Bobby Allison left an indelible mark on motorsports before his passing at the age of 86. His life was defined by extraordinary success as well as heartbreaking tragedy. Throughout it all, he never wavered from his commitment to the sport he loved and his gratitude for the fans who supported him.
Allison is often regarded as one of the sport’s greatest drivers in NASCAR. Allison was born on December 3, 1937, in Miami, Florida. From 1961 through 1988, he became a key figure in the development and popularity of stock car racing, known now as NASCAR. He was also the founder of the legendary “Alabama Gang,” along with his brother Donnie and Red Farmer. Later, they were joined by Neil Bonnett and Allison’s sons, Davey and Clifford, raising the bar for regional racers and setting the standard for success in NASCAR’s elite series.
2011 NASCAR Hall of Fame (HOF)
Allison was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2011 and is widely respected for his skill, consistency, and competitive spirit and is known as one of NASCAR’s most beloved former competitors. In 1988, he was named one of NASCAR’s “50 Greatest Drivers”.
Allison Finally Got His Win
Photo Credit: NASCAR Media
On October 23, 2024, Bobby Allison was officially recognized as the 1971 Myers Brothers Memorial winner at Bowman Gray Stadium on August 6, 1971. After this, the NASCAR record books were updated to reflect Allison’s sole possession of fourth place on the all-time Cup Series wins list with 85 wins. The update placed him above Darrell Waltrip on the all-time wins list, and Allison now trails fellow NASCAR Hall of Famers Richard Petty (200), David Pearson (105), and Jeff Gordon (93).
“For 53 years, the Myers Brothers Memorial was the only race run by NASCAR that did not have an official winner,” said Jim France, NASCAR chairman and CEO. “As we began preparations for the upcoming Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, the topic of that August 6, 1971 race returned to the forefront. We felt it was the right thing to officially recognize Bobby’s win and honor him as an 85-time NASCAR Cup Series winner. We are grateful for Bobby’s lifetime contributions to NASCAR.”
Racing Highlights
Allison won in 1974 at the Daytona International Speedway Road Couse in his NASCAR Modified Division Coca-Cola Chevrolet Camaro, holding off Tiny Lund. The following year, on Lap 21 of the 52-lap race (200 miles), he experienced engine problems and finished 27th, as Merv Treichler won. In 1976, at the event’s final race, Allison beat Treichler and added his name to the winner’s list.
“The Camaro was one that was built out of my shop in Hueytown (Ala.),” said Allison, who also showed his road-course prowess in the NASCAR Cup Series by winning six events. “I had become fond of the road courses. I built that Hornet to Grand American (series) rules at the time. It was versatile enough that I could also run it in USAC races.”
Talladega Superspeedway Chairman Grant Lynch (left) and four-time Talladega winner and leader of the famed “Alabama Gang” Bobby Allison kicked off Phase II of Transformation –The Talladega Superspeedway Infield Project presented by Graybar by ripping up some of the checkered concrete floor of Gatorade Victory Lane.
Tore up Victory Lane at Talladega
In the 1986 spring race at Talladega Superspeedway, Allison took the checkered flag and went to Gatorade Victory Lane. In May of 2019, the famed “Alabama Gang” leader came back to the track’s current winner’s circle, the one he christened with that 1986 victory, to tear it down. With track Chairman Grant Lynch waving the green flag, Allison climbed aboard the cockpit of a backhoe and used its scoop to begin ripping up the checkered concrete floor that Allison celebrated 33 years earlier.
“That was a good day for sure,” remembers Allison, who held off the quartet of Dale Earnhardt, Buddy Baker, Bobby Hillin Jr., and Phil Parsons as he claimed his final Talladega win. “Any time you could beat Dale and Buddy at Talladega, you stood proud, and the fact we got to go to what was then the new Victory Lane; it meant something.”
Couldn’t Find Victory Lane at Martinsville
Allison drove his first race at Martinsville Speedway on April 24, 1966, and he finished seventh in a Ford fielded by team owner Betty Lilly. It was an impressive showing at the half-mile track, and there was no reason to think he couldn’t improve his position enough to find victory lane eventually. Surprisingly, that win never came. Through 22 years, he led 2,192 laps on the famed Virginia short track and finished second seven times but could never collect the top prize.
“For me, Martinsville Speedway was incredibly difficult and I could just never win there,” Allison said.
Key Career Highlights
Allison is a five-time NASCAR champion, having won the Cup Series title in 1983, the Modified Division in 1964 and 1965, and the Modified Special Division in 1962 and 1963.
He was voted national Driver of the Year after winning 10 races, claiming 12 second-place finishes and 11 poles, including a record five straight in 1972, and finished second to Richard Petty in the series championship standings.
He won the Daytona 500 in 1978, 1982, and 1988. One of the most memorable moments is when he held off his son and fellow NASCAR Hall of Famer Davey Allison for his final career victory at Daytona in 1988.
“What a thrill for me,” Bobby Allison said after a third Daytona 500 victory that would be the last of his 85 career wins. “My parents were a real inspiration for me, and now I’m racing against my son. It was a great race, and Davey did such a good job. He drove the wheels off that car all day. He’s a fine young man and fine competitor. I’m proud to say he belongs to me and Judy.”
He became the first driver to win 80 NASCAR Cup races and was a key figure in developing the superspeedway racing style, especially at tracks like Daytona and Talladega.
Rivalries and Iconic Moments
Allison was involved in some of NASCAR’s most iconic rivalries, notably with drivers like Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, and his brother, Donnie Allison. One of the most memorable moments of his career came during the 1979 Daytona 500 when a dramatic on-track altercation with Cale Yarborough after a crash became one of the defining moments of NASCAR’s rise to the national spotlights.
The “Alabama Gang”
Bobby Allison was a central figure in the “Alabama Gang,” a group of talented drivers from Alabama, including his brother Donnie Allison and friend Red Farmer. This group became synonymous with success in NASCAR during the 1970s and 1980s and played a pivotal role in NASCAR’s growth.
Bobby and Donnie Allison served as Grand Marshals and Honorary Starters for the Hellmann’s 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in October 2016 at Talladega Superspeedway. Bobby delivered those most famous words in motorsports, “Drivers, Start Your Engines,” while Donnie showed the green flag to the field.
Retirement and the Legacy
Bobby Allison is known for his thoughtful approach to racing, his technical knowledge of cars, and his dedication to the sport, which has helped shape the future of NASCAR. His popularity extended to his role as an innovator. He contributed to advancements in the sport, including developing power steering and spotter radio communications.
Allison’s career spanned over three decades, and he became a popular ambassador for NASCAR, frequently participating in events and mentoring younger drivers. His induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame solidified his status as one of the sport’s all-time greats, and he remains a beloved figure among racing fans.
Despite declining health in his later years, Allison remained a beloved figure to his fans and NASCAR. He was supported by his daughters, Bonnie and Carrie, and a close network of friends and fans who visited him in Mooresville, North Carolina.
A Fan’s Champion
Throughout his career and retirement, Allison was revered by fans, and he loved engaging with them, signing autographs, and sharing stories.
His family issued a statement after the sad news, saying, “Bobby was the ultimate fan’s driver. He thoroughly enjoyed spending time with his fans and would stop to sign autographs and have conversations with them everywhere he went. He was a dedicated family man and friend, and a devout Catholic.”
His popularity extended to his role as an innovator. He contributed to advancements in the sport, including developing power steering and spotter radio communications.
Farewell to a Legend
Bobby Allison personified the term “racer.” He was a trailblazer, a fighter, and an inspiration who never backed down. As NASCAR Chairman Jim France said, “Though he is best known as one of the winningest drivers in NASCAR Cup Series history, his impact on the sport extends far beyond the record books.”
Allison’s legacy will live on through every fan he inspired and every driver he influenced. His remarkable spirit will always be a part of NASCAR, and his absence will be deeply felt. The sport will never be the same without him.
Tanner Gray will be returning for a sixth consecutive full-time campaign in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series division with TRICON Garage in 2025.
The news comes as the 25-year-old Gray from Artesia, New Mexico, is coming off his fifth campaign as a driver of the No. 15 TRICON Garage Toyota Tundra TRD Pro entry in the Truck circuit. Through 23-scheduled events in 2024, Gray notched his second career pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, a total of five top-10 results and career-high stats in laps led (35) and average-finishing result (15.7). Despite missing the 2024 Playoffs, Gray achieved a career-best 13th-place result in the final standings. He also surpassed 100 career starts in the Truck Series.
“TRICON has become a second home to me, and I am looking forward to another year as the driver of the 15,” Gray said in a released statement. “I feel like we have some unfinished business after this past season, and I am as motivated as ever to compete in the postseason in 2025.”
Gray, the 2018 NHRA Pro Stock champion, made his first three Truck Series career starts during the final three events of the 2019 season with TRICON, which competed at DGR-Crosley then. Since 2020, he competed as a full-time competitor with the organization that rebranded to David Gilliland Racing from 2021-22 and currently under the TRICON banner since 2023. After notching a career-high four top-five results and eight top-10 results before settling in 14th place in the final standings in 2020, Gray achieved his first career pole at Charlotte in May 2023. During the 2023 season, he would proceed to notch three top-five results, six top-10 results and 26 laps led before finishing in 14th place in the standings for a second time.
In addition to being a full-time Truck Series competitor, Gray has made a total of 21 starts in the ARCA Menards Series division. This past season, Gray made six starts with Joe Gibbs Racing and achieved his first two career victories (Charlotte in May and Kansas Speedway in September).
Through 117 previous Truck Series starts, Gray has achieved a total of two poles, 10 top-five results, 27 top-10 results, 81 laps led and an average-finishing result of 17.7 as he continues to strive for both his first series victory and Playoff appearance.
“We are excited to have Tanner back with us for another season,” David Gilliland, team owner of TRICON Garage, added. “He is a foundational member of our team, and we are eager to continue to grow our organization alongside he and Corey [Heim]. I am very pleased with the progress we are making at TRICON and look forward to continuing our pursuit of new milestones.”
Currently, Tanner Gray and Corey Heim comprise TRICON’s 2025 Truck Series driver lineup with the rest, including crew chief details, to be determined at a later date.
With his plans for next season set, Tanner Gray’s 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season is set to commence at Daytona International Speedway. The event is scheduled to occur on February 14, 2025, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
Anthony Alfredo has been fined $25,000 and docked 25 driver points for violating Sections 4.4.B pertaining to the Member Code of Conduct section from the NASCAR Rule Book.
The fine and dock in points comes three days after the 25-year-old Alfredo from Ridgefield, Connecticut, was penalized for his on-track behavioral actions during the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway.
On Lap 62 of 200 during the finale, Alfredo, who was battling Stefan Parsons for 20th place, was squeezed into the outside wall entering the frontstretch. Alfredo quickly retaliated by veering his No. 5 Dead On Tools/Our Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro to the left, where he turned and sent Parsons’ No. 45 Prime Bites Mini Muffins/Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet Camaro sideways across the track and slapping the outside wall on the right side hard. In the process, Greg Van Alst steered to the left and spun to avoid the carnage.
Ultimately, Parsons would retire in 38th place, dead last, while Van Alst would also retire in 37th place due to a suspension issue. Meanwhile, Alfredo was held two laps in his pit stall for reckless driving. After serving his two-lap penalty, Alfredo continued until his event concluded on Lap 154, where he blew a flat right-front tire and wreck against the Turn 1 outside wall. The incident capped off his event in 36th place in the final running order.
Despite being docked 25 driver points, Alfredo concluded the 2024 Xfinity Series season in 15th place in the final standings, which ties his career-best result in the standings to the 2022 season. The 15th-place result in this year’s final standings comes on the strengh of two top-five results, a career-high seven top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 18.5, his best as a full-time Xfinity competitor.
Amid a strong campaign to his third full-time season in the Xfinity Series, Alfredo’s plans for the 2025 NASCAR remains to be determined.
There were no additional penalties levied to any competitor and organizations following this weekend’s triple-header finales across the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Xfinity Series and Cup Series divisions.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series teams and competitors enter an off-season period before returning to action at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, on February 15, 2025, for a new season of competition.
1. Joey Logano: Logano won Stage 1 and held off Ryan Blaney in the closing laps to win at Phoenix and claim his third Cup championship.
“I’m already excited for next season,” Logano said. “If I win the Cup championship next year, I’ll likely be known as the ‘four-time, four-eyed champion.’”
2. Ryan Blaney: Blaney won Stage 2 but came up just short in his quest for his second Cup championship, finishing second to Joey Logano.
“I was attempting to be the first back-to-back Cup champion since Jimmie Johnson in 2010,” Blaney said. “I don’t mind at all being mentioned in the same breath with Jimmie, as long as it’s the 2010 Jimmie and not the current Jimmie.”
3. William Byron: Byron finished third at Phoenix as Joey Logano won the race and the Cup championship.
“Congratulations to Joey,” Byron said. “That’s three Cup championships in the last seven years. I feel like me and all the other drivers should sue him for monopolizing championships.”
4. Tyler Reddick: Reddick finished sixth at Phoenix, coming up short in his attempt to win his first NASCAR championship.
“Winning the championship would have been a great way to stick it to NASCAR,” Reddick said. “Especially after they revoked our charter after we sued them. But now I guess we’ll see how courts rule. I doubt we’ll win, especially because we’ll be facing a handpicked judge known as the Honorable Richard Petty.”
5. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished 11th at Phoenix.
“It’s really been a trying year for me,” Hamlin said. “If I’ve learned one thing, it’s don’t sue NASCAR. That’s because NASCAR is omnipotent, which is probably because someone who runs NASCAR is impotent.”
6. Christopher Bell: Bell came home fifth at Phoenix.
“I think it was cool that everyone was able to say their goodbyes to Martin Truex, Jr.,” Bell said. “I apologize if I made that sound like Martin is dying; he’s not. Martin’s not going to be on death’s bed; he’s going to be on home’s couch.”
7. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished 14th at Phoenix.
“The pace car hit the barriers trying to enter pit road at the start of Stage 2,” Bowman said. “That caused a red flag. I don’t know who was driving that pace car, but I bet he handed Juan Pablo Montoya a beer and told him to hold it right before that accident.”
8. Kyle Larson: Larson finished fourth at Phoenix as three Hendrick Motorsports cars finished in the top 8.
“It’s been a long season,” Larson said. “And I plan on having a quiet off-season. Which means I plan to do a lot of SIM racing and hope I can be quiet.”
9. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished eight at Phoenix, posting his 19th top 10 of the year.
“Noah Gragson’s No. 10 car has ‘Nitro Circus’ sponsorship,’” Elliott said. “I’m not really sure what that ‘Nitro Circus’ is referring to, but back at the Dawsonville Pool Room, ‘Nitro Circus’ is what happens when someone gets hold of some dental anesthesia and shares it with everyone at the bar.”
10. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex started on the pole at Phoenix and finished 17th.
“It’s gonna be tough to walk away from this sport,” Truex said. “That’s why I’m not walking; I’m driving.”
As Joey Logano celebrated a third NASCAR Cup Series championship by winning the 2024 season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, November 10, Martin Truex Jr. was left with mixed reactions on pit road as he recorded a 17th-place result in his final event as a full-time competitor in NASCAR’s premier series.
The 2017 Cup Series champion from Mayetta, New Jersey, commenced his final weekend as a full-time competitor by being the second-fastest during the finale’s lone practice session on Friday, November 8, while sporting a special red throwback scheme to his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry XSE entry that mirrored the scheme Truex sported when he made his Cup debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway in October 2004. A day later, he notched his 25th and final pole position in NASCAR’s premier series after he posted a pole-winning lap at 134.741 mph in 26.718 seconds.
Leading the field to the green flag to commence the final event of the 2024 season, Truex would lead the first lap and lead the next eight under caution as teammate Ty Gibbs was eliminated in a single-car wreck just past the first lap. During the ensuing restart on the ninth lap, he lost the lead to Logano but would proceed to finish in second place at the first stage’s conclusion on Lap 60. Restarting in eighth place for the start of the second stage period on Lap 71, Truex would spend the entire stage period in the top 10 on the track before he settled in ninth place at the stage’s conclusion on Lap 185.
After restarting in the top 10 for the start of the final stage period with 118 laps remaining, Truex would drop out of the top-10 category in the ensuing laps. Despite being mired in 13th place with 100 laps remaining, Truex would climb up to 11th place more than 20 laps later. Then with 63 laps remaining, a late caution period for rookie Zane Smith wrecking resulted in Truex being one of several competitors pinned a lap down as he took the wave around to cycle back on the lead lap. Restarting in 11th place for the finale’s final restart period with 54 laps remaining, Truex would briefly break his way back into the top-10 mark before he dropped back into the top-15 mark. Ultimately, Truex would also slip out of the top-15 mark as he took the checkered flag in 17th place.
Despite concluding his final Cup Series season winless, Truex notched a total of five top-five results, 11 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 17.4, which was enough for him to settle in 10th place in the final championship standings in 2024.
Overall, Truex capped off an illustrious 19-year career in NASCAR’s premier series, where he achieved the 2017 championship, 34 race victories, 25 poles, 147 top-five results, 291 top-10 results, 12,747 laps led, 11 Playoff appearances and an average-finishing result of 15.3 through 693 starts. The organizations where Truex made his marks throughout his Cup Series career include Dale Earnhardt Inc., Chip Ganassi Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing, Furniture Row Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing, respectively.
In addition to winning the 2017 Cup Series championship, Truex, a two-time champion in the Xfinity Series, departs from full-time Cup competition with notable accomplishments that include capturing two Coca-Cola 600s, the 2016 Southern 500 and the 2023 Busch Light Clash victory. Named one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers in 2023, Truex is also one of 40 competitors to win across NASCAR’s top three national touring series (Cup, Xfinity and Truck Series), to date.
Amid the bevy of success he achieved throughout his Cup career, however, Truex was not shy to commence his post-race thoughts by expressing his disappointment over his top-20 result after racing towards the front during the first half of the finale.
“I’m mad,” Truex said. “I wanted [the race] to go better than that. We were pretty good early and then, lost track position. The track just continued to rubber up and get hotter, at least that’s what I felt like it was doing. I kept losing the grip, I kept losing more balance, I kept losing track position. It just all magnifies with this thing. We got caught by the caution there [with 63 laps remaining] and had to stay out on old tires and get the wave around and then, we couldn’t even race to try to go forward. It was just not a good day. Not a good day to end on, but I’m proud of the effort of my team. At least we got the lead a few laps there in the beginning.”
Amid the disappointment, Truex, who received a standing ovation during the pre-race drivers meeting before the finale, was praised and greeted on pit road by NBA legend/23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan and four-time Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon.
“It means a lot,” Truex added. “To have the respect of guys like that and what they mean to the sport and absolute legends. It makes me feel good that I’ve earned that respect over the years. It means a lot.”
With his tenure as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series competitor officially complete, what does the future hold in store for Truex, starting with the 2025 season?
“So from here forward, just go have some fun and do a little bit of racing here and there just for fun,” Truex said. “Hopefully, it’ll be less stressful than days like today.”
AVONDALE, ARIZONA – NOVEMBER 09: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, drives during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on November 09, 2024 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images).
Truex’s part-time racing plans for the 2025 season including attempting to compete in the 67th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway remains to be determined. Chase Briscoe will take over Truex’s No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota entry on a full-time basis next season as crew chief James Small will continue to work with the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team.
The NASCAR Cup Series teams and competitors enter an off-season period before returning to action at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on February 2, 2025, for the annual Busch Light Clash. This event will be followed by the 67th annual running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway which is scheduled to occur on February 16, 2025, and will officially commence a new season of competition.
Two years after elevating his racing status to a new level by winning his second NASCAR Cup Series championship, Joey Logano elevated his status to another level and in an elite category of three-time champions in NASCAR’s premier series by claiming a dominant victory in the 2024 finale at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, November 10.
The two-time Cup Series champion from Middletown, Connecticut, led twice for 107 of 312-scheduled laps in a finale where he started on the front row alongside Martin Truex Jr. and grabbed the lead for the first time amid an early restart on Lap 10. Logano would claim the first stage victory before he dropped to fifth place in the running order after enduring a slow pit service from his No. 22 Team Penske Ford team during the stage break. Nonetheless, Logano spent the remainder of the finale racing towards the front while battling amongst his Championship 4 contenders William Byron, Tyler Reddick and teammate Ryan Blaney.
Then during the finale’s final restart period with 54 laps remaining, Logano, who restarted in fifth place, gained two spots for a full lap before he made a bold three-wide pass beneath Byron and Christopher Bell to assume the lead in both the race and the championship battle. Despite having teammate Ryan Blaney inching up on him through every turn and straightaway while cutting away his advantage, Logano had enough horsepower to fend off Blaney to win the 2024 finale and claim his third Cup Series championship in seven seasons in the process.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup on Saturday, November 9, Martin Truex Jr. notched his 25th and final Cup Series pole position as a full-time competitor with a pole-winning lap at 134.741 mph in 26.718 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Championship 4 contender Joey Logano, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 134.690 mph in 26.728 seconds. Logano’s three Championship 4 rivals that included William Byron, Tyler Reddick and Ryan Blaney qualified eighth, 10th and 17th, respectively.
Prior to the event, Jeb Burton, who was driving the No. 50 Team AmeriVet Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry, dropped to the rear of the field due to multiple inspection failures and was also forced to serve a stop-and-go penalty at the event’s start.
When the green flag waved and the finale commenced, Martin Truex Jr. muscled his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE ahead with the lead through the frontstretch’s dogleg while Joey Logano and Ross Chastain dueled for second place in front of Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs and William Byron. Logano would fend off Chastain for the runner-up spot through the first two turns while Byron and Tyler Reddick were in the midst of a seven-car battle for fourth place through the backstretch. Amid the early battles within the field, Truex led the first lap.
Shortly after, the finale’s first caution period flew when Ty Gibbs, who was racing in seventh place through Turns 3 and 4, went up the racetrack and scrubbed the frontstretch’s outside wall. Despite dropping to 12th place, Gibbs initially kept his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE running straight before he broke loose through the dogleg and veered dead right into the frontstretch’s outside wall again, which knocked him out of contention amid the hard wreck.
Following an extensive caution period, the finale restarted under green on the ninth lap. At the start, Truex and Logano dueled for the lead through the frontstretch’s dogleg and in front of the field that fanned out. Logano then started to gain the edge from the outside lane and he emerged slightly ahead through the backstretch before he cleared Truex entering Turn 3. As Logano led the 10th lap mark, a four-wide action for seventh place occurred between Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick, Austin Cindric and Denny Hamlin while Ross Chastain retained third place ahead of Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott and William Byron. Reddick would prevail in the four-wide action for seventh place, which he assumed, while Hamlin was still dueling against Larson and Cindric for eighth place in front of rookie Carson Hocevar and Ryan Blaney.
Through the first 20-scheduled laps, Logano was leading by more than a second over Truex while Bell, Byron and Elliott followed suit in the top five. Behind, Reddick retained sixth place ahead of Cindric while Blaney was up to eighth place ahead of Larson and Chastain. Logano would continue to lead the finale by more than a second over Truex by the Lap 30 mark while his title rivals Byron, Reddick and Blaney trailed from fourth, sixth and seventh, respectively, on the track.
At the Lap 45 mark, Logano’s early advantage decreased to less than half a second over Truex, though the former was able to stabilize the lead while third-place Bell trailed by more than a second. By then, Byron retained fourth place and he trailed the lead by three seconds while Reddick was being challenged by Blaney for sixth place. Reddick would continue to fend off Blaney for sixth place on the track while Logano retained the lead over Truex by Lap 50.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 60, Logano, who is pursuing his third Cup Series championship, captured his third Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Truex followed suit in second ahead of Bell, Byron and Elliott while Blaney, Redick, Hamlin, Larson and Cindric were scored in the top 10.
Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Logano pitted for a first round of service. Following the pit stops, Elliott exited pit road first and assumed the lead as he was followed by Bell, Byron, Blaney, Logano, Hamlin, Truex, Reddick, Larson and Chris Buescher. Amid the pit stops, Logano endured a slow pit service, which cost him four spots on pit road. In addition, Corey LaJoie was penalized for speeding on pit road.
Not long after, the finale was placed in a red flag period for nearly six minutes after the Toyota Camry XSE pace car made a late left-hand swerve from the track to the pit road’s entrance and got sideways, which resulted in the pace car hitting the sand barrels while the leader Elliott barely avoided the pace car.
Following the repairs made towards the pit road entrance, the second stage period started on Lap 71 as Elliott and Bell occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg as Bell outdueled Elliott through the first two turns to muscle his No. 20 DeWalt/Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry XSE ahead through the backstretch. Bell proceeded to lead the next lap ahead of Elliott while title rivals Blaney and Byron dueled for third place in front of Logano, Hamlin, Truex and Reddick. By Lap 75, three of the four Championship 4 contenders that included Blaney, Byron and Logano were racing from third to fifth, respectively, on the track and Reddick was battling Larson for eighth place while Bell continued to lead.
By Lap 85, Bell stabilized his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 while Blaney had third place to his possession over Byron. Behind, Logano trailed in fifth place and Reddick was mired in 10th place while Bell proceeded to stretch his lead to a second on Lap 90.
Just past the Lap 100 mark, Bell continued to lead by more than a second over Elliott while third-place Blaney, who was leading the championship battle, trailed the race lead by two seconds. Behind Blaney was Byron, who was mired in between Blaney and Logano while Reddick continued to trail in 10th place.
Fifteen laps later, a cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Hamlin pitted his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE. By then, Daniel Suarez had pitted while Noah Gragson, Justin Haley, rookie Zane Smith, Chase Briscoe, Kyle Busch, Corey LaJoie, Elliott, Byron and Logano would all pit behind Hamlin. Reddick and teammate Bubba Wallace would pit under green by Lap 117 as more names including Cindric, Chastain, John Hunter Nemechek, Austin Dillon and Blaney all followed suit.
Towards the Lap 120 mark and with more names pitting, the top-six competitors led by Larson and including Hocevar, Alex Bowman, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Todd Gilliland and Daniel Hemric have yet to pit while Bell trailed by more than 25 seconds. As select names from the list, including Hocevar, Larson and Bowman, pitted, Bell cycled back into the lead on Lap 127. By then, he had Blaney trailing him by less than a second while Byron and Logano were mired within the top-eight mark.
Nearing the Lap 140 mark, Bell extended his lead to more than two seconds over Blaney while third-place Byron trailed by nearly four seconds. Meanwhile, Logano, who trailed the lead by more than five seconds in fourth place on the track, received teammate Austin Cindric’s jackman due to his regular jackman feeling unwell and was taken to the infield care center. As Reddick continued to be mired as the lowest Championship 4 contender on the track in 10th place, Bell stabilized his lead to more than two seconds by Lap 140.
At the Lap 150 mark, Bell retained the lead by within two seconds over Blaney. Behind, Byron retained third place as he trailed the lead by more than four seconds while fourth-place Logano followed suit as he started to challenge Byron for third place. Logano would then duel and overtake Byron’s No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 by Lap 152 while Bell’s lead decreased to more than a second over Blaney.
By Lap 160, Blaney started to reel in on Bell, who was navigating through lapped traffic, for the lead as he trailed by within half a second. Then after tracking Bell over the next 17 laps, Blaney used the outside lane entering the frontstretch to duel with Bell for the lead. They remained dead even for the following lap before Blaney muscled his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead through the frontstretch as he assumed the lead in both the race and the championship battle. With Blaney fending off Bell, Logano started to close in from third place.
Starting from Lap 180, Bell challenged Blaney for the lead through every corner and straightaway as they started to catch lapped traffic. Despite gaining the advantage through the turns from the inside lane, Bell would get fended off by Blaney as Logano joined the battle.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 185, Blaney, who made a daring three-wide pass in between the lapped competitors of Briscoe and LaJoie, fended off Bell and Logano to capture his fifth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Byron and Hamlin followed suit in the top five while Buescher, Larson, Elliott, Truex and Reddick were scored in the top 10.
During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Blaney returned to pit road for another round of pit service. Following the pit stops, Bell exited pit road first and was followed by Blaney, Byron, Logano, Buescher, Larson, Elliott, Truex, Reddick and Hamlin.
With 118 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Bell and Blaney occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg as Bell cleared both Blaney and Logano to retain the lead through the first two turns. Behind, Reddick, who restarted in 10th place, used the outside lane to muscle his No. 45 Tame the Beast Toyota Camry XSE up alongside Buescher for sixth place. Then through the backstretch, Reddick made slight contact with Buescher as Buescher nearly turned Elliott, but all three kept their cars running straight as Reddick gained the sixth-place spot. He then overtook Larson for the following lap. By then, all four Championship 4 contenders were racing second through fifth, respectively, on the track as Bell retained the lead.
With 110 laps remaining, Bell stretched his advantage to more than a second over Logano, who dueled and overtook teammate Blaney for the spot and the championship battle, while Byron and Reddick continued to follow suit in the top five on the track. Bell would stabilize his lead to seven-tenths of a second over Logano with 100 laps remaining while Blaney, Byron and Reddick continued to trail Logano in the title battle.
Down to the final 85 laps of the finale, Bell continued to lead by more than a second over Logano, who had teammate Blaney pressuring him for the top spot in the championship battle. Behind, Byron trailed by three seconds while Reddick, who was overtaken by Larson, trailed in sixth place by more than seven seconds.
Then with 78 laps remaining, a late cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as both Bell and Logano pitted their respective entries. A bevy of names including Bowman, Blaney, Reddick, Bubba Wallace, Buescher, Truex, Hocevar, Hamlin, Gragson, Harrison Burton, Suarez, Josh Berry, Zane Smith, Cindric, Chastain all pitted during the ensuing laps while Byron, who opted to remain on the track and stretch his fuel tank as far as possible, was leading.
Then with 65 laps remaining, Byron pitted his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 from the lead under green as teammates Larson and Elliott remained on the track and cycled to first and second, respectively. Not long after Byron exited pit road following his completed pit service, the caution flew with 63 laps remaining when Zane Smith spun and wrecked backward against the Turn 1 outside wall.
During the caution period, some including Larson, Elliott, Bell, Blaney, Logano and Reddick pitted while Byron remained on the track as he inherited the lead.
As the finale restarted under green with 54 laps remaining, Byron retained a narrow advantage over teammate Larson through the frontstretch’s dogleg before Bell gained a run through the first two turns and dueled beneath Byron through the backstretch. Both Byron and Bell would continue to duel through Turns 3 and 4 before Logano made it a three-wide battle for the lead through the frontstretch. Logano then used the frontstretch’s dogleg to motor his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the lead entering Turn 1 while Larson challenged both teammate Byron and Bell for the runner-up spot. Byron would prevail in the three-car battle as he claimed the runner-up spot ahead of Bell while Blaney and Larson dueled for third place. Larson, Bell and Blaney then went three wide against one another for third place before Larson prevailed while Logano retained the lead with 50 laps remaining.
With 40 laps remaining, Logano retained the lead in both the finale and the championship battle by one-and-a-half seconds over Byron while third-place Larson trailed by more than two seconds. Behind, Blaney occupied fourth place ahead of Bell and Reddick while Wallace, Elliott, Buescher and Gragson were in the top 10. Over the next 10 laps, Blaney would move up to third place on the track, where he trailed the lead by nearly three seconds, and Reddick would retain sixth place, where he trailed the lead by six-and-a-half seconds, while Logano continued to lead by less than two seconds over Byron with 30 laps remaining.
Then with 23 laps remaining, Blaney, who was the fastest competitor on the track, dueled and overtook Byron for the runner-up spot, where he just managed to muscle his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead of Byron during the following lap. By then, teammate Logano continued to lead the championship battle by more than two seconds and he would retain the two-second advantage over a hard-charging Blaney with 20 laps remaining.
Down to the final 15 laps of the finale, Logano’s advantage decreased to nine-tenths of a second over Blaney, who continued to shave off Logano’s lead through every corner and straightaway while Logano was trying to navigate his way through lapped traffic. By then, Byron trailed the lead by more than two seconds while Reddick trailed by eight seconds in sixth place on the track.
Five laps later, Logano continued to lead by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Blaney, who had his Team Penske teammate within sight and reach, while third-place Byron trailed by four seconds. Over the next two laps, Blaney cut the deficit from Logano to half a second and three-tenths of a second before he got to Logano’s rear bumper through the backstretch with seven laps remaining.
Then with six laps remaining, Blaney tried to make his move beneath teammate Logano through the first two turns, but Logano stood on the gas and retained the lead by within a tenth of a second through the backstretch. He then tried to make a move to the outside lane entering Turn 3, but Logano used the inside lane to retain the lead. For the following lap, Blaney lost a little ground to Logano as the latter led by two-tenths of a second. Logano’s advantage then slightly grew to three-tenths of a second over the next lap as teammate Blaney, who kept Logano within sight, was trying to regain his momentum to get close to Logano’s rear bumper.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Logano, who was mired behind lapped traffic, remained as the leader by two-tenths of a second over teammate Blaney. Then as Blaney tried to gain a run to Logano through the frontstretch, he over-drove the first turn and nearly hit the outside wall. This allowed Logano to muscle ahead by nearly half a second through the backstretch. Blaney then stood on the gas and tried to get a run to Logano’s right rear, but it was not enough as Logano managed to cycle back ahead entering the frontstretch and claim the checkered flag by three-tenths of a second over Blaney to win both the finale and his third Cup Series championship.
With his third championship in seven seasons, Logano became the 10th competitor overall to reach three titles in NASCAR’s premier series and the first to claim a third Cup championship since Tony Stewart achieved his in 2011. The championship was the fifth overall for Team Penske, the organization’s third in a row in recent seasons, and the third for veteran crew chief Paul Wolfe.
By winning the finale, Logano notched his fourth Cup Series victory of the 2024 season, his third at Phoenix and the 36th of his career. The 2024 season marks the 10th time in 11 seasons that the current Playoff-elimination format featured the championship-winning competitor win the finale as Logano had previously accomplished both the finale victory and the title during the 2018 and 2022 seasons.
Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“I love the Playoffs,” Logano said on the frontstretch on NBC. “I love it, man. What a race. What a Team Penske battle there at the end. [I] Had a good restart and was able to get in front of [Blaney]. He had a lot of long-run speed there. That was all I had there to hold him off. Man, three [championships]. That’s really special to get to [three titles]. What a team to fight through today. We threw a little bit of adversity throughout the race. [Crew chief] Paul Wolfe, I mean, what a crew chief do I have. I got the best team. I don’t know if I’m the best driver, but I got the best team. Together, we’re very well-rounded and can show up when it matters the most. We get a mentally tough team that can make things happen when it matters.”
“[Spotter] Coleman Pressley, he was telling me where [Blaney] was,” Logano added. “He’s up there [in the spotter stands] telling me [the] best lanes to run and it’s a balance of putting dirty air on [Blaney] and running the fastest laps for my Ford. We just got a little too tight there at the end and I couldn’t really wrap the bottom as good as I wanted to. A one-two [finish] for Team Penske, three championships in a row since this Next Gen car. [I] Couldn’t be more proud of everyone at the shop that’s built these things. The race [for the championship] started in Vegas for us and the amount of work and effort that went into building this race car right here, the amount of time. I mean, I don’t think anyone works harder than us. We were up at six this morning going over stuff, but the guys just want it bad and I’m glad we delivered. It was looking iffy there for a minute, but that late-race restart [with 54 laps remaining] was really the difference maker. Gosh, I’m so proud of the team.”
As Logano celebrated with his No. 22 Team Penske Ford team on the championship stage, teammate Blaney, Byron and Reddick were left disappointed on pit road as the trio fell short of achieving their championships.
By finishing in second place both on the track and in the final standings, Blaney, who made his second consecutive appearance in the Championship 4 round, fell one spot short of becoming the first repeat champion since Jimmie Johnson won five consecutive titles from 2006-10. Nonetheless, Blaney, who capped off the season with three victories, extended his congratulations to teammate Logano for delivering another Cup Series championship to team owner Roger Penske.
“Yeah, [I’m] just worn out,” Blaney said. “[I] Just couldn’t quite get there. I tried really hard to do so. Just [the last] restart didn’t really work out. [Logano] just got too far away from me and it took me a while to pass a couple guys. [I] Just could never get by Joey and just ran out of time, but congrats to him. Congrats to the No. 22 team and Pennzoil and Ford. They put together a great Playoffs and we’re happy. If we’re going to race somebody, I’m happy it was [Logano] for the championship and happy to be one, two for [owner] Roger [Penske]. Three in a row for Roger. Super amazing. On my side, I hate it for Menards,…everybody who really puts a lot of effort into our program. Just super fast. Just didn’t quite have enough there at the end. At least, a Penske car won it, but yeah, heck of a battle. [I] Hope the fans enjoyed it and yeah, hopefully, we come back even stronger next year.”
William Byron, who also made his second consecutive Championship 4 appearance, capped off his seventh full-time campaign in NASCAR’s premier series highlighted with three victories and the 2024 Daytona 500 victory in third place both on the track and in the final standings. Tyler Reddick, who made his first Championship 4 appearance and notched a total of three victories and the 2024 Cup Series Regular Season Championship, could only climb his way up as high to sixth place in the final running order, which left him strapped in fourth place in the final standings.
“We just needed a little bit more,” Byron said. “I felt like we gave it all we had and that’s something to be proud of. We just didn’t have enough to go fight with the Penske guys. [Crew chief] Rudy [Fugle] made a great call. I was really proud of that. That was cool to give us a shot at the front row and ultimately, it netted out better. Just not quite enough, but so proud of this team. It’s been a great year. To make the Championship 4 and win the [Daytona] 500 is awesome. I know what we need to work on and we’ll go at it next year.”
“I think we definitely got our [Tame the] Beast Camry better throughout the day,” Reddick added. “[Blaney, Byron, and Logano] were able to pull away over time. It was a good year for us and everyone at 23XI [Racing]. To get to the Championship 4 and have a shot at [the title] was nice. We got to get a little bit better here at Phoenix. Obviously, we’re definitely motivated to do that knowing [the] championship’s sited here. Good year for us. Proud of the effort. It’s a lot to do. All the preparation, all the work that goes into this. It takes everybody. We were close. We were just not quite good enough, unfortunately.”
Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell, both of whom were eliminated from the Playoffs a week ago at Martinsville Speedway, finished in the top five on the track at Phoenix. Bubba Wallace, Reddick’s teammate at 23XI Racing, settled in seventh place while Chase Elliott, Chris Buescher and Daniel Suarez completed the top 10 in the final running order.
Notably, Martin Truex Jr. finished 17th in his 693rd and final start as a full-time Cup Series competitor while Carson Hocevar claimed the 2024 Rookie-of-the-Year title by finishing 18th. Chris Buescher, who ended up in ninth place at Phoenix, emerged as the highest non-Playoff contender in the standings in 17th place over Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain and Kyle Busch, the latter of whom concluded a Cup Series season winless for the first time in his career.
In addition, Stewart-Haas Racing capped off its 16-year journey in the Cup Series with all four of its competitors (Josh Berry, Chase Briscoe, Noah Gragson and Ryan Preece) finishing the finale, Harrison Burton finished 16th in his final event with Wood Brothers Racing, Daniel Hemric finished 23rd in his final event with Kaulig Racing and Michael McDowell ended up 31st in his final event with Front Row Motorsports.
There were 16 lead changes for nine different leaders. The finale featured four cautions for 53 laps. In addition, 19 of 40 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results.
1. Joey Logano, 107 laps led, Stage 1 winner
2. Ryan Blaney, 12 laps led, Stage 2 winner
3. William Byron, 19 laps led
4. Kyle Larson, 13 laps led
5. Christopher Bell, 143 laps led
6. Tyler Reddick
7. Bubba Wallace
8. Chase Elliott
9. Chris Buescher
10. Daniel Suarez
11. Denny Hamlin
12. Noah Gragson
13. Austin Cindric
14. Alex Bowman, one lap led
15. Brad Keselowski
16. Harrison Burton
17. Martin Truex Jr., nine laps led
18. Carson Hocevar
19. Ross Chastain
20. Todd Gilliland, one lap down, one lap led
21. Kyle Busch, one lap down
22. Erik Jones, one lap down
23. Daniel Hemric, one lap down
24. Josh Berry, one lap down
25. Derek Kraus, one lap down
26. Jimmie Johnson, two laps down
27. Austin Dillon, two laps down
28. Justin Haley, two laps down
29. Chase Briscoe, two laps down
30. John Hunter Nemechek, two laps down
31. Michael McDowell, three laps down
32. Corey LaJoie, three laps down
33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., three laps down
34. Kaz Grala, four laps down
35. JJ Yeley, six laps down
36. Chad Finchum, 10 laps down
37. Ryan Preece, 10 laps down
38. Jeb Burton, 18 laps down
39. Zane Smith – OUT, Accident
40. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Accident
*Bold indicates championship finalists
Final standings
1. Joey Logano
2. Ryan Blaney
3. William Byron
4. Tyler Reddick
5. Christopher Bell
6. Kyle Larson
7. Chase Elliott
8. Denny Hamlin
9. Alex Bowman
10. Martin Truex Jr.
11. Austin Cindric
12. Daniel Suarez
13. Brad Keselowski
14. Chase Briscoe
15. Ty Gibbs
16. Harrison Burton
The NASCAR Cup Series teams and competitors enter an off-season period before returning to action at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on February 2, 2025, for the annual Busch Light Clash. This event will be followed by the 67th annual running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway which is scheduled to occur on February 16, 2025, and will officially commence a new season of competition.
Carson Hocevar has officially been named the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year.
The 21-year-old Hocevar from Portage, Michigan, made his Cup Series debut at World Wide Technology Raceway in June 2023, where he filled in as an interim competitor for Corey LaJoie in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry as LaJoie was filling for the suspended Chase Elliott in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet entry. By then, Hocevar was campaigning in his third full-time season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for Niece Motorsports. Starting 26th, Hocevar ended up in 36th place, dead last, in his Cup debut after he blew a right-front tire through the frontstretch, hit the outside wall and slid into the Turn 1 outside wall within the Lap 90 mark.
For eight of the remaining 10 events of the 2023 Cup Series season, Hocevar piloted the No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry for Legacy Motor Club. During the 10-race stint, Hocevar achieved a season-best 11th-place run at Bristol Motor Speedway in September and a total of five top-20 results. In the midst of Hocevar’s part-time Cup campaign, he made the Championship 4 round in the Truck Series and settled in third place in the final standings despite racking up a total of four victories throughout the season.
In October 2023, Hocevar announced his graduation to the Cup Series on a full-time basis, where he would replace Ty Dillon to drive the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry for Spire Motorsports, where he would be paired with veteran crew chief Luke Lambert. Hocevar commenced his first full-time Cup campaign on a low note after he was involved in a multi-car wreck on the fifth lap that sidelined him in 40th place, dead last. The Michigan native would rebound during the following event at Atlanta Motor Speedway by finishing 19th before he recorded back-to-back 15th-place finishes between Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Phoenix Raceway, respectively. Another five races later, he recorded his first top-10 result in the Cup Series by finishing 10th at Texas Motor Speedway in April.
Then after finishing no higher than 17th over his next five starts, Hocevar recorded a strong eighth-place finish at World Wide Technology Raceway in June. He would proceed to finish in the top 20 10 times over his next 11 starts before he achieved a career-best starting spot of second place for the 2024 Cup Series regular-season finale at Darlington Raceway for the Southern 500 in September. Hocevar, however, would end up in 33rd place after being involved in two separate incidents. By then, he missed the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs as he was ranked in 22nd place in the driver’s standings.
For the remaining 10 events on the 2024 Cup schedule, Hocevar racked up an additional seven top-20 results and two top-10 results. Mired within the results, he achieved his first top-five result by notching a career-best third-place run at Watkins Glen International in September. The Michigan native would also record a ninth-place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway in mid-October before he settled in 18th place during the season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway, which was enough for him to wrap up the 2024 rookie title in NASCAR’s premier series as he ended up in 21st place in the final championship standings. With a total of 23 top-20 results recorded throughout the 36-race schedule, Hocevar final average-finishing result was 18.3.
By claiming the 2024 rookie title, Hocevar became the first Michigan native to achieve a Cup rookie title since Erik Jones made the last accomplishment in 2017 and the first Chevrolet competitor to do so since Daniel Hemric made the previous accomplishment in 2019. Hocevar also became the first competitor from the Spire Motorsports organization to claim the Cup rookie title.
Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.
Hocevar’s closest rival for this year’s Cup rookie title was Josh Berry, who commenced the season by succeeding the 2014 Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick in Stewart-Haas Racing’s iconic No. 4 Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry. Berry, who recorded two third-place results and a total of four top-10 results, ended up in 27th place in the final standings. Hocevar’s other rivals for the rookie title included teammate Zane Smith and Kaz Grala. Smith, the 2022 Truck Series champion who campaigned in his first full-time Cup season with Spire Motorsports, settled in 30th place in the final standings on the strengths of a career-best runner-up result at Nashville Superspeedway in June along with a total of two top-five results and four top-10 results. Meanwhile, Grala, who campaigned on a part-time basis between Front Row Motorsports and Rick Ware Racing, recorded a total of three top-20 results in 24 starts.
“Being named Sunoco Rookie of the Year is special,” Hocevar said. “I got beat out for Rookie of the Year in the CRAFTSMAN Truck series, and I didn’t run in the Xfinity Series full time so to win the award in the NASCAR Cup Series is a huge accomplishment for our whole team. It definitely didn’t come easy. Josh [Berry] has won a bunch of Xfinity races, and the No. 4 team won tons of races and a championship with [crew chief] Rodney [Childers] and [Kevin] Harvick. We also had Zane [Smith] in contention, who raced for Spire Motorsports and has won several Truck Series races and a championship. It was a good group of accomplished drivers vying for it, and it means a lot to come out on top. We ran really strong at the end of the year and were able to pull away in terms of points. These last several weeks show our capabilities as a team.”
With the rookie title achieved, Hocevar, who is under a multi-year deal with Spire Motorsports, is set to return for a second full-time Cup Series campaign in 2025 and with goals to race his way into Victory Lane for the first time and make the Playoffs.
“This award will be something that will live with me my whole career, and I’m proud to be known as the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year,” Hocevar added. “There’s an elite list of guys who have won it, and many of them went on to win races and championships. The award is something you only have one shot at. You can never go back and try to win Rookie or the Year later down the line. It is the only thing like that in racing. It is cool to win something so significant this year, and the mission is now to get the No. 77 car to Victory Lane and in the playoffs in 2025.”
The NASCAR Cup Series teams and competitors enter an off-season period before returning to action at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for the Busch Light Clash on February 2, 2025. This event will be followed by the 67th annual running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway scheduled for February 16, 2025, to commence a new season of competition.
As Riley Herbst sent Stewart-Haas Racing off on a winning note in the organization’s final NASCAR Xfinity Series event by winning the 2024 season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, November 9, Justin Allgaier emerged as the biggest winner of the night by rallying from starting at the rear of the field in a backup car, being nabbed with a pair of midrace penalties that pinned him a lap down and muscling his way back to the front through two overtime attempts to capture his first elusive NASCAR Xfinity Series championship.
The 40-year-old Allgaier from Riverton, Illinois, commenced the finale weekend on a sour note after he was one of several competitors who slid and wrecked against the Turn 1 outside wall during Friday’s practice session after he slipped up into Brennan Poole’s spilled oil, the latter of which suffered a mechanical issue. Despite taking the green flag in 37th place of the 38-car field, Allgaier methodically carved his way up through the leaderboard and emerge in sixth place when the first stage period concluded on Lap 45. Amid two caution periods and ensuing restarts throughout the second stage period, Allgaier, who made multiple on-track contacts with Riley Herbst in the closing laps of the stage period that resulted with the Illinois veteran potentially having a left-rear tire going flat, managed to cap off the stage in 10th place.
Then during the start of the final stage period with 100 laps remaining, Allgaier, who restarted in the top-14 mark, was assessed a restart violation penalty for steering his No. 7 BRANDT/JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro below the frontstretch’s apron and pulling out of line from the field prior to reaching the start/finish line. As Allgaier served a pass-through penalty through pit lane, things went from bad to worse when he was penalized a second time, this time for speeding on pit road. Losing a lap to the leaders, Allgaier would spend a majority of the final stage period trying to emerge as the first competitor scored a lap down and place himself in the free pass position.
As a late cycle of green flag pit stops commenced with 55 laps remaining, Allgaier, who opted to remain on the track with a different pit strategy from the leaders and cycled back on the lead lap, thrusted himself back into the championship battle after Anthony Alfredo wrecked with 46 laps remaining. Pitting during the caution period, Allgaier, who restarted within the top-12 mark, used the following restart period and fresh tires with 38 laps remaining to march his way to the front. Thirty-two laps later, Allgaier overtook title contender Cole Custer to assume the lead in the championship battle.
Despite being overtaken by Custer on pit road and dropping to fifth place on the track amid a late-race caution with three laps remaining and sent the finale into overtime, Allgaier reassumed the top spot in the championship battle back from Custer, who was being blocked by title contender Austin Hill, before another late-race incident sent the finale into a second overtime attempt. During the latest attempt, Allgaier rubbed fenders with rookie Jesse Love to assume the lead in the race as he also retained the lead in the championship standings. Despite being overtaken by Herbst on the final lap for the race win, Allgaier managed to nurse his car to a runner-up result, which was enough to claim his long-awaited first championship in his 14th season competing in the Xfinity Series division.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, William Sawalich claimed his first Xfinity career pole position in his third series start after he posted a pole-winning lap at 134.168 mph in 26.832 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Sheldon Creed, who posted his best qualifying lap at 133.432 seconds. The four Championship 4 contenders that include Austin Hill, Cole Custer, AJ Allmendinger and Justin Allgaier are set to start fifth, seventh, ninth and 37th, respectively.
Prior to the event, the following names that include Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Aric Almirola and Parker Kligerman dropped to the rear of the field in backup cars after all wrecked their primary cars during Friday’s practice session. Sammy Smith also dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change along with Allmendinger, the latter of which due to unapproved adjustments.
When the green flag waved and the finale commenced, the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg as teammates William Sawalich and Sheldon Creed dueled for the lead entering the first two turns. As Championship 4 contender Austin Hill was trying to battle Chandler Smith for fourth place while also trying to fend off teammate Jesse Love, Sam Mayer and title rival Cole Custer through the backstretch, Creed muscled his No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota Supra ahead to lead the first lap.
Over the next four laps, Creed stretched his early advantage to as high as nearly half a second as Riley Herbst made his way into the runner-up spot. Behind, Chandler Smith moved up to third place in front of Sawalich and Hill while Mayer, Love, Custer, Daniel Dye and Connor Zilisch were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Championship 4 contenders AJ Allmendinger and Justin Allgaier were up to 19th and 25th, respectively, as both continued their early march from the rear of the field.
Through the first 10-scheduled laps, Herbst, who overtook Creed for the lead a lap earlier, was leading in his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang by three-tenths of a second over a side-by-side battle between teammates Creed and Chandler smith while Sawalich and Hill were in the top five ahead of Love, Mayer, Custer, Zilisch and Dye. Behind, Allgaier and Allmendinger were in 18th and 19th, respectively, while Parker Retzlaff, Anthony Alfredo, Matt DiBenedetto, Jeffrey Earnhardt and rookie Shane van Gisbergen were racing in the top 15.
Just past the Lap 20 mark, Herbst stretched his advantage to more than two seconds over Chandler Smith while third-place Creed trailed by more than four seconds. Herbst would proceed to stabilize his lead to more than a second by the Lap 30 mark as both Smith and Creed retained second and third, respectively. Meanwhile, Hill continued to race as the highest-running Championship 4 contender on the track in fourth place while his closest-title rival Custer was mired in seventh place behind Sawalich and Mayer. By then, Allgaier cracked the top 10 as he was up to ninth place while Allmendinger was mired in 18th place.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Herbst claimed his third Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Chandler Smith, Creed, Hill and Sam Mayer were scored in the top five while Allgaier, Custer, Sawalich, Aric Almirola and Jesse Love followed suit in the top 10. By then, Allmendinger was still mired in 18th place and as the lowest Championship 4 contender on the track.
Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Herbst pitted for a first round of pit service. Following the pit stops, Herbst retained the lead after he exited pit road first as he was followed by Hill, Custer, Creed, Chandler Smith, Love, Mayer, Almirola, Sawalich and Allgaier. Amid the pit stops, Shane van Gisbergen was penalized for speeding while entering pit road.
The second stage period started on Lap 54 as Herbst and Hill occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg as both Herbst and Hill dueled for the lead in front of a three-wide battle for third place between Custer, Creed and Chandler Smith entering the first two turns. Then as Hill tried to make a move beneath Herbst for the lead through the turns, Custer used the outside lane to overtake both entering the backstretch. Custer would proceed to navigate his No. 00 Haas/Andy’s Frozen Custard Ford Mustang back to the frontstretch and lead the following lap as he was followed by teammate Herbst, Hill, Mayer, Chandler Smith and Allgaier. With Allmendinger making his way into the top 12, Custer led the next lap and teammate Herbst retained second while Hill was trying to fend off Mayer, Allgaier and Chandler Smith for third place.
At the Lap 60 mark, Herbst, who overtook teammate Custer for the lead a lap earlier, was leading by three-tenths of a second while Mayer, Hill and Allgaier followed suit in the top five. The caution would then return two laps later after Anthony Alfredo, who was battling Stefan Parsons for 20th place, got squeezed into the frontstretch’s outside wall by Parsons, which resulted with Alfredo turning left, clipping and sending Parsons into the outside wall as the latter wrecked while Greg Van Alst spun behind Parsons’ carnage. Following the incident, Alfredo was assessed a two-lap penalty for reckless driving.
The start of the next restart period on Lap 74 featured the leaders and the field fanning out to multiple lanes through the frontstretch’s dogleg as Herbst barely fended off teammate Custer to retain the lead through the first two turns. With Mayer making his way into the runner-up spot behind Herbst entering the backstretch, Allgaier muscled through into third place while Custer was trying to fend off Hill for fourth place. As Herbst led the following lap, Hill was overtaken by Almirola, Creed and Chandler Smith through the frontstretch while Custer battled and overtook Allgaier for third place on the track and the lead in the championship battle. The caution then returned on Lap 76 when Chandler Smith, who was racing in seventh place, made contact and got loose underneath teammate Creed in Turn 1 as he spun his No. 81 QuickTie Toyota Supra from the top to the bottom of the track.
During the caution period, some including Creed, Love, Allmendinger, Jeb Burton, Dylan Lupton, Daniel Dye, Matt DiBenedetto, Brandon Jones, Brennan Poole and van Gisbergen remained on the track while the rest led by Herbst pitted.
As the event restarted under green on Lap 82, Creed and Love dueled for the lead in front of the field through the frontstretch. Creed and Love remained dead even for the lead in front of Allmendinger and Jeb Burton through the backstretch while the rest of the field behind fanned out to four and five lanes as a bevy of competitors who either pitted or did not pit during the previous caution period scrambled for positions. As Creed led the following lap, Allmendinger remained as the highest-running Championship 4 contender in third place while Allgaier and Custer, both of whom were racing on fresh tires, carved their way up to sixth and seventh, respectively. Meanwhile, Hill was trapped outside the top-10 mark and trying to navigate his way back to the front.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Herbst, who made multiple on-track contacts with Allgaier five laps earlier, overtook Creed a lap prior to claim his fourth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season and second in the finale. Creed settled in second ahead of Almirola, Love and Custer while Zilisch, Allmendinger, Mayer, Sawalich and Allgaier, the latter of whom nursed his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro to the finish with a potentially flat left-rear tire, settled in the top 10. By then, Custer emerged as the highest-running Championship contender while Hill was the lowest Championship 4 contender on the track in 14th place.
During the stage break, some including Creed, Love, Allmendinger, Allgaier, Jeb Burton, DiBenedetto, Dye, Dylan Lupton, Brandon Jones, van Gisbergen and Poole pitted while the rest led by Herbst and including Custer and Hill remained on the track.
With 100 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Herbst and Almirola occupied the front row. At the start, Herbst rocketed his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang away from Almirola and teammate Custer through the frontstretch’s dogleg. As the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch, Herbst proceeded to lead the following lap while Mayer made his way up to third place behind Custer. By then, Hill and Allmendinger were in the top 10 and Allgaier was in 12th place.
Shortly after, however, Allgaier was penalized for diving his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro below the frontstretch’s apron prior to reaching the start/finish line to start the final stage period. As Allgaier served his drive-through penalty, Herbst retained the lead over teammate Custer with 95 laps remaining. Not long after serving his drive-through penalty to serve his restart violation penalty, Allgaier was assessed a second drive-through penalty for speeding on pit road while serving his first. Compared to the first penalty, the second one caused Allgaier to drop out of the lead lap category as Herbst retained the race lead with less than 90 laps remaining. By then, Custer, who was in second place, was leading the championship battle as he was five spots ahead of Allmendinger and 13 spots ahead of Hill.
With 80 laps remaining, Herbst was leading by nearly three seconds over teammate Custer while Mayer, Creed and Zilisch were in the top five ahead of Love, Allmendinger, Almirola, Chandler Smith and Sawalich. As Hill was mired in 16th place, Allgaier was scored the second competitor a lap down in 29th place as he was trying to catch Jeremy Clements to be the first competitor scored a lap down.
Fifteen laps later, Herbst continued to lead the race by more than four seconds over teammate Custer, the latter of whom continued to lead the championship battle, while Creed, Mayer and Love were scored in the top five on the track. Meanwhile, Allmendinger, Custer’s closest championship rival, was scored in seventh place on the track and trailing the championship lead by less than six seconds while Zilisch, Chandler Smith, van Gisbergen and Almirola were in the top 10. Behind, Hill was scored in 15th place while Allgaier was scored the second competitor a lap down behind Ryan Sieg and in 27th place.
Another 10 laps later, a late cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as the leader Herbst pitted. Love, Chandler Smith and Brandon Jones would also pit before Sawalich, Hill, Allmendinger, Zilisch, Mayer, Almirola, Josh Williams, Custer and van Gisbergen pitted over the next four laps. As more names including Creed pitted with 50 laps remaining, Dye was leading ahead of Parker Kligerman. By then, both along with Allgaier, the latter of whom cycled back on the lead lap, have yet to pit while Herbst carved his way up to third place.
With 46 laps remaining, however, the caution flew when Alfredo blew a right-front tire and went dead straight into the outside wall in Turn 1 hard. Alfredo’s incident served as a pivotal moment for Allgaier, who was scored on the lead lap despite not having yet pitted while Kligerman, who had pitted shortly before Alfredo wrecked, lost a lap in the process. During the caution period, select names including Allgaier, Hill, Mayer and Brandon Jones pitted while the rest led by Herbst remained on the track.
Down to the final 38 laps of the event, Herbst rocketed away from Love to retain the lead through the frontstretch and the first two turns as the field behind fanned out. As Custer battled Zilisch for third place, his title rivals Allmendinger, Hill and Allgaier were battling within the top 10. A few laps later, Allmendinger, Allgaier and Hill were racing eighth to 10th, respectively, while Custer retained third place on the track and the lead in the championship battle. Meanwhile, teammate Herbst continued to lead the race by seven-tenths of a second over Love with 35 laps remaining.
With 25 laps remaining, Herbst continued to lead the race by more than two seconds over Love as third-place Custer, who retained the lead in the championship battle, started to close in on Love for the runner-up spot. Meanwhile, Allgaier carved his way up to sixth place as he trailed Custer for three spots and Hill was mired in eighth place on the track behind Creed while Allmendinger was racing in 11th place behind Almirola and Brandon Jones.
Two laps later, Custer engaged in a side-by-side battle with Love for the runner-up spot on the track in an effort to generate a gap between himself and Allgaier for the championship battle. Love, however, would not yield the spot to Custer, which allowed Zilisch and Mayer, Allgaier’s teammates at JR Motorsports, to join the battle while Allgaier was slowly narrowing the deficit to Custer. Love would continue to retain second place over Custer as both Zilisch and Mayer would begin to challenge Custer for third place while Allgaier was trying to gain ground on teammate Mayer with 20 laps remaining.
Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Herbst stabilized his race lead to more than three seconds over Love while Custer retained third place ahead of Zilisch and Mayer. Meanwhile, Allgaier, who retained sixth place, trailed Custer by nearly a second while Hill was up to seventh place and trailing Allgaier by a second. By then, Allmendinger was strapped in 11th place.
Two laps later, Allgaier overtook teammate Mayer for fifth place on the track. By then, he still trailed Custer on the track for the championship battle by a second as Custer continued to fend off Zilisch for third place. Hill then started to close in on Mayer for sixth place on the track and he also had Allgaier within his sights while Herbst grew his lead to four seconds with 10 laps remaining.
Then with eight laps remaining, the battle for the championship brewed as Zilisch overtook Custer for third place on the track. As Custer fought back through the backstretch, Zilisch then got loose underneath Custer and made slight contact with the latter, which caused both to briefly fall off the pace entering Turns 3 and 4 as Allgaier zipped by teammate Zilisch for fourth place on the track with seven laps remaining. Allgaier then proceeded to drive up to Custer’s rear bumper through the first two turns and the backstretch before he made his move beneath Custer and overtook him through Turns 3 and 4. By then, Allgaier assumed the lead in the championship standings over Custer with six laps remaining.
Over the next three laps, Allgaier started to generate a reasonable gap between himself and Custer as he also started to battle Love for the runner-up spot on the track while Herbst maintained a healthy advantage on the track.
Then with three laps remaining, the caution flew and the event was sent into overtime due to an incident involving Leland Honeyman in Turn 4. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Herbst pitted. Following the pit stops, Hill, who pitted for only two scuff tires for his No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet Camaro, exited first as he was followed by Love, Herbst, Custer, Allgaier, Almirola, Chandler Smith, Mayer, Zilisch and Creed. Amid the pit stops, Allgaier endured a slow pit service, which allowed Custer to overtake him on pit road.
The start of the first overtime attempt did not last long as Parker Retzlaff spun and wrecked in Turn 2. Prior to Retzlaff’s incident, Love had assumed the race lead and Allgaier, who restarted in fifth place, bolted his way up to second place on the track and first in the championship battle while Hill, who created a roadblock for Custer while trying to launch on his two scuff tires, had dropped to sixth place. By then, Custer had dropped to seventh place while Allmendinger was mired in 10th place. With Retzlaff’s incident, the event was sent into a second overtime attempt.
The start of the second overtime attempt featured Allgaier and Love dueling for the lead through the frontstretch’s dogleg before Allgaier went up the track and made contact against Love’s No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro, which resulted with both rubbing against one another in smoke and Herbst getting squeezed towards the outside wall entering the first turn. Amid the contact, Allgaier muscled ahead and barely fended off Herbst, Almirola and Hill through the first two turns to muscle ahead entering the backstretch while Love was trying to regain ground. By then, Hill, who got loose after making contact with Almirola, had dropped to seventh place on the track as he was losing ground of Allgaier for the championship battle. Both Custer and Allmendinger were also losing ground of Allgaier on the track.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Allgaier remained in the lead in both the race and the championship battle while runner-up Herbst closed in on him despite developing a left-rear tire rub. Amid the tire smoke, Herbst would then gain a run beneath Allgaier, who had all the markings on his left-rear tire rubbed off, through the backstretch and overtake him for the race lead. As Herbst proceeded to claim the checkered flag to win the finale, Allgaier would have enough muscle to finish in second place and claim the championship over Custer, Allmendinger and Hill.
With the title, Allgaier, a 25-time race winner in the Xfinity Series who is in his 14th season as a full-time Xfinity competitor and who quietly clinched a Championship 4 round berth by points a week ago at Martinsville Speedway, became the 34th competitor overall to win a championship in the Xfinity Series and the first Illinois native to accomplish the feat. He also delivered the fourth driver’s championship and the first owner’s championship in the Xfinity division for JR Motorsports, the latter of which achieved its first Xfinity title since the 2018 season with Tyler Reddick. The 2024 Xfinity championship was also a first for crew chief Jim Pohlman.
Overall, the 2024 season marks the eighth time in nine seasons where the current Playoff-elimination format featured a first-time champion in the Xfinity Series as Allgaier, who made his seventh Championship 4 appearance as a title contender, previously finished a career-best runner up in the final standings during the 2020 and 2023 seasons.
As he celebrated with his pit crew, team owners, including Dale Earnhardt Jr., and family on the frontstretch, Allgaier was asked if he had counted himself out of the championship battle amid his pair of on-track obstacles that pinned him a lap down and way behind his title rivals.
“Yeah, [I counted myself out] like 10 times,” Allgaier, who fought tears of emotions, said on the CW Network. “You fans are awesome. I don’t think I have a voice left because I was yelling. I’ve been doing this a long time and these people that are standing around me. There’s no words. It’s understated what [Hendrick engine shop and Chevrolet] what they’ve done. [My family] have given up so much for me to come do this job and God’s good, man. I said it all weekend, I don’t know what the plan is. I don’t know what that looks like, but He’s got a reason for everything and tonight is truly that. It’s mind-blowing.”
Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“This team never gave up,” Allgaier, who will return to JR Motorsports and attempt to defend his series title in 2025, added. “[Crew chief] Jim Pohlman, his leadership skills are second and none. He told me all weekend that we were going to have a chance. Man, we tried to give it away every which way we could. I was as fast as Xfinity Internet, but on pit road, not on the racetrack where I needed to be. I just wanted to make it exciting for all you fans, all you fans at home. All the men and women, all five of our race teams [at JR Motorsports], just the effort that we’ve put in. I’m at a loss for words and we’re going to celebrate this one, for sure. It’s unbelievable. I just cannot say thank you enough to everybody that’s ever helped me in my career to get to this point. Seven times in the Championship 4 and we finally got it done.”
As Allgaier proceeded to celebrate his first championship on the championship stage, Cole Custer, the reigning Xfinity Series champion, could only manage a smile on pit road as he settled in eighth place in the final running order of the finale and in the runner-up spot in the final standings. Despite coming up one spot short of defending his series title, Custer is set to move back up to the Cup Series and drive for the newly formed Haas Factory Team in 2025.
“I think any driver can do something a little bit different,” Custer said. “I tried to go high, tried to go to the middle, tried to go everywhere I could. But [Hill] made his car pretty wide, which is his right. We’re all going for a championship. It just sucks that it ended up screwing us over worse than it did [Allgaier] and he was able to slip by. Man, I can’t say congratulations enough to Justin and all those guys. He’s definitely a deserving champion. They were fast all night. I hate it came down to tire strategies and stuff like that, but man, I can’t say enough about our group. Everything they’ve done over the last two years, [crew chief Jonathan Toney], everybody in [the Stewart-Haas Racing] shop works so hard. I wish we could have ended up with a championship for [Stewart-Haas Racing], but it just wasn’t meant to be on those restarts.”
Meanwhile, AJ Allmendinger, who clinched a Championship 4 berth by winning the Playoff’s Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway three weeks ago, managed a ninth-place result in the finale and settled in third place in the final standings. Austin Hill, who made his first Championship 4 appearance as a title contender, fell back to 10th place in the final running order as he was relegated to fourth place in the final standings. While Hill is set to return to Richard Childress Racing for another full-time Xfinity campaign in 2025, Allmendinger is set to move back up to the Cup Series with Kaulig Racing next season.
“We just struggled all night,” Allmendinger said. “First off, congrats to Justin [Allgaier], Dale [Earnhardt Jr.] and the No. 7 crew. Justin’s been working at it for a long time. Really cool that he got [the title]. [I] Wished that we could’ve been, at least, in the fight for [the title]. We were off from the start, loose the whole time. I didn’t know what else to do to try to make [the car] faster. Just disappointing that we never really were in the fight. I thought strategy-wise, we could, kind of, steal it, maybe, or the team championship. Disappointing, but proud to be here at least.”
“We had to try something [strategy-wise],” Hill added. “Lot of hard racing out there. I want to say congrats to the No. 7 team. Justin Allgaier’s being doing this a really long time. To see him finally get it done, I’m very happy for him. He’s a great guy to be around. Hats off to JR Motorsports for getting it done.”
Amid the championship battle, Riley Herbst, who led a race-high 167 of the 213 over-scheduled laps, celebrated a race victory as he notched his third career win in the Xfinity Series, second of the 2024 season and his first since winning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July. The victory was also the last for the Stewart-Haas Racing organization as the team will be rebranded to Haas Factory Team in 2025. It also comes as Herbst’s 2025 racing plans remain to be determined.
Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“I’ve been telling people since Daytona that if we got to Phoenix, we’d be the champion,” Herbst, who finished seventh in the final standings, said in Victory Lane. “Everybody looked at me like I was crazy. That’s gone now. We didn’t make [the Championship 4 round], but I’m just so proud of all these guys, everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing. It was a really, really tough week last week. We had a lot of emotional people at the shop. [Stewart-Haas Racing] was home for me for four years. It’s built me to what I am now and that’s a winning racecar driver in the Xfinity Series. So proud of [crew chief] Davin [Restivo] and all the guys on the No. 98 team. It’s been a hell of a run the last four years. Thank you so much to every man and woman at Stewart-Haas Racing. I love you guys all so much. We’ll see what next year holds.”
Aric Almirola, who was contending for the owner’s championship for Joe Gibbs Racing’s NO. 20 Toyota team, settled in third place on the track as he fell one spot short to Allgaier in the category. Connor Zilisch and Chandler Smith finished in the top five while Rookie-of-the-Year recipient Jesse Love, Sheldon Creed, Cole Custer, AJ Allmendinger and Austin Hill completed the top 10.
There were 21 lead changes for eight different leaders. The finale featured seven cautions for 53 laps. In addition, 27 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results.
1. Riley Herbst, 167 laps led
2. Justin Allgaier, four laps led
3. Aric Almirola
4. Connor Zilisch
5. Chandler Smith
6. Jesse Love, six laps led
7. Sheldon Creed, 20 laps led
8. Cole Custer, seven laps led
9. AJ Allmendinger
10. Austin Hill, five laps led
11. Sam Mayer
12. Shane van Gisbergen
13. William Sawalich
14. Parker Kligerman, two laps led
15. Sammy Smith
16. Jeb Burton
17. Daniel Dye, two laps led
18. Brandon Jones
19. Dylan Lupton
20. Jeremy Clements
21. Josh Bilicki
22. Blaine Perkins
23. Ryan Sieg
24. Brennan Poole
25. Ryan Ellis
26. Matt DiBenedetto
27. Joey Gase
28. Patrick Emerling, one lap down
29. Kyle Sieg, one lap down
30. Garrett Smithley, one lap down
31. Leland Honeyman, three laps down
32. Dawson Cram, four laps down
33. Josh Williams, five laps down
34. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident
35. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Engine
36. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident
37. Greg Van Alst – OUT, Suspension
38. Stefan Parsons – OUT, Accident
*Bold indicates championship finalists
Final standings
1. Justin Allgaier
2. Cole Custer
3. AJ Allmendinger
4. Austin Hill
5. Chandler Smith
6. Sheldon Creed
7. Riley Herbst
8. Jesse Love
9. Sam Mayer
10. Parker Kligerman
11. Sammy Smith
12. Shane van Gisbergen
The NASCAR Xfinity Series teams and competitors enter an off-season period before returning to action at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, on February 15, 2025, for a new season of competition.
Jesse Love has officially been named the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year.
Love, the reigning ARCA Menards Series champion from Menlo Park, California, was announced to replace Sheldon Creed as the driver of the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing (RCR) Chevrolet Camaro entry for the 2024 Xfinity Series season in late October 2023. Paired with two-time NASCAR championship-winning crew chief Danny Stockman Jr., Love commenced his inaugural campaign in the Xfinity circuit by winning the pole position for the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway in February. After winning the first stage period, he rallied from being involved in an early muti-car wreck to finish 20th.
The following weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Love made history as he notched his second consecutive pole of the season and of his career, thus becoming the first competitor to win two poles in first two starts. The Californian would proceed to lead a race-high 157 laps and sweep both stages. During an overtime shootout, however, Love lost the lead as he fell off the pace due to stumbling on his low tank of fuel as he was relegated back to 12th place in the final running order.
Then after finishing in the top 10 in five of his next six starts while also notching a runner-up result behind Chandler Smith at Phoenix Raceway in March, Love triumphed for the first time in the Xfinity Series at Talladega Superspeedway in late April after he led 28 laps, dodged a pair of late-race multi-car wrecks and withstood through two overtime shootouts. With his accomplishment, Love became the seventh competitor to record a first Xfinity career victory at Talladega and he became the 177th competitor overall to win in the Xfinity Series as he automatically locked up a guaranteed spot into the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs. Love’s Talladega victory was also the first for RCR’s No. 2 Chevrolet team since Myatt Snider won at Homestead-Miami Speedway in February 2021.
Following the Talladega victory, Love proceeded to finish in the top five twice and rack up a total of seven top-10 throughout the remaining 17 regular-season events on the 2024 Xfinity schedule before the Xfinity Series Playoffs commenced. With respective finishes of ninth, sixth and 19th throughout the Round of 12, Love managed to claim the final transfer berth into the Round of 8 by a mere two points. His title hopes, however, came to an end despite finishing sixth, fourth and 12th, respectively, throughout the Round of 8. Nonetheless, Love would proceed to finish in sixth place during the 2024 Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway, which was enough to settle in eighth place in the final driver’s standings.
Photo by Jeff Clemons for SpeedwayMedia.com.
With the 2024 Xfinity rookie title wrapped up, Love became the first California-raised competitor to achieve the title since Tyler Reddick made the previous accomplishment in 2018, the same season where he won his first championship, and the first competitor to claim the honors both as a Chevrolet competitor and while driving for Richard Childress Racing since teammate Austin Hill achieved his rookie title in 2022.
Love’s closest rival for this year’s Xfinity rookie title was Shane van Gisbergen, a three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, who achieved his first three career victories in the Xfinity circuit, all of which his victories occurred on road-course events, and ended up in 12th place in the final standings after his Playoff hopes came to an end at the Round of 8’s conclusion. Love’s other rivals for the title included Leland Honeyman, Hailie Deegan and Dawson Cram. Honeyman settled in 22nd place in the final driver’s standings and Deegan lost her full-time ride at AM Racing halfway into the season while Cram transitioned between Mike Harmon Racing and DGM Racing halfway into the season after he lost his ride at JD Motorsports.
With the rookie title achieved, Love is set to return for a second full-time Xfinity campaign with Richard Childress Racing and the organization’s No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro entry in 2025.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series teams and competitors enter an off-season period before returning to action at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2025, for a new season of competition.
Martin Truex Jr. will start his final NASCAR Cup Series event as a full-time competitor on the pole position for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, November 9.
Practice and Qualifying
The 2017 Cup Series champion from Mayetta, New Jersey, commenced the 2024 weekend finale at Phoenix as the second-fastest competitor of the series’ lone practice session on Friday, November 8. After two qualifying group rounds, he was one of 10 drivers that transferred to the final qualifying session.
Truex posted his best qualifying lap at 134.741 mph in 26.718 seconds and claimed the top-starting spot over Championship 4 contender Joey Logano.
In addition to winning the pole position, Truex will sport a special throwback scheme on his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry XSE entry. It will mirror the scheme of his first Cup career start at Atlanta Motor Speedway in October 2004, notched his 25th career pole in NASCAR’s premier series, his second in a row in recent weeks after he started on pole last weekend at Martinsville Speedway and his third at Phoenix.
Sunday’s Cup Series Championship event at Phoenix is set to mark Truex’s 693rd and final start as a full-time competitor in NASCAR’s premier series. Truex is currently ranked in 10th place in the 2024 driver’s standings and will continue his pursuit of his first elusive victory of the season.
“[The pole]’s very cool,” Truex said. “Honestly, you always want to be known as the guy that can go fast in any track, in any situation. Pressure is always pretty high for qualifying. You have to go out there and nail that perfect lap. You only get one shot at it these days. It is fun to go out there and beat everyone in anything. It feels good. It’s very cool, but the big prize is tomorrow. Hopefully, we can get that one.”
Top Ten
Joining Truex on the front row will be Joey Logano, the highest-starting Championship 4 contender with his best qualifying lap occurring at 134.690 mph in 26.728 seconds as he will contend for his third Cup Series championship for Sunday’s main event.
Chevrolet competitors Ross Chastain, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott will start in the top five and they will be followed by Ty Gibbs and Christopher Bell on the starting grid.
William Byron, who is contending for his first Cup title, will start in eighth place after a qualifying lap of 134.218 mph in 26.822 seconds. Championship 4 contender, Tyler Reddick, will start in 10th place. He will share the fifth row with Harrison Burton.
Reigning Cup Series champion, Ryan Blaney is the fourth Championship 4 finalist. He will start in 17th place, despite being the fastest during Friday’s practice session.
All 40 competitors entered for Sunday’s finale at Phoenix earned a starting spot.
Qualifying position, best speed, best time:
Martin Truex Jr., 134.741 mph, 26.718 seconds
Joey Logano, 134.690 mph, 26.728 seconds
Ross Chastain, 134.268 mph, 26.812 seconds
Kyle Larson, 134.308 mph, 26.804 seconds
Chase Elliott, 134.228 mph, 26.820 seconds
Ty Gibbs, 134.273 mph, 26.811 seconds
Christopher Bell, 133.373 mph, 26.992 seconds
William Byron, 134.218 mph, 26.822 seconds
Harrison Burton, 132.188 mph, 27.234 seconds
Tyler Reddick, 134.118 mph, 26.842 seconds
Austin Cindric, 134.590 mph, 26.748 seconds
Chase Briscoe, 134.635 mph, 26.739 seconds
Justin Haley, 134.554 mph, 26.755 seconds
Denny Hamlin, 134.605 mph, 26.745 seconds
Carson Hocevar, 134.389 mph, 26.788 seconds
Alex Bowman, 134.378 mph, 26.790 seconds
Ryan Blaney, 134.263 mph, 26.813 seconds
John Hunter Nemechek, 134.078 mph, 26.850 seconds
Erik Jones, 133.834 mph, 26.899 seconds
Corey LaJoie, 134.068 mph, 26.852 seconds
Noah Gragson, 133.690 mph, 26.928 seconds
Daniel Hemric, 133.909 mph, 26.884 seconds
Jimmie Johnson, 133.531 mph, 26.960 seconds
Chris Buescher, 133.740 mph, 26.918 seconds
Kyle Busch, 133.492 mph, 26.968 seconds
Derek Kraus, 133.605 mph, 26.945 seconds
Brad Keselowski, 133.190 mph, 27.029 seconds
Zane Smith, 133.531 mph, 26.960 seconds
Bubba Wallace, 132.690 mph, 27.131 seconds
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 133.161 mph, 27.035 seconds
Kaz Grala, 132.587 mph, 27.152 seconds
Todd Gilliland, 132.251 mph, 27.221 seconds
Ryan Preece, 132.528 mph, 27.164 seconds
Daniel Suarez, 131.805 mph, 27.313 seconds
Michael McDowell, 132.086 mph, 27.255 seconds
Austin Dillon, 130.586 mph, 27.568 seconds
JJ Yeley, 129.627 mph, 27.772 seconds
Chad Finchum, 127.895 mph, 28.148 seconds
Josh Berry, 0.000 mph, 0.000 seconds
Jeb Burton, 0.000 mph, 0.000 seconds
The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway is set to occur on Sunday, November 10, and air at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.
