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Grant Enfinger doubles down with dramatic fuel-mileage Truck victory at Homestead

Three weeks after securing a Championship 4 berth by winning the Playoff’s Round of 8 opener at Talladega Superspeedway, Grant Enfinger doubled down in his bid to be known as a legitimate championship contender for this season’s finale by winning the Baptist Health 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, October 26, following a fuel-mileage battle to the victory.

The 39-year-old Enfinger from Fairhope, Alabama, led twice for 32 of 134-scheduled laps in an event where he started ninth and cruised to a sixth-place result during the event’s first stage period. Then in the closing laps of the second stage period, he charged up the leaderboard and overtook pole-sitter Corey Heim to assume the lead and race his way to the second stage victory. Despite getting entangled with an on-track incident with Playoff contender Christian Eckes at the start of the final stage period that forced Enfinger to eventually pit and lose a lap amid a tire rub, the Alabama veteran seized an opportunity to rally back through the field that started when Conner Jones intentionally wrecked Matt Mills with 60 laps remaining. During the caution period, he received the free pass to cycle back on the lead lap and pitted for fuel that would enable him to reach the event’s scheduled distance.

Then starting with the final restart period with 52 laps remaining, Enfinger began his fuel economy run to the finish while also carving his way back up the leaderboard. While most of his fellow Playoff contenders pitted for fuel midway into the final stage period, Enfinger remained on the track and returned to the lead with 21 laps remaining. Despite reducing his pace for the remainder of the event, Enfinger had built a reasonable gap from his closest competition and had enough fuel saved in his tank to reach the event’s scheduled distance and claim the checkered flag for his second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory of the 2024 season and in recent weeks.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, October 25, Playoff contender Corey Heim notched his first Truck pole position of the 2024 season with a pole-winning lap at 165.062 mph in 32.715 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender and teammate Taylor Gray, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 164.689 mph in 32.789 seconds.

Prior to the event, the following names that include Tanner Gray, Matt Mills and rookie Layne Riggs dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective trucks.

When the green flag waved and the race started, the field quickly fanned out through the frontstretch as teammates Corey Heim and Taylor Gray dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. As the field continued to fan out through the backstretch, Heim managed to muscle his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro ahead from the inside lane through Turns 3 and 4 and he would proceed to lead the first lap.

Over the next four laps and amid a series of early on-track action within the field, Heim proceeded to extend his advantage to as high as seven-tenths of a second over teammate Taylor Gray while Playoff contender Christian Eckes followed suit in third place. Behind, Kaden Honeycutt and Connor Mosack trailed in the top five ahead of Playoff contenders Rajah Caruth and Stewart Friesen while Playoff contenders Ty Majeski, Grant Enfinger and Nick Sanchez followed suit in the top 10.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Heim stabilized his advantage to four-tenths of a second over teammate Taylor Gray while third-place Eckes trailed by eight-tenths of a second. Behind, Honeycutt and Mosack remained in the top five ahead of Majeski, Caruth, Friesen, Enfinger and Sanchez while Daniel Dye, Dean Thompson, Matt Crafton, Connor Zilisch and Playoff contender Tyler Ankrum were racing in the top 15.

Five laps later, Heim stretched his early advantage to nine-tenths of a second over Honeycutt, who overtook Taylor Gray for the runner-up spot a few laps earlier, while Eckes followed suit in fourth place as he trailed Gray by a second. Not long after, Majeski would move into the top five in fifth place as a trio of Playoff contenders that include Caruth, Enfinger and Sanchez were racing from seventh to ninth, respectively, while Heim retained the lead by half a second over Honeycutt at the Lap 20 mark.

By Lap 25, Honeycutt used the outside lane to gain a big draft on Heim through the backstretch, but Heim moved in front of Honeycutt’s No. 45 Moore’s Venture Foods Chevrolet Silverado RST to stall his momentum. Honeycutt, who was running faster lap times than Heim, would proceed to use the outside lane to continue to gain more ground towards Heim’s rear bumper through every corner and straightaway during the proceeding laps as Heim was navigating his way through lapped traffic.

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 30, Heim, who came into Homestead 30 points above the top-four cutline in the Playoff standings, fended off Honeycutt to notch his ninth Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Honeycutt settled in second ahead of Majeski, Taylor Gray and Eckes while Enfinger, Mosack, Sanchez, Caruth and Dean Thompson were scored in the top 10. With all but one of eight Playoff contenders racking up the event’s first round of stage points by finishing in the top 10, the remaining Playoff contender, Tyler Ankrum, settled in 16th place behind teammate Daniel Dye.

Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Heim pitted for a first round of pit service that included a change of four fresh tires. Following the pit stops, Heim retained the lead as he exited pit road first ahead of teammate Taylor Gray, Honeycutt, Eckes and Enfinger while Majeski, who lost three spots following his pit service, exited in sixth place ahead of Sanchez, Thompson, Mosack and Matt Crafton. Shortly after, Sanchez was sent to the rear of the field due to speeding while exiting pit road.

The second stage period started under green on Lap 38 as teammates Heim and Taylor Gray occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out through both the frontstretch and the backstretch as Gray received a draft from Eckes to muscle ahead of Heim through the backstretch. As Enfinger muscled into fourth place ahead of Majeski and a steaming pack of trucks through Turns 3 and 4, Eckes challenged Gray for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch during the following lap while Heim followed in close pursuit.

Taylor Gray would then slide his No. 17 Place of Hope Toyota Tundra TRD Pro in front of Eckes’ No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST entering the frontstretch and lead the next lap before Eckes pulled a crossover move to the inside lane and assumed the lead through Turns 1 and 2 on Lap 40. Shortly after, Heim overtook teammate Gray for the runner-up spot as Eckes led the following lap. Heim then overtook Eckes to reassume the lead entering the frontstretch on Lap 42 and he would proceed to slowly muscle away with the top spot. By Lap 45, Heim stretched his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Eckes while Taylor Gray, Enfinger and Majeski followed suit in the top five. Behind, Mosack occupied sixth place as Caruth, Honeycutt, Crafton and Dye were in the top 10.

At the Lap 50 mark, Heim extended his advantage to a second over Eckes while Enfinger muscled his way up to third place as he trailed the lead by two seconds. Meanwhile, Taylor Gray fell back to fourth place ahead of Majeski while Mosack, Caruth, Honeycutt, Dye and Crafton were in the top 10. Towards the middle of the field, Playoff contenders Ankrum and Sanchez were mired in 17th and 19th, respectively, as Heim proceeded to lead by seventh-tenths of a second over Eckes by Lap 55.

Then on Lap 57, Enfinger, who overtook Eckes for the runner-up spot a lap earlier and had been gaining ground on the leaders, steered his No. 9 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST into the lead from Heim through Turns 3 and 4 while he also almost got sideways entering the frontstretch. He then fended off Heim entering Turns 1 and 2 to retain the top spot.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 60, Enfinger, who is already guaranteed a spot into this year’s Championship 4 field by winning the Playoff’s Round of 8 opener at Talladega Superspeedway earlier in October, notched his third Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Heim settled in second ahead of Eckes, Majeski and Honeycutt while Taylor Gray, Dye, Mosack, Caruth and Crafton were scored in the top 10. With six of eight Playoff contenders racking up the event’s second round of Playoff points, the remaining Playoff contenders that include Ankrum and Sanchez were mired in 16th and 17th, respectively.

During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Enfinger returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Enfinger exited pit road first as he was followed by Taylor Gray, Heim, Connor Zilisch, Eckes, Honeycutt, Majeski, Caruth, Mosack and Thompson. Shortly after, Zilisch returned to pit road for service due to the Charlotte rookie missing his pit stall during the first cycle with the field.

With 67 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced under green as Enfinger and Taylor Gray occupied the front row. At the start, Taylor Gray muscled ahead into the lead from the inside lane while Eckes and Enfinger collided against one another entering the first turn. As the field fanned out through the first two turns, Eckes fended off Majeski for the runner-up spot while Enfinger, who quickly reassumed third place through the backstretch, had a left-rear tire rub and smoke puffing out of his truck. During the following lap, Enfinger continued to nurse his damaged truck on the track despite dropping out of the top five mark and losing more spots as Taylor Gray retained the lead.

With 64 laps remaining, however, Eckes and Taylor Gray dueled for the lead as Heim and Majeski followed suit in close pursuit. As Enfinger pitted under green to have his damaged truck assessed prior to the following lap, Eckes was out in front of a tight four-truck battle for the lead that involved Heim, Gray and Majeski. Heim then rocketed back into the lead with 62 laps remaining while Eckes followed suit in second. As Gray and Majeski battled for third place, Layne Riggs carved his way up to fifth place while Caruth, Honeycutt, Sanchez, Mosack and Thompson were in the top 10.

Then with 60 laps remaining, the caution flew due to Matt Mills, who was racing in the top 20, getting loose after he received a bump from Conner Jones’ No. 66 TSPORT Ford F-150 and smacked the outside wall in Turn 4 as flames erupted out of his No. 42 Utilitra/J.F. Electric Chevrolet Silverado RST. Following the incident, Mills managed to climb out of his damaged truck under his own power while Jones, who vocally expressed his displeasure with Mills over an earlier on-track battle, was assessed a two-lap penalty for reckless driving. Mills would eventually be taken to a local hospital for further evaluation.

During the caution period, some led by Riggs and including Sanchez and Ankrum pitted while the rest led by Heim remained on the track. Enfinger, who received the free pass during the caution period, also pitted.

The start of the next restart period with 52 laps remaining featured Heim receiving a draft from Majeski to muscle ahead of Eckes to retain the lead as the field fanned out through the first two turns. Then exiting the backstretch, Majeski, who was in third place, shot his No. 98 Poppi/Road Ranger Ford F-150 below the track entering Turns 3 and 4 as he tried to bolt into the lead. Heim, however, used the outside lane and a draft from Eckes to muscle back ahead and retain the lead for the following lap. By then, Majeski managed to claim the runner-up spot as Caruth intimidated Eckes for third place.

Then as Caruth tried to go below Eckes for third place in Turns 3, he got loose, which allowed Riggs and Dye to overtake him as Caruth was left to battle Sanchez and Taylor Gray for seventh place. Shortly after, Riggs overtook Eckes and Majeski on his four fresh tires before he assumed the lead from Heim with 49 laps remaining.

With less than 45 laps remaining, Riggs extended his advantage to more than a second over Sanchez, who also bolted his No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST to the front on four fresh tires. With Heim dropping to third place, Mosack followed suit in fourth place ahead of Enfinger, Majeski, Ankrum, Dye, Friesen and Ben Rhodes while Eckes, Caruth and Taylor Gray dropped to 11th, 12th and 13th, respectively. As Heim was overtaken by both Mosack and Enfinger, Riggs retained the lead by a second with 40 laps remaining.

With 36 laps remaining, mixed strategies within the field ensued as Caruth pitted his No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST for four fresh tires and fuel under green. Eckes would then pit for the following lap before more names including Crafton, Honeycutt and Majeski pitted during the next lap. Teammates Heim and Taylor Gray would then pit their respective Toyotas under green with 33 laps remaining as Riggs, who was approaching lapped traffic, stabilized his advantage to six-tenths of a second over Sanchez.

Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Riggs, who was among several competitors who continued to race on the track and aiming to stretch their fuel tank to the scheduled distance, continued to lead by a second over Sanchez while third-place Enfinger also trailed by a second. As Mosack, Ankrum, Friesen, Rhodes, Tanner Gray, Chase Purdy and Dawson Sutton followed suit in the top 10, Heim, the first competitor who recently pitted under green, trailed the lead by 31 seconds in 11th place as Majeski, Timmy Hill, Eckes and Caruth were mired in the top 15, with Taylor Gray trailing in 17th place.

Three laps later, Enfinger challenged Riggs for the lead and he would overtake him to lead the following lap. Enfinger, who was also racing on fumes to stretch his fuel tank to the scheduled distance, would proceed to lead by half a second over Riggs while Sanchez trailed in third place by nine-tenths of a second. Meanwhile, Heim trailed the lead by 26 seconds in 10th place as he remained ahead of Majeski, Eckes and Caruth.

With 15 laps remaining, Enfinger, who was slowly reducing his speed while remaining on the track to stretch his fuel tank, continued to lead by more than a second over Riggs while third-place Sanchez trailed by more than two seconds. With Mosack and Friesen in the top five ahead of Ankrum, Heim carved his way up to eighth place and trailed the lead by 24 seconds.

Five laps later, Enfinger retained the lead by more than two seconds over runner-up Riggs and by more than three seconds over Sanchez while Heim, who was still in eighth place, trailed by 21 seconds. By then, Caruth and Taylor Gray, both of whom were strapped in 13th and 14th, respectively, un-lapped themselves while Majeski and Eckes were racing in ninth and 11th, respectively.

Down to the final five laps of the event, Enfinger stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Riggs, who was slowly gaining ground on the former, as Sanchez continued to trail in third place by nearly seven seconds. A lap later, Heim cycled to seventh place but still trailed the leader Enfinger by 18 seconds. Another two laps later, Riggs ran out of fuel as he coasted his No. 38 Love’s RV Stops Ford F-150 below the apron through the first two turns and past Purdy, who also ran out of fuel.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Enfinger remained in the lead by more than 10 seconds over Sanchez. As Sanchez ran out of fuel and dropped off the pace through the backstretch, Enfinger managed to have enough fuel in his dry tank to coast his No. 9 Chevrolet around the Homestead circuit smoothly for a final time and return to the frontstretch victorious for his second consecutive checkered flag of the 2024 Truck Series season.

With the victory, Enfinger notched his 12th career win in the Craftsman Truck Series division and his first at Homestead as this marks the first time ever where the Alabama veteran has notched back-to-back Truck victories in recent weeks. The Homestead victory was also the second ever for CR7 Motorsports and the 10th of the season for the Chevrolet nameplate as Enfinger eyes additional momentum before his bid and the primary focus for the championship battle in the season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway two weeks from now.

“I think the truck we had here was equally as good [as the one from Darlington Raceway] and I feel like we were able to take a disadvantage with whatever happened on that restart [with 67 laps remaining],” Enfinger said on the frontstretch on FS1. “I didn’t think I did anything wrong and my buddy Christian [Eckes] was, I guess, trying to split the middle and just cut our tire a little bit, but just racing. At the end of the day, [crew chief] Jeff Stankiewicz just had the best truck out here. This Champion Power Equipment Chevy was really fast after about five laps yesterday and it was the same way today. [Spotter] Tim [Fedewa] did a good job of managing me with the tires and then Jeff did a good job managing me with the fuel. I felt like I saved at least 20% more than I did in the first run, but Jeff was on me pretty hard. Hard to beat these two weeks.”

“We’ve had potential all year,” Enfinger added. “There’s been some times I haven’t executed. There’s been some times we just had bad luck, but maybe this is the time we get our momentum and like I told the guys, we’ll just not get too worked up over this one. Just focus on Phoenix, but it’s hard not to have momentum. Just overall, proud of the execution of these guys. More than anything, just proud of the speed. We had the fastest truck all day and when you do that, you can even have some slip-ups or mistakes and overcome them.”

With Enfinger winning the race, Ty Majeski came home in second place and Connor Mosack settled in third place while Corey Heim could carve his way back up to as high as fourth place ahead of Tyler Ankrum.

Stewart Friesen, Daniel Dye, Rajah Caruth, Christian Eckes and Taylor Gray finished in the top 10. Meanwhile, Sanchez, who ran out of fuel on the final lap, ended up in 13th place, the final competitor scored on the lead lap, while Riggs fell back to 22nd place, a lap down.

As a result, Heim, Eckes and Majeski enter next weekend’s Round of 8 finale above the top-four cutline to the Championship 4 field while Caruth, Taylor Gray, Ankrum and Sanchez trail the cutline.

There were nine lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured three cautions for 19 laps. In addition, 13 of 34 starters finished on the lead lap.

Results.

1. Grant Enfinger, 32 laps led, Stage 2 winner

2. Ty Majeski

3. Connor Mosack

4. Corey Heim, 68 laps led, Stage 1 winner

5. Tyler Ankrum

6. Stewart Friesen

7. Daniel Dye

8. Rajah Caruth

9. Christian Eckes, three laps led

10. Taylor Gray, four laps led

11. Matt Crafton

12. Ben Rhodes

13. Nick Sanchez

14. Kaden Honeycutt, one lap down

15. Dean Thompson, one lap down

16. Corey Day, one lap down

17. William Sawalich, one lap down

18. Connor Zilisch, one lap down

19. Dawson Sutton, one lap down

20. Tanner Gray, one lap down

21. Lawless Alan, one lap down

22. Layne Riggs, one lap down, 27 laps led

23. Timmy Hill, two laps down

24. Jake Garcia, two laps down

25. Conner Jones, two laps down

26. Chase Purdy, three laps down

27. Spencer Boyd, three laps down

28. Conor Daly, three laps down

29. Nathan Byrd, four laps down

30. Marco Andretti, seven laps down

31. Bayley Currey, nine laps down

32. Justin Mondeik, 20 laps down

33. Frankie Muniz, 29 laps down

34. Matt Mills – OUT, Accident

*Bold indicates Playoff competitors

Playoff standings

1. Grant Enfinger – Advanced

2. Corey Heim +49

3. Christian Eckes +38

4. Ty Majeski +22

5. Rajah Caruth -22

6. Taylor Gray -24

7. Tyler Ankrum -41

8. Nick Sanchez -43

The Round of 8 in the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs is set to conclude at Martinsville Speedway for the Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 200, which will determine this year’s Championship 4 field. The event is scheduled to occur next Friday, November 1, and air at 6 p.m. ET on FS1.

October 26, 2024

Tyler Reddick claims pole for playoff race at Homestead

Tyler Reddick captured the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a qualifying lap of 167.452 mph in the 23XI Racing No. 45 Toyota. It is Reddick’s third pole this season and the ninth of his career.

Notably, this achievement couldn’t have come at a better time. With only two races remaining in the Round of 8, he is currently 30 points below the Playoffs cutline and at risk of not advancing to the NASCAR Cup Series final 4.

Reflecting on his performance, Reddick said, “Yeah, the pole has kind of eluded me in the Cup Series here (Homestead-Miami Speedway). “We’ve been very close, we just needed to have a really good round two. Yeah, I think we, for our group, ran a really good lap for sure. Yeah, again, we were just fortunate where we were in Group A. It padded us a little bit.

“Yeah,” he added, “it’s always nice to run a really good lap.”But when you run your lap, and the 5 car (Larson) runs after you, you know they have time to adjust. Curious to see what the 5 and 20 (Christopher Bell) did there. “Obviously,” he said, “the 5 got pretty close.

“All-in-all,” he summarized, “it was a good day for us. And looking forward to the race tomorrow.” And looking forward to the race tomorrow.”

Four more playoff contenders will join Reddick in the top 10 including Kyle Larson (2nd), Christopher Bell (3rd) and Denny Hamlin (4th), and Chase Elliott (7th).

Playoff Drivers:

Three playoff drivers, including Ryan Blaney who will start 20th, and William Byron. who will begin the race in 25th, will start from a disadvantage. Joey Logano, who qualified in 26th, will start from the rear of the field after the team made a steering system change post-qualifying. After his win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Logano is already guaranteed a spot in the championship Round of 4.

Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 400 Playoff race at Homestead-Miami Speedway will air at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC with radio coverage provided by MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Current Cup Series Playoff Standings:

Logano +17
Bell +42
Larson +35
Byron +27

Hamlin -27
Reddick -30
Blaney -47
Elliott -53

Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 400 Playoff race at Homestead-Miami Speedway will air at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC and the NBC Sports App. Radio coverage will be provided by MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

The starting lineup for the Straight Talk Wireless 400

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Time	Speed
1	45	Tyler Reddick (P)	The Beast Killer Sunrise Toyota	32.248	167.452
2	5	Kyle Larson (P)	HendrickCars.com Chevrolet	32.325	167.053
3	20	Christopher Bell (P)	Rheem Toyota	32.369	166.826
4	11	Denny Hamlin (P)	Mavis Tire Toyota	32.428	166.523
5	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Kroger/vitaminwater Chevrolet	32.599	165.649
6	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Bass Pro Shops Toyota	32.469	166.312
7	9	Chase Elliott (P)	NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet	32.693	165.173
8	23	Bubba Wallace	McDonald’s/RMHC Toyota	32.505	166.128
9	31	Daniel Hemric	Cirkul Chevrolet	33.059	163.344
10	7	Justin Haley	Chili’s Catch-a-Rita Chevrolet	32.596	165.664
11	48	Alex Bowman	Ally Chevrolet	32.441	166.456
12	4	Josh Berry #	Panini Color Blast Ford	32.383	166.754
13	14	Chase Briscoe	Zep Ford	32.48	166.256
14	54	Ty Gibbs	Monster Energy Toyota	32.393	166.703
15	77	Carson Hocevar #	Zeigler Auto Group/LoJack Chevrolet	32.518	166.062
16	10	Noah Gragson	Beef A Roo Ford	32.418	166.574
17	8	Kyle Busch	Rebel Bourbon Chevrolet	32.53	166.001
18	6	Brad Keselowski	Consumer Cellular Ford	32.465	166.333
19	71	Zane Smith #	Wellcare Chevrolet	32.537	165.965
20	12	Ryan Blaney (P)	Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford	32.477	166.272
21	17	Chris Buescher	Fastenal Ford	32.544	165.929
22	1	Ross Chastain	Kubota Chevrolet	32.507	166.118
23	99	Daniel Suarez	FreewayFranchise.com Chevrolet	32.554	165.878
24	34	Michael McDowell	Love’s Travel Stops Ford	32.51	166.103
25	24	William Byron (P)	Valvoline Chevrolet	32.581	165.741
26	22	Joey Logano (P)	Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford	32.562	165.837
27	15	Kaz Grala #	Meat N’ Bone Ford	32.644	165.421
28	43	Erik Jones	Dollar Tree Toyota	32.577	165.761
29	42	John Hunter Nemechek	Family Dollar Toyota	32.652	165.38
30	3	Austin Dillon	Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet	32.597	165.659
31	38	Todd Gilliland	gener8tor Ford	32.703	165.122
32	16	AJ Allmendinger(i)	Worldwide Express Chevrolet	32.637	165.456
33	51	Corey LaJoie	Schluter Systems Ford	32.801	164.629
34	21	Harrison Burton	DEX Imaging Ford	32.653	165.375
35	41	Ryan Preece	Bonanza Cabernet Ford	32.844	164.414
36	2	Austin Cindric	Freightliner Ford	32.81	164.584
37	44	JJ Yeley(i)	Urban Youth Chevrolet	33.063	163.325
38	66	Chad Finchum(i)	GreenLightPP.com Ford	33.794	159.792

October 26, 2024

Weekend Schedule for Playoff Races at Homestead

The NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Truck Series all travel to Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend for the second race in the Playoffs Championship Round of 8. The intensity is rising with only two races remaining before the champions are crowned at Phoenix Raceway next month.

Team Penske’s Joey Logano is locked into the Cup Series Championship 4 Playoffs after winning last week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger leads the Xfinity Series standings and CR7 Motorsports driver Grant Enfinger tops the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series standings after his win at Talladega Superspeedway.

NASCAR Press Pass will be available this weekend after Cup Series qualifying and after each Playoff race.

Cup Series Playoff Championship Standings:

Joey Logano +17
Christopher Bell +42
Kyle Larson +35
William Byron +27
Denny Hamlin -27
Tyler Reddick -30
Ryan Blaney -47
Chase Elliott -53

Xfinity Series Playoff Championship Standings

AJ Allmendinger +7
Justin Allgaier +32
Cole Custer +16
Chandler Smith +8
Austin Hill -8
Jesse Love -13
Sam Mayer -23
Sammy Smith -53

CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff Championship Standings

Grant Enfinger +18
Corey Heim +30
Christian Eckes +29
Ty Majeski +5
Rajah Caruth -5
Taylor Gray -13
Nick Sanchez -20
Tyler Ankrum -23

Friday, Oct. 25

2:35 p.m.: Truck Series Practice – All entries, 20 minutes
3:05 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying (Impound)
4:05 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice
Timed, 2 Groups, 15 minutes each
4:40 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying
Impound – All entries, single vehicle, 1 lap

Saturday, Oct. 26

9:05 a.m.: Cup Series Practice
Groups A & B, 20 minutes each
MRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App

9:50 a.m.: Cup Series Qualifying
Impound – Groups A & B, Single Vehicle, 1 Lap, 2 Rounds
MRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App

Noon: NASCAR Truck Series Baptist Health 200
Stages 30/60/134 Laps = 201 Miles
FS!/MRN/SiriusXM

3:30 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series Credit One NASCAR Amex Credit 300
Stages 45/90/200 Laps = 300 Miles
CW/MRN/SiriusXM

Sunday, Oct. 27

2:30 p.m.: NASCAR Cup Series Straight Talk Wireless 400
Stages 80/165/267 Laps = 400.5 Miles
NBC/MRN/SiriusXM

October 23, 2024
Brandon Jones to make his 300th Xfinity start at Homestead

Brandon Jones will achieve a milestone start this weekend in the Xfinity Playoff event at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The driver of the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro will make his 300th career start in the Xfinity circuit.

A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Jones made his inaugural presence in the Xfinity Series at Iowa Speedway in May 2015. By then, he had won two races in the ARCA Menards Series and one event in the ARCA Menards Series East, all while driving for Turner Scott Motorsports (TSM).

He had also made 11 career starts in the Craftsman Truck Series, recording a total of two top-10 results while competing between TSM and GMS Racing. Driving the No. 33 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing (RCR) on a part-time basis, Jones started fifth and finished eighth in his Xfinity debut. He then made four additional Xfinity starts in 2015, which started in the series’ second visit of the season at Iowa in August along with the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Bristol Motor Speedway, both also occurring in August, before wrapping up his part-time schedule at Kentucky Speedway in September. During this span, Jones notched a season-best fifth-place result at Kentucky, which also marked his first career top-five finish in the series.

In 2016, Jones campaigned as a full-time Xfinity competitor in RCR’s No. 33 Chevrolet Camaro. After finishing in seventh place during the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway in February, the Atlanta native proceeded to record 10 additional top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, which were enough for him to claim a spot into the 2016 Xfinity Series Playoffs.

Jones fell out of title contention after finishing 26th, 17th, and 16th throughout the Round of 12.He recorded a single top-10 result through the remaining four scheduled events and settled in 10th place in the final standings. Despite achieving his first career pole position for the 2017 season opener at Daytona, he only recorded a total of three top-10 results throughout the 33-race schedule as his average-finishing result dropped from 13.8 to 21.4. After missing the 2017 Xfinity Playoffs, Jones, who finished no higher than 11th throughout the Playoffs, ended up in 16th place in the final standings.

For the 2018 season, Jones transitioned from RCR to Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) to pilot the No. 19 Toyota Camry on a full-time basis in the Xfinity Series. Commencing the season by finishing 10th at Daytona, he utilized consistency in the form of a season-best runner-up result at Talladega Superspeedway in May. He also won the pole at Dover Motor Speedway in May, and a total of 12 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch to qualify for his second career Playoffs.

Jones recorded two top-10 results throughout the Round of 1 but was eliminated from the Playoffs. But, he finished strong with three additional top-10 results in the final four events on the schedule before claiming ninth place in the final driver’s standings. Overall, Jones boosted his average-finishing result to 13.6 and recorded both double-digit results of top-10 runs (17) and triple-digit results of laps led (173) in a season for the first time in his career. He had also surpassed 100 career starts in the Xfinity Series.

Jones’ second Xfinity campaign as a JGR competitor commenced on a strong note as he finished in third place at Daytona in February. He then finished in the top four three additional times and logged in a total of 13 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch before qualifying for his third career appearance in the Playoffs.

Jones was eliminated from title contention early after finishing no higher than 11th throughout the Round of 12. He responded by notching his first career victory in his 134th Xfinity Series start at Kansas Speedway in October after leading the final 10 laps and muscling away from the field during a five-lap shootout, which made him the third first-time winner of the season alongside Michael Annett and Austin Cindric. Finishing no lower than 11th through the final three events on the schedule, Jones claimed 10th place in the final standings. By then, Jones had tripled his top-five results recorded from the previous season (six).

The 2020 Xfinity season was a breakout year for Jones, who claimed two top-10 results through the first three events on the schedule before notching his first victory of the season and the second of his career at Phoenix Raceway in March amid a late battle with teammate Kyle Busch. The Atlanta native then recorded five top-10 results during his next 12 starts before recording his second victory of the season at Kansas in July after overtaking Austin Cindric on the final lap amid an overtime shootout.

Another six races later, Jones capitalized on a late-race skirmish involving teammate Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain to overtake both before the final lap and claim victory No. 3 of the season at Darlington Raceway in September. Proceeding to make his fourth career appearance in the Playoffs, Jones transferred into the Round of 8 for the first time in his career after finishing no lower than 11th throughout the Round of 12. But he was eliminated from title contention after finishing ninth, 25th and ninth, respectively, throughout the Round of 8. Managing a strong third-place finish during the finale at Phoenix Raceway in November, Jones settled in a career-best sixth place in the final driver’s standings. By then, he had achieved a career-best 19 top-10 results, 10 of which were top fives, 160 laps led and a career-best average-finishing result of 12.8.

Despite commencing the 2021 Xfinity season with a hard incident at Daytona, Jones recorded a season-best runner-up result at Michigan International Speedway in August, nine top-five results and 13 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, all of which were enough for him to make the Playoffs for the fifth time in his career. Despite finishing no lower than 11th throughout the seven-race Playoff stretch, Jones’ title hopes evaporated following the Round of 8 as he claimed seventh place both during the finale and in the final standings. By then, he achieved a career-high 11 top-five results and tied his career-high results of top-10 runs in a season (19). He had also surpassed 200 career starts in the Xfinity circuit.

Making his fifth campaign as a Joe Gibbs Racing competitor for the 2022 Xfinity season, Jones commenced the season by recording a runner-up result at Phoenix in March and three top-10 finishes through seven starts. Then at Martinsville Speedway in April, Jones bumped and overtook teammate Ty Gibbs on the final lap to snap a one-year winless drought with his fifth career victory in the series. He finished in the top 10 six additional times in 18 events on the regular-season calendar before making his sixth career appearance in the Playoffs.

After transferring into the Round of 8 amid respective finishes of 27th, ninth and seventh throughout the Round of 12, the Georgian finished ninth and 15th, respectively, through the Round of 8’s first two events. Then during the Round of 8 finale at Martinsville in October, Jones, who made a bold three-wide pass on Ty Gibbs and Noah Gragson during an overtime shootout, was leading on the final lap when Gibbs bumped and sent his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate spinning and crashing into the Turn 1 outside wall, which plummeted him to 23rd place in the final running order and evaporated his final effort in making the Championship 4 round.

Concluding the season in 11th place during the finale at Phoenix, Jones ended up in seventh place in the final standings. By then, he led a career-high 240 laps and notched a career-high five poles to coincide with his Martinsville April victory, six top-five results, 13 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 13.4.

Jones was named the driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro entry for JR Motorsports In September 2022 for the 2023 season, replacing Gragson who moved up to the Cup Series. Commencing the season with a 14th-place finish at Daytona, Jones only recorded two top-five results and five top-10 results through the first 25 events on the schedule. Despite posting a season-best runner-up result during the regular-season finale at Kansas in September, he missed the Xfinity Playoffs for the first time since 2017. Jones would proceed to steer the No. 9 entry to three top-10 results throughout the final seven events on the schedule before ending up in 14th place in the final standings.

Remaining at JR Motorsports for a second full-time campaign in 2024, Jones recorded two poles, a runner-up result at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May and seven top-10 results through the season’s 26-race regular-season stretch. He missed the Playoffs but since then he has finished in the top 10 once in his previous four starts. Jones is currently in 14th place in the standings. He is also down to his final three races with JR Motorsports as he will be returning to Joe Gibbs Racing tp pilot a Toyota Supra for the 2025 Xfinity season.

Through 299 previous Xfinity starts Jones has achieved five victories, 12 poles, 40 top-five results, 119 top-10 results, 921 laps led and an average-finishing result of 15.7.

Brandon Jones will make his 300th Xfinity Series career start at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the Credit One NASCAR Amex Credit Card 300. The event is set for Saturday, October 26, and will air at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network.

October 23, 2024
NASCAR reveals penalty report following Xfinity-Cup features at Las Vegas

NASCAR released the penalty report following this past weekend’s Xfinity-Cup Series Playoff events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that occurred between October 19-20, 2024.

In the Cup Series, John Rosselli (front-tire changer) and Kellen Mills (jackman), both of whom work in the No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota Camry XSE team piloted by Erik Jones, have been issued a two-race suspension due to a right-front wheel that detached from Jones’ car towards Lap 70 of 267 during Sunday’s event. The incident occurred during the event’s first caution period that started on Lap 62, when the wheel detached from Jones’ entry on the track entering Turn 1 after the event’s first round of pit stops and after Jones had received the free pass to cycle back on the lead lap.

Following the incident in an event that was won by Playoff contender Joey Logano, Jones would finish in 25th place, a lap down, of the 37-car field.

With the suspensions, Rosselli and Mills will not be present for the upcoming Cup Series Playoff events at Homestead-Miami Speedway and at Martinsville Speedway, respectively.

In the Xfinity Series, three crew chiefs were each fined $5,000 apiece due to their respective entries having a single lug nut unsecured during the post-race inspection process following Saturday’s event.

The crew chiefs that were penalized include Kevin Johnson, crew chief for Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 38 RSS Racing Ford Mustang team; Jonathan Toney, crew chief for Playoff contender Cole Custer and the No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team; and Shane Whitbeck, crew chief for Jeb Burton and the No. 27 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet Camaro team.

During Saturday’s Xfinity Playoff event at Vegas that was won by Playoff contender AJ Allmendinger, Custer would finish the best of the trio in eighth place while DiBenedetto and Burton ended up 16th and 24th, respectively.

The NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series’ teams return to action alongside the Craftsman Truck Series’ teams this upcoming weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the second of three Round of 8 events for each of the three series. The Truck and Xfinity divisions host a doubleheader feature on Saturday, October 26, that will commence with the Trucks at noon ET on FS1 while the Xfinity division will follow suit at 3:30 p.m. on the CW Network. The Cup Series action at Homestead will occur the following day, October 27, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

October 22, 2024

What went down in the South Point 400 at Las Vegas

Two-time Cup Series champion Joey Logano won Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, punching his ticket into the series championship. This was Logano’s fourth NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) victory at Vegas, 35th career, and the driver of the No. 22 Pennzoil Ford Mustang is in Championship 4.

Logano finished eighth in Stage 1, remaining within the top five positions to finish fifth in Stage 2. Logano passed Daniel Suarez for the lead on lap 262 and held off a hard-charging Christopher Bell to score the victory.

“So proud of our race team all the way through. This group of guys they’re truly incredible. They’re good people, which is one of the things I’m most proud of, but they’re really smart. In the playoffs, they’re able to really be able to keep a level head and maximize the races no matter what’s dealt with them.” Logano said.

Bell’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the dominant car of the day, but Logano held him off by 0.662 seconds in the final few laps.

“Today, we had a solid car. We were not as good as the No. 20 team, but we were a top-five car. In the long run, we were probably the best car. When there’s an opportunity like that at the end of the race, where there’s a long run, you’re able to make good mileage, that’s one of our strengths that we have with the Ford, so there’s an opportunity there to run it long.” Logano added.

The NASCAR Cup Series standings and statistics after the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Points	Behind	Starts	Wins	Top-5	Top-10	DNFs	Lap Led	Stage Wins
1	20	Christopher Bell	Toyota	4086 (242)	0	33	3	13	21	6	999	11
2	5	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	4079 (296)	-7	32	6	13	16	5	1615	12
3	24	William Byron	Chevrolet	4071 (230)	-15	33	3	12	18	4	287	2
4	22	Joey Logano	Ford	4061 (177)	-25	33	3	6	11	6	307	2
5	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	4044 (263)	-42	33	3	10	16	4	922	6
6	45	Tyler Reddick	Toyota	4041 (216)	-45	33	2	11	19	3	500	5
7	12	Ryan Blaney	Ford	4024 (247)	-62	33	2	9	15	7	476	4
8	9	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	4018 (209)	-68	33	1	9	16	2	214	1

Race Notes

Joey Logano won Sunday's South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway — Logano celebrates the South Point 400 win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway by Ron Olds

13 lead changes among ten drivers in the South Point 400 at Las Vegas.
Five caution flags for 32 laps.
The average speed of the race winner was 139.385 mph.
The South Point 400 at Las Vegas race lasted 2 Hrs, 52 Mins, and 24 Secs.
The margin of victory was 0.662 Seconds.
Christopher Bell led four times for 155 laps, the most laps led in the race.
Tyler Reddick won stage 1.
Bell won stage 2.

What went down behind Logano in the South Point 400 at Las Vegas

Polesitter Bell won the pole, led 155 of 267 laps, and finished second in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE. With this second-place finish, Bell leads the overall NCS standings.

Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, and Chase Elliott are below the top-four cutline with two races remaining before the final take-all Championship 4 Nov. 10 at Phoenix Raceway.

Virginia native Hamlin moved up to fifth and is now 27 points out.

“Not a clean day. That certainly sums it up. You’ll have that. We did the best we could to get the best finish.” Hamlin said.

Reddick led nine laps and won the first stage before being involved in an early stage two incident. Reddick is sixth, 30 points below the cutline.

“You just have to be aggressive on restarts. It’s how the Next Gen racing has been from the beginning. I kind of saw them both have a moment, and I just had to split second to make a decision. You have to be aggressive on the restart. It is hard to pass after a while. Being myself on a mile and a half, being aggressive – by the time I realized I was in trouble, the 19 (Martin Truex Jr.) started sliding, and the 9 (Chase Elliott) was coming up, and I was pretty much already on their outside at that point, with nowhere to really go. I needed to make the decision earlier when I saw them sliding to be more conservative to avoid an incident – just not who I am, but it is unfortunate. It took us out of the race.” Reddick said.

Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet team finished 33rd after a stage two accident with Reddick.

“The No. 45 was coming with a really big run on the top. I don’t think Martin knew that, and he was kind of running as if we were two-wide. Once I recognized that there wasn’t going to be enough room, I bailed, and there was just nowhere to bail.. it was too late. I need to sit down and take a look at it. I was, personally, just trying to get out of the situation, and it was just a little too late at that point.” Eliott said. “It sucks. Our No. 9 NAPA Chevy was really, really good there at the start. It was the best we’ve been out here in this new car, so it was just a bad day for that.”

Blaney finished 32nd.

“We’re still alive. It’s definitely not the best of days. It was just a rough weekend overall. I don’t know what to do about it, to be honest with you, running over something and having a hole in it in practice. And then just getting clipped by the 6 there. I thought I could get around him and didn’t know if he’d come up the racetrack, and then by the time he was kind of on the track it was too late. I got clipped and bent everything all to hell, so it was just a rough weekend. We still have two more weeks, so we’re definitely not out of it.” Blaney said.

What’s Next

The NASCAR Cup Series will head to Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, October 27, for the Round of 8 at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

October 22, 2024

William Sawalich Joins Joe Gibbs Racing for 2025 Xfinity Series

William Sawalich will be a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series competitor for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) in 2025.

Sawalich will pilot the No. 18 Toyota Supra at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2025. The 18-year-old racer from Eden Prairie, Minnesota will have sponsorship support from Starkey and SoundGear.

The news comes a month after Sawalich achieved his second consecutive ARCA Menards Series East championship. He won three of the series eight-scheduled events, including the season-finale event at Bristol Motor Speedway. His win at Bristol enabled him to lock up the title by 12 points over Connor Zilisch. Sawalich will also make his Xfinity Series debut this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, driving JGR’s No. 19 “all-star” Toyota entry.

”I am honored to be driving the No. 18 full-time in the Xfinity Series next year,” Sawalich said. ”It has been really cool to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing, and I feel like I have developed so much as a driver over the past two years. I still have a lot to learn, especially with moving to a new series, so I am looking forward to taking this next step in racing.”

Sawalich grew up competing in midget cars before transcending from legends cars to late models and the CARS Tour. He is the 2023 All-American 400 winner and won the 2022 SCCA Trans-Am TA2 ProAm Series championship and rookie titles.

In 2023, Sawalich joined Joe Gibbs Racing on a full-time basis in the ARCA Menards Series East. He will also compete in select events between the ARCA Menards Series and ARCA West division. After winning the season-opening event at Five Flags Speedway, he won half of the season’s eight scheduled events. He wrapped up his first ARCA East title by 58 points over Luke Fenhaus. Sawalich has 13 victories in the ARCA Menards Series between two part-time seasons in 2023 and 2024. Sawalich recorded three victories in the ARCA West division to coincide with his seven victories in the ARCA East division.

In 2023 Sawalich made his debut in the Craftsman Truck Series at Martinsville Speedway in the No. 1 Toyota TRICON Garage. Sawalich started 22nd and finished an impressive ninth place during his debut. He recorded an additional two top-10 results, including a career-best sixth-place result at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in August, during his next five starts of the season. Returning for a 10-race Truck schedule in 2024. Sawalich made seven starts in the 2024 season. His best result was 11th place at Bristol in September. During his most recent series start at Talladega Superspeedway, he notched his first career pole. Sawalich will also compete in the final three Truck events of the 2024 season with TRICON, beginning this upcoming Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Following his Xfinity debut at Homestead, Sawalich will drive JGR’s No. 19 Toyota entry for two events at Martinsville Speedway and Phoenix Raceway. He will become the 10th competitor overall to drive the No. 19 JGR and record three top-five results and six top-10 results through 30 scheduled starts this season.

Sawalich will contend for both the series rookie and the driver’s title during the 2025 season. He will compete alongside Joe Gibbs Racing’s two other full-time competitors which include Taylor Gray and Brandon Jones. JGR announced Gray as a full-time Xfinity competitor five days ago. Brandon Jones will return to JGR following a two-year absence.

“We are thrilled to announce William’s promotion to the next stage of his racing career with us, Steve de Souza, Executive Vice President of Xfinity Series and Development at JGR, said. “His outstanding record of victories and development over the past two years shows he’s ready for the Xfinity Series. We’re confident he’ll remain a strong contender for wins as he takes on this new challenge in 2025.”

Additional partners and the crew chief for Sawalich’s No. 18 team in 2025 will be announced at a later date.

Sawalich will make his 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series debut Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the Credit One NASCAR Amex Credit 300.

October 21, 2024
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Las Vegas

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Joey Logano: Logano used astute fuel strategy to lead the final six laps and win the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, punching his ticket to the championship round.

“I’m just lucky to still be in the Playoffs,” Logano said. “I am in, thanks to Alex Bowman, who was disqualified after the ROVAL race. Reportedly, Alex threw his phone into a swimming pool after learning the news. Reportedly, William Byron said the phone hit Jerry Falwell, Jr.’s pool boy.”

2. William Byron: Byron finished fourth at Las Vegas.

“Sunday’s race went head to head with the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas,” Byron said. “But let’s face it, you can see things in NASCAR that you’d never see in F1, like toilet paper advertised on a car.”

3. Christopher Bell: Bell started on the pole at Las Vegas and led the most laps, but finished second to Joey Logano.

“I’ve started on pole in 13 races in my career,” Bell said, “and I have yet to win one of those races. I guess I take the saying ‘It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish’ a little too literally.”

4. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished fifth in the South Point 400.

“First there were 16,” Bowman said. “Then there were 12. Then there were 8. I was a part of each of those groups until I had my membership revoked from the last one.”

5. Kyle Larson: Larson finished 11th in the South Point 400.

“Congratulations to Joey Logano,” Larson said. “The No. 22 team and crew chief Paul Wolfe made the perfect calls all day. With this being Las Vegas, I guess you would call Wolfe the ‘Pit Boss.’”

6. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished eight at Las Vegas.

“My car featured the ‘Yahoo’ paint scheme,” Hamlin said. “Obviously, that meant my No. 11 Toyota was powered by a ‘search engine.’”

7. Ryan Blaney: Blaney’s tough weekend at Las Vegas started with a crash in Saturday’s practice, and ended with a 32nd place finish.

“Things were going okay until I was caught in the accident that saw Tyler Reddick flip once,” Blaney said. “However, I refuse to ‘roll over’ and die.”

8. Ross Chastain: Chastain started seventh and finished seventh at Las Vegas, posting his 13th top 10 of the season.

“I really wanted to win in Vegas,” Chastain said. “Who wouldn’t want to smash a watermelon in Vegas? I guess the better question is ‘Who would want to smash a watermelon in Vegas?’”

9. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex finished sixth in the South Point 400, posting his 11th top-10 result of the season.

“I think I’ve left my mark in this sport,” Truex said. “I think Tyler Reddick has as well after his day at Darlington when he left a skid mark.”

10. Chase Elliott: Elliott was caught up in a multi-car accident on Lap 89 that resulted in Tyler Reddick’s No. 45 Toyota rolling over. Elliott was able to continue, but his suspension was compromised and he finished 33rd.

“I’m in last place in the standings,” Elliott said. “I’m not worried at all. I’ve been in worse places. Heck, I was born in Dawsonville, Georgia.”

October 21, 2024
NASCAR Playoff Drivers Notes and Quotes – Las Vegas

The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway did not disappoint and proved the adage true; it’s not over till it’s over. Or, in a NASCAR race, it’s not over until the checkered flag flies.

Joey Logano only led six laps of the South Point 400 Sunday afternoon, but they were the ones that mattered. It was his third regular-season win this year, his 35th Cup Series victory and it was also Team Penske’s 99th series win with Ford.

It was particularly meaningful as Logano only became eligible for the Round of 8 after the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, driven by Alex Bowman, was disqualified in the Round of 12 elimination race when his car did not meet minimum weight post-race. Logano advanced to the Playoffs as a result of the disqualification. He was previously 4 points short of transferring to the Round of 8.

The Playoff Driver Quotes from Vegas

Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford – Winner

After the race, an ecstatic Logano, said, “Oh my gosh. It’s an incredible turn of events coming from what was at the end of last weekend and what it was like Sunday night after a couple hours after the race and to this Sunday. This sport is just incredible.

“Things change, but what a team I’ve got. I stood out there at the start-finish line and it takes a total effort. Obviously, the car had to be pretty good. It was solid, but when you think about what it takes to win a fuel mileage race, you’ve got to have a good engine. You’ve got to have good engineers calculating stuff. You’ve got to have good communication communicating what they see and being able to make sure that I only gave up the right amount of spots on the racetrack and trying to get to the 99 in front and keep the 20 behind. Coleman, Paul, Joe, Nick Hensley, our gas man making sure it’s full. It takes everybody to do it, so we’re in the Championship 4 again.

“I’m so proud of this team. We just find a way and that’s what I’m most proud of. I said it as we entered this thing this week that we may be the underdogs, but I don’t think so anymore.”

Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota – Finished second

Christopher Bell won the pole starting position and led 155 of 267 laps but came up short, finishing second.

Bell was almost at a loss for words, saying, “I don’t know. I don’t know, and I don’t think I’ve come to terms with it yet. Just a bummer. Everyone on this team did everything perfect today. This thing was obviously on rails, the pit crew did an amazing job, Adam (Stevens, crew chief) called an amazing race. We did everything we needed to put the Rheem Camry into victory lane, and unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be today.”

Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet – Finished 11^th

Larson described the race as “a messy, messy day. None of the first races in the rounds have been clean, at all, for us. But this was a long, hard-fought 11th-place finish. We just had a lot of unfortunate things happen with the debris that got stuck on our nose. He added, that the team was “able to overcome that and I thought we were going to be fine. We had a strong finish in the second stage, and then we had the issues on the pit stop and just had to fight from there.

“We got the most we could out of the rest of the day. I’m proud of this No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevy team for the rebound and having a clean rest of the race.”

William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet – Finished: 4th

Byron was disappointed he wasn’t able to capture the win but was pleased with how he and the team progressed throughout the race.

“Yeah, we really improved a lot as the day progressed. That was a lot to be said about this No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevy team, and our ability to get the balance close and get the speed once we had the balance close. We just started the race a little bit off, but I’m really, really happy with how we came on. I thought we were going to have a shot to compete for a win there in the final stage, but it turned into a fuel mileage race.

“Just sucks. It’s going to take a win, I feel like, so we have to keep working for it and keep running up front. If we run up front, it will do two things – we’ll be able to compete for a win and score a lot of points. We just have to keep running like this.”

Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota – Finished 8th

Hamlin was frustrated with the finish but determined to make adjustments moving forward.

“Not a clean day,” he said. “That certainly sums it up. You’ll have that. We did the best we could to get the best finish. I thought Chris (Gabehart, crew chief) did a great job to get some sort of finish. Once we lost the track position early, he was doing the best he could to try to get it back through strategy, and then it goes long there, and we fall to the back. Just part of it.”

“I don’t know where we are at, but certainly, we are not running quite as strong as we were earlier in the year, and we are definitely not as clean, execution-wise, as we were. We will just have to clean it up and go to Homestead and try to win it.”

Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota – Finished 35^th

Reddick had a strong start, led nine laps and won the first stage but he was caught up in an accident with Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott during Stage 2 of the race.

“You just have to be aggressive on restarts,” he explained. “It’s how the Next Gen racing has been from the beginning. I kind of saw them both have a moment, and I just had to split-second make a decision. You have to be aggressive on the restart. It is hard to pass after a while. Being myself on a mile and a half, being aggressive – by the time I realized I was in trouble, the 19 (Martin Truex Jr.) started sliding and the 9 (Chase Elliott) was coming up and I was pretty much already on their outside at that point, with nowhere to really go.

“I needed to make the decision earlier when I saw them sliding to be more conservative to avoid an incident – just not who I am, but it is unfortunate. It took us out of the race. We had a really, really fast Jordan Brand Toyota Camry, probably would have been in the mix all race long, but we will go to Homestead – a place where I have had to get it done before and go for it there.”

Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford – Finished 32^nd

Blaney’s weekend went from bad to worse. He had a flat tire during Saturday’s practice session, hit the wall and he had to go to a backup car. He started Sunday’s race at the rear of the field. Furthermore, things didn’t improve as he got caught up in an accident along with Reddick and Chase Elliott, finishing 32nd.

“We’re still alive,” Blaney said. “It’s definitely not the best of days. It was just a rough weekend overall. I don’t know what to do about it, to be honest with you, running over something and having a hole in it in practice. And then just getting clipped by the 6 there. I thought I could get around him and didn’t know if he’d come up the racetrack and then by the time he was kind of on the track it was too late. I got clipped and bent everything all to hell, so it was just a rough weekend. We still have two more weeks, so we’re definitely not out of it.”

Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet – Finished: 33rd

Elliott was caught up in the wreck with Reddick and Blaney and is in last place (-53 points) in the Round of 8. He will need a win to advance to the Round of 4 and compete for the championship.”

“The No. 45 (Tyler Reddick) was coming with a really big run on the top. I don’t think Martin (Truex Jr.) knew that, and he was kind of running as if we were two-wide. Once I recognized that there wasn’t going to be enough room, I bailed and there was just nowhere to bail, it was too late. I need to sit down and take a look at it. I was, personally, just trying to get out of the situation and it was just a little too late at that point.

“It sucks,” Elliott said. “Our No. 9 NAPA Chevy was really, really good there at the start. It was the best we’ve been out here in this new car, so it was just a bad day for that.”

Up Next

Next weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series travels to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the final race in the Round of 8.

October 20, 2024
Joey Logano clinches Championship 4 berth with strategic Cup victory at Las Vegas

A week after being drawn back into the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff field, Joey Logano became the first Playoff competitor to clinch a Championship 4 berth after utilizing a late strategic pit call to win the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, October 20.

The two-time Cup Series champion from Middletown, Connecticut, led the final six of 267-scheduled laps in an event where he started in 10th place and took advantage of multiple Playoff contenders encountering obstacles both on the track and on pit road to draw himself above the top-four cutline to make the Championship 4 round by recording nine stage points during the event’s two stage periods.

Then, after keeping his car intact and running a consistent event for the majority of the day, Logano, who last pitted during a late-caution period with 74 laps remaining along with the lead lap field, cycled from 11th to second as he remained on the track and on his current fuel load during a late cycle of green flag pit stops that ensued with approximately 40 laps remaining.

With teammate Ryan Blaney, who was multiple laps down, providing on-track assistance to Logano as the latter was both maintaining pace and stretching his fuel tank to the distance, Logano would track down and overtake Daniel Suarez for the lead with five laps remaining. He then managed to maintain a reasonable gap from Playoff contender Christopher Bell, who dominated the race, to snatch the Cup victory at Vegas in dramatic style and race his way into the Championship 4 round.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, October 19, Playoff contender Christopher Bell notched his third Cup Series pole position of the 2024 season after he posted a pole-winning lap at 185.344 mph in 29.135 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Tyler Reddick, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 185.261 mph in 29.148 seconds.

Prior to the event, Playoff contender Ryan Blaney dropped to the rear of the field in a backup car after he wrecked his primary car due to a cut left-rear tire during Saturday’s practice session.

When the green flag waved and the race started, Christopher Bell gained the early advantage as he muscled his No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE ahead of Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman from the inside lane. Bell would proceed to lead the field for a single cycle around the Vegas circuit and he would return to the frontstretch to lead the first lap.

Over the next four laps, Bell would stretch his advantage to as high as four-tenths of a second over Reddick while Bowman, Ross Chastain and Playoff contender Denny Hamlin followed suit in the top five. Behind, Playoff contender Kyle Larson occupied sixth place ahead of Ty Gibbs, Martin Truex Jr., and a trio of Playoff contenders that include Joey Logano, William Byron, and Chase Elliott, while Austin Cindric, rookie Carson Hocevar, Brad Keselowski, and rookie Zane Smith were in the top 15.

Through the first 10-schedueld laps, Bell extended his advantage to a second over Reddick while Bowman, Chastain, Hamlin, Larson, Ty Gibbs, Logano, Truex and Byron were racing in the top 10. With six of the remaining eight Playoff contenders scored in the top 10, Elliott retained 11th place while Ryan Blaney was up to 26th place after starting at the rear of the field.

Fifteen laps later, Bell added another advantage to his early lead as he was leading by more than two seconds over Reddick while third-place Bowman trailed by more than four seconds. Behind, Playoff contenders Larson, Hamlin and Logano were racing from fourth to sixth, respectively, while Chastain, Elliott, Byron and Austin Cindric were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Blaney gained five spots as he was up in 21st place behind Michael McDowell.

Another eight laps later, the event’s first cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Larson led a multitude of contenders, including Playoff contenders Logano, Hamlin, Elliott and Byron, to pit road for service. By then, Brad Keselowski, Chase Briscoe and Michael McDowell had pitted. With more names pitting over the next two laps, the leader Bell pitted under green on Lap 35 along with Reddick as Blaney cycled into the lead. Blaney, who had carved his way up into the top-20 mark before the pit stops, would pit his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse from the lead on Lap 40, which allowed Bell to cycle back into the lead as he was ahead of Reddick, Bowman, Larson, Logano and Elliott. By the time Blaney returned to the track following his pit stop, he was battling Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for 22nd place.

At the Lap 50 mark, Bell retained the lead by more than two seconds over Reddick while third-place Bowman followed trailed in his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 by seven seconds. Playoff contenders Larson, Elliott and Logano followed suit from fourth to sixth, respectively, as Cindric, Keselowski, Chastain and Truex were in the top 10 ahead of Byron, Gibbs, Hamlin, Chris Buescher and Daniel Suarez. By then, Blaney was up to 21st place behind Bubba Wallace while Kyle Busch, Justin Haley, Noah Gragson and McDowell were mired in the top 20.

Twelve laps later, the event’s first caution flew when Austin Dillon, who was racing outside the top 25, was sent head-on into the outside wall in Turn 3 after he received a bump from Daniel Hemric entering the turn. The incident left Dillon with a damaged No. 3 Boot Barn Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and heated with Hemric.

During the caution period, Bell led the lead lap field back to pit road for service. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Truex exited pit road first with two fresh tires while Byron, Keselowski, Buescher, Reddick, Hamlin, Bell, Larson, Bowman and Kyle Busch followed suit. Amid the pit stops, Erik Jones, who had received the free pass, had a right-front wheel come off of his No. 43 Massey Motor Freight Toyota Camry XSE on the track in Turn 1, though he was able to limp back to pit road for a new right-front tire.

The start of the ensuing restart period on Lap 71 featured the field fanning out entering the first two turns as Truex maintained the lead ahead of Keselowski and Byron. With the field still fanning out to multiple lanes through the backstretch and for the following turns, Truex led the following lap while Byron was up to second place ahead of Keselowski, Reddick and Bell. As Playoff contenders Elliott, Hamlin and Blaney were mired outside the top 10, Reddick, who pitted for four fresh tires during the previous caution period, would assume the lead from Truex on Lap 74.

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 80, Reddick, who muscled his way into the Playoff’s Round of 8 after overcoming a series of on-track issues during last weekend’s event at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, notched his fifth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Bell followed suit in second ahead of Truex, Byron and Keselowski while Ty Gibbs, Buescher, Logano, Cindric and Larson were scored in the top 10. With five of eight Playoff contenders racking up the event’s first round of Playoff points by finishing in the top 10, the remaining Playoff contenders including Hamlin, Elliott and Blaney settled in 11th, 12th and 17th, respectively.

Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Reddick returned to pit road for service while Hamlin remained on the track as he inherited the lead. Following the pit stops amid more mixed strategies, Ty Gibbs exited pit road first with two fresh tires. Amid the pit stops, Shane van Gisbergen was penalized for driving through too many pit boxes. Soon after, Bubba Wallace made another trip to pit road to have a possible loose wheel addressed. Larson would also pit to have debris removed from the front grille of his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, which sent him to the rear of the field.

The second stage period started on Lap 87 as teammates Hamlin and Ty Gibbs occupied the front row. At the start, both dueled for the lead through the first two turns as Gibbs used the outside lane and two fresh tires to assume the lead. With Hamlin pinned in a three-wide battle with Logano and Elliott for the runner-up spot through the frontstretch, Gibbs led the following lap as the field fanned out and jostled for spots.

The caution would then return on Lap 89 when Truex, who was in fourth place, went up the track and made slight contact with Elliott entering the frontstretch resulting in Elliott sliding up and making contact with Reddick, who tried to shoot through a gap, against the outside wall as both collected Keselowski when coming back across the track. As Elliott, Keselowski and Reddick all slid through the frontstretch’s grass, Reddick’s No. 45 Jordan Toyota Camry XSE bounced off the grass to the pavement as the car rolled over once before landing back hard on all four wheels. Despite flipping over once, Reddick was able to limp his damaged car back to his pit lane, but the damage to the car’s suspension was enough to knock Reddick out of contention.

“By the time I realized I was in trouble, it was just too late,” Reddick said after being released from the infield care center. “[Truex] started sliding, [Elliott] was coming up and I was pretty much already on their outside. There’s just, at that point, nowhere to really go. I needed to make the decision earlier when I saw them slide and just be a little more conservative. That would have avoided the incident. It’s unfortunate. It took us out of the race.”

During the caution period, Blaney, who hit the outside wall while trying to avoid Keselowski’s sliding car but managed to steer clear of the incident, spun while trying to enter pit road as his No. 12 pit crew proceeded to address a broken right-rear toe link as a result of the wall contact. With Blaney making multiple trips to pit road for repairs, he dropped out of the lead lap category. Blaney’s teammate Austin Cindric would eventually be eliminated from the race as he hit the wall and spun while trying to avoid Keselowski, who was eliminated from further contention.

As the event restarted under green on Lap 96, Gibbs and Logano dueled for the lead in front of two stacked lanes through the first two turns. With the field fanning out to three lanes through the backstretch, Gibbs managed to muscle ahead and lead the following lap while Bell overtook Logano and carved his way up to second place. Behind, Bowman would battle Truex and Chastain for fourth place in front of Byron and Buescher as Bell closed in on teammate Gibbs for the lead.

Just past the Lap 100 mark, Gibbs retained the lead over teammate Bell by four-tenths of a second while third-place Logano followed suit by within a second. Gibbs would manage to slightly stretch his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Bell by Lap 105 before the advantage shrunk to one-tenth of a second at the Lap 110 mark. By then, Elliott, who was able to maintain minimum speed to continue following his multi-car wreck, took his damaged No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to the garage for additional repairs.

On Lap 111, Bell overtook teammate Gibbs to reassume the lead entering Turns 3 and 4. With Bell leading, Logano retained third place ahead of Truex and Chastain while Byron, Buescher, Larson, Kyle Busch and Bowman were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Hamlin had fallen to 26th place.

Five laps later, Hamlin, who was racing within the top-30 mark, would pit his No. 11 Yahoo! Toyota Camry XSE for four fresh tires and an adjustment under green as he lost a lap in the process. Bowman would then pit under green on Lap 119 before Kyle Busch pitted during the following lap. Logano, Truex, Buescher and Stenhouse would all pit on Lap 121 before Gibbs, Chastain, Byron, Justin Haley, Hocevar, Harrison Burton, Noah Gragson, Jimmie Johnson and rookie Josh Berry pitted during the next lap. During the pit stops, both Chastain and Gibbs were penalized for speeding on pit road.

As more names including Bubba Wallace, Daniel Hemric, John Hunter Nemechek and rookie Zane Smith pitted by Lap 124, the leader Bell would also pit before Larson pitted during the following lap. During the pit stops, Larson endured a slow pit service due to the jackman dropping the right side of the car too early when the right-rear tire was not completely installed slowing the servicing process of the left-side tires. Larson would then pit for a second time to have a left-rear tire changed, which left him two laps behind the lead.

Back on the track, Suarez, who was among many who have yet to pit, was leading ahead of McDowell, Corey LaJoie, Chase Briscoe, van Gisbergen, Cody Ware and Todd Gilliland while Bell, the first competitor who pitted, was mired in eighth place. Suarez would proceed to lead the event’s halfway mark between Laps 133 and 134 while Bell trailed the lead by 15 seconds in seventh place. Meanwhile, the next two highest-running Playoff contenders on the track were Byron and Logano in 10th and 12th, respectively, while Hamlin, Larson and Blaney were strapped in 25th, 31st and 32nd, respectively. In addition, Elliott returned to the track following his repairs and despite being 27 laps off of the lead lap category.

By Lap 145, Suarez continued to lead in his No. 99 Tootsies Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 by four seconds over Bell while Truex followed suit in third place by five seconds. Meanwhile, Byron, who struggled with the handling of his No. 24 RAPTOR Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 earlier in the event, was up to fourth place ahead of Cody Ware while Logano was scored in eighth place. Meanwhile, Hamlin, who un-lapped himself, was in 23rd place while Larson was still pinned two laps behind in 31st place.

Six laps later, Bell overtook Suarez through the frontstretch to reassume the lead. Teammate Truex, who overtook Bell on the track earlier before being overtaken, would follow suit in second place as Suarez, Byron and Buescher followed suit in the top five.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 165, Bell, who managed to lap 23rd-place Berry but was unable to lap 22nd-place Chastain, notched his 11th Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate Truex followed suit in second place by four-tenths of a second while Byron, Buescher, Logano, Bowman, Haley, Suarez, Wallace and Ryan Preece were scored in the top 10. With three of the remaining seven Playoff contenders on the track racking up the event’s second round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders that include Hamlin, Larson, Blaney and Elliott were mired in 19th, 30th, 32nd and 33rd, respectively. By then, Larson was the eighth competitor in line scored a lap down, Blaney was scored six laps down and Elliott was off the lead lap category by 26 points.

During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Bell pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Bell retained the lead after he exited pit road first ahead of Truex, Byron, Buescher, Logano, Haley, Bowman, Wallace, Kyle Busch and Zane Smith. Amid the pit stops, Hamlin endured a slow pit service to tighten a left-rear tire on his No. 11 Toyota.

With 95 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as teammates Bell and Truex occupied the front row. At the start, both dueled for the lead in front of the field for nearly a lap before Bell muscled ahead and led the following lap. As the field continued to fan out to multiple laps over the proceeding laps, Larson was battling Ty Gibbs for 24th place and to be the first competitor scored a lap down. With Hamlin dealing with a potential vibration issue in 20th place, teammate Bell led by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Truex with 90 laps remaining.

With 80 laps remaining, Bell was leading by more than a second over teammate Truex while Buescher, Byron and Wallace were scored in the top five ahead of Bowman, Haley, Logano, Preece and Chastain. Meanwhile, Hamlin was in 17th place while Larson was overtaken by Ty Gibbs for 24th place and to be the first competitor scored a lap down. Larson would proceed to overtake Gibbs for the spot a lap later while Hamlin, who was on the lead lap, started to close in on both.

Five laps later, the caution flew due to Ty Gibbs slipping sideways and spinning his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE from the top to the bottom of the backstretch. The incident served as a big break for Larson, who received the free pass after being scored the first competitor a lap down in 24th place and was intensely battling Gibbs for the spot over the last several laps. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Bell pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Bell retained the lead after he exited pit road first ahead of teammate Truex, Byron, Bowman and Buescher.

As the event restarted under green with 69 laps remaining, Bell received a small bump from Byron to muscle ahead from the inside lane and away from teammate Truex through the first two turns. As Byron battled Truex for the runner-up spot through the backstretch, Haley battled Bowman and Buescher for fourth place while Bell led the next lap. Byron would then slide up in front of Truex to claim the runner-up spot while Buescher and Haley battled fiercely for fifth place in front of Chastain and Kyle Busch. With Hamlin and Larson, both scored on the lead lap, trying to muscle their way up the leaderboard from within the top-20 mark, Bell led by three-tenths of a second over Byron with 65 laps remaining.

Down to the final 60 laps of the event, Bell stabilized his advantage to nearly three-tenths of a second over Byron while third-place Truex trailed by more than a second. Meanwhile, Logano was mired in 11th place behind Wallace and Larson was up to 16th place while Hamlin was mired in 18th place.

Ten laps later, Bell continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Byron as Bowman occupied third place and trailed the lead by two seconds. Behind, Hamlin moved up to 15th place in front of Larson while Logano remained in 11th place as Truex and Buescher rounded out the top five on the track.

Another nine laps later, pit stops under green slowly commenced as Buescher pitted from the top five. Shortly after, more names including Truex, Larson, Blaney and Bowman pitted over the next two laps before Bell pitted from the lead with 38 laps remaining. Byron pitted during the next lap but was unable to blend back on the track in front of Bell. As the pit stops ensued, Suarez, who has yet to pit, cycled into the lead. Suarez would proceed to lead by two seconds over Logano with 30 laps remaining while Hamlin was up to third place and trailing the lead by four seconds. Meanwhile, Bell was mired in ninth place and racing two spots ahead of Byron while Larson was in 15th place.

Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Suarez continued to lead by two seconds over runner-up Logano and by nearly six seconds over third-place Hamlin while Bell trailed the lead by 15 seconds in sixth place. Behind, Byron trailed by 16 seconds in eighth place while Larson trailed by 26 seconds in 15th place.

With 10 laps remaining, Suarez stabilized his lead to more than a second over Logano and to six seconds over Hamlin while Bell, who continued to gain more ground and overtook John Hunter Nemechek for position, was up to fourth place and trailing the lead by less than seven seconds. Bell would proceed to overtake teammate Hamlin for third place and he trailed the lead by six seconds during the following lap while Logano, who received a draft from teammate Blaney through the straightaways for momentum amid his low fuel tank, was only trailing the leader Suarez by eight-tenths of a second.

Five laps later, Logano overtook Suarez for the lead through the frontstretch. By then, Bell trailed in third place by three seconds and continued to chip away at Logano’s advantage despite the laps dwindling.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Logano remained in the lead by eight-tenths of a second over Suarez while Bell followed suit. Bell would overtake Suarez for the runner-up spot entering the first two turns and he would trim Logano’s lead to as close to half a second through the backstretch. With Bell’s late charge not enough to get close to Logano’s rear bumper, Logano, who continued to have teammate Blaney following right behind him, was able to cycle his way through the final set of turns and return to the frontstretch victorious as he streaked his No. 22 Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse across the finish line for the checkered flag by six-tenths of a second over Bell.

With the victory, Logano notched his 35th career win in the Cup Series, which places him in sole possession in 25th place on the all-time series wins list. He also recorded his third Cup victory of the 2024 season, his first since winning this year’s Playoff opener at Atlanta Motor Speedway in early September and his fourth at Las Vegas. The victory was also the 10th of the season for the Ford nameplate and the sixth for Team Penske, and Logano clinches the Championship 4 berth.

Above all, Logano became the first of the remaining eight Playoff contenders to clinch a spot into this year’s Championship 4 field, where he will contend for his third Cup Series championship in the season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway three weeks from now. Ironically, the 2024 season marks the fourth season where Logano has won the Playoff’s Round of 8 opener, with his previous three victories all occurring in even years (2018, 2020 & 2022). This season also marks the sixth time where Logano has made the Championship 4 round, all of which have also occurred in even years (including the 2014 & 2016 seasons).

“What [an] incredible turn of events here the last week,” Logano, who led the final six laps, said on NBC. “What a very fast Pennzoil Mustang. We’re going to the Championship 4 again! I don’t know what the deal’s [winning here at Vegas] with the even-year thing, but maybe it’s real. Thanks to the fans out here. Thanks to Roush Yates Engines for making great fuel mileage. Great calls by [crew chief] Paul [Wolfe], Nick Hensley, our gas man, making sure [the car]’s full, giving me the good info I need to save fuel and keep the lead that we needed to. Boy, we’re going racing again. What an incredible situation. I’m blessed.”

“Everybody does a good job at just feeding the info that I needed,” Logano added. “You got to go the right pace to make sure you get in front of [Suarez], but get to where [Bell] was going to catch me. Just an incredible day. It takes the whole team to do the fuel mileage stuff. It’s not just the engine or the engineers or the driver, spotter. It takes all of us together to do it. Total team win. We may not have been the fastest car today, but we were [a] solid top-five car and being able to maximize it at the end.”

As Logano celebrated both on the frontstretch and in Victory Lane, Bell, who led a race-high 155 laps and won the second stage period, was left dejected on pit road as he came up one spot short of winning the Playoff’s Round of 8 opener at Vegas for a second consecutive season. Amid the disappointment, Bell is scored in second place in the Playoff standings and is 42 points above the top-four cutline with two Round of 8 events remaining on the schedule.

“I don’t think I’ve come to terms yet [on the result],” Bell said. “I don’t know. It’s just a bummer. I think everyone on this No. 20 team did everything perfect today. This [car] was obviously on rails. Pit crew did an amazing job. [Crew chief] Adam [Stevens] called a great race. [We] Did everything we needed to put this Rheem Camry in Victory Lane and unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be today…I think the points look pretty good, which is a positive, but you’re never safe in this [Playoff] deal. We needed to win today and unfortunately, we didn’t. We’ll go on to the next [race].”

Daniel Suarez, who led 57 laps, had enough fuel to record a strong third-place effort while Playoff contender William Byron and Alex Bowman finished in the top five. Martin Truex Jr., Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin, John Hunter Nemechek and Chris Buescher complete the top 10 in the final running order.

With half of eight Playoff contenders finishing in the top 10, the remaining Playoff contenders include Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and Tyler Reddick ended up 11th, 32nd, 33rd and 35th, respectively. As a result, Larson and Byron leave Vegas above the top-four cutline in the Playoff standings along with Logano and Bell, while Hamlin, Reddick, Blaney, and Elliott trail below the cutline.

There were 13 lead changes for ten different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 32 laps. In addition, 21 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.

Results.

1. Joey Logano, six laps led

2. Christopher Bell, 155 laps led, Stage 2 winner

3. Daniel Suarez, 57 laps led

4. William Byron, one lap led

5. Alex Bowman

6. Martin Truex Jr., seven laps led

7. Ross Chastain

8. Denny Hamlin, four laps led

9. John Hunter Nemechek

10. Chris Buescher

11. Kyle Larson, one lap led

12. Bubba Wallace

13. Kyle Busch

14. Corey LaJoie

15. Harrison Burton

16. Zane Smith

17. Justin Haley

18. Noah Gragson

19. Daniel Hemric

20. Michael McDowell

21. Cody Ware

22. Ryan Preece, one lap down

23. Carson Hocevar, one lap down

24. Josh Berry, one lap down

25. Erik Jones, one lap down

26. Chase Briscoe, one lap down

27. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap down

28. Jimmie Johnson, two laps down

29. Shane van Gisbergen, two laps down

30. Ty Gibbs, three laps down, 23 laps led

31. Todd Gilliland, four laps down

32. Ryan Blaney, eight laps down, four laps led

33. Chase Elliott – OUT, Suspension

34. Austin Cindric – OUT, DVP

35. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Accident, nine laps led, Stage 1 winner

36. Brad Keselowski – OUT, Accident

37. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident

*Bold indicates Playoff contenders

Playoff standings

1. Joey Logano – Advanced

2. Christopher Bell +42

3. Kyle Larson +35

4. William Byron +27

5. Denny Hamlin -27

6. Tyler Reddick -30

7. Ryan Blaney -47

8. Chase Elliott -53

The second Round of 8 event in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is set to occur at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida, for the Straight Talk Wireless 400. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, October 27, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

October 20, 2024

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