the top five twice during the final five regular-season events, Elliott secured his fifth victory of the season at Talladega in October and three top-10 results throughout the Playoffs, which were enough for him to transfer from the Round of 16 to the Championship 4 round for a third consecutive season. During the finale at Phoenix, however, Elliott was turned by title rival Ross Chastain during a restart with 113 laps remaining as he hit the inside wall and was unable to regain competitive form as he ended up in 28th place on the track and in fourth place in the final standings for a second consecutive season. Overall, the 2022 Cup season marked Elliott’s second time notching a career-high five victories as he also accumulated a total of 12 top-five results, 20 top-10 results, three poles, 857 laps led and an average-finishing result of 12.5.
This past season marked Elliott’s difficult seasons to date that commenced with a 38th-place result in the 65th running of the Daytona 500 after being collected in a multi-car wreck just past the halfway mark. Despite finishing in second place during the following scheduled event at Auto Club Speedway, Elliott would then miss the next six events on the schedule after fracturing his tibia following a snowboarding accident in Colorado. Returning at Martinsville in April, he muscled through 500 miles to finish 10th before finishing 12th, 11th, seventh and third, respectively, during his next four starts. Then during the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in May, Elliott was mired with another run-in with Denny Hamlin after Hamlin squeezed Elliott into the outside wall entering the frontstretch, which resulted with Elliott veering dead left and sending Hamlin head-on into the wall as Elliott would be suspended from competing in the following weekend’s event at World Wide Technology Raceway. Finishing fifth in his return to the track at Sonoma but needing a regular-season victory to make the Playoffs, Elliott would finish in the top five four times during his next 10 starts. The closet he came to winning was at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in August, where he finished in the runner-up spot and trailed race winner Michael McDowell by nine-tenths of a second. Despite finishing fourth during the regular-season finale at Daytona in August, Elliott missed the Playoffs for the first time in his career. He would finish in the top 10 five times throughout the Playoffs before settling in 17th place in the final driver’s standings.
Poised for a redemptive campaign in 2024, Elliott commenced the season by notching only a single top-10 result through the first eight events on the schedule. Then after finishing in the top five during his next two starts, he made a triumphant return to Victory Lane at Texas amid two overtime shootouts and a late battle with Ross Chastain, which snapped a 42-race winless drought and has placed Elliott in contention to make the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs. Following the victory at Texas, Elliott earned two additional top-five results in his last four starts and is currently ranked in fourth place in the 2024 regular-season standings while trailing the points lead by 49 points
Through 299 previous Cup starts, Elliott has achieved one championship, 19 victories, 12 poles, 98 top-five results, 158 top-10 results, 5,226 laps led and an average-finishing result of 12.9.
Chase Elliott is scheduled to make his 300th Cup Series career start at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the 65th running of the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 26. The event’s broadcast time is scheduled to occur at 6 p.m. ET on FOX.
Really, NASCAR and Charlotte Motor Speedway? You’re both OK with this? You’re OK with Donald Trump, who previously attacked Bubba Wallace, publicly, to attend, Sunday?
If so, shame on you both!
If you missed it, the former president — and presumptive presidential nominee for the Republican Party, this year — plans to attend Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600. Where he’ll turn one of NASCAR’s crown jewels into a glorified campaign event. Just as he did in 2020 at the Daytona 500. Furthermore, that raises the possibility of interfering with Kyle Larson’s attempt at “The Double,” Sunday.
Those together result in a stupid idea.
But did you forget he attacked Wallace?!
Has @BubbaWallace apologized to all of those great NASCAR drivers & officials who came to his aid, stood by his side, & were willing to sacrifice everything for him, only to find out that the whole thing was just another HOAX? That & Flag decision has caused lowest ratings EVER!
You’re gonna let that man have a spotlight at yet another one of your marquee events? Where, if he randomly feels like it, he can incite more vitriol towards Wallace? A good percentage of which is thinly-veiled racism!
Most charitably, NASCAR and Charlotte acted wildly irresponsibly, if neither stops this before it happens. Less charitably, both entities turn a blind eye to the vitriol that’s sure to come at Wallace, because neither cared enough to nip this in the bud. Yeah, who cares if this inspires more racism at Wallace? The money matters more, right?!
I hope like hell it’s not the latter!
NASCAR’s angered me more times than I can count over my 20+ years of following it, but this tops everything! All the work the people at NASCAR did to cleanup the mess left by Brian France, when he endorsed Trump for President. Which, if you recall, happened just months after he pulled the XFINITY and Truck Series banquets from one of Trump’s hotels, for one of the many, many times spewed racist garbage about Hispanic immigrants. All the work to erase virtually any presence of Confederate flags at all NASCAR races in 2020. All the work to make NASCAR more appealing to African Americans. Who saw the sea of stars and bars that plagued the infield of most NASCAR race weekends. Particularly in the Deep South and either refused to give NASCAR a chance, or stoically dealt with the background radiation for years (when they shouldn’t had to in the first place).
If you and Charlotte let this happen and the national embarrassment known as Trump attacks Wallace again, then all that work and goodwill collapses and disappears into a black hole. What other non-White Southerner would give NASCAR a chance, again? I know none of my leftist friends would, no matter how much I sell them on becoming NASCAR-pilled, like me.
NASCAR, you dropped the ball on this in 2020. When you waited two days to issue a response on the FBI’s findings of the noose situation. All while racists and right-wing political hacks tarred and feathered Wallace for something that was wildly out of his control on any reasonable level Yes, Wallace didn’t help himself with his comments on CNN the day after the report. But that doesn’t excuse NASCAR’s tardiness on it.
And let me stop those people who’ll call me a Wallace shill dead in their tracks. I said NASCAR should park Wallace for nakedly dumping Kyle Larson at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2022. Argue with the wall.
Bottom line: NASCAR and Charlotte, stop this before it happens. This possibility shouldn’t exist in the first place, but both entities can save their bacon with the years of work to appeal to a more inclusive audience still intact.
Joey Logano erased his difficult start to the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season by capping off a dominant run with a big victory in the 40th annual running of the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Sunday, May 19.
The two-time Cup Series champion from Middletown, Connecticut, led all but one of 200 scheduled laps in an event where he took care of business a day earlier by qualifying on the pole position for the main event. From the drop of the green flag to the checkered flag, Logano managed through the event’s tire options and repaved surface, including the use of optional tires for grip, to keep his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry out in front amid four restarts and several challenges between his fellow competitors. Amid a 42-lap dash to the finish, Logano managed both his optional tires, the track’s racing surface and the clean air to fend off Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson to claim his second checkered flag in the All-Star event and cash in a million dollars.
The starting lineup for the main event was determined through a combined session of on-track qualifying and the NASCAR Pit Crew Challenge that occurred on Saturday, May 18, where each competitor eligible for the All-Star Race took the green flag, ran one full lap around the circuit, pitted within a designated pit stall for four-tire pit stop with a mock fuel delivery included during the second lap and raced back to the checkered flag once returning to the track.
The overall qualifying time was evaluated by the total time from the green flag to the checkered flag, where the competitor who posted the fastest lap time between the three times would achieve the pole position. The event’s two 60-lap Heat events that would determine the rest of the starting lineup for the All-Star Race aside from the pole sitter was scheduled to occur on Saturday but was canceled due to on-track precipitation.
At the conclusion of the qualifying and Pit Crew Challenge sessions, Joey Logano claimed his first All-Star pole position after posting the fastest three-lap qualifying run in one minute, 29.75 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Brad Keselowski, who clocked in the second-fastest three-lap qualifying run in one minute, 30.14 seconds.
Christopher Bell, whose No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota pit crew achieved this year’s Mechanix Wear Pit Crew Challenge after delivering the fastest four-tire pit service during Bell’s qualifying run in 13.223 seconds, qualified in third place with a three-lap qualifying run in one minute, 30.17 seconds and he started alongside Daniel Suarez, who posted the fourth-fastest three-lap qualifying run in one minute, 30.20 seconds.
Prior to the event, Kyle Larson, who qualified an impressive fifth place for the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 while driving for Arrow McLaren, started at the rear of the field due to a driver change after Kevin Harvick practiced and qualified Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry while Larson was preparing for the Indy 500.
When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Logano muscled his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead from the outside lane as he led the field through the first two turns and through the backstretch while Kyle Busch, who started towards the middle of the pack, hit the outside wall after making contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. amid a three-wide battle.
Then as Logano proceeded to lead the first lap, Busch retaliated by bumping and sending Stenhouse hard into the outside wall in Turn 2 as his event came to an early end. Following the incident, however, Stenhouse nursed and parked his damaged No. 47 Icy Hot Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into Busch’s pit stall before he climbed out and exchanged words with Busch’s crew chief Randall Burnett before being directed to the infield care center.
During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Daniel Suarez pitted to have the soft “red” tires on their respective entries removed for prime “yellow” tires while the rest led by Logano and including Tyler Reddick, Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher and Ryan Blaney remained on the track.
When the event restarted under green on the 10th lap, Logano retained the lead through the first two turns and through the backstretch as Keselowski and Reddick battled for second in front of Blaney and Buescher. Behind, Christopher Bell, the first competitor racing on the fresh prime tires, was in sixth ahead of Suarez, Ross Chastain, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch as Logano proceeded to lead the Lap 15 mark.
Through the first 20 scheduled laps, Logano was leading by four-tenths of a second over Reddick followed by Buescher, Blaney and Keselowski while Bell, Suarez, Chastain, William Byron and Denny Hamlin were racing in the top 10. Behind, Chase Elliott occupied 11th place ahead of Truex, Ty Gibbs, Kyle Larson and Busch while Bubba Wallace, AJ Allmendinger, Michael McDowell and Noah Gragson trailed behind, with last-place Gragson trailing the lead by more than seven seconds.
Ten laps later, Logano extended his advantage to more than a second over Buescher followed by Blaney, Reddick and Keselowski, with all the top-five front-runners separated by more than three seconds and still racing on the option “red” tires. Behind, Bell, the first competitor racing on the primary “yellow” tires in his No. 20 Yahoo! Toyota Camry XSE, trailed in sixth place by more than three seconds while Suarez, Chastain, Byron and Hamlin continued to run in the top 10.
Another 10 laps later, Logano stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Buescher while third-place Blaney trailed by more than two seconds. As Keselowski and Reddick trailed in the top five, Bell, Suarez, Chastain, Hamlin and Byron trailed in the top 10, respectively, while Elliott, Gibbs, Truex, Larson and Busch followed suit in the top 15 ahead of Wallace, McDowell, Gragson and Allmendinger.
At the Lap 50 mark, Logano continued to lead by nine-tenths of a second over Buescher, with Blaney and Keselowski trailing in third and fourth, respectively. Meanwhile, Bell cracked the top five on his primary tires while Reddick fell back to sixth place on his optional tires. Suarez, Chastain and Hamlin followed suit from seventh to ninth, respectively, while Elliott occupied 10th place ahead of teammate Byron and Gibbs.
Fifteen laps later, Logano retained the lead by a second over Buescher as Blaney, Keselowski and Bell trailed in the top five. Behind, Reddick occupied sixth place ahead of a battle between Hamlin and Suarez while Chastain and Elliott continued to run in the top 10.
A few laps later, trouble struck for Byron, who nursed his No. 24 RAPTOR Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to pit road under green due to a flat tire and for a bent toe link after hitting a bump and the outside wall. Amid Byron’s issues, which pinned the Charlotte native multiple laps down while his pit crew made repairs on pit road, Logano, who was beginning to approach lapped traffic, was leading by less than half a second over Buescher, who was starting to close in on Logano for the top spot, by the Lap 75 mark.
Just past the Lap 80 mark, Logano, who was still trying to navigate his way through lapped traffic, retained the lead by half a second over Buescher while third-place Blaney trailed by a second. Keselowski, Bell and Reddick continued to run in the top six ahead of Hamlin, Chastain, Suarez and Elliott while Logano, who was trying to lap Wallace, was still leading by the Lap 90 mark.
On Lap 100, which marked the halfway point of the event, a designated All-Star caution was flown. At the moment of caution, Logano, who was unable to lap Wallace but survived through the event’s first half on the optional tires, retained the lead ahead of Buescher, Keselowski, Blaney and Bell while Reddick, Hamlin, Chastain, Suarez and Elliott were scored in the top 10. By then, McDowell, who was running in 16th place behind Wallace, emerged as the first competitor swho was scored a lap down and he was the recipient of the free pass.
During the caution period, the field led by Logano made a mandatory four-tire pit stop. Following the pit stops, Logano retained the lead after beating both Buescher and Bell off of pit road first while Keselowski, Blaney, Hamlin, Chastain, Elliott, Suarez and Reddick followed suit in the top 10. Amid the pit stops, nearly the entire field led by Logano opted to change for a fresh set of optional tires while Gibbs and Reddick only opted to change for primary tires.
When the race restarted under green with 92 laps remaining, where Logano and Bell occupied the front row, Logano maintained a slight advantage over Bell through the first two turns and the backstretch, with both still battling dead even back to the frontstretch and for the following lap. Logano and Bell would continue to battle dead even for the lead with 90 laps remaining, with the former trying to pin and stall the latter’s momentum through the turns and straightaways.
Then with 88 laps remaining, Bell got loose underneath Logano, which sent both competitors up the track through Turns 3 and 4 amid contact. This allowed Hamlin to ignite a three-wide battle for the lead through the frontstretch. With Hamlin trying to emerge ahead through the first two turns from the inside lane, Logano fought back from the outside lane as he retained the lead by a narrow margin over Hamlin while Bell was trying to fend off Blaney for third place. In addition, Buescher was in fifth while Larson was up to sixth place.
With 83 laps remaining, the caution flew after Gibbs, winner of the 2024 All-Star Open, was bumped twice by Busch’s No. 8 Lenovo Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entering Turn 1 while racing for 12th place, which sent Gibbs’ No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE spinning towards the outside wall in Turn 1. Gibbs would drop out of the lead lap category as he had issues trying to re-fire his car amid the incident while Suarez and Reddick pitted for tire options during the caution period.
As the event restarted under green with 77 laps remaining, Logano muscled away from Hamlin and the field from the outside lane through the first two turns and through the backstretch. As the field behind battled for late spots, Logano maintained a steady advantage of two-tenths of a second over Hamlin’s No. 11 Mavis Toyota Camry XSE with 75 laps remaining while Blaney, Bell, Buescher and Larson followed suit in the top six.
With 65 laps remaining, Logano stabilized his narrow advantage to three-tenths of a second over a side-by-side battle between Hamlin and Blaney for the runner-up spot. Behind, fourth-place Bell and fifth-place Buescher both trailed by a second as sixth-place Larson trailed by two seconds, with Keselowski, Wallace, Elliott and Reddick racing in the top 10.
With 50 laps remaining, a second designated All-Star caution was flown. At the moment of caution, Logano was the leader ahead of teammate Blaney, Hamlin, Bell and Buescher while Larson, Keselowski, Wallace, Elliott and Reddick were scored in the top 10 followed by McDowell, Gragson, Chastain, Busch, Truex, Suarez, Gibbs and Allmendinger.
During the caution period, some led by Larson and including Wallace, Elliott, Chastain, Truex, McDowell, Gragson, Busch and Suarez pitted for fresh optional “red” tires while the rest led by Logano remained on the track.
Down to the final 42 laps of the event, the event restarted under green as teammates Logano and Blaney occupied the front row. At the start, Logano retained the lead while Blaney, who got loose entering the first turn, was quickly overtaken by Hamlin for the runner-up spot. Blaney would then be challenged by Buescher for third place along with Larson as Hamlin started to challenge Logano for the lead with 40 laps remaining.
Over the next two laps, Larson, racing on fresh optional tires, overtook both Blaney and Buescher to move his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into third place. By then, Logano retained the lead ahead of Hamlin as Larson started to close in on the two leaders. Larson would then have issues trying to overtake Hamlin for the runner-up spot through the corners while Logano retained the lead with less than 35 laps remaining.
With 25 laps remaining, Logano was leading by six-tenths of a second over Hamlin while third-place Larson trailed the lead by a second. Behind, Buescher retained fourth ahead of Blaney while Wallace was up to sixth place followed by Chastain, Elliott, Truex and Busch.
Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Logano extended his advantage to a second over Hamlin while third-place Larson, who was starting to fade on his fresh tires, trailed by more than two seconds as he was also trying to fend off Buescher to retain third place. Blaney, Wallace, Chastain, Elliott, McDowell and Truex followed suit in the top 10 as Logano was leading by six-tenths of a second over Hamlin with 10 laps remaining.
With five laps remaining, Logano retained the lead by eight-tenths of a second over Hamlin as third-place Larson trailed by four seconds followed by Buescher and Blaney.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Logano remained as the leader by six-tenths of a second over Hamlin. Despite Hamlin’s late effort in keeping Logano as close as he could in front of him, he could not narrow the gap as Logano, who was out front in clean air, was able to cycle around the North Wilkesboro circuit smoothly for a final time and back to the frontstretch victorious as he claimed the checkered flag by six-tenths of a second.
With the victory, Logano joins Kevin Harvick, Mark Martin, Terry Labonte and Davey Allison as competitors to win the All-Star Race twice as this marks his first time winning the All-Star event since 2016. He also recorded the fifth All-Star victory for Team Penske and the 14th overall for the Ford nameplate, with the new Ford Mustang Dark Horse stock car winning for a second consecutive weekend.
Logano’s All-Star victory capped off a strong day of motorsports competition for team owner Roger Penske, whose three-car operation in the NTT IndyCar Series swept the front row for next Sunday’s 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 as Scott McLaughlin captured his first Indy 500 pole over teammates Will Power and Josef Newgarden. For Logano, the victory served as a momentous boost for the former Cup Series champion, who came into the event with a single top-two result registered to his racing stats along with being winless through the first 13 events on the 2024 schedule.
Photo by Andrew Boyd for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“How about that, Wilkesboro?! That was awesome!” Logano exclaimed on the frontstretch on FS1. “What an incredible Shell/Pennzoil Mustang. It was so fast. Man, we came here and tested [in March]. We ran over 800 laps at the tire test. [Crew chief] Paul [Wolfe] really put me to work, really figured out what it was going to take to win the race. The [No. 22] boys executed a fantastic stop. Fantastic weekend, great execution. It’s been a while since we’ve won a race. I wish this one counted for points, but a million bucks will work as well…Man, it feels good. Feels great.”
As Logano celebrated on the frontstretch, tempers ignited in the garage area and towards the transport haulers as Stenhouse, who waited for Busch, who ended up 10th and was still displeased over the opening lap incident, confronted the latter as harsh words were exchanged. As the conversation continued, Stenhouse then swung a fist towards Busch as a fight ignited between both competitors and their respective crew members before they were separated.
Denny Hamlin, the 2015 All-Star Race winner, settled in second place for the second time in his career followed by Chris Buescher, who achieved his first top-five result in the All-Star event. Meanwhile, Kyle Larson capped off an eventful run between his Indianapolis 500 qualifying trials to campaigning for another All-Star victory by finishing fourth while Blaney rounded out the top five.
Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott, Michael McDowell and Kyle Busch completed the top 10 in the final running order.
There were two lead changes for two different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 27 laps. In addition, 17 of 20 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results.
1. Joey Logano, 199 laps led
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Chris Buescher
4. Kyle Larson
5. Ryan Blaney
6. Bubba Wallace
7. Ross Chastain
8. Chase Elliott
9. Michael McDowell
10. Kyle Busch
11. Noah Gragson
12. Martin Truex Jr.
13. Ty Gibbs
14. Tyler Reddick
15. Daniel Suarez
16. Brad Keselowski, one lap led
17. Chistopher Bell
18. AJ Allmendinger, two laps down
19. William Byron, 14 laps down
20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident
Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the 65th running of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, May 26, during Memorial Day weekend and air at 6 p.m. ET on FOX.
Ty Gibbs, Bubba Wallace and Noah Gragson completed the starting grid for the 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race after all three transferred from the NASCAR All-Star Open at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Sunday, May 19.
Gibbs and Wallace, both of whom started towards the front with the former starting on pole position, raced their way into the main event after finishing first and second, respectively, during the Open while Gragson was revealed as the Fan Vote winner for a second consecutive season, thus claiming the final spot of the 20-car grid for the All-Star event that will follow suit at the North Wilkesboro circuit.
The starting lineup for the event was based on the current 2024 Cup Series owner’s standings after the event’s on-track qualifying that was scheduled to occur on Friday, May 17, was canceled due to on-track precipitation. As a result, Ty Gibbs was awarded the pole position and he shared the front row with Alex Bowman.
When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Ty Gibbs rocketed his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE ahead with the lead from the outside lane through the first two turns and through the backstretch. As the field fanned out and jostled for early spots, Gibbs proceeded to lead the first lap as he was being pursued by Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman, Austin Cindric, Chase Briscoe, Noah Gragson and a bevy of competitors. Wallace, who also gained a strong launch at the start behind Gibbs from the outside lane, would trail Gibbs for the lead by nearly a second by the fifth lap mark.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Gibbs was leading by more than a second over Wallace followed by Cindric, Bowman and Briscoe while Gragson, rookie Carson Hocevar, Todd Gilliland, John Hunter Nemechek and rookie Josh Berry were racing in the top 10 ahead of Ryan Preece, Corey LaJoie, Erik Jones, Austin Dillon, Justin Haley, Kaz Grala, rookie Zane Smith, Harrison Burton, Daniel Hemric and Timmy Hill, respectively.
Ten laps later, Gibbs stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Wallace while Cindric, Bowman and Briscoe continued to trail in the top five and by within four seconds. Behind, Hocevar overtook Gragson for sixth place while Nemechek and Berry were running in eighth and ninth, respectively, ahead of Gilliland.
Another 10 laps later, Gibbs extended his advantage to nearly two seconds over Wallace while third-place Cindric trailed by more than three seconds as Bowman and Briscoe continued to run in the top five. Behind, Hocevar retained sixth ahead of Gragson, Berry, Nemechek and Gilliland while Austin Dillon, Preece, LaJoie, Justin Haley and Erik Jones trailed in the top 15.
By Lap 40, Gibbs continued to lead by nearly two seconds over Wallace while Cindric, Bowman and Briscoe trailed by within four seconds in the top five on the track. Meanwhile, Hocevar trailed by seven seconds in sixth place followed by Gragson, Berry and Nemechek while Austin Dillon cracked the top 10 as he occupied 10th place over Gilliland.
A designated caution period was generated when the All-Star Open reached its halfway mark on Lap 50. By then, Gibbs was leading ahead of Wallace, Cindric, Bowman and Briscoe while Hocevar, Gragson, Berry, Nemechek and Dillon were scored in the top 10.
During the caution period, all the competitors led by Gibbs pitted for a mandatory four-tire service. Following the pit stops, Gibbs retained the lead after exiting first as he was followed by Bowman, Wallace, Briscoe, Berry, Cindric, Gragson, Nemechek, Hocevar and Dillon. Amid the pit stops, both LaJoie and Nemechek were penalized for speeding on pit road.
When the race restarted with 43 laps remaining, Gibbs and Bowman battled dead even for the lead as the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch. During the following lap, however, the caution returned after Cindric, who was trying to race his way back into the top five, got squeezed into Gragson by Hocevar amid a tight three-wide battle through the frontstretch as he then slid his No. 2 Keystone Light Ford Mustang Dark Horse against the wall with right-front damage before proceeding.
During the following restart with 36 laps remaining, Gibbs fended off a challenge from Bowman for nearly a lap to retain the lead as Wallace overtook Bowman for the runner-up spot. Wallace, Bowman, Briscoe and Berry would all battle for the runner-up spot during the ensuing laps while Gibbs drove away with the lead as he led by half a second with 33 laps remaining.
Wallace and Bowman would then engage in another side-by-side battle for the runner-up/transfer spot during the next three laps, with both neither stepping off the throttle as Berry and Briscoe tried to close in. Other competitors mixed towards the battle included Hocevar, Gragson, Haley and Preece while Gibbs was leading by more than a second with less than 30 laps remaining.
With 27 laps remaining, Berry made a bold move beneath Bowman’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entering Turn 3 to move his No. 4 Harrison’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse into third place as he tried to close in on Wallace for the runner-up spot. Soon after, Haley moved his No. 51 Pinnacle Home Improvement Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the top five while Briscoe, Hocevar and Gragson tried to close in from sixth through eighth. Amid the battles for the runner-up spot, currently occupied by Wallace, Gibbs was gone with the lead as he was on top by two seconds with 20 laps remaining. By then, Haley was trying to overtake Berry for third place in his bid to catch Wallace’s No. 23 Alltroo Toyota Camry XSE for second place.
Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Gibbs was leading by more than two seconds over Wallace, who had Berry, Haley and Bowman all close in on him for the runner-up/transfer spot. Gibbs would retain the lead by a comfortable advantage of more than two seconds while Wallace would retain the runner-up spot by within two- and three-tenths of a second over Berry as Haley and Bowman tried to close in with 10 laps remaining.
With five laps remaining, Gibbs continued to lead by more than two seconds as Wallace retained the runner-up spot by nearly a second over Berry while Haley and Bowman continued to trail in the top five followed by Gragson, Briscoe, Preece, Hocevar and Austin Dillon.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Gibbs remained as the leader by more than two seconds over Wallace while third-place Berry trailed by three seconds. Having a comfortable lead to his advantage, Gibbs was able to cruise around the North Wilkesboro circuit smoothly for a final time as he then cycled back to the frontstretch to claim the checkered flag and race his way into the 2024 All-Star Race for a second consecutive season.
With the victory, Gibbs, who is coming off a career-best runner-up result at Darlington Raceway, will campaign for his first All-Star Race victory after transferring from the Open for a second consecutive season. Gibbs’ transfer enables all four Joe Gibbs Racing entries to earn starting spots for the 2024 All-Star Race.
“Yeah, we were pretty good,” Gibbs said on FS1. “I feel like we were pretty solid, so it’s good to make [the All-Star Race]. Hopefully, we can go ahead and win it. I think we’re solid enough and good enough to [win]. I feel like we learned a lot with what we’re gonna do. I got some good friends here. Let’s go win this thing.”
Like Gibbs, Bubba Wallace was also left smiling on pit road after settling in the runner-up spot and transferring into the All-Star Race for the fourth time in his career and his third in a row in recent seasons. As a result, Wallace, who finished second to Kyle Larson during the 2023 All-Star Race, enabled both 23XI Racing entries to make the main event as he will also campaign for his first All-Star victory.
“[This event] just made us work extra hard,” Wallace said. “You have to earn every right of this, so I can’t say we deserved, well I guess we deserve to be in the All-Star [Race], but we got to go fight for it every once in awhile. We’re just lacking a little bit. Definitely, a different feel than what we had in practice, so got a little bit of time to make minimal changes to make [the car] better, but all in all, we’re in the show. Appreciate [Bowman] and [Berry] running clean there. That was fun, that was short-track stuff right there. We were able to squeeze away there and hang on to second, but that’s the most stressful spot to be in.”
Amid the battles for the top-two finishing spots during the Open, Noah Gragson, who finished fifth in the Open, claimed the final starting spot for the 2024 All-Star Race after being named the 2024 All-Star Fan Vote winner for a second consecutive season. As a result, Gragson joined Chase Elliott and Danica Patrick as the only competitors to be named the Fan Vote winner during the All-Star weekend for multiple seasons, with Gragson becoming the first back-to-back Fan Vote winner since Elliott achieved the honors for three consecutive seasons (2016-18). Gragson’s transfer has also allowed at least one Stewart-Haas Racing entry to make the 2024 All-Star Race as he will attempt to replicate Kasey Kahne’s run by winning the All-Star Race after being voted into the main event by the fans in 2008.
“I appreciate all the fans,” Gragson said on the radio following the All-Star Open. “You guys are badass. We didn’t quite have what it took there in that race, but you fans pulled through. Your support means everything. We’re gonna go have some fun.”
Rookie Josh Berry and Justin Haley recorded strong finishes of third and fourth place, respectively, but were among the 17 remaining competitors who did not qualify for the 2024 All-Star Race. Among those who also did not make the main event included Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, Ryan Preece, Austin Dillon, rookie Carson Hocevar, Kaz Grala, Corey LaJoie, Harrison Burton, John Hunter Nemechek, Todd Gilliland, Daniel Hemric, rookie Zane Smith, Erik Jones, Timmy Hill and Austin Cindric.
There were no lead changes and the race featured two cautions for 11 laps. In addition, 18 of 20 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results.
1. Ty Gibbs, 100 laps led
2. Bubba Wallace
3. Josh Berry
4. Justin Haley
5. Noah Gragson
6. Alex Bowman
7. Chase Briscoe
8. Ryan Preece
9. Austin Dillon
10. Carson Hocevar
11. Kaz Grala
12. Corey LaJoie
13. Harrison Burton
14. John Hunter Nemechek
15. Todd Gilliland
16. Daniel Hemric
17. Zane Smith
18. Erik Jones
19. Timmy Hill, seven laps down
20. Austin Cindric, 18 laps down
The 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway will follow suit on Sunday, May 19, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, with the green flag scheduled to wave around 8:30 p.m. ET.
