From starting on the pole position to racing his way to Victory Lane, William Byron rebounded from a four-race streak of not finishing in the top five to claiming his second NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2024 season in the fourth annual EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas on Sunday, March 24.
“I feel like I made a lot of mistakes in the last 10 laps, just little micro errors and Christopher [Bell] was really fast there on the longer run,’’ Byron said on FOX. “This sport is just so hard and it’s so difficult week in and week out to show up and have fast cars. We’ve had a little bit of a rough stretch the last few weeks, but just put a lot of preparation in this past week and just thankful for the team I have around me and all the people back home as well. Just super thankful to have this opportunity. It’s just a lot of fun to win races and it’s really difficult, too. We’re gonna enjoy this one.’’
The 2024 Daytona 500 champion from Charlotte, North Carolina, led five times for a race-high 42 of 68 scheduled laps in an event where he led the field to the green flag from pole position. After leading the first 12 laps before surrendering the top spot to pit under green as part of a strategic move, Byron would cycle back to the lead on three additional occasions throughout the event, with his latest occurring on Lap 44 after he overtook Ross Chastain for the top spot.
Then after both pitting and beating Chastain off of pit road first in what would be the start of the final cycle of green flag pit stops with 24 laps remaining, Byron returned to the lead with 17 laps remaining. He would then fend off a late charge from Christopher Bell to become the first repeat winner of the 2024 season with his first victory at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, March 23, Byron secured his first Cup pole position of the 2024 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 129.636 mph in 94.696 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ty Gibbs, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 129.651 mph in 94.685 seconds.
Prior to the event, the following names that included Chris Buescher, Timmy Hill and Ryan Preece dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Byron and Gibbs battled for the lead as the field fanned out entering the first uphill turn. With Byron retaining the lead despite nearly missing the first turn, Tyler Reddick moved into the runner-up spot as he settled behind Byron while Gibbs battled teammate Christopher Bell and Corey LaJoie to retain third place. Byron would lead through a series of left and right-hand turns from Turns 2 to 9 as the field continued to fan out and jostle for early positions.
Amid the battles, Byron would continue to lead from Turn 10 to 19 as he navigated his way to Turn 20 and returned to the frontstretch to lead the first lap. By then, Bubba Wallace and Martin Truex Jr. pitted under green after both made contact with Corey LaJoie off Turn 11.
With the field remaining under green flag conditions, Byron would retain the lead by more than a second over Reddick and continue to lead by the fifth lap mark. Behind, Ty Gibbs trailed in third place ahead of teammate Bell and Ross Chastain while Austin Cindric, Denny Hamlin, AJ Allmendinger, Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott were scored in the top 10. By then, Harrison Burton had plummeted below the leaderboard after he got bumped and sent for a spin by Ryan Preece in Turn 1.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Byron extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Ty Gibbs followed by teammate Bell while Reddick dropped to fourth place ahead of Chastain. By then, Allmendinger was in sixth ahead of Kyle Busch and Hamlin while Kyle Larson and Daniel Suarez were in the top 10.
A few laps later, green flag pit stops commenced as Reddick, Justin Haley, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Chris Buescher, Preece and Harrison Burton pitted. Amid the pit stops, Chase Briscoe served a pass-through penalty for cutting the corners in Turn 4. A multitude of names including Hamlin, Busch, Elliott and Shane van Gisbergen would pit during the proceeding laps before Byron surrendered the lead to pit on Lap 13. With Byron leading, Bell, who had yet to pit, cycled into the lead.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 15, Bell captured his second Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Suarez trailed in second followed by Michael McDowell, Cindric, Austin Dillon and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., all of whom have yet to pit, while Byron, Gibbs, Reddick and Chastain ended up in the top 10.
Under the stage break, select names that included Suarez, Dillon, Stenhouse, Daniel Hemric, Brad Keselowski and Kaz Grala pitted while the rest led by Bell and McDowell remained on the track.
The second stage period started on Lap 18 as Bell and McDowell occupied the front row. Bell and McDowell battled for the lead through the first uphill turn as the field fanned out. With Byron nearly making contact with Bell through the turn, the latter retained the lead entering Turn 2. Byron overtook McDowell for the runner-up spot as McDowell went wide through the first turn while Gibbs and Reddick battled for fourth place,
Bell continued to lead through a series of left and right-hand turns from Turns 2 to 9 before he navigated through a hard braking, left-hand turn in Turn 11. With Bell leading the field back to the frontstretch, Byron retained second ahead of Reddick and Gibbs while Chastain occupied fifth place in front of Larson, Busch, Elliott, McDowell and Alex Bowman.
Two laps later, Byron battled and cycled past Bell from Turns 12 to 19 to reassume the lead. By then, Wallace was trying to rally from being spun by Brad Keselowski in Turn 15. More on-track carnage would ensue during the proceeding laps as rookie Josh Berry spun in Turn 11 while Larson would then get turned in Turn 11 after he got hit by Bell just past Lap 21.
Nearing the Lap 25, Byron was leading by more than two seconds over Reddick as Gibbs, Chastain and Bell trailed in the top five. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch occupied sixth place ahead of Allmendinger, Elliott, Bowman and Shane van Gisbergen while Hamlin, Justin Haley, rookie Carson Hocevar, Buescher and Joey Logano were battling in the top 15. By then, a bevy of names including Bell and Suarez pitted while Kamui Kobayashi spun in Turn 8 after getting bumped by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who also spun amid the on-track contact with Kobayashi.
During the proceeding laps, more green flag pit stops ensued as the leader Byron and a host of names pitted, with Denny Hamlin remaining on the track to inherit the lead in his No. 11 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry XSE.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 30, Hamlin, who remained on the track, captured his first Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Blaney settled in second ahead of Martin Truex Jr., Todd Gilliland, Preece and Keselowski while John Hunter Nemechek, Byron, Hemric and Berry ended up in the top 10.
During the stage break, some, including the leader Hamlin, pitted while the rest led by Byron remained on the track.
With 35 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Byron and Chastain occupied the front row. At the start, Byron and Chastain battled for the lead as the field fanned out entering the first uphill turn. Through the first turn, Byron locked his tires and went wide, allowing Chastain to overtake both Byron and Gibbs and move into the lead through the series of right and left-hand turns from Turns 2 to 9. Chastain managed to retain the lead through the final 12 turns as he led the following lap while Byron battled and overtook Gibbs for the runner-up spot.
Five laps later, Chastain stabilized his advantage to within a second over Byron and nearly two seconds over Gibbs while Bowman was running fourth ahead of a battle between Elliott, Busch and Reddick for fifth. Soon after, however, Elliott was assessed a pass-through penalty for cutting the course in Turn 4. In addition, Busch spun in Turn 1 after getting hit by Bell’s No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry XSE.
Then with 27 laps remaining, Byron made his move beneath Chastain’s No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Turn 20 and battled dead even with him through the frontstretch to reclaim the lead. Another three laps later, Byron led Chastain to pit road for pit service under green, where the former managed to exit ahead of the latter following the service.
As the laps dwindled and with each of the front-runners and the field diving to pit road for green flag service, Byron cycled back as the leader with 17 laps remaining after initial leader Truex pitted. With Byron leading, teammate Alex Bowman moved into second while Gibbs cycled to third place.
Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Byron was leading by more than two seconds over teammate Bowman while Gibbs, Reddick and Bell trailed in the top five. Byron would extend his advantage to more than three seconds over teammate Bowman with 10 laps remaining as Gibbs started to gain ground on Bowman for second place.
With five laps remaining, Byron continued to lead in his No. 24 RAPTOR Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 by more than three seconds over Gibbs. Meanwhile, Bell was running in third place while Bowman dropped to fourth ahead of Reddick, Allmendinger, Chastain, Buescher, Busch and Chase Briscoe.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Byron remained as the leader by more than a second over Bell, who overtook teammate Gibbs for the runner-up spot two laps earlier. Despite Bell mounting a late charge to keep Byron close within his sights, Byron hit his marks on all 20 turns smoothly for a final time as he returned to the frontstretch victorious to claim his second checkered flag of the 2024 Cup Series season.
With the victory, Byron achieved his 12th career win in the NASCAR Cup Series, his second of the season, his first since winning the 2024 Daytona 500 and his second on a road-course venue after winning at Watkins Glen International last August. He also became the first competitor to achieve multiple Cup victories in the 2024 campaign and the fourth competitor to win a Cup event at Circuit of the Americas in the series’ four-year run at the circuit.
Byron’s Circuit of the Americas victory was also the second ever for Hendrick Motorsports and the second NASCAR win of the weekend for the organization after teammate Kyle Larson won Saturday’s Xfinity event in Austin.
Bell, who led nine laps, settled in the runner-up spot despite having a heated post-race conversation with Kyle Busch who expressed his displeasure to Bell over the contact that sent Busch for a spin.
“Obviously once I got to [Byron], it was going to be tough to pass him,” Bell said. “I just needed a couple mistakes. William has been really, really good on the road courses and he was flawless when it mattered today. Obviously, [Kyle Busch]’s very upset, which he ended up turned around. I had no intentions of turning him. I’m sure we’ll talk it out before the next race.”
Ty Gibbs tied his career-best result in third place while Alex Bowman and Tyler Reddick finished in the top five. AJ Allmendinger, Chastain, Buescher, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. ended up in the top 10 in the final running order.
*Following the post-race inspection process, Justin Haley, who initially finished 17th, was demoted to 39th, dead last, due to his Rick Ware Racing entry not meeting minimum post-race weights.
There were 11 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured two cautions for four laps, both for stage break periods. In addition, 33 of 39 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the sixth event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Martin Truex Jr. leads the regular-season standings by five points over Ty Gibbs, nine over Ryan Blaney, 14 over Denny Hamlin and 15 over Kyle Larson.
Results.
1. William Byron, 42 laps led
2. Christopher Bell, nine laps led, Stage 1 winner
3. Ty Gibbs, one lap led
4. Alex Bowman
5. Tyler Reddick, one lap led
6. AJ Allmendinger
7. Ross Chastain, 10 laps led
8. Chris Buescher
9. Kyle Busch
10. Martin Truex Jr., two laps led
11. Joey Logano
12. Ryan Blaney
13. Chase Briscoe
14. Denny Hamlin, three laps led, Stage 2 winner
15. Bubba Wallace
16. Chase Elliott
17. Kyle Larson
18. Austin Cindric
19. Zane Smith
20. Shane van Gisbergen
21. John Hunter Nemechek
22. Carson Hocevar
23. Ryan Preece
24. Corey LaJoie
25. Austin Dillon
26. Todd Gilliland
27. Kaz Grala
28. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
29. Kamui Kobayashi
30. Harrison Burton
31. Daniel Suarez
32. Erik Jones
33. Brad Keselowski
34. Noah Gragson, one lap down
35. Josh Berry, one lap down
36. Timmy Hill, two laps down
37. Daniel Hemric, two laps down
38. Michael McDowell – OUT, Steering
39. Justin Haley – Disqualified
Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia. The event is scheduled to occur next weekend on Easter Sunday, March 31, at 7 p.m. ET on FOX.
Corey Heim has enough fuel to capture his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) win of the season on Saturday in the XPEL 225 at Circuit of The Americas (COTA). Heim and the Tricon Garage No. 11 Toyota led a race-high of 31 laps for his win at the 3.41-mile road course and the sixth of his NCTS career.
“On the last lap of the last restart, I stuttered a little bit on the right-handers because the fuel pick up is on the other side. The whole fuel load would go to the other side. I thought I was going to be out by the time I came around, but luckily I had a couple of left-handers at the end of the course, and I had fuel, but regardless of that, I’m super thankful for everyone at TRICON Garage, Toyota Racing.” Heim said.
“I worked my butt off for this one. With the one (road course) race a year for the Truck Series, I felt like it was just so important for me to prove my road course ability. I knew I needed to capitalize on today, and I did. After it was done with all of the late cautions, I was glad it was over, and it was time to celebrate. It definitely means a lot,” Heim added.
Teammate Taylor Gray recovered from an early penalty and stretched his fuel mileage to finish second in the Tricon’s No. 17 Toyota. The second-place finish ties his career-best with a runner-up finish and also gives TRICON Garage their first 1-2 finish.
“I can’t thank everyone at TRICON Garage enough for bringing me a really good JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro. I thought I ruined our race at the beginning of the race by getting that penalty, but just can’t thank all of our guys enough. We put ourselves in position and Jeff (Hensley, crew chief) did a great job with the strategy, just couldn’t attack on those last couple of laps. Something to figure out on how to give him a little bit of a tougher race at the end, but those guys executed all day long, and we have to keep executing ourselves,” said Gray.
Ty Majeski finished third. Polesitter and rookie Connor Zilisch recovered from a lap down and finished fourth after overshooting the first turn on the first lap, and NASCAR Cup Series regular Ross Chastain rounded out the top five.
The rear-end housing broke off the No. 04 Roper Racing Chevrolet driven by Marco Andretti, bringing out the red flag and extending the race by four laps.
Heim leads the series standings by 10 points over Majeski, Tyler Ankrum is third, Gray fourth, and Rajah Caruth rounds out the top-5 in the standings after five races.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series heads to Martinsville Speedway for the Long John Silver’s 200 on April 5th for the sixth race of the season at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race – XPEL 225 Circuit of The Americas Austin, Texas Saturday, March 23, 2024 (Pos, Driver, Make, Laps)
William Byron won the Busch Light Pole at Circuit of the Americas and will lead the field to green Sunday afternoon in the Cup Series EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. It’s his first pole this season, his 13th career pole and his second-straight pole at the 3.426-mile track.
“I feel really happy with the way the week’s gone and I feel very fresh going into this race,” Byron said. “We’ve just got to go through the process of the race. Just manage the runs, have enough long-run speed. I feel we got a good balance with our car. We’ve been struggling to have smooth races, so this is a good start.”
The Hendrick Motorsports driver was fastest overall in his No. 24 Chevrolet during practice Saturday and he carried that momentum over to earn the top spot in the qualifying session with a lap of 94.696 mph.
Ty Gibbs will join him on the front row in the No. 54 Toyota as 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick will start third in the No. 45 Toyota. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell (No. 20 Toyota) and Spire Motorsports’ Corey LaJoie (No. 7 Chevrolet) claimed the remaining top five starting spots. It will be LaJoie’s best Cup Series career starting position.
Ross Chastain, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top 10.
The highest qualifying Ford was the No. 2 Team Penske Ford driven by Austin Cindric who will start 11th. Rookie Shane van Gisbergen will start 12th in the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet. You can tune into the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX with radio coverage provided by PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Notes:
Kyle Larson was late to the qualifying session as the Hendrick Motorsports team had to change a rotor. Larson will start Sunday’s race in 15th.
Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi, who will be making his second NASCAR start, qualified 25th in the No. 50 23XI Racing Toyota.
NASCAR travels to Circuit of the Americas this weekend where all three national series will compete at the 3.41-mile track for the third consecutive year.
There have been three different Cup Series race winners at COTA – Hendrick Motorsport’s Chase Elliott (2021), Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain (2022) and defending race winner, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick. Kyle Busch won the Xfinity Series race at COTA in 2021 and AJ Allmendinger has won the last two events, in 2022 and 2023.
Todd Gilliland won the inaugural Truck Series race in the Front Row Motorsports No. 38. Zane Smith drove to victory lane in the next two races at COTA in 2022 and 2023, also driving the No. 38.
Shane van Gisbergen, currently driving full-time in the Kaulig Racing No. 97 entry in the Xfinity Series, will also compete in the Cup Series race this weekend in the No. 16 Chevrolet.
NASCAR PressPass will be available post-qualifying and post-race for all series.
All times are Eastern.
Friday, March 22 3:30 p.m.: Truck Series Practice (Timed–20 minutes) All entries – FS1 4 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying (Impound) Group A & B/Multi-Vehicle/2 Rounds – FS1 5 p.m.: NASCAR Race Hub – FS1 5:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice (Timed-20 Minutes) All entries – FS1 6 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying, Impound, Group A & B/Multi-Vehicle/2 Rounds – FS1
Saturday, March 23 10 a.m.: Cup Series Practice (Timed-2 Rounds) Groups A & B, 20 Minutes each FS2/PRN/SiriusXM 11:30 a.m.: Cup Series Qualifying (Impound) Group A & B/Multi-Vehicle/2 Rounds FS1/PRN/SiriusXM
12:30 p.m.: NASCAR RaceDay – FS1 1:30 p.m.: Truck Series XPEL 225 – Stages 12/26/42 Laps=143.22 Miles FS1/MRN/SiriusXM Purse: $794,098
4 p.m.: NASCAR RaceDay – FS1 5 p.m.: Xfinity Series Focused Health 250 – Stages 14/30/46 Laps=156.86 Miles FS1/PRN/SiriusXM Purse: $1,778,948
Sunday, March 24 2 p.m.: NASCAR RaceDay – FS1 3 p.m.: NASCAR RaceDay – FOX 3:30 p.m.: Cup Series EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix Stages 15/30/68 Laps=231.88 Miles FOX/PRN/SiriusXM Purse: $9,740,789
1. Kyle Larson: Larson suffered a late pit lane penalty, damaging his hopes for a high finish, but salvaged a strong fifth-place at Bristol.
“The Bristol surface really did a number on tires,” Larson said. “So, it’s all about conserving your tires, which is difficult for race car drivers who just want to go fast. We have to toe the fine line between burning rubber without burning too much rubber.”
2. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex battled to the end, but couldn’t quite catch Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin and settled for second in the Food City 500.
“I think we’re all glad we’re not racing on dirt at Bristol,” Truex said. “I think the exciting racing that took place on Sunday is concrete evidence of the surface we should race on going forward.”
3. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin led 163 laps, taking charge late and securing the win in the Food City 500, earning his first victory of the season.
“This race was all about tire management,” Hamlin said. “Luckily, I was able to manage mine best. That’s why, after the race, I requested that all queries for interviews be addressed as follows: ‘I’d like to speak to the manager.’”
4. Ryan Blaney: Blaney started on the pole and finished 16th in a wild Food City 500.
“I haven’t finished worse than 16th all year,” Blaney said. “I may be winless, but my consistency is unmatched. I guess that runs in the family because my father Dave also consistently did not win.”
5. Christopher Bell: Bell ran up front for most of the day at Bristol, but suffered a late flat tire and finished 10th in the Food City 500.
“Goodyear really had to stay busy to keep everyone supplied with tires,” Bell said. “There was a point in which every team was wondering if we would even get extra sets of tires. It went from ‘tire wear’ to ‘tire where?’”
6. Ross Chastain: Chastain finished 15th at Bristol.
“My car featured the Busch Light Fishing paint scheme,” Chastain said. “Busch Light would like to remind people to not overdo it if you’re out on the water fishing while enjoying your Busch Light, lest you get ‘fish fried.’”
7. Chris Buescher: Buescher posted his third top-10 finish with a seventh in the Food City 500.
“The No. 17 Build Submarines Ford was strong all day at Bristol,” Buescher said. “Like every other driver, I ran much of the race worrying about whether I’d blow a tire or tires. So, I don’t know what was the biggest theme of the race, stress on tires, or stress about tires.”
8. William Byron: Disaster struck early for Byron at Bristol, as contact between Christopher Bell and Joey Logano sent Byron into the wall on Lap 20, resulting in a broken toe link. Byron finished 35th, eight laps down.
“I’m not happy about what happened,” Byron said. “Now, if you ask me about it, I’d rather not talk about it, which is the opposite of what Jerry Falwell, Jr.’s pool boy did in the 2022 Netflix series ‘God Forbid.’”
9. Ty Gibbs: Gibbs swept Stages 1 and 2 at Bristol, but tire troubles late cost him a chance for the win. He still posted a solid ninth in the Food City 500.
“Toyotas dominated at Bristol,” Gibbs said. “I’m sure that doesn’t make Ford and Chevy drivers happy. Their cars were made in America, but the drivers were mad in America.”
10. Chase Elliott: Eliott finished eight at Bristol.
“Tire wear created a lot of what is known as ‘marbles’ on the track,” Elliott said. “When you can actually see the pieces of your tires coming off and ending up on the track, that can be very scary. But as professional drivers, we have to deal with it. And the only way to deal with marbles on the track is to have marbles in your sack.”
In an event where tire management was the name of the game, Denny Hamlin implemented his racing roots by preserving his tires to the very end, which enabled him to fend off teammate Martin Truex Jr. and win a wild conclusion to the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 17.
The three-time Daytona 500 champion from Chesterfield, Virginia, led 13 times for a race-high 163 of 500-scheduled laps after starting in third place and quickly making his presence at the front known by leading for the first time on Lap 21. Then, amid a series of caution periods and tire wear issues that plagued several front-runners and stars, Hamlin preserved his tires and managed to carve his way through traffic and run up front.
He traded the lead on several occasions with his fellow competitors and Joe Gibbs Racing teammates and stretched his worn tires further than his competitors before pitting under green with 53 laps remaining. After cycling back to the lead shortly after, he then managed to fend off a late challenge from Truex while leading 47 of the remaining 48 laps, which was enough for him to claim his first checkered flag of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup on Saturday, March 16, Ryan Blaney secured his first Cup pole position of the 2024 season and the 10th of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 124.954 mph in 15.356 seconds. Joining him on the front row was rookie Josh Berry, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 124.792 mph in 15.376 seconds.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Blaney muscled his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead to take the lead and managed to fend off both Berry and teammate Joey Logano for a full circuit around the Last Great Coliseum’s concrete surface to lead the first lap. Blaney and Berry battled dead even for the lead during the following two laps before Berry muscled his No. 4 SunnyD Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead of Blaney who fell back to second in front of teammate Logano and Chase Briscoe while Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott joined the battle.
Through Laps 5 to 10, Berry retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Blaney while Briscoe, Hamlin and Elliott were running in the top five. Behind, Michael McDowell moved up to sixth followed by Bubba Wallace and Truex while Logano fell back to ninth in front of Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell and William Byron.
Through the first 20 scheduled laps, Berry was leading by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Hamlin followed by Blaney, Elliott and Wallace while Chase Briscoe, Truex Jr., McDowell, Larson and Brad Keselowski were running in the top 10 ahead of Harrison Burton, Erik Jones, Ty Gibbs, William Byron and Christopher Bell. Meanwhile, Logano had fallen to 16th ahead of Kyle Busch, rookie Zane Smith, Austin Cindric and Tyler Reddick.
A lap later, however, Hamlin overtook Berry for the lead. By then, Byron, who was running in the top 15, had fallen off the pace after he was hit by Logano, who was hit by Bell first, entering the backstretch, which resulted in Byron getting loose, scraping the backstretch’s outside wall and bumping across Bell before slipping towards the outside wall in Turn 3. Byron would pit with a broken toe link to his No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as the event’s first caution period flew on Lap 22 due to debris reported in between Turns 3 and 4.
During the event’s first caution period, nearly the entire field led by Hamlin pitted for service for the first time while Reddick remained on the track. Following the pit stops amid mixed strategies, Berry exited first with two fresh tires ahead of Wallace, Elliott, Truex, McDowell and Hamlin. Amid the pit stops, Erik Jones was penalized for equipment interference.
When the event restarted under green on Lap 30, Reddick muscled ahead with the lead ahead of Berry and teammate Wallace. As the field cycled back to the frontstretch, however, the caution quickly returned after Reddick received a bump from Berry and was pinned in a tight three-wide battle with Wallace and Berry for the lead entering the frontstretch that got Reddick’s No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE spinning sideways in front of McDowell, Elliott and the field. With Reddick spinning below the track, he was then hit by rookie Zane Smith while Daniel Hemric, Corey LaJoie, AJ Allmendinger and rookie Carson Hocevar, all of whom were running towards the rear of the field, all wrecked across the frontstretch while stepping off the gas.
As the event restarted under green on Lap 38, Wallace fended off Berry from the outside lane to retain the lead while McDowell followed suit in a close third place. With Wallace still leading just past the Lap 40 mark, Hamlin and Elliott battled dead even for fourth place while Blaney and Ty Gibbs battled for sixth. Berry, however, would make his move beneath Wallace to reassume the lead through the frontstretch by Lap 41 while McDowell tried to follow suit. This allowed Hamlin to narrow the gap and challenge McDowell for third place, which he would succeed in doing so on Lap 44 while Blaney and Elliott joined the battle. Amid the early battles towards the front, Berry continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over Wallace.
On Lap 47, Wallace cycled his No. 23 Leidos Toyota Camry XSE past Berry to reassume the lead. Team owner Hamlin would quickly follow suit in second along with Blaney and Elliott as Berry settled in fifth by the Lap 50 mark, where Wallace would continue to lead. Three laps later, however, Hamlin assumed the lead in his No. 11 Express Oil Change Toyota Camry XSE following a strong move to the outside lane with four fresh tires entering the backstretch over Wallace. Blaney would also follow suit to move into the runner-up spot followed by Elliott while Wallace fell back to fourth as he was being challenged by Brad Keselowski, Ty Gibbs and Briscoe for more.
Just past the Lap 60 mark, Hamlin was overtaken by Elliott for the race lead in front of a stacked field jostling for positions amid two lanes. With Elliott leading in his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, Blaney battled Hamlin for second in front of Keselowski while Kyle Busch battled Wallace for fifth place.
Nearing the Lap 70 mark, the event’s second caution period flew due to debris reported across the frontstretch after Zane Smith blew a right-front tire. By then, Blaney had led Laps 65 to 68 before the lead was acquired by Kyle Busch, starting on Lap 69. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Busch returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Hamlin exited pit road first ahead of Blaney and Elliott while Busch, Keselowski, Briscoe and Bell followed suit. Amid the pit stops, McDowell was penalized for having too many crew members over the pit wall.
With the event restarting under green on Lap 79, Hamlin retained the lead after rocketing away from the field past the restart zone as Blaney and Elliott battled for second in front of Busch, Keselowski and Briscoe. With the field behind battling dead even amongst one another for spots, Hamlin would continue to lead until Blaney shoved his way into the lead through the frontstretch on Lap 83. Blaney would stretch his advantage to as high as two-tenths of a second during the following six laps until Hamlin cycled back into the lead on Lap 89. Behind, Kyle Busch prevailed in a tight battle with Elliott for third place as he tried to close in on the two leaders while Keselowski, Briscoe, Bell, Larson Ty Gibbs and Wallace followed suit in the top 10.
Through the first 100 scheduled laps, Hamlin stretched his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Busch followed by Blaney, Elliott and Keselowski while Bell, Briscoe, Gibbs, Larson and John Hunter Nemechek occupied the top 10 in front of Wallace, Alex Bowman, Chris Buescher, Berry and Justin Haley. Meanwhile, Erik Jones was in 16th ahead of Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Truex, Logano and Todd Gilliland while Ryan Preece, McDowell, Austin Cindric, LaJoie and Ross Chastain trailed in the top 25.
Ten laps later, Hamlin continued to lead by over three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Busch as Blaney and Bell were running third and fourth, with teammates Elliott and Larson fending off Gibbs for fifth and sixth. Hamlin would then stretch his advantage to more than a second over Blaney, with he and Bell overtaking Busch by the Lap 115 mark. By then, Larson retained fifth in front of Gibbs while Elliott was overtaken by Keselowski and Buescher for seventh and eighth.
Then on Lap 120 and with the majority of the field being mired with tire wear concerns, Blaney overtook Hamlin for the lead as Gibbs and Larson followed suit while Hamlin went wide up the track in Turn 1. By then, Busch and Wallace were falling off the pace and losing a bevy of spots amid concerns of losing their tires towards the end of the first stage period. Gibbs then overtook Blaney for the lead on Lap 121 as he proceeded to lap Austin Cindric while Larson moved into the runner-up spot.
Two laps later, the caution flew after Busch spun in Turn 2 after he lost a right-tire tire to his No. 8 FICO Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, where Busch would proceed to reverse his entry through the backstretch before spinning it back to the front below the apron as he lost a lap to the leaders. Busch’s incident occurred after Hamlin had hit the outside wall entering the frontstretch due to getting bumped by Byron, with Hamlin also cutting a tire but proceeding straight.
Busch’s incident was enough for the first stage period to conclude under caution as Ty Gibbs captured his first Cup stage victory of the 2024 season and of his career. Larson settled in second followed by Buescher, Keselowski and Nemechek while Blaney, Truex, Preece, Berry and Bell were scored in the top 10.
Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Gibbs returned to pit road for service and for another round of fresh tires. Following the pit stops, Larson edged Gibbs off of pit road to exit first while Keselowski, Blaney, Buescher and Nemechek followed suit.
The second stage period started on Lap 140 as Larson and Keselowski occupied the front row. At the start, Larson muscled ahead with a brief advantage through the first two turns and the backstretch before Gibbs rocketed his No. 54 SiriusXM Toyota Camry XSE back into the lead during the following lap. John Hunter Nemechek would follow suit in second along with Berry, with the latter then battling Nemechek for second and challenging Gibbs for the lead by the Lap 145 while Larson fell back to fourth along with Nemechek. Shortly after, teammate Martin Truex Jr., who was quick to carve his way to the front, rocketed his No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry XSE into the lead by Lap 146 before teammate Gibbs cycled back into the lead by Lap 150. By then, all four Joe Gibbs Racing entries were running in the top five while Larson was battling for second in front of Bell, Truex and Hamlin.
On Lap 154 and with the field running stacked amongst one another through the high banks of Bristol, Larson assumed the lead. Gibbs would reassume the lead three laps later before teammate Hamlin cycled into the lead another two laps.
By Lap 175, Gibbs, who reassumed the lead four laps earlier, was leading by nearly two-tenths of a second over teammate Truex followed by Berry, teammate Bell and Buescher while Keselowski, Larson, Logano, Preece and Nemechek occupied the top 10. Meanwhile, Hamlin had fallen to 11th in front of Blaney, Haley, Daniel Suarez and Kaz Grala.
A lap later, the caution flew after Stenhouse, who was running in the top 20, was mired in a midfield stack-up that started with him making contact with McDowell through the backstretch before he made contact with Hemric and Zane Smith through Turn 4 as Stenhouse’s No. 47 Ball Park Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 emerged wobbling entering the frontstretch while Hemric and Smith hit the outside wall. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Gibbs returned to pit road for service and fresh tires. Following the pit stops, Buescher exited first followed by Gibbs and Truex while Bell, Gilliland, Larson, Logano and Keselowski followed suit. Not long after, Ty Gibbs made an extra pit stop for qualifying scuff tires to preserve his sticker tires.
As the field restarted under green on Lap 189, Buescher retained the lead from the outside lane over Bell and Truex. Buescher would continue to lead by the Lap 200 mark before Bell would zip by Buescher through the frontstretch during the following lap. Teammate Truex would follow suit in second over Buescher while Nemechek and Larson were running in the top five in front of a stacked field. A few laps later, Daniel Suarez nearly wrecked after making contact with Justin Haley through Turns 1 and 2 while battling for a top-10 spot, but he kept his car straight and dropped to 17th while the event remained under green flag conditions.
Twenty-five laps later and amid a series of jostling for positions occurring around the field, Truex cycled past teammate Bell for the lead. By then, teammate Gibbs carved his way back to third place followed by Nemechek and Keselowski while Logano was running sixth ahead of Berry, Hamlin, Grala and Larson.
Another three laps later, the caution flew after Kyle Busch, who was mired in 31st and a lap down, spun for a second time on his own in Turn 2. With nearly the entire field led by Bell pitting again, Bell retained the lead after exiting first with four fresh tires while Nemechek, Logano, Hamlin, Larson and Truex followed suit in the top six. Back on the track, however, Spire Motorsports’ LaJoie and Hocevar remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Blaney was penalized for speeding on pit road.
With the event restarting with 11 laps remaining to the second stage’s conclusion, LaJoie led the field entering the first turn before Bell used the four fresh tires to his advantage as he zipped his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry XSE past the Spire entries for the lead. Logano would quickly follow suit in second along with Nemechek as the field stacked up while navigating past Hocevar and LaJoie.
On Lap 242, Logano gave Bell a bump through Turns 1 and 2 in his bid for the lead, but Bell withstood his ground as he retained the lead. Logano would give Bell another hit on the side during the following lap as they both battled dead even for the lead in front of Nemechek and Gibbs. With Logano claiming the lead and clearing Bell by Lap 245, Gibbs navigated his way past teammate Bell for second during the following lap while Keselowski and Nemechek battled Bell for third. In the process, Logano retained a narrow lead over Gibbs before Gibbs claimed the lead back on Lap 248.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 250, Ty Gibbs claimed his second consecutive Cup stage victory of the day and of the 2024 season. Keselowski overtook Logano through the frontstretch to claim second place while Nemechek, Bell, Truex, Hamlin, Larson, Wallace and Ryan Preece were scored in the top 10.
During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Gibbs peeled off the track to pit road. Following the pit stops, Gibbs retained the lead after exiting pit road first with two fresh tires ahead of Logano, Truex, Bell, Gilliland, Nemechek and Keselowski, who was hit on the right front side by Austin Cindric while trying to exit his pit stall. Amid the tire concerns generated by all teams since the event’s start, Goodyear released an extra set of tires for all teams to use.
With 236 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as teammates Gibbs and Truex occupied the front row. At the start, Gibbs retained the lead over Truex while teammate Bell settled in third ahead of Logano, Nemechek and Keselowski. With the field stacked amid two lanes, Gibbs stretched his advantage to three-tenths of a second with 230 laps remaining. By then, Gilliland moved up to fourth as he was running in between Bell and Nemechek while Keselowski and Logano dropped to eighth and ninth as they were running behind Larson and Hamlin on the track. In addition, Ross Chastain was running 10th on two fresh tires as he was trying to retain the spot over Berry and Wallace.
With 115 laps remaining, Truex cycled past teammate Gibbs for the lead as teammate Bell trailed by half a second in third place. By then, teammate Hamlin was running in sixth place behind Nemechek and Larson while Berry and Haley cracked the top 10. In addition, Logano was plummeting in the leaderboard as he had dropped out of the top 20 while nearly making contact with teammate Blaney.
Down to the final 200 laps of the event, Truex was leading by three-tenths of a second over teammate Bell while teammate Gibbs trailed by half a second in third place. Behind, Nemechek was in fourth place ahead of Hamlin, thus placing five Toyota competitors in the top five, while Keselowski, Larson, Berry, Gilliland and Haley were running in the top 10 ahead of Grala, Chastain, Blaney, McDowell and Wallace. Meanwhile, Logano dropped to 27th behind Austin Dillon and Buescher was in 20th while Elliott was mired in 23rd in between Hocevar and LaJoie.
Nine laps later, the caution flew after Berry, who was running in the top 10, slipped sideways and did a full 360 spin entering the backstretch, but managed to keep his No. 4 entry off the wall. By then, all four Joe Gibbs Racing competitors led by Truex were running first through fourth in front of Keselowski, Larson and Nemechek. As the lead lap field led by Truex drove to pit road for service, Hamlin emerged with the lead after he exited pit road first ahead of teammates Bell and Gibbs followed by Larson while teammate Truex exited fifth ahead of Keselowski, Nemechek and Blaney.
With the event restarting under green with 178 laps remaining, Hamlin muscled ahead with the lead through the first two turns before teammate Gibbs rocketed past Hamlin through the backstretch to return to the lead. Behind, Hamlin fended off teammates Bell and Truex to retain second while Larson tried to challenge Truex for fourth place as he was running ahead of Gilliland, Nemechek and McDowell. As the field behind jostled for late positions, Gibbs stabilized his advantage to three-tenths of a second over teammate Hamlin with 170 laps remaining.
With 160 laps remaining, Gibbs continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over teammate Hamlin while teammate Bell trailed in third place by eight-tenths of a second. With a three-wide action ensuing between Gilliland, Berry and Alex Bowman for top-15 spots and more battles ensuring around the Last Great Coliseum, Gibbs stabilized his narrow advantage to two-tenths of a second over teammate Hamlin while teammate Bell, Larson, Keselowski and teammate Truex were running third to sixth with 150 laps remaining. Additionally, Haley was running seventh in front of McDowell, Blaney and Bubba Wallace while Kaz Grala and Nemechek settled in the top 12.
Through the final 135 laps of the event, Hamlin zipped by teammate Gibbs for the lead through the frontstretch. By then, Daniel Hemric and Noah Gragson each made separate contact with the outside wall, but the event remained under green flag conditions.
Two laps later, the caution returned after Cindric, who was trying to remain on the lead lap from the leader Hamlin, slipped up the track while avoiding Gilliland and made contact with Stenhouse, who was a lap down, that sent both for a spin in Turn 4 as Hamlin, Gibbs and Bell scattered to avoid the chaos. The caution period prompted the leaders to return to pit road for service, where Hamlin retained the lead after exiting pit road first ahead of teammates Bell and Gibbs along with Larson, teammate Truex and Keselowski. Amid the pit stops, Larson was penalized for an equipment interference penalty.
During the ensuing restart period with 121 laps remaining, Hamlin retained the lead after muscling away from teammates Bell and Gibbs, though Bell managed to muscle ahead and lead the proceeding lap before Hamlin reclaimed the top spot by the next lap as Gibbs battled teammate Bell in front of teammate Truex and Keselowski. As Hamlin retained the lead in front of his three Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota teammates with 110 laps remaining, Keselowski settled in fifth ahead of McDowell while Haley was running in seventh ahead of Blaney, Wallace and Nemechek.
Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Gibbs, who reassumed the lead from teammate Hamlin a lap earlier, was leading ahead of teammates Bell, Hamlin and Truex, respectively, while Keselowski retained fifth ahead of McDowell, Haley, Nemechek, Wallace and Berry.
Fifteen laps later, Gibbs continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over teammate Bell as teammates Hamlin and Truex followed suit in the top four. Another nine laps later, Hamlin nearly took the lead from teammate Gibbs, but he had to move up the track to avoid hitting Gilliland as Gibbs retained the lead in front of Hamlin and Truex while Bell was in fourth ahead of Keselowski.
Not long after and with the concern of tire wear returning amongst the teams, Hamlin, who assumed the lead with 75 laps remaining, was leading over teammate Truex. By then, a bevy of competitors including Berry, Blaney, Bell, Larson and Gilliland were losing ground of the leaders due to tire wear. Gibbs would then lose ground of the lead as his tires were wearing out, which allowed Keselowski to move up to third place. With Briscoe also falling off the pace, Blaney fell off the pace after he lost a tire, which forced him to pit, and Larson pitted under green. Bell would then pit under green with 60 laps remaining due to a flat tire while Hamlin retained a narrow lead over teammate Truex as he was trying to preserve his tires.
With 55 laps remaining and with nearly the entire field being pinned a lap down after having made a pit stop under green for fresh tires, the top-six competitors led by Hamlin were scored on the lead lap. Two laps later, Hamlin surrendered the lead to pit under green as Hocevar made contact with the wall, though the event remained under green flag conditions. Teammate Truex would pit another two laps later along with Keselowski. Once Alex Bowman pitted from the lead with 49 laps remaining, Hamlin cycled back into the lead.
Down to the final 40 laps of the event, Hamlin was leading by more than a second over teammate Truex while Berry, Keselowski and Larson were scored in the top five ahead of Buescher, Bell, Nemechek, Haley and Bowman. Hamlin’s advantage would then shrink to three-tenths of a second over Truex with 30 laps remaining as they were mired in lapped traffic.
With 20 laps remaining, Hamlin continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over teammate Truex as they both continued to be mired in lapped traffic. With Keselowski scored in third ahead of Berry and Larson, Hamlin managed to navigate his way through the lapped traffic to fend off Truex and retain the lead with 10 laps remaining.
Down to the final five laps of the event, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to four-tenths of a second over Truex as both cleared a majority of the lapped traffic, but the latter kept the former within his sights.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hamlin remained as the leader by half a second over Truex. With Truex unable to mount a final lap charge on his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate for a final circuit, Hamlin was able to preserve his tires and navigate his way around the Bristol circuit smoothly for a final time as he claimed the checkered flag by a second over Truex.
With the victory, Hamlin, who became the fifth winner through the 2024 season’s first five events, recorded his 52nd career win in the NASCAR Cup Series, his fourth at Bristol, with the victory being his first in the spring, and his first since winning the Bristol Night Race last September. The 2024 Cup season marks Hamlin’s 18th season where he has achieved at least one victory in NASCAR’s premier series as he also recorded the second consecutive victory in recent weeks for both Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota.
Photo by Chad Wells for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“[Tire management], That’s what I grew up doing here in the short tracks of the whole mid-Atlantic [region],” Hamlin said on FOX. “South Boston [Speedway], Martinsville [Speedway], all those tracks. It’s just what I grew up doing. Once it became a tire management race, I really liked our chances, but obviously, the veteran in Martin [Truex Jr.], he knew how to do it as well. We just had a great car. Great team. The pit crew just did a phenomenal job all day. Can’t say enough about them. Man, it feels so good to win at Bristol.”
Truex, who has finished in the top 15 through this season’s first four-scheduled events, came home with a strong runner-up result for his first top-five finish of the 2024 campaign.
“Just really proud of my team, everybody on our Auto-Owners Camry,” Truex said. “[Crew chief] James [Small] and the guys did a great job this weekend in having a plan coming here. I guess this tire management thing fit into my wheelhouse here at Bristol. The difference was just coming down to the pits so far behind Denny. I had to use mine [tires] up more than him on the last run and then, the last four or five laps of the race, my right rear [tire] was cored. We gave it a hell of an effort. I had a lot of fun today. Second always hurts a little, but it’s a really good run for us here. It’s been a great season so far for us.”
Keselowski settled in third place while Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson finished in the top five and as the final group of competitors to finish on the lead lap. John Hunter Nemechek, Buescher, Elliott, Ty Gibbs and Bell, who were all a lap down, finished in the top 10.
Notably, Berry finished 12th, pole-sitter Blaney ended up 16th, Logano fell back to 22nd and Kyle Busch ended up 25th behind teammate Austin Dillon.
There were a race-record 54 lead changes for 16 different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 98 laps. In addition, only five of the 36 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the fifth event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Kyle Larson and Truex Jr. are tied for the regular-season lead in the points standings as they are both ahead by seven points over Ty Gibbs, eight over Ryan Blaney and 12 over Denny Hamlin.
Results.
1. Denny Hamlin, 163 laps led
2. Martin Truex Jr., 54 laps led
3. Brad Keselowski, one lap led
4. Alex Bowman, three laps led
5. Kyle Larson, 19 laps led
6. John Hunter Nemechek, one lap down
7. Chris Buescher, one lap down, 17 laps led
8. Chase Elliott, one lap down, five laps led
9. Ty Gibbs, one lap down, 137 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner
10. Christopher Bell, one lap down, 29 laps led
11. Michael McDowell, one lap down
12. Josh Berry, one lap down, 25 laps led
13. Chase Briscoe, two laps down
14. Ryan Preece, two laps down
15. Ross Chastain, two laps down
16. Ryan Blaney, two laps down, 14 laps led
17. Justin Haley, two laps down
18. Daniel Suarez, two laps down
19. Kaz Grala, two laps down
20. Erik Jones, two laps down
21. Corey LaJoie, two laps down, four laps led
22. Joey Logano, two laps down, five laps led
23. AJ Allmendinger, two laps down
24. Austin Dillon, two laps down
25. Kyle Busch, two laps down, five laps led
26. Todd Gilliland, three laps down
27. Carson Hocevar, three laps down
28. Daniel Hemric, four laps down
29. Bubba Wallace, four laps down, 15 laps led
30. Tyler Reddick, five laps down, four laps led
31. Austin Cindric, five laps down
32. Harrison Burton, five laps down
33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., five laps down
34. Noah Gragson, six laps down
35. William Byron, eight laps down
36. Zane Smith – OUT, Engine
Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ fourth annual running of the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. The event is scheduled for next Sunday, March 24, and will air at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
Ryan Blaney captured the Busch Light Pole Award at Bristol Motor Speedway Saturday evening with a lap time of 15.356 seconds at 124.954 mph in his No. 12 Team Penske Ford. It is his first pole at Bristol and the 10th of his career.
Qualifying was challenging as the resin on the inside lane of the concrete track seemed to deteriorate quickly, providing significantly less grip from start to finish during the session.
“Proud of this whole Menards group”, Blaney said. “Our Ford Mustang was fast all day – really good in Round 1 [of qualifying] and made some adjustments for the second round. The track really caught everybody by surprise, honestly. The time fall-off and grip loss behind the wheel was incredible, it was huge. So it was, like, who could not mess up a lap and still put a decent time down?
“That was fun, it was fun working through it. I wish I could do it over again and try to make our car even better because I think there was still some more out there. Proud of everybody at Menards, Ford, Advance Auto Parts, DEX Imaging, Wabash, Wurth and everybody that makes it possible. It’s cool to get our first pole of the year and excited to get going tomorrow.”
“The track kind of caught everybody by surprise,” Blaney said. “The time fall-off and the grip loss behind the wheel was incredible. It was like, ‘Who can not mess up a lap and still put a decent time down?’ Great to get our first pole of the year, and ready to go tomorrow.”
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Josh Berry was second fastest in the No. 4 Ford (124.792 mph) and will start beside Blaney on the front row, claiming his best Cup Series career start.
“It means a lot,” Berry said after qualifying. “Obviously being at Bristol that’s really cool, but anywhere at this point it would mean a lot. These guys have been working really hard and they kept me jacked up and we’ve been putting in the work trying to get better. We just need a mistake-free day tomorrow. If we do that, we’ll be in contention.”
Denny Hamlin was third quickest (124.178 mph) in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, followed by Team Penske’s Joey Logano (123.746 mph) in the No. 22 Ford and Chase Elliott (122.882 mph) in the No. 8 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
Chase Briscoe, Michael McDowell, William Byron, Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson rounded out the top 10 in the qualifying session.
The green flag for the Food City 500 is set for 3:47 p.m. ET Sunday and will be televised on FOX with radio coverage provided by PRN and SiriusXM Radio.
NASCAR CUP SERIES BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY FOOD CITY 500 TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT MARCH 16, 2024
KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 FICO CAMARO ZL1, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series’ practice and qualifying session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Media Availability Quotes:
I KNOW IT’S THE FIRST TIME THAT WE’VE BEEN ON THE CONCRETE HERE IN THE SPRING IN A COUPLE OF YEARS, BUT DO YOU NOTICE AS MUCH OF A CHANGE COMPARED TO OTHER TRACKS THAT WE VISIT TWICE, WHERE YOU’VE GOT A DAYTIME RACE VERSUS THE NIGHT RACE WHEN WE COME BACK IN SEPTEMBER?
“Probably not as much here at Bristol (Motor Speedway) as normal. I would say that both races here tend to act very much more similar than other places we go to. Even Martinsville (Speedway), the way the gaps are between the asphalt and the concrete, they change from spring to fall. But here, being all concrete and not much temperature variation in the concrete surface itself compared to asphalt, you don’t notice as much.”
HAVE YOU SEEN WHERE THEY’VE REPAVED AND PATCHED AT COTA? AND IF SO, HOW WILL THAT IMPACT THE RACE?
“I don’t think it’s going to impact the race any. I have seen it, yeah. I think they got rid of a bump on the exit of turn one, and I think they did a little bit into the backstretch straightaway through 12 or 13, and then out of the carousel and into 19. I don’t foresee it changing a whole lot. Like you’ll have lack of grip probably through the carousel, and then you’ll pickup grip on the exit and be able to go much faster through 19. But then out of 19, it’s back to the old asphalt and turn 20 is very slow with old asphalt being as slick as it is. I don’t know that it really opens up any more opportunities of passing or anything like that, just smoother surface I would imagine.”
WE’RE NOT EXPECTING ANY CHANGE IN HORSEPOWER, BUT LET’S SAY THAT IF NASCAR WERE TO CHANGE THE SPACER AND GIVE YOU MORE HORSEPOWER, WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU NEED TO KNOW? WOULD YOU NEED TO CHECK GEARING, THE TIRES, THE TRANSAXLE? FROM YOUR MECHANICAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE CAR, WHAT ELSE WOULD NEED TO HAPPEN BEFORE YOU COULD ACTUALLY GO OUT ON THE TRACK?
“I would say the only thing that would be a limiting factor might be the transaxle. But honestly, I’ve never really looked inside one or seen the components of one to see how sturdy the gears are. That would about be the only thing in my book of just knowing whether or not it would withstand the horsepower gain. I would imagine that it would.. that it wouldn’t be that big of a deal because I think Xtrac builds transmissions and such for off-road racing and things like that, where they’re over 1,000 horsepower. So I’m sure they’re used to, or at least have experience, in that realm of the higher horsepower.
The brakes are fine. We don’t blow the tires off enough. I think that’s what we’re all kind of talking about. We need these things to be faster going into the corner; utilizing the brakes more, utilizing the tires more and having the opportunity to overdrive the cars more to burn the tires up to see guys struggle over a run.”
YOU’VE HAD VARIOUS RUNS HERE OVER THE YEARS WHERE YOU’VE BEEN REALLY, REALLY GOOD. THIS PLACE HAS CHANGED A TON, WHETHER IT’S BEEN THE SURFACE OR THE WAY THE TRACK WAS CUT-UP ON THE TOP OR WHATEVER. WHAT ARE THE THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GOOD AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY, AND DOES THIS CAR, THE CURRENT VERSION OF THE TRACK AND THE RESIN GIVE YOU CONFIDENCE HERE GIVEN WHAT YOU’VE HAD BEFORE OR IS IT JUST A COMPLETELY DIFFERNET PLACE?
“The car really changes a lot for it, for me. We won here with this car on the dirt surface, but I would say that since we’ve been bringing the new Next Gen car to the concrete surface, I have not found my way with it yet. I definitely had a way with understanding this place; having a sense of setup, how to drive it and whatnot with the old stuff, but not with the new stuff. We’ll see what happens here this weekend with our No. 8 FICO Chevrolet. Looking forward to the truck race. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a truck here. I think the last time was 2017 when I won, so certainly would be nice to come out here and go back to victory lane with one of those.”
I KNOW YOU HAVE A LOT OF RESPECT FOR BUBBA POLLARD, AND HE’S GOING TO MAKE HIS XFINITY DEBUT HERE IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO NASCAR, THE SHORT-TRACK INDUSTRY, TO HAVE HIM GET A CHANCE AND TELL HIS STORY TO THIS AUDIENCE?
“Yeah, I love it. A guy that works as hard as he does and does as much on his own as he does, I mean he’s a really smooth guy. I’ve raced against him a lot and we’ve had some really good battles. We’ve always been cordial with one another. I think the only time was when one of the younger kids was racing for me, he punted him out of the way, I think it was at Alabama one time at a race down there. He said, ‘well that’s what Kyle would do’. And I called him and I was like, ‘bro.. when have I ever done that to you.. like come on man’. We’ve always had a good relationship, so I respect the hell out of him for what he does. He’s honestly one of the best. Definitely one of the best from the south in the super late model ranks. I’ve raced against a lot of greats out on the west coast, up in the northeast and Midwest.. a lot of different names that always come to mind.”
LAST YEAR, YOU GOT OFF TO A QUICK START. HOW WOULD YOU CATEGORIZE WHAT HAS HAPPENED THIS YEAR IN THE OPENING PART OF THE SEASON?
“Yeah, the Clash was great.. we ran really well there. Daytona, we were fast. If I would have choose a different line on a restart, we probably would have had a top-four at Daytona, for sure. Atlanta, coming oh-so-close there with just needing a couple inches to win that thing. And then Las Vegas, we were really fast. We were probably one of the only guys that could keep up with Kyle Larson. We had a great shot there and pit road was our demise. And then last weekend (at Phoenix), we just weren’t very good, in general, with the short-track stuff still. We’ve tried everything, so I don’t even know where to go with what we do next. We’ll see, with some new ideas, if anything works here at Bristol.. being as though it’s a short-track race, but it’s still the different aero package. But yeah, I mean we’ve come to find what our strengths are, what our middle ground is and where our weaknesses are, for sure. We keep trying to improve on all of them.”
IS THE PIT CREW STILL AN UNSETTLED SITUATION, OR DO YOU THINK YOU’VE GOT THE PIECES TOGETHER AND YOU’RE GOING TO KIND OF LET THEM WORK THEIR WAY THROUGH IT AND SMOOTH EVERYTHING OUT?
“I would say it’s still unsettled. The proof is in your results, right? You’re only as good as your last race, as us drivers tend to say. So you’re only as good as your last stop, I guess, is what a pit crew guy should say. But I know that everybody at the shop and all of RCR is working hard on trying to figure something out and get through it with the resources that we have. Each week, we’ll keep trying to fine-tune the personnel and make the best that we can out of the situation we’ve got to have at least decent stops. My thing is – they’re either the defense or the special teams unit, however you want to look at that. When you come down pit road, I’ve been saying it the last couple of years since we’ve been racing this car – the easiest time to pass people is when they’re sitting still.. it’s when they’re in their pit box. And so, we can’t be the ones that are always getting passed. We need to hold our own.”
YOUR TEAMMATE, AUSTIN DILLON, WAS TALKING LAST WEEKEND ABOUT MAKING THE WIDTH OF THE TIRE SMALLER. HE SAID IT WOULD MAKE YOU GUYS FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE MORE SPEED WITH THE NEW SHORT-TRACK PACKAGE. I’M CURIOUS IF YOU FOLLOW THAT PHILOSOPHY, AND HOW DO YOU THINK THAT PACKAGE WILL REACT AT RICHMOND?
“Yeah, I mean I can see where he’s coming from. I think we’ve all kind of said that, when the tire got wider, we all knew it was going to produce more grip. We all expected it to be softer so it would wear, and it would wear out and then you would have less grip over the course of a run and have some falloff. But unfortunately, we haven’t seen that.. we haven’t seen that softer compound yet. We saw last year here at this race in particular where guys stayed out on 60 or 70 lap tires; went the rest of the way in the first stage and won the stage. Guys were finishing in the top-10 by staying out. You don’t want to have tire blowouts.. I get that. I understand Goodyear’s stake on that part. But I think when we have had softer tires in the past and have had blowouts, that’s because they were softer.. because they wore out.. because we punished them, you know. So you’re kind of to your own demise, in a sense. I guess tires not holding air probably don’t sell well on Monday.”
HAVING DRIVEN THIS PACKAGE AT PHOENIX, DO YOU THINK IT WILL HELP THE RACING AT RICHMOND?
“No… no… no. The problem starts at the front of the car; the splitter and the way the air is, and everything that we all do on setup stuff for make these things rely on the air as much as they do. That’s the problem.. I think they went about it.. that’s a funny way to say it.. backwards. There’s another way of saying that, but I’ll leave it for another day.
But they started at the back of the car. That’s not the problem.. it’s at the front of the car. So, that’s it.”
WITH ALL THE TALKS OF WHAT COULD BE CHANGED, WHAT ARE TODAY’S FANS NOT ABLE TO SEE YOU DO THAT YOU COULD HAVE DONE OR HOW YOU COULD DISPLAY YOUR TALENTS 10 OR 15 YEARS AGO IN THE CAR? WHAT IS THE KYLE BUSCH THAT FANS ARE SEEING NOW, AND HOW MUCH IS THIS NOT THE 100 PERCENT KYLE BUSCH THAT WE COULD HAVE SEEN 10 YEARS AGO.. IS THERE THAT MUCH DIFFERENCE?
“I get what you’re saying. I feel as though that when the teams were able to build the cars, with the manufacturers and they were able to design them the way they wanted to design them, you’d have particular teams that would really focus on chassis build. They would work on their front clips. They would work on their rear clips. They would work on their bodies, and they’d work on their engines. You had a lot more feasibility in where you wanted to dump your resources. Did you want superspeedway cars? Did you want intermediate cars? Did you want short-track cars.. road course cars? You get it, right?
So now, we all have the same LEGOS and it’s just about how you assemble the LEGOS, which apparently we’re not smart enough yet at the short-track LEGOS to have that program scienced-out. For me anyways, I feel the practice limitations that have been set forth – I don’t have time to work through and dissect the car as much as I once did of being able to go through practices; look at the data, go through another practice, go through qualifying, go through weeks of being able to do that to build on your program and to give that feedback to the team, engineers and everybody back at the shop to make your stuff better. So I would say that’s probably a big part of it.”
ALL THIS TALK ABOUT SIMULATION, AND HOW FAR IT’S COME AND HOW YOU’VE SEEN TO COME THROUGH YOUR YEARS. WITH WHAT YOU TALKED ABOUT, NOT BEING ABLE TO GET THAT FEEL IN PRACTICE AND SO FORTH, WHY CAN’T THAT BE DONE IN SIMULATION OR WHERE DOES SIMULATION FALL SHORT THAT PREVENTS YOU FROM GETTING BETTER IN PRACTICE SITUATIONS?
“I would say that there’s nothing like the real thing. There’s nothing like the asphalt dyno, as my dad would always say. Going to the race track with your stuff and competing against the rest of the competitors to see where your shortcomings are.
The smartest robot in the world will never be what a human is, you know what I mean? It takes a human to build that robot, so there’s going to be way too many circumstances that would come about to make sim life what real life is.”
HOW IMPORTANT IS IT FOR NASCAR TO HAVE A SUPERSTAR? SOMEBODY WHO TRANSCENDS THE SPORT, LIKE RICHARD PETTY, DALE EARNHARDT OR JEFF GORDON, AND DO WE HAVE ONE NOW? WHAT WOULD IT TAKE TO GET THERE IF WE DON’T?
“You’re looking at him.. no, I’m kidding (laughs).
I think his name is Chase (Elliott). He’s the man, so ask him.
But yeah, for whatever reason – I’m not sure what it is, but you have the diehard fans of NASCAR, of Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace, Terry Labonte, Mark Martin, Harry Gant. You name it – guys from the 90s, mid-90s, late-90s, all of that. Our world now, today, of 2024, is a lot different fan base that’s following along. I don’t feel like we were able to transition a lot of the fans that were fans of those drivers of the names that I just mentioned, into a William Byron fan; into a Kyle fan or whoever. They kind of all probably went away.. just stopped following as much. Which is hard to say because honestly, when you look at NASCAR, the fans love the drivers. The driver star power, that’s what brings people to the race track, is the drivers. When you look at the NFL, for instance – those players on that team change so often. You guys think my pit crews’ names changing every week is a lot.. look at the roster changes of NFL teams, and what they do; what they go through with their 53-man roster. But fans are fans of the teams, and a lot of times – I’ll throw out a name.. Jacksonville, for instance. The last few years, they’re coming back because of Trevor Lawrence, right? They’ve got somebody back that has brought the team back into the forefront. But before that, their stadiums were empty, you know what I mean. You can find the same struggles across different sports, is what we see sometimes.”
I WANT TO GO BACK TO WHAT YOU WERE TELLING MATT (WEAVER) ABOUT HOW IT’S BEEN HERE FOR YOU IN THE NEXT GEN CAR. HOW MUCH OF THAT IS THE FEELING OF THE CAR BEING SO DIFFERENT FROM WHAT YOU WERE USED TO HERE, AND HOW MUCH OF IT IS RHYTHM WHEN IT COMES TO THIS RACE TRACK? JUST KNOWING WHAT YOU WANT TO FEEL AND HOW YOU WANT TO BE ABLE TO RUN THIS RACE TRACK.
“Well Bristol is a lot of rhythm, but it takes a feel of what you’re looking for here, as well, too. This car just drives a lot different, and it drives a lot different because of the limitations in which it’s built. It just has a different way of you needing to go about it. I’ve learned some of that, but I guess I’m not the best of figuring out how to be better than some of the other drivers. Or maybe their cars are better than my car.. I don’t know. It’s not like we can swap seats. I’d always run this place more round.. like I would always try to make it as much of a circle as I possibly could, and now you kind of run this place in a diamond. You go up to the wall; do you try to come off the wall? Do you up to the wall in the corner? Do you come up the wall, you know what I mean? So it’s more diamond-shaped. It’s definitely a different way of running it. That seems to be a little bit more of the faster way this day in age. It’s a different technique to get used to, but that’s not to say that I can’t do it. It’s just a matter of sometimes you can’t out-race your own equipment, and you’ve got to go and get what you can get out of it, but nothing more.”
About Chevrolet
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The NASCAR Cup Series and the Craftsman Truck Series head to Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend while the Xfinity Series enjoys a week off from competition.
Expect Cup Series qualifying to be intense as 78% of the Cup races at Bristol have been won by drivers starting 10th or better. Busch Light Pole Qualifying is scheduled for Saturday, March 16 at 5 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Kyle Busch will have a busy weekend as he will also compete in the Truck Series event on Saturday, driving the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet entry as a prelude to the Cup Series race on Sunday. Busch holds the Truck Series qualifying record at Bristol (91.919 mph on 08/21/2014), has won the most poles (4), the most top-fives (7) and has the most wins (5).
NASCAR Press Pass will be available post-practice and qualifying.
All times are Eastern.
Saturday, March 16 3 p.m.: Truck Series Practice – FS1/SiriusXM Group 1: 15 Minutes – Group 2: 15 Minutes 3:40 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying – FS1/SiriusXM All Entries: Single Vehicle/2 Laps (Impound)
5 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – FS1/PRN/SiriusXM Group A: 20 Minutes – Group B: 20 Minutes 5:50 p.m.: Qualifying FS1/PRN/SiriusXM Group A & B: Single Vehicle/2 Laps/2 Rounds (Impound)
8 p.m.: Weather Guard Truck Race – FS1/MRN/SiriusXM Distance: 133.25 miles (250 Laps) Stages end on Laps 65, 130, 250 Purse: $761,274
Sunday, March 17 3:30 p.m.: Cup Series Food City 500 – FOX/PRN/SiriusXM Distance: 266.5 miles (500 laps) Stages end on Laps 125, 250, 500 Purse: $8,182,531
Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series at Bristol Motor Speedway… In 185 NASCAR Cup Series starts on the pavement configuration at Bristol Motor Speedway, RCR has scored nine wins, including Dale Earnhardt’s seven wins at the track (both races in 1985 and 1987, plus victories in 1988, 1994 and 1999). Kevin Harvick won in 2005, and Jeff Burton found Victory Lane for the organization in 2008. RCR has racked up 35 top-five and 71 top-10 finishes.
Successful Team Owner… Team owner Richard Childress made 19 starts at Bristol Motor Speedway as a driver. His best finish came in the 1978 Southeastern 500 (spring race) where he placed sixth after qualifying fourth. Childress racked up seven top-10 finishes at the 0.533-mile oval and completed 75.17 percent of the total possible laps in those races.
Catch the Action…The Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway will be televised live on Sunday, March 17 beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX. The race will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Austin Dillon and the No. 3 BREZTRI AEROSPHERE® (budesonide, glycopyrrolate, and formoterol fumarate) Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Bristol Motor Speedway… In 20 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol Motor Speedway, Dillon earned his career-best third-place finish in April 2023 on the track’s dirt configuration. He has three top-10 finishes in NASCAR Cup Series competition at the track. The 2013 NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion has nine Xfinity Series starts at the half-mile track with a win in 2016. He has also made three NASCAR Truck Series starts at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Winner, Winner… Dillon has won at Bristol Motor Speedway on both the paved and dirt configurations. In addition to winning a NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Tennessee track in August 2016 (paved), Dillon was among the first drivers to compete on the track’s dirt surface in 2021. He won two features and a heat race in dominating fashion in a 604 Crate Late Model for Corey Hedgecock Racing.
BREZTRI AEROSPHERE® (budesonide, glycopyrrolate, and formoterol fumarate) Team Up with Dillon… Dillon and the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing team will be supported by BREZTRI AEROSPHERE®, an AstraZeneca product, at Bristol Motor Speedway. This partnership is about more than just racing. You can learn more about Austin Dillon and his family’s personal connection to the brand at Breztri.com. AstraZeneca is a global, science-led biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of prescription medicines in Oncology, Rare Diseases, and Biopharmaceuticals, including Cardiovascular, Renal & Metabolism, and Respiratory & Immunology. AstraZeneca operates in over 100 countries and its innovative medicines are used by millions of patients worldwide.
Meet Austin Dillon… Fans traveling to Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend have several chances to meet the driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet. Dillon is scheduled to make an appearance at the Food City Fan Stage on behalf of Coca-Cola for a Q&A session on Sunday at noon. Additionally, Dillon is scheduled to appear at 12:20 p.m. at the RCR Merchandise Hauler to greet race fans. Stop by and pick up new RCR gear.
AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE:
What are your thoughts on Bristol Motor Speedway?
“A race at Bristol Motor Speedway is always a lot of fun, especially when you are battling it out for 500 laps. It helps to get your car better handling if you can move around and try different lanes on the Bristol concrete, which has helped drivers make long green flag runs. A good pit road setup is also very important, so not having any speeding penalties and getting on and off the pit road without any problems can help you have a smoother race.”
Kyle Busch and the No. 8 FICO Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Bristol Motor Speedway… Kyle Busch will make his 35th Bristol Motor Speedway NASCAR Cup Series start this weekend (pavement races). The driver of the FICO Chevrolet leads all active drivers with eight Bristol victories: 2007 (spring), 2009 (both races), 2010 (fall), 2011 (spring), 2017 (fall), 2018 (spring) and 2019 (spring). Busch has the most top-five finishes at Bristol among active drivers (14) and leads all current drivers in laps led at Bristol (2,593). He has won two pole positions at Bristol in Cup Series competition, capturing the top starting position in the 2013 and 2018 spring races. Busch has nine NASCAR Xfinity Series wins and five victories in the NASCAR Truck Series, giving the Las Vegas, Nev., native 22 wins at Bristol across all three NASCAR national series.
The NASCAR Hat Trick, Twice… In 2010, Busch made history at Bristol Motor Speedway, becoming the first driver to win all three NASCAR national series races in the same weekend. Seven years later in 2017, Busch repeated the accomplishment – again at the Last Great Colosseum – when he secured victories in the Truck, Xfinity, and Cup Series races.
Welcome FICO… FICO, Richard Childress Racing and Kyle Busch are teaming up to raise awareness about the need for financial education. For the millions of NASCAR fans across the country, knowledge about money, financial planning, how credit works and the importance of building good financial habit are critical life skills. FICO, RCR and Kyle Busch want to share information and resources so that everyone in the NASCAR community can achieve their financial goals, such as paying for education, buying a home, or running a business.
FICO is a leading analytics software firm best known for its gold standard FICO® Score. Learn more about the FICO, RCR and Kyle Busch partnership, here: https://www.fico.com/en/newsroom/fico-and-richard-childress-racing-kick-financial-and-credit-education-partnership-nascar.
KYLE BUSCH QUOTES:
What makes Bristol Motor Speedway such a tough track to win on?
“I think the toughness at Bristol is the amount of banking and the load that you see throughout the entirety of the race. There’s no time to relax. You’re really on top of it for the entire race. That’s what wears on you the most, plus the repetitious nature of these short tracks of down the straightway into the corner, down the straightaway into the corner and it never seems to stop. It makes it fun for a lot of guys and challenging for others.”
Do you feel like the days of rubbing and racing at Bristol will ever return?
“I think so. We’ve gone through so many iterations of racetrack whether it’s been the old concrete, the new concrete, and then the ground concrete, the spray down on the bottom, and then dirt. There’s been so many different ways that they’ve tried to have races there. Obviously when it comes down to the end and a race win is on the line and there’s somebody in the way, you’ve got to make it happen.”
Do you think drivers will be more aggressive in the Bristol spring race versus the September Playoff race?
“No, I don’t think so. I don’t think you’ll really see much of a different race, actually. We’re all trying to go out there and get the best possible finish that we can. We want those stage points and we want those stage wins in order to get those Playoff points. I think you’ll see a lot of the same things that we typically see with different strategies playing out: guys taking two tires, some staying out trying to maximize track position and get out front. Those are all the keys of what’s going to make a race at Bristol.”
