Rookie Shane van Gisbergen will start on the pole position for the 2024 Drive for the Cure 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (Roval) on Saturday, October 12.
The three-time SuperCars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, was one of 10 from a list of 38-entered competitors to transfer into the final round of qualifying, where the first phase of qualifying consisted of two 19-car groups (Group A and Group B) and the top-five fastest competitors from each group transferring into the final qualifying round.
After being the fastest qualifier from the Group A qualifying round, van Gisbergen would proceed to post his best qualifying lap at 97.110 mph in 84.523 seconds during the final qualifying round, which was enough for him to claim the pole position for Saturday’s main event.
With the result, van Gisbergen, who is pulling double-duty roles between the Xfinity and Cup Series divisions, notched the third NASCAR Xfinity Series pole of the 2024 season and of his career. His previous poles of this season occurred at Sonoma Raceway in June and at the Chicago Street Course in July, both of which he proceeded to win the main events.
With Saturday’s main event at Charlotte serving as the Round of 12 finale in the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs, van Gisbergen’s pole position comes at a critical time. The New Zealander is currently ranked in 10th place in the Playoff standings and trails the top-eight cutline to the Round of 8 by 10 points. Having finished eighth and 35th, respectively, during the first two events of the Round of 12, van Gisbergen aims to race up front and contend for the victory that would enable him to the Round of 8 and remain in title contention.
“The WeatherTech Camaro was really good,” van Gisbergen said on USA Network. “Obviously, AJ’s [Allmendinger] fast as well, so that’s a credit to our Kaulig Racing guys. We struggled at Watkins [Glen] for pace, had to rethink and now, our cars are really, really good. Hopefully, we can both take [the competition] to’em. Hopefully, both of us get through to the second round of the Playoffs. We’re in a good spot. See how the race goes.”
Joining van Gisbergen on the front row will be Sam Mayer, a 2024 Xfinity Playoff contender who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 96.871 mph in 84.731 seconds. Like van Gisbergen, Mayer enters the Charlotte Roval below the cutline following a disqualification last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway due to his car failing to meet the height requirements during the post-race inspection process. Having won the Charlotte Roval in a “must-win” situation a year ago, Mayer, who trails the cutline by 13 points, strives to repeat his success at the Roval that would enable him to maintain his Playoff hopes for another round.
AJ Allmendinger, van Gisbergen’s teammate at Kaulig Racing and a five-time NASCAR national touring series race winner at the Charlotte Roval, will line up in third place with his best qualifying lap occurring at 96.776 mph in 84.814 seconds. Allmendinger, who currently occupies the eighth and final transfer spot into the Round of 8 by seven points, will be followed by Josh Bilicki and Playoff contender Sheldon Creed on the starting grid.
Playoff contenders Austin Hill, Chandler Smith, rookie Jesse Love and Justin Allgaier will start sixth to ninth, respectively, while Connor Mosack will occupy the 10th starting spot.
With eight of 12 Playoff contenders starting in the top 10, the remaining Playoff contenders that include Riley Herbst, Cole Custer, Sammy Smith and Parker Kligerman will start 12th, 14th, 16th, and 22nd, respectively.
*All 38 competitors entered for Saturday’s event at Charlotte earned a starting spot.
Qualifying position, best speed, best time:
Shane van Gisbergen, 97.110 mph, 84.523 seconds
Sam Mayer, 96.871 mph, 84.731 seconds
AJ Allmendinger, 96.776 mph, 84.814 seconds
Josh Bilicki, 96.256 mph, 85.273 seconds
Sheldon Creed, 96.248 mph, 85.280 seconds
Austin Hill, 96.183 mph, 85.337 seconds
Chandler Smith, 96.115 mph, 85.398 seconds
Jesse Love, 96.079 mph, 85.430 seconds
Justin Allgaier, 95.751 mph, 85.722 seconds
Connor Mosack, 95.636 mph, 85.825 seconds
Anthony Alfredo, 96.137 mph, 85.378 seconds
Riley Herbst, 95.775 mph, 85.701 seconds
Aric Almirola, 95.767 mph, 85.708 seconds
Cole Custer, 95.688 mph, 85.779 seconds
Brandon Jones, 95.675 mph, 85.790 seconds
Sammy Smith, 95.669 mph, 85.796 seconds
Austin Green, 95.562 mph, 85.892 seconds
Ed Jones, 95.543 mph, 85.909 seconds
Alex Labbe, 95.446 mph, 85.996 seconds
Parker Retzlaff, 95.385 mph, 86.051 seconds
Jeremy Clements, 95.335 mph, 86.096 seconds
Parker Kligerman, 95.319 mph, 86.111 seconds
Josh Williams, 95.215 mph, 86.205 seconds
Brennan Poole, 95.119 mph, 86.292 seconds
Ryan Sieg, 94.898 mph, 86.493 seconds
Matt DiBenedetto, 94.833 mph, 86.552 seconds
Jeb Burton, 94.777 mph, 86.603 seconds
Sage Karam, 94.549 mph, 86.812 seconds
Preston Pardus, 94.397 mph, 86.952 seconds
Ryan Ellis, 94.350 mph, 86.995 seconds
Brad Perez, 94.257 mph, 87.081 seconds
Thomas Annunziata, 94.160 mph, 87.171 seconds
Leland Honeyman, 93.877 mph, 87.434 seconds
Blaine Perkins, Owner Points
Kyle Sieg, Owner Points
Dylan Lupton, Owner Points
Dawson Cram, Owner Points
Nathan Byrd, Owner Points
The 2024 Drive for the Cure 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course is scheduled to occur Saturday afternoon, October 12, at 3:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
The Playoffs continue this weekend as the NASCAR Cup Series competes on the Charlotte ROVAL on Sunday afternoon in the last race of the Round of 12.
After the race, four drivers will be eliminated from Cup Series championship contention. Joey Logano (-13), Daniel Suárez (-20), Austin Cindric (-29) and Chase Briscoe (-32) are currently below the cutline.
Four Xfinity Series drivers will also be eliminated from the Playoffs following the race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Drivers below the cutline include Justin Allgaier (-7), Shane van Gisbergen (-10), Sam Mayer (-13) and Parker Kligerman (-16).
The CRAFTSMAN Truck Series is off until October 26 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
All times are Eastern.
Saturday, Oct. 12 10 a.m.: Xfinity Series Practice All entries, 50 minutes USA/NBC Sports App
11 a.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying Impound, Groups A & B, Multi-Vehicle, 2 Rounds USA/NBC Sports App
12:30 p.m.: Cup Series Practice Groups A & B, Two 20-minute sessions each group USA/PRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App
2:00 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying Impound, Groups A &B, 2 Rounds USA/PRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App Post Cup Series Qualifying: NASCAR Press Pass
4:00 p.m.: Xfinity Series Drive for the Cure 250 Presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield Stages 20/40/67 Laps = 152.76 Miles CW/PRN/SiriusXM Purse: $1,419,755 Post Xfinity Series Race: NASCAR Press Pass
Sunday, Oct. 13 2:00 p.m.: Bank of America ROVAL 400 Stages 25/50/109 Laps = 248.52 Miles NBC/PRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App Purse: $8,056,477 Post Cup Series Race: NASCAR Press Pass
Legacy Motor Club announced a change to its current crew chief lineup in the closing stretches of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Dave Elenz, who was in his third season working as a crew chief for the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE team piloted by Erik Jones, has parted ways with the organization. Ben Beshore, who was working as a crew chief for the team’s No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE entry piloted by John Hunter Nemechek, will now become Jones’ new crew chief. Meanwhile, Brian Campe, who was recently appointed the team’s new technical director, will assume the crew chief responsibilities for Nemechek on an interim role.
Amid the announcement, Cal Wells, III, the CEO of Legacy Motor Club, released a statement:
“LEGACY M.C. and Dave Elenz have parted ways, and the organization would like to thank Dave for his stewardship of the No. 43 over the past three seasons.”
Elenz, a two-time championship-winning crew chief in the Xfinity Series with 15 career victories, all occurring with JR Motorsports, joined Legacy Motor Club when it was branded as Petty GMS Motorsports and fielding Chevrolets in 2022. By then, it was the first time where Elenz was promoted to the Cup Series division to work as a crew chief. Paired up with Erik Jones and the No. 43 team, the duo won the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, which marked Elenz’s first Cup Series victory as a crew chief and Jones’ second triumph in the crown-jewel event. They would proceed to record a total of 12 top-10 results and finish in 18th place in the final standings.
Elenz, who called his 100th Cup Series event as a crew chief this past weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, recorded one victory, five top-five results and 21 top-10 results while working with two competitors overall. With one top-five result and two top-10 results recorded throughout the 2024 season, Jones and the No. 43 team are currently ranked in 30th place in the standings. Jones was absent for two races between late April and early May after suffering a broken compression fracture in his lower back following a multi-car wreck at Talladega Superspeedway in late April, which resulted with Craftsman Truck Series competitor Corey Heim filling in for Jones.
Photo by Adam Lovelace for SpeedwayMedia.com.
Meanwhile, John Hunter Nemechek, who returned to the Cup Series this season after spending the previous three seasons scaling back down to the Truck and Xfinity divisions to regain his competitive form, is ranked in 34th place in the 2024 standings on the strength of three top-10 results. The 2024 season also marks crew chief Ben Beshore’s return to the Cup Series after he spent the 2023 season working with Nemechek at Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity Series, where the duo won a season-high seven races and made the Championship 4 before settling in fourth place in the final standings. Previously, Beshore spent the 2021 and 2022 seasons working as a crew chief for Kyle Busch in the Cup Series.
Jimmie Johnson, co-owner of Legacy Motor Club, is also in his second season competing on a part-time basis in the team’s No. 84 Toyota entry. Through seven current starts, Johnson’s best on-track results are a pair of 28th-place finishes that occurred in the 66th running of the Daytona 500 in February and at Dover Motor Speedway in late April. Johnson, who competed in his first event with new crew chief Gene Wachtel after parting ways with Jason Burdett at Kansas Speedway in late September, is still scheduled to compete at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 20 and the season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway on November 10 before the 2024 season concludes.
With the crew changes made, Legacy Motor Club’s 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season continues with the upcoming Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, October 13, and air at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.
1. William Byron: Byron finished third in a thrilling, three-wide, side-by-side finish at Talladega as Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. grabbed the win.
“More importantly,” Byron said, “I’ve already clinched a spot in the Round Of 8. So, Talladega truly was a ‘Big One’ at least for me.”
2. Christopher Bell: Bell finished sixth in the Yellawood 500.
“Saturday’s Xfinity Series was broadcast on the CW,” Bell said. “From what I hear, ‘CW’ stands for ‘Can’t watch.’”
3. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished second at Talladega, just edged out at the finish line by Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
“I thought I had a clear path to the win,” Keselowski said. “Not at the finish, but five laps before when I triggered a huge crash that wiped out over half the competition. So now, I’m car driver No. 2, as well as public enemy No. 1.”
4. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished 16th at Talladega.
“NASCAR made several aerodynamic changes for the Talladega race,” Bowman said. “The purpose was to reduce the possibility of a car going airborne in the event of a high-speed incident. I was actually more worried about myself going airborne when Ryan Blaney could have rightfully jacked me up for wrecking him.”
5. Kyle Larson: Larson finished fourth at Talladega.
“Cody Ware’s No. 15 car featured Arby’s sponsorship,” Larson said. “Arby’s likes to say ‘They have the beef.’ And they might, but not more beef that the drivers who were wrecked towards the drivers responsible.”
6. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished 10th at Talladega.
“I’m trying to win a championship and win a lawsuit against NASCAR,” Hamlin said. “History says I’ll go 0-2.”
7. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.: Stenhouse was the victor in a photo finish, edging Brad Keselowski and William Byron by .006 of a second at the finish line to win the Yellawood 500.
“Some of the best moments of my life have come at superspeedways,” Stenhouse said. “And they’ve only been topped by the best moment of my life—-breaking up with Danica Patrick.”
8. Joey Logano: Logano finished 33rd at Talladega and is ninth in the points standings with an elimination race at Charlotte’s ROVAL upcoming.
“It was just a miserable day for Penske Racing all around,” Logano said. “What can you do though? If other drivers weren’t so reckless, we could have made it through the race ‘wreck-less.’”
9. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished 29th at Talladega after being collected in a massive crash with five laps to go that affected 23 cars.
“It’s a critical stretch in the playoffs,” Elliott said. “After Talladega, we’re off to Charlotte’s ROVAL for an elimination race. Suffice it to say our nerves are already eliminated.
10. Ryan Blaney: Blaney started fifth at Talladega and finished 39th after crashing out 124 laps in.
“I just got too much of a push from Alex Bowman,” Blaney said. “I’m really not happy, but Alex should be happy that push didn’t come to shove.”
For the first time in 65 races, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. triumphantly drove his way to Victory Lane in the NASCAR Cup Series division after he edged Brad Keselowski in a photo finish during an overtime shootout to win the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, October 6.
The 2023 Daytona 500 champion from Olive Branch, Mississippi, led five times for 19 of 195 over-scheduled laps in an event where he qualified 32nd and used the draft to muscle his way to second place after the first stage period. After avoiding carnage after the second stage period that knocked out the reigning series champion Ryan Blaney, Stenhouse spent the majority of the final stage period mixing up the competition with his fellow competitors and Playoff contenders amid a series of three and four-wide action as the competitors raced in tight formation and aggressively at the front.
After barely dodging a track-record 28-car wreck on the backstretch with five laps remaining, where he got hit in the driver’s side by a spinning Austin Cindric but escaped with the lead, Stenhouse then outdueled and edged Brad Keselowski by 0.006 seconds amid an overtime shootout to claim his first elusive Cup Series victory of this year and become the third non-Playoff competitor to win throughout the 2024 Playoffs.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, October 5, Michael McDowell won his sixth Cup pole position this season and his career after he posted a pole-winning lap at 183.063 mph in 52.310 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Austin Cindric, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 182.424 mph in 52.493 seconds.
Before the event, Playoff contender Daniel Suarez dropped to the rear of the field and was assessed a drive-through penalty after taking the green flag due to an unapproved adjustment made to the roof area of Suarez’s No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet entry during the event’s pre-race inspection process. While no additional penalties were warranted, Suarez’s car chief was ejected from Sunday’s event.
Playoff contender Christopher Bell also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota entry, but he was assessed no drive-through penalty.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Michael McDowell and Austin Cindric dueled for the lead in front of two stacks of competitors running in two drafted lanes. Through the first two turns, McDowell muscled ahead from the inside lane with drafting help from teammate Todd Gilliland, but Cindric fought back through the backstretch and on the outside lane with drafting help from Kyle Busch. As Suarez served his drive-through penalty while the field fanned out entering the frontstretch, McDowell led the first lap over Cindric and Gilliland.
Over the next four laps, the field fanned out to as wide as four lanes through every straightaway and corner before settling to three stacked lanes. At the front, McDowell, who transitioned from the inside to the outside lane, maintained the lead over Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher while Cindric and Ryan Preece followed suit ahead of Kyle Busch, Noah Gragson, Playoff contender Joey Logano, Todd Gilliland and Martin Truex Jr. By then, the top-39 competitors were separated by nearly two seconds while Suarez trailed the lead pack by 35 seconds. Meanwhile, Playoff contender Denny Hamlin, who started in the top 10 before he was shuffled out of the draft earlier, was mired in 37th place.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, the top-six spots were occupied by Ford competitors as McDowell retained the lead ahead of Keselowski, Gilliland, Playoff contender Ryan Blaney, Cindric and Buescher while Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch, Preece and Harrison Burton were racing in the top 10. Behind, Noah Gragson, Logano, Playoff contender Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr. and Playoff contender Kyle Larson were scored in the top 15 as Shane van Gisbergen, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Playoff contender Tyler Reddick, Corey LaJoie and Playoff contender Chase Briscoe were mired in the top 20. Meanwhile, Playoff contenders and Hendrick Motorsports teammates Alex Bowman and William Byron were back in the top-25 mark while Joe Gibbs Racing’s Bell and Hamlin were scored in 33rd and 37th, respectively as Suarez, who was still mired in 40th place, trailed by 49 seconds.
A lap later, the event’s first caution flew when Suarez, who was lapped by the leaders through the first two turns but opted to blend in with the lead and the draft, made contact with BJ McLeod while trying to move up in front of McLeod through the backstretch. The contact sent both into the outside wall before Suarez spun his No. 99 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 below the track and came to a rest with flat-spotted tires towards the Turns 3 and 4 apron as Byron barely dodged Suarez.
During the first caution period, where Suarez limped his damaged car to pit road, a majority of the lead lap field led by McDowell pitted while the rest led by McLeod and including Bell and Hamlin remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Keselowski exited pit road first ahead of McDowell and Cindric while Austin Dillon, Gragson, Buescher, Blaney, Truex, Stenhouse and Preece were scored in the top 10. The remaining competitors who did not pit during the first cycle led by McLeod pitted before the restart, which handed the lead back to Keselowski.
As the event restarted under green on Lap 16, Keselowski and McDowell dueled for the lead through the first two turns and in front of two stacked lanes. The field started to fan out through the backstretch as McDowell had Cindric drafting him on the outside lane while Keselowski had Austin Dillon drafting him on the inside lane. Through the frontstretch, McDowell reassumed the lead and he quickly transitioned his No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang Dark Horse in front of Keselowski’s No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse to gain a draft from him while Cindric was trying to regain momentum with drafting help from Buescher. This forced McDowell to go on defense through two lanes while Kyle Busch was charging from a third drafting lane toward the outside lane.
At the Lap 20 mark, the top 39 competitors were running within one second of one another and fanned out to three stacked lanes as McDowell held a slight advantage over Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Preece and Austin Dillon while Cindric, Gilliland, Gragson, Buescher and Justin Haley were racing in the top 10.
Two laps later, McDowell nearly lost the lead to Preece through the frontstretch, but teammate Gilliland shoved McDowell back out front of the pack from the middle lane, where both Front Row Motorsports competitors went on defense to fend off Kyle Busch on the outside lane and Preece on the inside lane. As McDowell proceeded to lead the Lap 25 mark ahead of Gilliland and Kyle Busch, the trio of Cindric, Bowman and Blaney were the only Playoff contenders scored in the top 10 on the track.
By Lap 30, the top 39 competitors were separated by one-and-a-half seconds as McDowell continued to lead while fending off teammate Gilliland, Cindric, Kyle Busch, Justin Haley and a bevy of competitors running in a stack of three drafted lanes. With Playoff contenders Cindric, Bowman and Blaney racing in the top 10, Hamlin, Logano, Larson and Reddick were mired inside the top-20 mark while Briscoe followed suit in 21st place. Meanwhile, Elliott and Bell were mired back in 25th and 28th, respectively, while Byron dropped to 33rd place.
Nearing the Lap 40 mark, the field started to aggressively fan out to four tight lanes through every corner and straightaway as McDowell was being challenged by Haley for the lead. Haley assumed the top spot on Lap 38 while Cindric and Ross Chastain challenged him for the top spot amid a tight stack of three lanes. By then, McDowell had Haley racing in front of him amid the draft while Larson drafted Chastain to the lead at the Lap 40 mark towards the outside wall.
Three laps later, a tight four-wide formation for the lead occurred as Chastain, Larson, Alex Bowman and Daniel Hemric all challenged one another for the lead in front of a bevy of competitors running in close-quarters racing amid the draft. Chastain would then muscle his No. 1 Busch Light Camo Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ahead to lead at the Lap 45 mark while the rest of the field behind continued to duel against one another through four tight lanes. By then, 11 of 12 Playoff contenders were racing within the top-25 mark while five, including Larson, Bowman, Cindric, Bell and Hamlin were racing within the top-10 mark.
At the Lap 50 mark, Chastain retained a narrow lead over a hard-charging Hemric, who had Hamlin drafting him, as a majority of the front-runners remained in a tight four-wide formation for the lead. Chastain along with Ty Gibbs and Larson would then break away from the pack by four-tenths of a second during the following lap before the field caught back up through the backstretch. Hemric would then get shuffled out of the draft through Turns 3 and 4 as Larson assumed the lead from teammate Bowman and Chastain during the next lap period.
With the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes, Chastain led the Lap 53 mark before Ty Gibbs aggressively made his move to the lead. With Chastain rocketing back ahead, Hamlin would then get briefly shuffled out of the lead draft as Larson, Bowman, Haley, Ty Gibbs, Cindric and others followed suit behind Chastain. By Lap 55, the aggressiveness of the front-runners intensified amid three lanes as Chastain remained on defense to fend off Larson, Cindric and Bowman at the front.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 60, Chris Buescher muscled his No. 17 Nexletol Ford Mustang Dark Horse to the front and fended off Stenhouse to claim his third Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Stenhouse followed suit in second as Byron, Larson, Bell, Reddick, Chastain, Briscoe, Cindric and Blaney were scored in the top 10 while the top 25 competitors were separated by less than two seconds. With seven of 12 Playoff contenders accumulating a first round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders that include Bowman, Logano, Elliott, Hamlin and Suarez ended up 11th, 17th, 19th, 23rd and 40th, respectively, with the latter pinned two laps behind.
Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Buescher returned to pit road for service while select names including Shane van Gisbergen, Keselowski, rookie Zane Smith, Austin Dillon and Justin Haley remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Byron exited pit road first, followed by Buescher, Bell, Reddick, Stenhouse, Briscoe, Blaney, Cindric, Chastain and Ty Gibbs. Amid the pit stops, Gilliland was hit by Bubba Wallace and sent sliding towards his pit box while nearly dodging Byron in the process while Larson endured a slow pit stop after he had to reverse to exit his entry out of his pit box.
During the following lap, van Gisbergen, Keselowski, Zane Smith and Austin Dillon would pit their respective entries while Haley remained on the track to inherit the lead. A bevy of names led by Haley and Hemric would then pit to top off on fuel a lap prior to the second stage’s start.
The second stage period started on Lap 66 as Buescher and Reddick occupied the front row. At the start, Buescher and Reddick dueled for the lead in front of two stacked lanes running tightly as Chase Elliott was shoved out of the draft. With rookie Josh Berry trying to start a third drafting lane towards the outside wall, Reddick led the following lap by a hair over Buescher as both continued to duel for the top spot in front of Stenhouse, Bell, Briscoe and Blaney.
Just past the Lap 70 mark and with the field returning to three-wide formation Buescher was leading both the race and a lane running towards the outside wall while McDowell led the middle lane. Meanwhile, Corey LaJoie led the inside lane as Buescher had drafting help from Bell to remain ahead of McDowell for the following lap.
At the Lap 75 mark, LaJoie made his presence at the front known as he led ahead of John Hunter Nemechek, Buescher, Cody Ware and Bell while McDowell, Hamlin, Blaney, Ty Gibbs and Erik Jones were scored in the top 10 ahead of Cindric, Reddick, Logano, Stenhouse, Briscoe, Harrison Burton, Preece, Kyle Busch, AJ Allmendinger and rookie Carson Hocevar. With all four Hendrick Motorsports competitors mired back within the top-30 mark, McDowell, who reassumed the lead a lap earlier, dueled with Buescher for the lead as Burton, LaJoie, Briscoe and Bell followed suit while the top 26 competitors were separated under a second of one another.
Two laps later, seven Ford competitors, including all four Stewart-Haas Racing competitors and McDowell, pitted under green for fuel. Amid the pit stops, Blaney was leading ahead of van Gisbergen, Cindric, Logano and Chastain while Keselowski and Gilliland, both of whom missed their marks while trying to pit with the Ford competitors and were forced to cycle around the superspeedway venue an extra lap, pitted during the following lap. By Lap 86, however, nine Ford competitors led by Buescher, all of whom pitted, trailed the lead by nearly 36 seconds as Blaney retained the lead.
Within the Lap 90 mark, van Gisbergen, who assumed the lead two laps earlier, was leading as he was trying to fend off Blaney and Chastain through two stacked lanes while the top 27 competitors were separated within a second of one another.
At the halfway mark on Lap 94, the lead pack aggressively lapped Keselowski, Cody Ware and Gilliland through the backstretch as van Gisbergen assumed the lead from Blaney, who was getting stalled by his fellow Ford competitors and caused the field to scatter and fan out. Just then, Truex spun his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE as he locked up the brakes while he was trying to enter pit road along with his Toyota teammates from Joe Gibbs Racing, 23XI Racing and Legacy Motor Club. The race, however, remained under green flag conditions as the Toyota competitors pitted primarily for fuel. Soon after, Truex was lapped as van Gisbergen retained the lead ahead of Chastain, Blaney, Elliott, Byron and Cindric.
By Lap 100, van Gisbergen led the top-13 competitors to pit road for service under green as Hemric nearly ran into the rear of Kyle Busch while trying to reduce the speed of his car while Austin Dillon nearly missed his pit stall while pitting A lap earlier, more names including Chevrolet competitors Chastain, Byron, Bowman, Larson, Stenhouse and Suarez had pitted under green as Cindric cycled into the lead ahead of Elliott, van Gisbergen and Blaney. With the rest of the field, all of whom had pitted, slowly closing back in on the leaders amid the draft, the competitors within the field also started to scatter and fan out as Cindric retained the lead.
Within the Lap 105 mark, the top 30 competitors were separated by more than a second as the field started to fan out to two drafted lanes. In the process, Cindric retained the lead, where he blocked teammate Blaney exiting the backstretch as Blaney had Kyle Busch drafting him while Elliott led the inside lane ahead of van Gisbergen, Byron, Bubba Wallace and Hemric. The aggressiveness of the draft amongst the front-runners intensified shortly after as Cindric and Elliott dueled for the lead in front of two stacked lanes through every corner and straightaway.
On Lap 110, Cindric and Elliott continued to duel tightly against one another for the lead in front of two stacked lanes as the top-29 competitors were separated by two seconds. By then, five of 12 Playoff contenders were scored in the top 10, with 10 contenders racing within the top-20 mark.
Seven laps later, McDowell, who was running towards the rear of the lead pack, pitted under green for fuel. By then, AJ Allmendinger was lapped while both Cindric and Elliott fiercely dueled for the lead in front of the pack.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 120, Playoff contender Austin Cindric fended off the pack to score his fourth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season while teammate Blaney was bumped by Bowman’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through the frontstretch. The contact resulted in Blaney getting loose and veering his No. 12 Pennzoil/Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse back across the path of Chastain, where both collided against one another and towards the outside wall while teammate Logano, Hamlin, Ty Gibbs, Reddick and LaJoie also sustained damage to their respective entries. Despite ending up eighth and 10th, respectively, Blaney and Chastain were knocked out of further contention, with the former concluding his event with a total of four stage points.
Amid the carnage, Elliott settled in second place ahead of Kyle Busch, van Gisbergen and Byron while Bowman, Wallace and Larson occupied the remaining top 10 spots on the track. By then, the remaining Playoff contenders including Reddick, Hamlin, Briscoe, Logano, Bell and Suarez did not rack up any points during the second stage’s conclusion while Allmendinger claimed the free pass spot by being the first competitor scored a lap down ahead of Suarez and Anthony Alfredo.
Under the stage break, a majority of the lead lap field led by Cindric returned to pit road, primarily for fuel, while others led by Reddick remained on the track. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Kyle Busch exited pit road first ahead of Cindric, Wallace, Elliott and Byron while Larson, van Gisbergen, Ty Gibbs, Bowman and Hemric followed suit in the top 10, with Bowman being penalized for removing equipment out of his pit box. Not long after, the remaining competitors who remained on the track led by Reddick pitted, which handed the lead to Busch.
With 61 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Kyle Busch and Wallace occupied the front row. At the start, Busch received a strong shove from Cindric from the outside lane, where he maintained a steady lead through the first two turns and managed to break ahead through the backstretch. Wallace, however, fought back from the inside lane through Turns 3 and 4, but Busch would lead the following lap by a hair over Wallace. By then, the field fanned out to three drafted lanes as Buescher tried to ignite a charge toward the outside lane. Meanwhile, Wallace had drafting help from Byron on the inside lane while Busch, who led the next lap, had Cindric drafting him on the outside lane.
Over the next four laps, Wallace managed to lead ahead of Busch as the front-runners returned to a three-wide formation. With 55 laps remaining, however, Buescher and Briscoe briefly rocketed away from the field through Turns 3 and 4 before the field caught back up through the frontstretch. As the field settled in by the following lap, a three-wide formation for the lead ensued as Allmendinger led both the race and the drafting lane toward the outside lane. With Allmendinger going on defense, he had Buescher, Briscoe and Cody Ware all closing in on him with Wallace, Kyle Busch, Gilliland, Byron, Logano and Cindric following suit.
With 50 laps remaining, Logano, who suffered front nose damage to the front of his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse after he got collected in the second stage’s wreck that involved teammate Blaney, emerged with the lead in front of a stack of three-wide competition from the field, with Allmendinger, Cody Ware, Kyle Busch and Briscoe scored in the top five. By then, six of the remaining 11 Playoff contenders on the track were racing within the top-10 mark while the remaining four that included Reddick, Byron, Bell and Hamlin were mired within the top-30 mark.
Ten laps later, Allmendinger, who spent the previous 10 laps trailing Logano before he overtook him amid the draft two laps earlier, was leading ahead of Logano, Briscoe, Gilliland and Buescher while Cindric, Stenhouse, Wallace, Austin Dillon and Elliott were scored in the top 10 as the top-34 competitors were separated by less than two seconds. By then, the field was locked in a three-wide formation at the front while Allmendinger had drafting help from Briscoe from the inside lane that enabled him to remain ahead of Logano and Cindric. The field then fanned out to four drafting lanes four laps later as both Logano and Cindric muscled ahead of Allmendinger.
Down to the final 30 laps of the event, a three-wide battle for the lead between Allmendinger, Logano and Cindric continued to ensue in front of three stacked lanes as the top-35 competitors were separated by more than a second. By then, Logano, Cindric and Briscoe were the only Playoff contenders racing in the top-10 mark while seven additional contenders were racing within the top-25 mark. Meanwhile, Suarez was still mired a lap down in 36th place.
Nine laps later, select names including Allmendinger, Hemric, van Gisbergen and Anthony Alfredo peeled off the track to pit for fuel under green. Back on the track, Cindric led with 20 laps remaining over Austin Dillon before Buescher, Wallace and Erik Jones pitted under green, with the former getting sideways and locking up his front tires while trying to reduce his pace before entering pit road.
With 17 laps remaining, nine competitors led by Stenhouse and including Byron, Elliott, Larson and Suarez all pitted under green before a bevy of competitors led by Gilliland pitted under green during the following lap. By then, Gilliland was penalized for speeding while entering pit road as he locked up the front tires of his No. 38 Georgia Peanuts Ford Mustang Dark Horse as more names led by McDowell pitted.
Back on the track and with a majority of the field, including those who pitted, settling in back within the racing groove, Cindric was leading ahead of Keselowski and Logano as the top 21 competitors were separated by less than two seconds with 15 laps remaining. In the ensuing laps, Cindric had Keselowski shoving him from the inside lane while Stenhouse launched a side-by-side duel from the outside lane with drafting help from Elliott.
Down to the final 10 laps of the event, the top 29 competitors were separated by more than a second as both Cindric and Stenhouse continued to duel for the lead in front of two stacked lanes as Cindric and Stenhouse also continued to have drafting help from Keselowski and Stenhouse, respectively.
Five laps later, Cindric continued to lead ahead of Stenhouse, Keselowski and a bevy of competitors racing in two-wide formation while Austin Dillon, who was mired in 29th place, tried to ignite a third drafting lane towards the outside wall.
Shortly after, the caution flew when Keselowski gave the leader Cindric a huge bump in the rear, which got Cindric’s No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse loose and ramming into the left driver’s side of Stenhouse’s No. 47 Kroger/Palmolive Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 before he spun in the middle of the pack and scrambled the field, with nearly every competitor racing in the lead pack spinning and crashing into one another and towards the walls through the backstretch. Among those who were involved included Playoff contenders Elliott, Briscoe, Logano, Bowman, Bell and Reddick as pole-sitter McDowell was also left with a wrecked race car.
The incident that collected a track-record 28 competitors was enough for the event to be sent into overtime as Stenhouse, who was hit in the driver’s side, escaped with the lead followed by Keselowski, Byron, Larson and Kyle Busch. It also placed the event in a red flag period for more than eight minutes before the scattered field led by Stenhouse resumed under a cautious pace. By then, Briscoe and Elliott, both of whom had their respective cars towed back to their pit stalls and were given clearance by NASCAR to have their cars repaired, managed to continue despite dropping out of the lead lap category while teammates Logano and Cindric were ruled out of the race.
When the race returned under green flag conditions, the start of the first overtime attempt featured Stenhouse and Keselowski dueling for the lead while Hendrick Motorsports’ Byron and Larson followed suit ahead of Bell, Kyle Busch and Erik Jones. Stenhouse and Keselowski continued to battle dead even in front of two stacked lanes exiting the backstretch before they returned to Turns 3 and 4.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Stenhouse and Keselowski remained deadlocked against one another for the lead and in front of the field. Through Turns 1 and 2, Kyle Busch was shoved out of the draft by Erik Jones, which resulted in Busch drifting towards the rear of the field as both Stenhouse and Keselowski continued to duel while being drafted by Byron and Larson, respectively.
Then through Turns 3 and 4, Keselowski muscled ahead and had both lanes under his control. Stenhouse, however, came storming back to draw even with Keselowski with drafting help from Byron’s No. 24 RAPTOR Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entering the frontstretch while Keselowski had no drafting help from Larson and Bell. As the field fanned out approaching the start/finish line, Stenhouse edged Keselowski by 0.006 seconds to claim the checkered flag and be awarded his first Cup Series victory of the 2024 season.
With the victory, Stenhouse, whose margin of victory (0.006 seconds) marks the sixth-closest finish recorded in the history of the Cup Series, snapped a 65-race winless drought dating back to his previous victory in the 2023 Daytona 500 as he scored his fourth career win in the Cup Series, all occurring between Talladega Superspeedway or Daytona International Speedway. The victory was the 14th of the season for the Chevrolet nameplate and the third ever for JTG-Daugherty Racing. Stenhouse also became the second competitor to win the Playoff event at Talladega as a non-Playoff contender since the inception of the current Playoff elimination-style format in 2014.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“Man, this team has put a lot of hard work in,” Stenhouse, who dedicated his victory to those affected by Hurricane Helene, said on NBC. “Obviously, we haven’t won since the [Daytona] 500 in ’23. It’s been an up-and-down season. It was a lot of hard work this season, just trying to find a little bit of speed, but we knew this track is one of ours to come get. This means a lot winning here. Man, what a day. Just proud of this group. I’m looking forward to seeing [co-owner Brad Daugherty]. This win’s really, really special.”
Brad Keselowski, who led two laps and just fell short of winning at Talladega in April earlier this season, settled in second place for the fourth time in 2024.
“[Larson] gave me a good push down the frontstretch, but [Byron] was able to really stick with [Stenhouse],” Keselowski said. “[I] Needed a tiny bit there, but good finish for us. We’ve been knocking on the door on these plate tracks. [I] Hate that we didn’t bust through with the win, but happy to be right there in contention.”
Meanwhile, Playoff competitors and teammates William Byron and Kyle Larson accomplished their goals of notching strong results at Talladega by finishing third and fourth, respectively. The third-place result was enough for Byron to clinch his spot into the Playoff’s Round of 8 based on points while Larson is scored 52 points above the top-eight cutline.
“Just proud of my team,” Byron said. “[They] Brought a good car here. Thanks to my spotter Branden [Lines]. He did a great job all day. We missed a couple wrecks early on that were sketchy, just when we were saving fuel and things like that. Really happy to advance on points [in the Playoffs]. We’ll be on attack [mode] going in the Round of 8 and next week. Next week’s my home track, so I look forward to that place. Hopefully, get a win there.”
“[This is my] Second top five of my career in general on speedways, so I’ll take that,” Larson added. “It’s really cool. Obviously, there’s a lot of luck that plays into just finishing these races. I feel like we do a great job and today just showed that. It’s cool to finally go into the [Charlotte] Roval with a 52-point gap. That race is stressful. It’s way more stressful to me than Talladega, so glad to not have to worry about it too much.”
Erik Jones logged in the first top-five result of the season for both himself and Legacy Motor Club by finishing fifth while Playoff contender Christopher Bell, Justin Haley, Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace and Playoff contender Denny Hamlin completed the top 10 in the final running order.
With four of 12 Playoff contenders finishing in the top 10, the remaining Playoff contenders that include Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick, Daniel Suarez, Chase Elliott, Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney ended up 16th, 20th, 26th, 29th, 30th, 32nd, 33rd and 39th, respectively.
With the results, the four Playoff contenders who enter next weekend’s Round of 8 finale at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course below the top-eight cutline in the Playoff standings are Logano, Suarez, Cindric and Briscoe. Meanwhile, Reddick and Elliott occupy the final two transfer spots by 14 and 13 points, respectively, while Ryan Blaney escapes with a 25-point advantage from the cutline amid his Stage 2 accident that resulted in him finishing in the next-to-last position in the leaderboard.
There were 66 lead changes for 24 different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 24 laps. In addition, 22 of 40 starters finished on the lead lap.
The Round of 12 in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is set to conclude next Sunday, October 13, at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in Concord, North Carolina, for the Bank of America ROVAL 400 and where the second of three elimination processes will occur. The event’s broadcast time is slated to occur at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.
Using lessons and scenarios gained from team owner and former NASCAR veteran Dale Earnhardt Jr., Sammy Smith capitalized on an overtime shootout amid a late battle with his fellow Playoff contenders to advance into the second round of the Playoffs by winning the United Rentals 250 at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, October 5.
The two-time ARCA Menards Series East champion from Johnston, Iowa, led five times for a total of five of 98 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started the deepest of the Playoff field in 27th place. Despite carving his way up through the field and inside the top-10 mark amid the draft before ending up a single position shy of claiming a stage point after the first stage period, Smith would rally by surging to a second-place finish at the conclusion of the second stage period.
Once the final stage period started under green flag conditions with 38 laps remaining, Smith would lead for the first time on Lap 67 and spend the majority of the stage racing towards the front as the action around him intensified amid three-wide formation and his fellow competitors drafting aggressively.
Following three restart periods and two multi-car wrecks, the latter of which knocked out three of his JR Motorsports teammates, Smith, who restarted alongside Playoff contender Riley Herbst on the front row for an overtime shootout, overtook Herbst for the lead on the final lap before he dueled with Playoff contender Chandler Smith for the lead through the backstretch. With Chandler Smith having no drafting help through the final two sets of turns, Sammy Smith received drafting help from Ryan Sieg to surge ahead and fend off the incoming field to score his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in over one year and automatically transfer from the Playoff’s Round of 12 to 8.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Playoff rookie contender Jesse Love notched his fifth Xfinity career pole position after he posted a pole-winning lap at 182.129 mph in 52.578 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender and teammate Austin Hill, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 181.770 mph in 52.682 seconds.
Before the event, the following names that include CJ McLaughlin, Joey Gase and Tommy Joe Martins dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. Aric Almirola also dropped to the rear of the field after his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team was assessed with a windshield violation during the inspection process. In addition, Almirola was assessed a drive-through penalty after taking the green flag.
When the green flag waved and the race started, teammates Jesse Love and Austin Hill dueled for the lead in front of two stacked lanes before Hill muscled ahead as he started on the inside lane. As the field began to fan out to multiple lanes exiting the backstretch, Hill fended off Playoff contenders Chandler Smith and AJ Allmendinger through two lanes and through the frontstretch to lead the first lap as Aric Almirola served his pass-through penalty.
Through the second to fifth lap, a majority of the field migrated to the outside lane and within a long single-file line behind the leader Hill while Allmendinger led a small parade of competitors drafting and trying to keep pace with Hill on the inside lane. Allmendinger, however, would surge ahead to lead the fourth lap as he had Playoff contender Riley Herbst following suit from the inside lane while Hill was trying to keep pace from the outside lane. Taylor Gray and Playoff contender Sam Mayer also navigated their way to the front while Allmendingergressively blocked both lanes to maintain the lead.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, a series of on-track shuffling ensued towards the front as the field fanned out to three packed lanes, with Love moving back atop the leaderboard ahead of Allmendinger, Hill, Ryan Sieg and Anthony Alfredo. Behind, Riley Herbst and Chandler Smith along with Playoff contenders Parker Kligerman, Sammy Smith and Justin Allgaier were racing in the top 10 ahead of Taylor Gray, Brandon Jones, Carson Kvapil, Jeb Burton and Playoff contenders Cole Custer. Meanwhile, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Sheldon Creed, Sam Mayer and Shane van Gisbergen were mired in 17th, 18th and 22nd, respectively.
Five laps later, Love maintained a narrow advantage over Allmendinger as he led two stacked drafting lanes while Chandler Smith, Hill, Alfredo and Justin Allgaier were mired in the top six on the track. By then, Almirola, who was lapped two laps earlier, was mired in 37th place. With a majority of the front-runners racing in two-wide formation amid the draft, Love continued to lead at the Lap 20 mark as he transitioned from both the inside and outside lanes to fend off Chandler Smith and Allgaier for the lead, though Chandler Smith then drew himself alongside Love and led the following lap by a hair.
A lap after being edged by Chandler Smith, Love then got shoved out of the draft entering the backstretch as Allgaier made his move beneath Love and had the drafting momentum with him. With Love drifting back within the top-10 mark, Chandler Smith had the lead to his possession while Allgaier, Sheldon Creed, Allmendinger and Gray were scored in the top five.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 25, Playoff contender Chandler Smith fended off final-lap challenges from teammate Creed, Allgaier and Allmendinger to claim his seventh Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Playoff contenders Allmendinger, Allgaier, Austin Hill and Creed followed suit in the top five while Anthony Alfredo, Taylor Gray, Mayer, Custer and Dean Thompson were scored in the top 10. With seven of 12 Playoff contenders accumulating the first round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Sammy Smith, Herbst, Kligerman, Love and van Gisbergen were mired in 11th, 12th, 13th, 15th and 23rd, respectively. In addition, Almirola was the recipient of the free pass after being the first competitor that was scored a lap down at the first stage’s conclusion.
Under the stage break, a majority of the lead lap field led by Chandler Smith pitted for a first round of pit service while others led by Blaine Perkins remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Love exited pit road first after he opted to have none of his four tires changed while Chandler Smith, Creed, Allgaier and Allmendinger followed suit in the top five. The remaining competitors, who stayed on the track, led by Perkins, pitted a lap after the rest of the field did, which handed the lead back to Love.
The second stage period started on Lap 31 as Love and Chandler Smith occupied the front row. At the start, Love muscled ahead from the outside lane through the first two turns, but he would then be locked in a side-by-side battle with Chandler Smith just past the frontstretch. With the field behind closing in amid two stacked drafting lanes, Love managed to lead the following lap while Chandler Smith and Allgaier dueled for second place. Allgaier would then surge into second place in front of Cole Custer and Chandler Smith by Lap 33 as the field fanned out to three packed lanes through the backstretch.
At the Lap 35 mark, Love led a small single-file line that included Allgaier, Custer, Hill, Alfredo and Kvapil while Chandler Smith was mired in seventh place along with Jeb Burton, van Gisbergen and Allmendinger. By the next lap, the top 24 competitors were running under two seconds as Love retained the lead ahead of Allgaier, Custer, Hill and Alfredo. By then, playoff contenders van Gisbergen, Herbst, Kligerman, Chandler Smith, Creed, Kligerman and Sammy Smith were mired within the top-20 mark while Sam Mayer was racing in 23rd place. In addition, Almirola had carved his way back into the top-20 mark.
By Lap 40, Love maintained a steady five-car breakaway from two stacked lanes that included Allgaier, Hill, Alfredo and Taylor Gray while Allmendinger and Chandler Smith were trying to charge their way towards the front amid their respective drafting lanes. Allmendinger would then climb his way up to fourth place with a strong surge from the outside lane as he had Custer and Kvapil drafting him.
A lap later, the caution flew when Allmendinger, who had gained a draft on Love from the outside lane, caused a brief stack-up from the outside lane, starting after the backstretch, after he surged to Love’s bumper at a high-rated speed, got loose and was shuffled out of the draft. This resulted in Nick Leitz getting turned and wrecking in front of Kligerman and Jeb Burton as Josh Williams and Dean Thompson were also involved in Turn 4. At the moment of caution, Allgaier had overtaken Love for the lead through Turns 3 and 4.
During the caution period, some including Kvapil, Brandon Jones, Herbst, Taylor Gray, Ryan Sieg, van Gisbergen, Kligerman and Jeb Burton pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Gray was penalized for speeding on pit road.
With the event restarting under green with four laps remaining in the second stage period, Allgaier and Hill dueled for the lead in front of two stacked lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch. As Cole Custer was shuffled out of the draft despite lining up with the Richard Childress Racing competitors, Hill continued to duel with Allgaier for the lead through the frontstretch, where Allgaier led the following lap, as Allmendinger aggressively shoved his way towards the top-three mark and amid a three-wide move. As the field continued to fan out aggressively, Allgaier managed to move in front of Hill to have both lanes to his control and lead the following lap.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 50, Playoff contender Austin Hill, who used a bold crossover move on Allgaier to assume the lead and outlasted a series of aggressive challenges from his competition amid the draft over the previous two laps, fended off a last-lap surge from Sammy Smith to claim his fourth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Behind, Playoff contenders Sammy Smith, Love, van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith, Herbst, Allmendinger, Creed and Custer all finished in the top nine while Brandon Jones settled in 10th place. With nine of 12 Playoff contenders racking up the second round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Allgaier, Mayer and Kligerman settled in 13th, 17th and 21st, respectively.
During the stage break, Hill led a majority of the field, including all Playoff contenders, back to pit road for service. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Herbst, who only opted for fuel, exited pit road first as he was followed by Brandon Jones, Kvapil, Chandler Smith and Gray.
With 38 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced under green as Herbst and Jones occupied the front row. At the start, Herbst received drafting help from Chandler Smith to surge ahead of Jones through the first two turns as the rest of the field followed suit amid two stacked lanes. With the field beginning to fan out to multiple lanes through the backstretch, Herbst led the following lap ahead of Chandler Smith while Gray made his way up to third place ahead of Jones, Creed and Love. Love then surged towards the front with no drafting help through the backstretch and Turns 3 and 4 before Herbst fought back with all the momentum occurring behind him toward the outside wall. As the majority of the field migrated towards the outside lane led by Herbst, Love continued to fight back from the inside lane as he had Sammy Smith, Almirola and Allgaier following suit.
With 34 laps remaining, Love, who spent the last several laps dueling with Herbst, surged ahead to lead as he was followed by Sammy Smith and the rest of the field. Smith then made his move beneath Love exiting the backstretch and both dueled in front of two stacked lanes through the frontstretch and prior to completing the following lap as Love was still scored ahead of Smith and Herbst.
Down to the final 30 laps of the event and with the field fanned out to three stacked drafting lanes, Herbst was ahead of Chandler Smith, who used the inside lane to lead a few laps earlier amid a three-wide action, and Almirola while Sammy Smith, Love, Allgaier, Allmendinger, van Gisbergen, Jordan Anderson and Hill were scored in the top 10 ahead of Josh Williams, Mayer, Cred, Kvapil and Alfredo. Meanwhile, Kligerman and Custer were mired in 17th and 24th, respectively, while the top 23 competitors were racing under a second of one another.
Five laps later, Chandler Smith was out in front ahead of Love, Herbst, Sammy Smith, Allmendinger and van Gisbergen while Almirola, Hill, Williams and Allgaier were mired in the top 10 amid a flurry of on-track battles as the field continued to duel amid three tight-packed lanes.
With 20 laps remaining, Allmendinger, who made an aggressive move to overtake Love from the outside lane before he dueled with Chandler Smith for the lead from the inside lane, was leading ahead of Sammy Smith, Herbst, Almirola and Chandler Smith as the top-28 competitors were separated within two seconds.
A lap later, the caution flew when van Gisbergen, who was scored in sixth place approaching the frontstretch’s tri-oval, made contact with Dean Thompson which resulted in van Gisbergen going below the double yellow line zone. Immediately after, Jordan Anderson ran into the rear of Thompson and got Thompson spinning and clipping van Gisbergen, where the latter went back up the track and ignited a multi-car wreck that involved Anderson, David Starr, Taylor Gray, Josh Williams and Austin Hill.
During the caution period, some including Kligerman and Love pitted to top off on fuel while the rest led by Allmendinger remained on the track. By then, Hill was able to remain on the lead lap after having his car repaired and meeting minimum speed to continue while van Gisbergen was eliminated from further competition.
The start of the following restart period with 13 laps remaining featured Sammy Smith and Allmendinger dueling for the lead just past the frontstretch before Allmendinger surged ahead with drafting help from Herbst and Chandler Smith on the inside lane through the first two turns. The field then scattered before filing back into two draft-packed lanes as Herbst challenged Allmendinger for the lead. By then, Almirola, who was racing towards the front, blew a left-front tire through the frontstretch and fell off the pace, though he continued below the apron without drawing a caution. The caution, however, returned with 11 laps remaining due to debris coming off of Almirola’s car on the backstretch as Almirola limped his car to pit road.
With the race restarting under green with seven laps remaining, Herbst and Sammy Smith dueled for the lead before Herbst surged ahead from the inside lane with drafting help from Allmendinger, Chandler Smith and Allgaier. Allmendinger then tried to duel beneath Herbst for the lead through the backstretch, but he had no drafting help while Herbst retained the lead with drafting help coming from Chandler Smith. As the field fanned out through the frontstretch, Herbst retained the lead for the following lap.
Down to the final five laps of the event and the field still fanned out to three packed lanes, Sammy Smith was leading ahead of teammates Allgaier and Jones while Allmendinger and Herbst battled for fourth place. Allgaier and Herbst then pinned Sammy Smith in the middle of a three-wide battle through the backstretch as Allgaier surged ahead with the lead. With Allgaier leading the following lap ahead of Herbst, Sammy Smith battled Leland Honeyman, Jones, and Chandler Smith for third place as the field behind continued to draft aggressively through three packed lanes.
Then with three laps remaining, the caution returned when Kvapil, who was racing towards the top five, was bumped by teammate Jones exiting the frontstretch, which resulted in Kvapil getting loose and spinning into the path of teammate Allgaier as both smacked the outside wall hard. Kvapil then shot dead left back across the track and clipped Jones as Jones took a vicious head-on hit into the outside wall, where he collected Alfredo and Custer. In the ensuing chaos, more names including Kligerman, Parker Retzlaff, Jeb Burton, Allmendinger, Dylan Lupton, Love and Perkins wrecked. The multi-car wreck was enough to not only send the event into overtime but also place the event in a brief red flag period as Herbst, who made a move beneath Allgaier for the lead through Turns 3 and 4 a lap earlier, was scored the leader.
When the red flag lifted and the field proceeded under a cautious pace, some including Allgaier, Allmendinger and Custer pitted for repairs to their respective cars while the rest led by Herbst and Sammy Smith remained on the track.
The start of the first overtime attempt featured Herbst and Sammy Smith tightly dueling for the lead through the first two turns, with Chandler Smith drafting Herbst while Creed was drafting Sammy Smith. Through the backstretch, the top-four competitors that included Herbst, Sammy Smith, Chandler Smith and Creed muscled away from the rest of the field until Herbst muscled ahead with drafting help from Chandler Smith entering Turns 3 and 4 when Sammy Smith lost his drafting help from Creed.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Herbst remained as the leader as the rest of the field behind came storming back towards the front-runners while Sammy Smith started to make his move beneath Herbst for the lead. Chandler Smith then made his move beneath Herbst with drafting help from teammate Creed, which resulted in Herbst dropping out of the top five as he had not drafting help and left both Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith to duel for the lead in front of Ryan Sieg, Leland Honeyman and Creed through the first two turns.
With the field still fanned out to three tight-packed lanes through the backstretch as Jeb Burton tried to surge to the front, Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith remained in a tight duel for the lead until Sammy Smith started to have drafting help from Ryan Sieg through Turns 3 and 4. Then entering the frontstretch, Sammy Smith surged ahead with drafting help from Ryan Sieg while Chandler Smith was losing momentum as he had no drafting help. With no additional drafting runs or challenges occurring behind him, Sammy Smith was able to muscle ahead and claim the checkered flag by a tenth of a second over Ryan Sieg while Creed got turned by Love after taking the checkered flag.
With the victory, Sammy Smith, the reigning Xfinity Series Rookie-of-the-Year recipient, notched his second career win in his 70th start in the Xfinity Series, his first on a superspeedway venue and his first since winning at Phoenix Raceway in March 2023. The victory was also Smith’s first driving for JR Motorsports and the first time the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet entry went to Victory Lane in an Xfinity event since Josh Berry piloted the entry to a victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October 2022. In addition, JR Motorsports notched its fourth Xfinity victory at Talladega and its 87th victory overall in the series while rookie crew chief Phillip Bell, who was swapped to JR Motorsports’ No. 8 team from the No. 9 team in early September, achieved his first career win.
As a result, Smith, who came into Talladega 23 points below the top-eight cutline in the Playoff standings, earned an automatic spot into the Playoff’s Round of 8, where he will continue his pursuit of his first Xfinity Series championship.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“It’s been a really tough year,” Smith said on the frontstretch on the CW Network. “[Spotter] Tyler Monn, he did a really great job today, helping me. Man, it’s been a while. It’s been a struggle, but I’m very happy to be here and looking forward to, hopefully, go getting better on these ovals and road courses. [I] sat down with [team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr.], I think it was on Wednesday. [The conversation] wasn’t a whole lot. Just kind of some stuff he would do in those situations, but man, it feels really good to get a win again.”
Ryan Sieg followed Sammy Smith to the finish line by a tenth of a second as he finished in the runner-up spot for the fourth time in his career while Playoff contenders Riley Herbst, Sheldon Creed and Chandler Smith finished in the top five.
Playoff contender Jesse Love, Jeb Burton, David Starr, Brennan Poole and Kyle Sieg completed the top-10 results in the final running order ahead of Playoff contenders AJ Allmendinger and Parker Kligerman. Behind, Sam Mayer ended up in 16th place while Austin Hill settled in 24th place. In addition, Justin Allgaier and Cole Custer both finished a lap down in 26th and 27th, respectively.
*Following the post-race inspection process, Sam Mayer was disqualified from finishing 16th due to his car failing to meet the rear height requirements and being too low. Instead of leaving Talladega with 24 points and occupying the eighth and final transfer spot in the Playoff standings by 10 points, Mayer officially leaves Talladega 13 points below the cutline and with a single point recorded following his run at Talladega.
With Sammy Smith leapfrogging his way from the bottom to the top of the Playoff standings along with racing his way into the Playoff’s second round, Chandler Smith has also clinched his spot into the Round of 8 by points as he is 64 points above the cutline. Currently, the four competitors who trail the top-eight cutline entering next weekend’s Round of 8 finale at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course are Justin Allgaier, Shane van Gisbergen, Mayer and Parker Kligerman. Meanwhile, AJ Allmendinger, who was initially scored 10 points below the cutline, now occupies the eighth and final transfer spot in the standings by seven points over Allgaier.
There were 28 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 27 laps. In addition, 24 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results.
1. Sammy Smith, five laps led
2. Ryan Sieg, one lap led
3. Riley Herbst, 22 laps led
4. Sheldon Creed
5. Chandler Smith, 11 laps led, Stage 1 winner
6. Jesse Love, 28 laps led
7. Jeb Burton
8. David Starr, one lap eld
9. Brennan Poole
10. Kyle Sieg
11. AJ Allmendinger, 13 laps led
12. Parker Kligerman
13. Tommy Joe Martins
14. Leland Honeyman
15. Ryan Ellis
16. Matt DiBenedetto
17. CJ McLaughlin
18. Blaine Perkins, one lap led
19. Aric Almirola
20. Dean Thompson
21. Joey Gase
22. Carson Ware
23. Austin Hill, seven laps led, Stage 2 winner
24. Dylan Lupton, one lap down
25. Justin Allgaier, one lap down, eight laps led
26. Cole Custer, one lap down
27. Carson Kvapil – OUT, Accident
28. Brandon Jones – OUT, Accident
29. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident
30. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident
31. Kyle Weatherman, 11 laps down
32. Taylor Gray – OUT, Accident
33. Jordan Anderson – OUT, Accident
34. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident
35. Shane van Gisbergen – OUT, Accident
36. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Brakes
37. Nick Leitz – OUT, Accident
38. Sam Mayer – Disqualified, one lap led
*Bold indicates Playoff competitors
Playoff standings
1. Sammy Smith – Advanced
2. Chandler Smith – Advanced
3. Cole Custer +37
4. Austin Hill +37
5. Sheldon Creed +32
6. Jesse Love +22
7. Riley Herbst +20
8. AJ Allmendinger +7
9. Justin Allgaier -7
10. Shane van Gisbergen -10
11. Sam Mayer -13
12. Parker Kligerman -16
The Round of 12 in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs is set to conclude next Saturday, October 12, at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in Concord, North Carolina, for the Drive for the Cure 250, where the first of two elimination processes will occur. The event’s broadcast is slated to occur at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
Michael McDowell flexed his yearlong qualifying muscles on superspeedway venues and saved his best for last as he zoomed his way to the pole position for this weekend’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, October 5.
The 2021 Daytona 500 champion from Glendale, Arizona, was one of 10 from a list of 40-entered competitors to transfer into the second of two qualifying rounds consisting of one timed lap per round, with the top-10 competitors posting the 10-fastest lap times during the first round. After the first qualifying round, McDowell was the fastest qualifier with a lap at 182.944 mph in 52.344 seconds and was two-tenths of a second faster than Playoff contender Austin Cindric.
During the final round of qualifying, McDowell, who was the last of 10 second-round qualifiers to qualify, knocked Cindric off the top of the chart after he posted his pole-winning lap at 183.063 mph in 52.310 seconds, where he was nearly two-tenths of a second faster than Cindric.
As a result, McDowell, down to his final six races with Front Row Motorsports before joining Spire Motorsports in 2025, swept both Talladega poles of the 2024 Cup Series season. He also notched the sixth Cup pole of his career and of this season, with his latest occurring during the Playoff opener at Atlanta Motor Speedway in early September, and his fifth on superspeedway venues.
This weekend, McDowell will make his 28th attempt to win at Talladega in the Cup Series for the first time. Earlier in April, he led a race-high 36 of 188 scheduled laps from pole position and was leading on the final lap when he got turned off the front nose of Brad Keselowski through the frontstretch’s tri-oval and was involved in a multi-car wreck. Ultimately, McDowell ended up in 31st place in the final running order after he was unable to limp his damaged car to complete the final lap.
“It’s just amazing,” McDowell said on USA Network. “I’m just so proud of everybody on this No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang team. It’s hard to come down here [at Talladega] and get the pole, but we found some things in the off-season [period]. [We] Went to Daytona, it worked, and we just kept that momentum going. We came down here with a game plan. The game plan was to sit on the pole, and we did that today. That should put us in the lead for the most poles for the year. That’s something we have circled, but there’s a lot of racing left. Hopefully, tomorrow goes smoother than [in April]. To get [six] poles is pretty amazing.”
Joining McDowell on the front row will be Austin Cindric, the highest-starting Playoff contender who posted his best lap at 182.424 mph in 52.493 seconds during the final round of qualifying. Cindric, the 2022 Daytona 500 champion, enters Talladega situated in 12th place in the Playoff standings and trailing the top-eight cutline by 29 points as he strives to climb his way back above the cutline prior to the conclusion of next weekend’s Round of 8 finale at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.
Todd Gilliland, McDowell’s teammate at Front Row Motorsports, will start in third place for this weekend’s main event at Talladega, followed by Kyle Busch and Playoff contender Ryan Blaney on the starting grid. Playoff contender Joey Logano, Austin Dillon, Playoff contender Denny Hamlin, Harrison Burton and Daniel Hemric completed the top-10 starting positions.
With four of 12 Playoff competitors starting in the top 10, the remaining Playoff competitors include Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick, William Byron, Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman, Daniel Suarez and Chase Briscoe, who will start 11th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 21st, 23rd, 31st and 36th, respectively.
*All 40 competitors entered for Sunday’s event at Talladega earned a starting spot.
Qualifying position, best speed, best time:
Michael McDowell, 183.063 mph, 52.310 seconds
Austin Cindric, 182.424 mph, 52.493 seconds
Todd Gilliland, 182.258 mph, 52.541 seconds
Kyle Busch, 181.863 mph, 52.655 seconds
Ryan Blaney, 181.784 mph, 52.678 seconds
Joey Logano, 181.687 mph, 52.706 seconds
Austin Dillon, 181.567 mph, 52.741 seconds
Denny Hamlin, 181.453 mph, 52.774 seconds
Harrison Burton, 181.038 mph, 52.895 seconds
Daniel Hemric, 180.980 mph, 52.912 seconds
Chase Elliott, 181.322 mph, 52.812 seconds
Kyle Larson, 181.292 mph, 52.821 seconds
Brad Keselowski, 181.254 mph, 52.832 seconds
Tyler Reddick, 181.223 mph, 52.841 seconds
Ty Gibbs, 181.195 mph, 52.849 seconds
William Byron, 181.007 mph, 52.904 seconds
Shane van Gisbergen, 180.973 mph, 52.914 seconds
Ryan Preece, 180.966 mph, 52.916 seconds
Josh Berry, 180.911 mph, 52.932 seconds
Chris Buescher, 180.700 mph, 52.994 seconds
Christopher Bell, 180.655 mph, 53.007 seconds
Noah Gragson, 180.642 mph, 53.011 seconds
Alex Bowman, 180.638 mph, 53.012 seconds
Martin Truex Jr., 180.611 mph, 53.020 seconds
AJ Allmendinger, 180.529 mph, 53.044 seconds
Bubba Wallace, 180.461 mph, 53.064 seconds
Ross Chastain, 180.417 mph, 53.077 seconds
Corey LaJoie, 179.932 mph, 53.220 seconds
John Hunter Nemechek, 179.922 mph, 53.223 seconds
Erik Jones, 179.801 mph, 53.259 seconds
Daniel Suarez, 179.787 mph, 53.263 seconds
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 179.693 mph, 53.291 seconds
Anthony Alfredo, 179.608 mph, 53.316 seconds
Cody Ware, 179.581 mph, 53.324 seconds
Justin Haley, 179.011 mph, 53.494 seconds
Chase Briscoe, 178.997 mph, 53.498 seconds
Carson Hocevar, 178.327 mph, 53.699 seconds
BJ McLeod, 177.761 mph, 53.870 seconds
Zane Smith, 177.593 mph, 53.921 seconds
JJ Yeley, 174.847 mph, 54.768 seconds
The 2024 YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway is scheduled to occur this Sunday, October 6, and air at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.
The feeling of winning at home never felt sweeter for Grant Enfinger, who guaranteed himself an early shot to contend for this year’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship after capping off a dominant performance with a victory in the Love’s RV Stop 225 at Talladega Superspeedway on Friday, October 4.
The 39-year-old Enfinger from Fairhope, Alabama, led nine times for a race-high 34 of 85-scheduled laps in an event where he started in fourth place and spent a majority of the event racing upfront amid the draft and up against both his fellow Playoff and non-Playoff contenders. After finishing second in the first stage before winning the second stage, Enfinger, who would endure three restarts throughout the final stage period, retained the lead at the start of the final one with nine laps remaining. He then fended off late challenges from Playoff contenders Christian Eckes and Taylor Gray through the frontstretch on the final lap and amid a multi-truck wreck approaching the finish line to record his first elusive victory of the season and automatically transfer his way into this year’s Championship 4 round.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, William Sawalich, the 2024 ARCA Menards Series East champion, notched his first Truck Series career pole position after he posted a pole-winning lap at 175.764 mph in 54.482 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ben Rhodes, who posted his best qualifying lap at 175.648 mph in 54.518 seconds.
Prior to the event, Keith McGee dropped to the rear of the field as a result of replacing Bryan Dauzat in the FDNY Racing entry. Bayley Currey also dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change to his Niece Motorsports entry.
When the green flag waved and the race started, William Sawalich muscled his No. 1 Starkey/Soundgear Toyota Tundra TRD Pro ahead with the lead from the inside lane as he was followed by Ben Rhodes and Playoff contenders Ty Majeski and Taylor Gray through the first two turns. Sawalich proceeded to lead through the backstretch as a bevy of competitors behind dueled early for positions in two drafting lanes. When the field returned to the frontstretch, Playoff contender Grant Enfinger received a draft from Chase Purdy from the outside lane to rocket his No. 9 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST ahead and lead the first lap ahead of Sawalich.
Through the second to fifth lap, the field fanned out to three drafting lanes as Purdy, Enfinger and Matt Mills all took turns leading at the front while Jake Garcia, Sawalich, Connor Zilisch, Dean Thompson, Majeski, Playoff contender Tyler Ankrum, Dean Thompson and Lawless Alan all followed pursuit. By then, Ben Rhodes, who started on the front row alongside Sawalich, was penalized for jumping the start, as he launched ahead of Sawalich when he was not in control of bringing the field up to race pace before the event’s start. After serving a drive-through penalty for the penalty, however, Rhodes was penalized a second time, this time for a blend violation as he moved up the racing surface early through the backstretch. The pair of penalties would result in Rhodes losing a lap to the field while Mills and Enfinger dueled for the lead in front of the field.
Through the first 10-scheduled laps, Enfinger was leading ahead of Purdy, Sawalich, Mills and Majeski while Garcia, Playoff contender Taylor Gray, Zilisch, Ankrum and Dean Thomson were racing in the top 10. Behind, Playoff contender Corey Heim occupied 11th place ahead of, Lawless Alan, Playoff contender Christian Eckes, Playoff contender Rajah Caruth and Ryan Reed while Bret Holmes, Nick Sanchez, Stefan Parsons, Stewart Friesen and Tanner Gray were mired in the top 20.
Five laps later, Enfinger, who led three of the previous five laps, was leading by a hair amid a side-by-side battle with Mills while the rest of the field racing in two-packed lanes followed suit. By then, Garcia, Sawalich and Zilisch were running in the top five as Playoff contenders Majeski, Taylor Gray and Ankrum were racing in the top-10 mark. In addition, Heim and Caruth were battling within the top-15 mark while Eckes and Sanchez were mired within the top-20 mark. Meanwhile, Johnny Sauter, who was making his second Truck start of the season with Hattori Racing Enterprises, had pitted to have a broken spoiler brace fixed.
With two laps remaining in the first stage period, Sanchez and Currey pitted their respective entries, primarily for fuel, as Enfinger retained the lead.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 20, Matt Mills received a draft from Garcia to overtake Enfinger from the outside lane through the backstretch and claim his first Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Enfinger settled in second ahead of Garcia, Zilisch and Sawalich while Thompson, Majeski, Alan, Taylor Gray and Tanner Gray were scored in the top 10 on the track. Meanwhile, Playoff contenders that included Ankrum, Heim, Eckes and Caruth were mired within the top 16 while Sanchez was down in 32nd place.
Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Mills pits while the rest including Stewart Friesen, Matt Crafton, Spencer Boyd and Sanchez remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Enfinger exited pit road first ahead of Majeski, Garcia, Alan, Zilisch, Eckes, Thompson, Taylor Gray, Caruth and Tyler Ankrum. Friesen, Crafton and Boyd would eventually pit prior to the second stage’s start while Sanchez, who pitted before the first stage’s conclusion, remained on the track and inherited the lead.
The second stage period started on Lap 27 as Sanchez and Enfinger occupied the front row. At the start, Sanchez and Enfinger dueled for the lead for a full lap and in front of two stacked lanes. Enfinger was being pushed by Garcia while Sanchez was being pushed by Majeski and Zilisch. By then, Taylor Gray pitted to have a punctured tire on his No. 17 Place of Hope Toyota Tundra TRD Pro removed as both Sanchez and Enfinger continued to duel for the lead by the Lap 30 mark.
Then with three laps remaining in the second stage period, the caution flew after Sanchez, who had both lanes to his control before Enfinger came storming back to challenge him for the lead, got loose by Zilisch through the frontstretch. Sanchez then slid sideways into the path of Zilisch, where Zilisch kept pushing Sanchez’s spinning No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST while Sauter, Rhodes and Purdy all wrecked against the outside wall while trying to avoid the wreck. The incident occurred as Mills and Parsons made contact, but avoided igniting a wreck entering the frontstretch while being mired behind Playoff contenders Heim, Ankrum and Taylor Gray, the latter of whom had lost a lap to the field.
The multi-truck incident on Lap 37 was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 40 to officially conclude under caution as Enfinger was awarded his second Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Garcia, Eckes, Alan, Caruth, Thompson, Heim, Tanner Gray, Ankrum and Stefan Parsons were scored in the top 10.
Under the stage break, some, led by Crafton and including Boyd while the rest led by Enfinger pitted. During the pit stops, Mason Maggio, who made contact with Ankrum on pit road, was penalized for having too many men over his pit wall. Soon after and amid the caution period, a bevy of names including Playoff contender Taylor Gray, Sanchez all returned to pit road for additional services.
With 39 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced under green as Dye and Caruth occupied the front row. At the start, Daniel Dye, who received drafting help from a bevy of Chevrolet teammates, including teammate Eckes, muscled his No. 43 NAPA Nightvision Chevrolet Silverado RST ahead of Caruth before he then moved in front of Caruth entering the backstretch. Eckes would also follow suit and he also transitioned his No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST in front of Caruth on the inside lane. By the following lap, Dye was leading ahead of a five-truck breakaway from the field along with teammate Eckes, Ankrum, Caruth and Dean Thompson while Enfinger and Corey Heim dueled for sixth place in front of two lines of stacked competitors.
With 35 laps remaining, teammates Eckes and Dye dueled for the lead in front of two stacked lanes of competitors. Five laps later, the top-10 competitors on the track were separated under a second as Eckes was leading ahead of Enfinger, teammate Dye, Caruth and Parsons while Mills, Garcia, Alan, Kaden Honeycutt and Sanchez were in the top 10.
Then with 28 laps remaining, a majority of field led by Eckes and Enfinger pitted under green. During the pit stops, Caruth blew a tire while he was slamming on the brakes and locking up his front tires of his No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST while trying to enter pit road. Caruth, however, would be penalized for being too fast while trying to enter pit road as he eventually lost a lap. In addition, Dye missed pit road and could not pit with the front-runners while Norm Benning spun on pit road after making contact with Stefan Parsons. Soon after, Purdy was seen limping his slowed truck below the apron on the backstretch, but he continued without drawing a caution.
Back on the track with 25 laps remaining, Jason White was leading ahead of Dawson Sutton, Mason Maggio, Honeycutt and Sanchez while Enfinger, Eckes, Garcia, Riggs and Friesen were scored in the top 10.
Shortly after, the caution flew when Garcia got turned off the front nose of Parsons that resulted in Garcia colliding with rookie Layne Riggs and clipping Riggs again that sent Riggs back across the track and into Tanner Gray and Matt Mills up against the outside wall. Connor Zilisch and Dean Thompson would also get involved in the carnage while Playoff contenders Tyler Ankrum and Taylor Gray slid through the infield grass and kicked up dirt to avoid the carnage.
During the caution period, some led by the leader Jason White and including Sutton, Mason Maggio, Clay Greenfield, Cory Roper, Spencer Boyd and Ankrum pitted while the rest led by the new leader Honeycutt remained on the track.
Down to the final 17 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Honeycutt received a draft from Eckes on the inside lane to rocket ahead with the lead through the first two turns. As the field started to fan out to three lanes through the backstretch, Eckes made his move to the outside lane as he overtook Honeycutt while he was followed by Sanchez. Sanchez then made a move beneath Eckes in Turn 4 as he assumed the lead and led the following lap ahead of Honeycutt and Eckes. Sanchez would then be placed on defense to block Eckes and Honeycutt as Enfinger and Taylor Gray started to muscle up into the top five by the following lap.
The caution would then return with 15 laps remaining after Sanchez received a push from Eckes that got him sliding sideways below the apron entering Turn 3. While trying to save his truck from spinning, Sanchez slid up the track backward in between Turns 3 and 4 and barely clipped Dye, which sent Dye for a spin below the turn’s grass. With nearly the entire field dodging Sanchez’s truck, Keith McGee and Mason Maggio wrecked along with Dawson Sutton while avoiding Sanchez.
The start of the following restart period with nine laps remaining featured Enfinger rocketing ahead with the lead with drafting help from Eckes and Alan while Taylor Gray, who restarted outside the front row, blended in line in fourth place ahead of Ryan Reed and Ankrum. With a majority of the front-runners running in a long single-file line towards the inside lane, Enfinger retained the lead for the following lap and ahead of Eckes, Alan, Ankrum and Reed.
Down to the final five laps of the event, the top 12 competitors were racing under a second while the top 16 were separated within a second. In the process, Enfinger was leading ahead of Eckes, Alan, Taylor Gray and Reed while Ankrum, Friesen, Heim, Caruth and Majeski were mired in the top 10 ahead of Bret Holmes and Spencer Boyd.
During the following lap, the field behind Enfinger slowly started to fan out to multiple drafting lanes as Heim, racing in eighth place, was leading a charge from the outside lane with drafting help from Caruth. Heim and Caruth then made contact entering the backstretch, which stalled their momentum and forced both to blend back in the long drafting lane towards the double yellow lines and behind Enfinger, who continued to lead in front of Eckes.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Enfinger remained as the leader ahead of Eckes, Alan, Taylor Gray and Reed while Daniel Dye was trying to ignite a final drafting charge from the outside lane along with Caruth, Parsons and Heim. Enfinger would continue to lead through the backstretch along with Turns 3 and 4 as both Taylor Gray and Ankrum transitioned to the outside lane to receive the drafting momentum Dye was receiving.
Then through the frontstretch and with the finish line in sight, Lawless Alan would then transition to the outside lane, but Taylor Gray and Eckes pinned him in three-wide formation. As Enfinger retained the lead, trouble ignited as Ankrum was bumped and sent spinning through the frontstretch before he was hit in the driver’s side by Friesen. Eckes then slid sideways off the front nose of teammate Reed and shot back across the track, where he collected a majority of the front-runners. Meanwhile, Enfinger managed to fend off a charge from Taylor Gray to claim the checkered flag and grab the victory.
With the victory, Enfinger, who scored his first series victory at Talladega in 2016, became the first Playoff competitor to win the Truck Series Playoff event at Talladega and he became the fifth competitor to achieve multiple Truck victories at Talladega. He also notched his 11th career win in the Craftsman Truck Series and his first since winning at the Milwaukee Mile in August 2023.
Above all, Enfinger, who came into Talladega strapped in seventh place in the Playoff standings, became the first competitor to clinch a spot into this year’s Championship 4 round, where he will contend for the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series championship at Phoenix Raceway on November 8.
“[My team] knew stuff was going to get dicey,” Enfinger, who credited spotter Tim Fedewa with the victory, said on FS1. “We didn’t make all the perfect decisions today, but we had a Champion Power Equipment Chevy [that] was fast enough to get it done today. That was hairy coming right [to the finish]. I knew Taylor [Gray] was coming with a run. Tim told me to go up, then he told me to come down. It’s just Talladega right there. Hopefully, all the fans enjoyed it. It’s nothing like winning at your hometown, home track. On top of that, we get to race for a championship at Phoenix.”
Enfinger’s Talladega victory was also the first ever for CR7 Motorsports, a team that debuted in 2018 and had hired Enfinger as a part-time competitor in 2021 before signing him to a full-time, multi-year deal at the start of this season. Now after recording five top-five results and barely transferring into the Playoff’s Round of 8 throughout the previous 19 events on this year’s schedule, the organization will receive its first opportunity to contend for a NASCAR championship with the veteran Enfinger also setting his sights on claiming the title one year after being one position shy of claiming it.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“There are just so many people that make this team,” Enfinger added. “It’s a little bit of the little team that could, but we have great resources with our friends over there at [McAnally-Hilgemann Racing]. Obviously, great resources from everybody at Team Chevy. We’ve been knocking on the door. I know it’s speedway race, but we’ve been knocking on the door at all the tracks. I feel like we stumbled that first round of the Playoffs, but it really doesn’t matter now. [I was] able to win our way to Phoenix. Now, we can just focus on that. Looking forward to having some fun the next couple races, but a championship’s on the line now.
Behind Enfinger, Taylor Gray tied his career-best result of second place as he just missed his first victory and an early ticket to the Championship 4 round by 0.041 seconds. Daniel Dye managed to cross the finish line in third place with a destroyed race truck while Rajah Caruth and Lawless Alan finished in the top five. Christian Eckes, Ryan Reed, Stefan Parsons, Bret Holmes and Spencer Boyd finished in the top 10 on the track.
With Playoff contenders Enfinger, Taylor Gray, Caruth and Eckes finishing in the top 10 on the track, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Corey Heim, Ty Majeski, Tyler Ankrum and Nick Sanchez ended up 11th, 12th, 14th and 22nd, respectively. As a result, Eckes, Heim and Majeski leave Talladega above the top-four cutline to the Championship 4 round while Caruth, Gray, Sanchez and Ankrum trail the cutline.
There were 27 lead changes for 12 different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 25 laps. In addition, 23 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results.
1. Grant Enfinger, 34 laps led, Stage 2 winner
2. Taylor Gray
3. Daniel Dye, three laps led
4. Rajah Caruth, two laps led
5. Lawless Alan
6. Christian Eckes, eight laps led
7. Ryan Reed
8. Stefan Parsons
9. Bret Holmes
10. Spencer Boyd
11. Corey Heim
12. Ty Majeski
13. Stewart Friesen, one lap led
14. Tyler Ankrum
15. Clay Greenfield
16. Cory Roper
17. Danny Bohn
18. Mason Maggio
19. Kaden Honeycutt, three laps led
20. Jason White, seven laps led
21. Norm Benning
22. Nick Sanchez, 10 laps led
23. Matt Crafton, one lap led
24. Dawson Sutton, four laps down, one lap led
25. Chase Purdy, 14 laps down, one lap led
26. Keith McGee – OUT, Accident
27. William Sawalich, 21 laps down
28. Layne Riggs – OUT, Accident
29. Jake Garcia – OUT, Accident
30. Tanner Gray – OUT, Accident
31. Matt Mills – OUT, Accident, 14 laps led, Stage 1 winner
32. Dean Thompson – OUT, Accident
33. Connor Zilisch – OUT, Accident
34. Johnny Sauter – OUT, DVP
35. Ben Rhodes – OUT, Accident
36. Bayley Currey – OUT, Rear Gear
*Bold indicates Playoff competitors
Playoff standings
1. Grant Enfinger – Advanced
2. Corey Heim +30
3. Christian Eckes +29
4. Ty Majeski +5
5. Rajah Caruth -5
6. Taylor Gray -13
7. Nick Sanchez -20
8. Tyler Ankrum- 23
The second Round of 8 event in the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs is set to occur at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida, and is scheduled to occur on October 26 and air at noon ET on FS1.
NASCAR travels to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend with all the series set to compete on the 2.66-mile asphalt track. The race will mark the second race in the Round of 12 Playoffs for the Cup Series and Xfinity Series and the first event of the Craftsman Truck Series Round of 8.
Qualifying (impound) for all series: Single Vehicle – 1 Lap – 2 Rounds.
Note: There will be no practice at Talladega.
NASCAR Press Pass will be available post-race for all series.
All times are Eastern.
Friday, Oct. 4 1:00 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying – FS2 4:30 p.m.: Truck Series Love’s RV Stop 225 Stages end on laps 20/40/85 Laps = 226.1 Miles FS1/MRN/SiriusXM Purse: $880,113
Saturday, Oct. 5 Noon: Xfinity Series Qualifying USA/NBC Sports App 1:30 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying USA/MRN/SiriusXM 4:00 p.m.: Xfinity Series United Rentals 250 Stages end on laps 25/50/94 Laps = 250.04 Miles CW/MRN/SiriusXM Purse: $1,337,574
Sunday, Oct. 6 2:00 p.m.: Cup Series YellaWood 500 Stages end on Laps 60/120/188 = 500 Miles NBC/MRN/SiriusXM Purse: $9,222,964
In his third full-time season as a crew chief in the NASCAR Cup Series, Dave Elenz, who works atop the pit box of the No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota Camry XSE team piloted by Erik Jones, is poised to achieve a milestone feat. By participating in this weekend’s Cup Playoff event at Talladega Superspeedway, Elenz will call his 100th event as a crew chief in NASCAR’s premier series.
Elenz, a native of Gaylord, Michigan, earned a mechanical engineering degree from Clemon University in 2003, He first worked for Jasper Racing from 2001 to 2003 before joining MB2 as he measured cars and bodies. In 2008, he joined Team Penske to work as a race engineer for Sam Hornish Jr. and the No. 77 team before joining Red Bull Racing as an engineer, a role he retained through 2011. The following season, he joined Hendrick Motorsports to work as an engineer on the No. 88 team piloted by Dale Earnhardt Jr. before shifting to the No. 48 team piloted by five-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson.
The 2015 season marked Elenz’s first season as a crew chief in NASCAR as he joined JR Motorsports to lead the team’s No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro entry piloted by five different competitors throughout the Xfinity Series season. During the season, Elenz notched his first two career victories, both occurring with the reigning Cup champion Kevin Harvick and navigated the No. 88 team to a 12th-place finish in the final owner’s standings. From 2015 to 2021, Elenz worked with 14 different competitors and notched 15 Xfinity career victories, including three season-opening events at Daytona International Speedway. He also notched back-to-back Xfinity Series championships between 2017-18, the first occurring with William Byron and the second with Tyler Reddick, all while working atop the pit box of JRM’s No. 9 team.
Coming off a strong 2021 Xfinity campaign with Noah Gragson and the No. 9 JR Motorsports team highlighted with three victories and a third-place finish in the final standings, Elenz was promoted back to the Cup Series for the 2022 season to work as a crew chief for Erik Jones and the No. 43 Petty GMS Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team. The duo commenced the season with a 29th-place finish during the 64th running of the Daytona 500 amid a late multi-car wreck before rallying the following weekend at Auto Club Speedway by finishing third. Elenz and Jones would proceed to record seven additional top-10 results throughout 24 regular-season events, with Elenz being suspended from participating at Pocono Raceway in July amid an L1 penalty for violations pertaining to the rocker box assemblies, and they would miss the 2022 Cup Series Playoffs.
Then during the 2022 Playoff opener at Darlington Raceway, Elenz notched his first Cup career victory as a crew chief after Jones capitalized on a 20-lap shootout to fend off Denny Hamlin and notch both his third Cup career win and his second Southern 500 victory. The victory for both Jones and Elenz occurred 55 years to the day when team owner Richard Petty won his first and only Southern 500 (1967) as the duo snapped an eight-year winless drought for Petty’s No. 43 team and became the first non-Playoff team to win a Cup Series Playoff opener. Following the Southern 500 victory, Elenz and Jones would finish in the top 10 in three of the remaining nine Playoff events before settling in 18th place in the final drivers’ standings.
The following season, when Petty GMS Motorsports was rebranded to Legacy Motor Club, Elenz and Jones commenced the season with a 37th-place finish in the 65th running of the Daytona 500 following a multi-car wreck just past the halfway mark. Then following the next 14 events, where the duo had managed to record only two top-10 results, Elenz was issued a two-race suspension and fined $75,000 after the No. 43 team was issued an L1 penalty and a 60-point dock for modifications to the car’s greenhouse.
After being absent from Sonoma Raceway in June, Legacy Motor Club attempted to appeal the penalty, which allowed Elenz to work atop the No. 43 pit box for the following event at Nashville Superspeedway but would lose the appeal by late June as Elenz would be absent for the inaugural Chicago Street Race in early July.
Returning atop the pit box during the following weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Elenz would lead Jones and the No. 43 team to two top-10 results during the final eight regular-season events, but they missed the Playoffs for a second consecutive season. During the Playoffs, Elenz and Jones finished 10th at Darlington before recording a season-best third-place result at Kansas Speedway in September amid an overtime shootout. Finishing no higher than 14th during the final eight events on the schedule, the duo settled in 27th place in the final standings.
Elenz and Jones commenced their third full-time Cup campaign together by finishing eighth in the 66th running of the Daytona 500. Then after racking up three additional top-15 runs over their next eight races, Jones suffered a compression fracture in his lower vertebra following a hard accident at Talladega in April, which caused him to miss the next two races as Corey Heim, a Craftsman Truck Series competitor for TRICON Garage, filled in for Jones.
After Heim finished no higher than 22nd during his two-race stint, Jones returned to competition at Darlington Raceway in May and finished 19th. Finishing no higher than 14th throughout the remaining 14 regular-season events, Elenz and Jones did not make the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs. Since the start of the Playoffs, the duo are coming off four consecutive top-35 results, with their highest result being a 26th-place run during the Playoff opener at Atlanta. Currently, Jones and the No. 43 team are ranked in 32nd place in the drivers’ standings.
Through 99 previous Cup events, Elenz has achieved one victory, four top-five results and 20 top-10 results while working with two different competitors.
Dave Elenz is scheduled to call his 100th Cup Series career event as a crew chief at Talladega Superspeedway for the YellaWood 500 on Sunday, October 6, with the event’s coverage to occur at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.
