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  • Majeski rallies to win regular-season finale at Richmond for second consecutive Truck victory of 2024

    Majeski rallies to win regular-season finale at Richmond for second consecutive Truck victory of 2024

    Three weeks after breaking through with his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory of the 2024 season at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, Ty Majeski capped off the regular-season stretch by doubling down with a second consecutive victory in recent weeks in the Clean Harbors 250 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, August 10.

    The 29-year-old Majeski from Seymour, Wisconsin, led three times for 70 of 250-scheduled laps in an event where he started alongside pole-sitter Christian Eckes on the front row and rallied from having brief issues launching at the start to assume the lead for the first time on Lap 13. Then after opting to remain on track on old tires during the event’s first caution period on Lap 51, Majeski endured a handful of challenges that hindered his performance that began as he struggled to keep pace on his worn tires during the following restart on Lap 63 and lost a bevy of spots. Just as he pitted for fresh tires during the first stage break period, he was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.

    Restarting at the tail end of the field for the start of the second stage period, Majeski would spend a majority of the event methodically charging his way back to the front as the event endured a series of caution periods and pit strategies amongst the field. Having marched his way back into the top 10 within the closing stages, Majeski used fresh tires and capitalized on a late-race skirmish involving Grant Enfinger and William Sawalich to return atop the leaderboard during a late-race restart with 20 laps remaining. Amid an additional caution period and late-race restart with eight laps remaining, Majeski fended off Enfinger amid contact to remain out in front of the field and cruise to his second consecutive Truck Series victory of the 2024 season while also entering the Playoffs with early momentum.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Christian Eckes secured the pole position with a pole-winning lap at 118.655 mph in 22.755 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ty Majeski as he clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 118.033 mph in 22.875 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Christian Eckes rocketed his No. 19 Instacoat Premium Products Chevrolet Silverado RST ahead with the lead from the inside lane. In the process, Grant Enfinger followed suit in second while Ty Majeski, who struggled to launch from the outside lane, was trying to retain third place from William Sawalich. Amid the early jostles of spots around the track, where a three-wide action occurred between Sawalich, Layne Riggs and Taylor Gray for fourth place through the backstretch, Eckes proceeded to lead the first lap from Enfinger as Majeski, Taylor Gray, Riggs and Sawalich followed suit in the top six.

    During the second lap, Majeski, who regained pace amid his rocky start, navigated his way past Enfinger for the runner-up spot as Taylor Gray was trying to fend off Layne Riggs, William Sawalich, Nick Sanchez and Ben Rhodes for fourth place. While Gray continued to occupy his spot as both Majeski and Enfinger railed in second and third, respectively, Eckes retained the lead by eight-tenths of a second by the fifth lap mark.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Eckes was leading by three-tenths of a second over Majeski followed by Enfinger, Taylor Gray and Riggs while Rhodes, Sawalich, Corey Heim, Nick Sanchez and Daniel Dye were scored in the top 10 on the track. Behind, Kaden Honeycutt occupied 11th place ahead of teammate Bayley Currey, Tyler Ankrum, Jake Garcia and Stewart Friesen while Rajah Caruth, Ty Dillon, Matt Crafton, newcomer Connor Hall and Connor Zilisch trailed in the top 20 ahead of Matt Mills, Timmy Hill, Dean Thompson, Lawless Alan, Tanner Gray and Chase Purdy.

    A few laps later, Majeski dueled with Eckes in a side-by-side battle for the lead and the former would continue to battle Eckes before he pulled his No. 98 Soda Sense Ford F-150 ahead from the outside lane on Lap 13. By Lap 17, Majeski stretched his advantage to a second over Eckes and he would stabilize his advantage to a second while third-place Enfinger trailed Eckes by four-tenths of a second. Behind, Taylor Gray and Riggs remained in the top five.

    At the Lap 25 mark, Majeski retained the lead by more than a second over Eckes while Enfinger, Taylor Gray and Riggs continued to trail in the top five on the track. Rhodes, Heim, Sawalich, Dye and Sanchez followed suit in the top 10 as Honeycutt, Currey, Ankrum, Friesen and Crafton followed suit in the top 15.

    Ten laps later, Majeski, who was starting to lap the competitors running towards the bottom of the leaderboard, stretched his advantage to more than three seconds over Eckes as Enfinger, Taylor Gray and Riggs remained in the top five. Meanwhile, Taylor Gray, Rhodes and Dye, all three of whom were currently scored inside the top-10 cutline in their efforts to make the 2024 Playoffs, were running in the top nine on the track while Friesen and Crafton, both of whom came into Richmond trailing the cutline by 16 and 43 points, respectively, were mired within the top 15. In addition, Tanner Gray, who came into the event five points above the cutline with the final transfer spot, was scored nine points below the cutline as he was mired in 23rd place in front of teammate Dean Thompson.

    By Lap 50, Majeski lost a second to his advantage, but he was still leading by more than two seconds over Eckes as top-five competitors Taylor Gray, Enfinger and Riggs trailed the lead by four seconds. Five laps later, Taylor Gray would overtake Eckes for the runner-up spot. By then, Taylor’s older brother, Tanner, was lapped by Majeski as he was mired in 22nd place.

    Six laps later, the event’s first caution period flew when Matt Mills lost a right-front tire and went dead straight into the Turn 4 outside wall from 15th place. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by runner-up Taylor Gray pitted for four fresh tires and fuel while the rest led by the leader Majeski and including Ankrum and Connor Zilisch remained on the track.

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 63, the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the frontstretch as Eckes used the outside lane and four fresh tires to blast by Ankrum through the first two turns before he then quickly dispatched Majeski for the lead through the backstretch. By the following lap and amid a series of on-track shuffles, Eckes was leading ahead of Taylor Gray and Enfinger while Majeski plummeted to seventh place on his old tires as Rhodes, Riggs and Dye all overtook him. Majeski would then drop to 18th place just past the Lap 65 mark as Ankrum and Zilisch also plummeted in the leaderboard on their old tires while Eckes retained the lead by less than half a second over Taylor Gray.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 70, Eckes captured his eighth Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Taylor Gray settled in second ahead of Enfinger, Rhodes and Riggs while Dye, Matt Crafton, Heim, Sanchez and Rajah Caruth were scored in the top 10.

    Amid the battles towards the front, Tanner Gray, who restarted in 22nd place and was trying to emerge as the first competitor a lap down at the first stage’s conclusion, had dropped to 28th place and was the seventh competitor scored a lap down as 22nd-place competitor Bret Holmes received the free pass. As a result, he was left with a 22-point disadvantage to Dye in the battle for the cutline. Meanwhile, Eckes’ first stage victory was enough for him to clinch the regular-season championship while runner-up Taylor Gray garnered enough stage points to clinch his spot into the Playoffs based on points.

    Under the first stage break, some led by Majeski and including Zilisch and Ankrum pitted while the rest led by Eckes remained on the track. During the pit stops, Majeski was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation and was sent to the rear of the field before the second stage’s start.

    The second stage period started on Lap 79 as Eckes and Taylor Gray occupied the front row. At the start, Eckes muscled away from the field and the inside lane to retain the lead while Gray and Enfinger battled for the runner-up spot in front of Riggs, Rhodes, Dye and Heim. Amid a series of battles around the track, Heim overtook Dye for sixth place and Crafton trailed in eighth place. In the process, Eckes’ advantage stabilized to more than half a second over Enfinger while third-place Taylor Gray trailed by a second as he was ahead of Riggs and Rhodes. With Friesen mired in 13th place, Purdy and Tanner Gray were back in 26th and 27th, respectively.

    By Lap 90, Eckes was leading by nine-tenths of a second over Enfinger as Taylor Gray, Riggs and Rhodes trailed by four seconds in the top five. Heim, Dye, Crafton, Ty Dillon and Sanchez would follow suit in the top 10 as Conner Jones, Zilisch, Ankrum, Caruth and Honeycutt were mired in the top 15. Meanwhile, Majeski was trying to rally his way into the top 20 amid his tire violation while Friesen and Tanner Gray were running 16th and 24th, respectively.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Eckes’ advantage decreased to three-tenths of a second over Enfinger while Taylor Gray, Riggs and Rhodes continued to run in the top five ahead of Heim, Dye, Ty Dillon, Crafton and Conner Jones. Over the next five laps, Eckes, who was slowly catching lapped traffic, kept leading by above half a second over Enfinger as Taylor Gray kept the two leaders close within his front windshield.

    Then on Lap 115, Enfinger overtook Eckes and moved his No. 9 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet Silverado RST into the lead through the frontstretch. Enfinger continued to lead by three-tenths of a second by the following lap as Taylor Gray, who tracked the two leaders, passed Eckes for the runner-up spot during the ensuing lap. As Enfinger retained the lead by three-tenths of a second towards the Lap 120 mark, Riggs and Rhodes followed suit in the top five while Ankrum was up to sixth place ahead of Heim, Dye, Ty Dillon and Zilisch.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 125, Enfinger continued to lead by a narrow margin over Taylor Gray before Gray used a bold move beneath Enfinger, who was trapped behind Jake Garcia, entering Turn 1 to grab the lead. Gray stretched his advantage to half a second on the following lap as Eckes trailed by a second in third place while Riggs and Ankrum were in the top five.

    Then on Lap 127, the caution flew when Matt Crafton, who was running in the top 15, spun in Turn 4 after he slipped underneath Kaden Honeycutt, where Crafton’s No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 spun from the middle to the bottom of the track and made light contact with the inside wall as Crafton continued. During the caution period, a majority of the lead lap field led by Taylor Gray pitted for service while the rest led by Ty Dillon, who pitted during the first stage’s break period, remained on the track. Friesen and Currey would also remain on the track while Enfinger beat Taylor Gray off of pit road first as he lined up in fourth place on the track.

    The start of the following restart period on Lap 135 featured the field getting jumbled up and fanning out through the frontstretch as Friesen jumped ahead with a brief advantage over Dillon on the inside lane. With the field fanning out to four lanes, Enfinger used the four fresh tires to bolt his way to the front from the outside lane as he carved his way back into the lead just past the first two turns.

    Eckes followed suit along with Dye, Riggs, Heim and others while Friesen, Dillon and Currey plummeted down the leaderboard on their old tires. Amid the scrambling for spots, Enfinger stretched his advantage to more than half a second with the second stage’s conclusion approaching.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 140, Enfinger, who clinched his spot into the Playoffs based on points, claimed his first Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Eckes followed suit in second along with teammate Dye, Riggs and Heim while Rhodes, Caruth, Ankrum, Taylor Gray and Conner Jones were scored in the top 10. By then, Dye had a 28-point advantage over 23rd-place Tanner Gray for the final transfer spot into the Playoffs, though Gray was awarded the free pass for being the first competitor scored a lap down, while Friesen, Crafton, Riggs, Purdy, Dean Thompson and Jake Garcia all trailed the cutline by 39+ points.

    During the stage break, some including Friesen, Currey, Jake Garcia, Kaden Honeycutt, Nick Sanchez, Tanner Gray, Ty Dillon, Crafton and Stefan Parsons pitted while the rest led by Enfinger remained on the track.

    With 101 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Enfinger and Eckes occupied the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out, Enfinger and Eckes dueled for the lead in front of Riggs while Heim made contact with Dye while trying to force his way beneath him and have a shot at a top five. Shortly after, the caution quickly returned for a multi-truck wreck that erupted between Turns 3 and 4 when Purdy bumped and sent Ty Dillon running into the rear of Dean Thompson, which resulted in Thompson spinning up the track and in front of oncoming traffic as Sawalich, Stefan Parsons, Keith McGee, rookie Thad Moffitt, Bayley Currey, Mason Massey and Crafton all sustained damage to their respective entries.

    As the event restarted under green with 85 laps remaining, Enfinger rocketed away with the lead as the field fanned out approaching the first two turns. Through the backstretch, Enfinger led Rhodes, who navigated past Eckes for the spot, as Ankurm and Riggs battled for fourth place in front of Heim and Caruth. The caution, however, returned for the following lap after Lawless Alan spun in Turn 3 amid contact with Crafton and Bayley Currey.

    Following an extensive caution period, the race restarted under green with 73 laps remaining. At the start, Enfinger and Rhodes dueled for the lead as Ankrum, Heim and Caruth all made three-wide moves of their own approaching the first turn. Enfinger would then clear Rhodes and muscle ahead to retain the lead as Eckes would navigate his way into the runner-up spot over Rhodes during the following lap. Amid the late-race battles, Enfinger retained the lead by half a second over Eckes, Rhodes, Riggs and Ankrum while Majeski was up to seventh place behind Heim. The caution, however, would return with 69 laps remaining due to Conner Jones falling off the pace and nearly coming to a stop just past the frontstretch as the Virginia native missed the pit road entrance. During the caution period, some including Heim, Caruth, Sawalich, Purdy, Sanchez and Tanner Gray pitted for fresh tires while the rest led by Enfinger remained on the track.

    With the event restarting under green with 63 laps remaining, Enfinger fended off Rhodes to retain the lead from the outside lane as Heim used the four fresh tires to storm his way back to the front while running on the outside lane. With Tanner Gray also using his fresh tires to try to move up the leaderboard despite being mired in 16th place, Enfinger retained the lead by nearly a second over Rhodes with 60 laps remaining as Heim was making his way into the top five. Heim would then overtake Ankrum for fourth place and he would gain ground on Eckes while Majeski, Riggs, Friesen, Ty Dillon and Dye were mired in the top 10.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Enfinger was leading by less than two seconds over a hard-charging Heim while Rhodes, Eckes, Majeski, Ankrum, Riggs, Friesen, Dillon and Crafton were scored in the top 10. Meanwhile, Dye, who slipped to 12th place, was 12 points above the cutline with the final transfer spot over Tanner Gray, who was still mired in 16th place and trying to overtake Friesen for the spot. In the process, Taylor Gray was back in 17th place while Sanchez was mired in 22nd place behind Purdy, Garcia and Stefan Parsons.

    Ten laps later, Enfinger stabilized his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over runner-up Heim while Majeski trailed the lead by four seconds as he navigated his way up to third place. With teammate Rhodes and Eckes trailing in the top five, Riggs was down in sixth place while Sawalich, Ankrum, Crafton and Caruth were in the top 10. By then, Dye was down in 13th place behind Dillon and Zilisch while Tanner Gray was in 15th place behind Friesen.

    Another eight laps later, Heim drew his truck alongside Enfinger as both dueled for the lead before Enfinger muscled ahead to retain the lead and pull away from Heim by two-tenths of a second during the following lap. Heim would then challenge Enfinger a second time for the lead with 30 laps remaining before he prevailed and had the top spot to his control for the following lap. With Heim leading Enfinger, Majeski trailed in third place by two seconds while Riggs and Sawalich were in the top five.

    Then following another caution with 26 laps remaining due to Kaden Honeycutt spinning in Turn 4 after he got hit by Stefan Parsons, the entire lead lap field led by Heim pitted for service, with most pitting for a final set of fresh tires. Following the pit stops, Sawalich exited pit road first with only two fresh tires while Enfinger, Heim, Majeski and Eckes, all of whom opted for four fresh tires, exited in the top five. Amid the pit stops, Dye, who pitted from the top 10, exited pit road outside the top 20, which left him with only a one-point advantage over Tanner Gray as Gray was scored in 12th place.

    During the following restart with 20 laps remaining, Enfinger tried to bolt away from Sawalich as the field fanned out approaching the first turn. Sawalich, however, slipped up the track and made contact with Enfinger through the first two turns. This allowed Majeski to overtake both for the lead as Enfinger was left to battle Riggs for the runner-up spot in front of Eckes and Heim. As Sawalich began to drop in the leaderboard, Enfinger and Riggs continued to battle hard for the runner-up spot during the proceeding laps. Eckes would join the battle between Enfinger and Riggs while Heim was being overtaken by Ankrum, Taylor Gray, and Dillon. Behind, Dye was up to 11th place on fresh tires while Tanner Gray down to 21st place on older tires to Dye.

    With 15 laps remaining, Majeski was leading by more than a second over Enfinger and Riggs. The following lap, however, the caution returned after Holmes hit and send Zilisch into the outside wall in Turn 2, with Zilisch backing his No. 7 Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Silverado RST into the wall and retiring due to the damage. During caution, few including Tanner Gray, pitted while the rest led by Majeski remained on the track.

    Down to the final eight laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Enfinger jumped ahead from Majeski. Then while trying to clear and block Majeski, Majeski kept his foot in the gas and nearly turned Enfinger, which got Enfinger loose and stalled his momentum as Majeski, who then got hit and nearly turned by Enfinger entering Turn 3, powered back into the lead. The contact allowed Eckes to challenge Enfinger for the runner-up spot as Riggs and Taylor Gray tried to join the battle. Over the next two laps, a four-wide battle for the runner-up spot ensued between Enfinger, Eckes, Riggs and Taylor Gray, with neither giving an inch. Meanwhile, Majeski managed to pull away and he would retain the lead by half a second over Enfinger with five laps remaining as Eckes, Taylor Gray and Riggs remained in close pursuit within the top five.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Majeski remained the leader by nine-tenths of a second over Eckes as Enfinger, Riggs and Taylor Gray trailed closely behind. Having no competition lurking close enough to his rear bumper, Majeski cycled his Ford around Richmond smoothly for a final time before he returned to the frontstretch victorious for his second checkered flag of the 2024 Truck Series season.

    With the victory, Majeski notched his fifth career win in the Craftsman Truck Series division and his first at Richmond Raceway. The victory was also the second of the 2024 season for both ThorSport Racing and the Ford nameplate as Majeski, who qualified for his third consecutive Playoffs, will commence his pursuit for his first Truck Series championship over a seven-race Playoff stretch that begins at the Milwaukee Mile two weeks from now.

    “[The win] feels good,” Majeski said on FS1. “We’ve had great ThorSport trucks here at Richmond the last two years. Found different ways to lose’em. We tried to do it again tonight. Another mistake, we really need to clean that stuff up before Playoff time, but so proud of these guys sticking behind me. [I] Wouldn’t be able to it without [owners] Duke and Ronda Thorson. They gave me a huge opportunity a few years ago and I’m having the time of my life racing for this team. Proud of these ThorSport Racing guys. We work so hard at the shop. We’re proud to do this from Sandusky, Ohio and we’re gonna try and bring another trophy back home.”

    Behind Majeski, Christian Eckes, the 2024 Truck Series Regular Season Champion, settled in second place followed by Taylor Gray and Grant Enfinger, all of whom are among 10 competitors who have made the Playoffs. Meanwhile, rookie Layne Riggs finished in fifth place but was among several who did not make the Playoffs.

    Tyler Ankrum and Ben Rhodes finished sixth and seventh as both are in the Playoffs along with Daniel Dye, who rallied from an up-and-down season to clinch the 10th and final berth to the Playoffs by 12 points over 12th-place finisher Tanner Gray. Ty Dillon and Connor Hall finished in the top 10 on the track.

    Notably, Corey Heim, Rajah Caruth and Nick Sanchez, all of whom ended up 16th, 17th and 30th on the track, will compete in the Playoffs for this year’s championship while top names including Stewart Friesen, Chase Purdy, Ty Dillon and Matt Crafton did not make the Playoffs, with the latter having his streak of making the Playoffs for eight consecutive seasons and since the Playoff’s inception 2016 came to an end.

    There were 12 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 69 laps. In addition, 21 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Ty Majeski, 70 laps led

    2. Christian Eckes, 64 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    3. Taylor Gray, five laps led

    4. Grant Enfinger, 98 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    5. Layne Riggs

    6. Tyler Ankrum

    7. Ben Rhodes

    8. Daniel Dye

    9. Ty Dillon, four laps led

    10. Connor Hall

    11. Stefan Parsons

    12. Tanner Gray

    13. Jake Garcia

    14. Kaden Honeycutt

    15. Matt Crafton

    16. Corey Heim, six laps led

    17. Rajah Caruth

    18. Lawless Alan

    19. Timmy Hill

    20. Chase Purdy

    21. Bret Holmes

    22. William Sawalich, one lap down, three laps led

    23. Bayley Currey, one lap down

    24. Spencer Boyd, one lap down

    25. Stewart Friesen, two laps down

    26. Mason Massey, three laps down

    27. Justin Carroll, three laps down

    28. Mason Maggio, four laps down

    29. Connor Zilisch – OUT, Accident

    30. Nick Sanchez – OUT, Clutch

    31. Conner Jones – OUT, Electrical

    32. Dean Thompson – OUT, Accident

    33. Thad Moffitt – OUT, Accident

    34. Keith McGee – OUT, Accident

    35. Matt Mills – OUT, Accident

    36. Jerry Bohlman – OUT, Too Slow

    The 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs is set to commence at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin, for the LiUNA! 175. The event is scheduled to occur on August 25 and air at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • NASCAR Weekend Schedule for Richmond – August 2024

    NASCAR Weekend Schedule for Richmond – August 2024

    This weekend the NASCAR Cup Series and the Craftsman Truck Series head to Richmond Raceway for some short-track racing on the 0.75-mile asphalt oval. The NASCAR Xfinity Series has a week off and returns to competition on August 17 at Michigan International Speedway.

    Noteworthy: For the first time in a points-paying race, the Cup Series teams will have 2 tire options. The Prime tire will have yellow lettering on the sidewalls and the Option tire will have red lettering.

    1) Prime tire: A harder rubber compound designed for longevity but less grip
    2) Option tire: A softer rubber compound with more short-term grip but less longevity

    Each team will have six sets of Prime tires, including one set from qualifying, and two sets of Option tires. The two options cannot be mixed.

    The Cup Series teams will also have an extended practice and can use one set of each tire type during the 45-minute session.

    NASCAR Press Pass will be available post-qualifying and post-race for both series.

    All times are Eastern.

    Saturday, August 10
    2:30 p.m.: Truck Series Practice (FS1)
    3:00 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying (FS1)

    4:30 p.m.: Cup Series Practice (NBC Sports App/MRN)
    5:35 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying (NBC Sports App/MRN)

    7:30 p.m.: Truck Series Race: Clean Harbors 250
    Stages 70/140/250 Laps = 187.5 miles
    FS1, MRN, SiriusXM
    Purse: $744,784

    Sunday, August 11
    6:00 p.m.: Cup Series Race: Cook Out 400
    Stages 70/230/400 Laps = 300 miles
    USA/MRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $7,925,121

  • Larson withstands two overtime attempts amid fuel-mileage battle for first Brickyard 400 victory

    Larson withstands two overtime attempts amid fuel-mileage battle for first Brickyard 400 victory

    Two months after having a Memorial Day Double Duty attempt spoiled due to Mother Nature despite campaigning in his first Indianapolis 500 attempt, Kyle Larson earned his redemption at Indianapolis Motor Speedway by winning his first Brickyard 400 title on Sunday, July 21, amid two overtime attempts.

    The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, led twice for eight of 167 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started in fifth place and endured a race-long afternoon featuring various pit strategies from start to finish as he was shuffled from the front to the middle of the pack and vice versa.

    Running in third place as he tracked Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney for the win in the closing laps while also trying to conserve his fuel tank to the finish, an opportunity presented itself for Larson, who rallied from an early slow pit service, to strike after a late on-track incident involving Kyle Busch sent the event into overtime. Then after Keselowski ran out of fuel before the first overtime attempt, Larson, who moved up and started alongside Blaney on the front row, managed to snatch the lead from Blaney before a multi-car wreck sent the event into a second overtime attempt. Then during the latest overtime attempt, Larson fended Blaney and held off a late charge from pole-sitter Tyler Reddick for one lap just before Ryan Preece wrecked on the backstretch, generating a race-ending caution on the final lap. From there, Larson had enough fuel in his low tank to claim the checkered flag and add the Brickyard 400 to his extensive racing list of accomplished victories in the event’s historic return.

    With on-track qualifying on Saturday, July 20, to determine the starting lineup, Tyler Reddick notched his second Cup pole position of the 2024 season after he posted a pole-winning lap at 181.932 mph in 49.469 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Denny Hamlin, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 181.492 mph in 49.589 seconds.

    Before the event, Austin Cindric dropped to the rear of the field due to repairs made to his No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse after scraping the outside wall during his qualifying run. Martin Truex Jr. was also sent to the rear of the field before the event’s start due to an inspection violation from an unapproved adjustment that occurred on Saturday. To go along with starting at the rear of the field, Truex was assessed a drive-through penalty through pit road at the event’s start.

    When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin dueled for the lead through the first two turns and ahead of a tight two-by-two formation from within the field before Reddick muscled his No. 45 The Beast Unleashed Toyota Camry XSE ahead entering the backstretch. With the field behind jostling for early spots for two remaining turns, Reddick proceeded to lead the first lap ahead of Hamlin while Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Michael McDowell and William Byron followed suit in the top six.

    As Martin Truex Jr. served his pass-through penalty through pit road prior to the second lap, Reddick retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Elliott, Larson, McDowell and Byron followed suit in the top six. With nearly the entire field running in a single-line formation through every turn and straightaway, Reddick remained in front by seven-tenths of a second over Hamlin.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Reddick stabilized his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Elliott followed by Hamlin, Larson and McDowell while Byron, Ryan Blaney, Ty Gibbs, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and John Hunter Nemechek were racing in the top 10. Behind, Austin Dillon trailed in 11th place ahead of Joey Logano, Alex Bowman, Bubba Wallace and Harrison Burton while Christopher Bell, Corey LaJoie, AJ Allmendinger, Chris Buescher and Noah Gragson were mired in the top 20 ahead of Chase Briscoe, rookie Zane Smith, Brad Keselowski, Todd Gilliland and rookie Carson Hocevar. Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson occupied 26th place ahead of rookie Josh Berry, Daniel Suarez, Ty Dillon and Erik Jones while Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, Ryan Preece, Austin Cindric and Daniel Hemric were mired in the top 35. In the process, Truex trailed in 39th place, dead last, by 41 seconds.

    Ten laps later, Reddick continued to lead by half a second over Elliott as he also led an eight-car breakaway that included Hamlin, Larson, McDowell, Blaney, Byron and Gibbs, with the latter trailing the lead by more than five seconds. Meanwhile, ninth-place Stenhouse led a second wave of competitors comprising of nine competitors, including Nemechek, Austin Dillon, Logano, Bowman, Wallace, Burton, Bell and LaJoie, all of whom were separated by four seconds of one another, with Stenhouse trailing the lead by 14 points, while 18th-place runner Buescher led a third wave of competitors comprising of nearly the rest of the field as Buescher trailed by lead by 21 seconds. In the process, AJ Allmendinger dropped to 38th place and was pinned a lap down due to pitting a few laps earlier under green to address his ill-handling No. 16 Campers Inn RV Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. In addition, Truex was mired in 37th place and trailing the lead by more than 40 seconds.

    Anther three laps later, pit strategies commenced as Hamlin surrendered third place to pit his No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota Camry XSE under green. The following lap, teammates Elliott, Larson, Byron and Bowman pitted their respective Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets. In the process, Hamlin managed to cycle his way past all four Hendrick drivers as they were exiting pit road while Reddick extended his advantage to more than a second over Blaney by the Lap 25 mark.

    Blaney would then pit his No. 12 Menards Toyota Camry XSE from the runner-up spot as Stenhouse, Burton, Buescher and Truex all pitted their respective entries. Soon after, Elliott was penalized for a blend line violation, where Elliott attempted to cross the blend line and enter the track early in Turn 2, which was a violation and forced Elliott to pilot his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through pit road at pit road speed. Amid Elliott’s penalty, Reddick continued to lead by more than a second over McDowell while Gibbs, Nemechek and Austin Dillon were scored in the top five.

    By Lap 35, Reddick stabilized his advantage to over McDowell as Gibbs, Nemechek, Logano, Wallace, Bell, Corey LaJoie, Noah Gragson and Chase Briscoe followed suit in the top 10. By then, more names including Zane Smith, Ryan Preece, Berry, Austin Dillon, Erik Jones, Justin Haley, Jimmie Johnson, Hocevar, Daniel Hemric and Ross Chastain all pitted under green. More names including Gragson, Ty Gibbs and Cindric pitted during the proceeding laps before Reddick surrendered the lead to pit under green on Lap 37. McDowell, who inherited the lead in the process, pitted his No. 34 Horizon Ford Mustang Dark Horse the following lap as more names including Nemechek, Wallace, Briscoe, Kyle Busch, Logano and Suarez all pitted. Amid the pit stops, Austin Cindric was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    Nearing the Lap 40 mark, Christopher Bell, who inherited the lead, pitted under green along with LaJoie as Brad Keselowski assumed the lead. Then once Keselowski pitted under green by Lap 41, Hamlin, who managed to overtake Reddick as a result of pitting earlier and gaining the lost ground on the track when Reddick pitted latter, cycled into the lead as Larson, Blaney, Byron and Reddick were scored in the top five.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 50, Hamlin fended off a late charge from Larson to capture his sixth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Larson settled in second place ahead of Blaney, Byron and Reddick while McDowell, Bowman, Gibbs, Stenhouse and Gragson were scored in the top 10. By then, 33 of 39 starters were scored on the lead lap while select notables including Ty Dillon and Cindric were scored a lap down. Meanwhile, both Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing competitors including Keselowski and Buescher were also off the lead lap category due to late issues. Keselowski was mired in 36th place after he was assessed a late blend line violation penalty. Meanwhile, Buescher was in 38th place after pitting under green with smoke coming from his No. 17 Castrol Edge Ford Mustang Dark Horse.

    Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Hamlin returned to pit road for service while the rest led by Reddick remained on the track. Following the pit stops, where mixed strategies ensued, Gibbs and Wallace exited pit road first and second following two tire services. Hamlin followed suit on four fresh tires along with Larson, Burton, Byron, Bowman, Bell, Stenhouse and Blaney. Soon after, Ross Chastain and Erik Jones pitted to top off their respective entries on fuel.

    The second stage period started on Lap 55 as Reddick and McDowell occupied the front row. At the start, Reddick briefly muscled ahead of McDowell through the first turn until Nemechek, who restarted behind Reddick, made his move beneath Reddick and assumed the lead entering Turn 2 and the backstretch. With Nemechek leading the race, the rest of the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes and dueled in close-quarters racing for a full lap. A majority of competitors racing in the mid-pack region continued to fan out and duel against one another for positions before all settled in a long single-file line by Lap 57.

    Amid the early battles, Nemechek retained the lead and he would proceed to lead at the Lap 60 mark by a second-and-a-half while Reddick, Kyle Busch, LaJoie, McDowell and Wallace occupied the top-six spots on the track. With Logano, Hamlin, Byron and Larson rounding out the top 10, Blaney was mired in 11th ahead of Gibbs, Gilliland, Hocevar and Bell while Elliott was back in 18th place behind Jimmie Johnson. In addition, Truex was up to 22nd place as he was racing behind Bowman and Gragson.

    By Lap 65, Nemechek continued to extend his advantage as he was leading by more than two seconds over Reddick while Kyle Busch, LaJoie and McDowell continued to run in the top five ahead of Wallace, Logano, Hamlin, Byron and Larson.

    Two laps later, the caution flew due to a tire carcass that came off of the left rear of Cody Ware’s No. 15 Peoria TT Ford Mustang Dark Horse in the backstretch. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Nemechek pitted while the rest led by Busch and Wallace remained on the track. Not long after, Larson pitted for a second time to ensure the right-rear tire of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was tightened. McDowell and Haley had also pitted with Larson.

    With the race restarting on Lap 73, the field fanned out through the frontstretch as Busch, who was running tight on fuel, rocketed ahead of Wallace and Gilliland with the lead through the first two turns. Entering the backstretch, however, the caution quickly returned when Preece, who was in 18th place, made contact with both Burton and Byron, where Preece got squeezed in between both, as Byron, who had made earlier contact with Chase Briscoe entering the backstretch, veered right into the outside wall before he came back across the middle of the track and got T-boned by Allmendinger as Byron spun his No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and hit the inside wall head-on while Allmendinger also made contact with the wall. The incident was enough to knock Burton, Allmendinger and Byron out of contention while Preece continued.

    During the caution period, some led by Kyle Busch pitted while the rest led by Wallace and Gilliland remained on the track.

    The start of the next restart period on Lap 78 featured a side-by-side duel between Wallace and Elliott through the first two turns as both continued to drag-race against one another through the backstretch. Wallace would then manage to muscle his No. 23 U.S. Air Force Toyota Camry XSE ahead of Elliott through Turn 3 while Hamlin went three-wide on Logano and Gilliland to boost his No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota Camry XSE into third place. With LaJoie missing his lane and going wide while losing a handful of spots in the process, Wallace would proceed to lead the halfway mark on Lap 80 as Elliott, Hamlin, Gilliland, Nemechek, Logano, Reddick, Blaney, Stenhouse and Bell were scored in the top 10 while LaJoie fell back to 11th place in front of Briscoe and Truex.

    At the Lap 85 mark, Wallace stretched his advantage to more than a second over Elliott while third-place Elliott only trailed Elliott by six-tenths of a second. A lap later, Gilliland surrendered fourth place to pit his No. 38 gener8tor Ford Mustang Dark Horse under green, but he lost a lap in the process due to a slow pit service as Wallace continued to lead by more than a second over Elliott at the Lap 90 mark. With Hamlin occupying third place, Team Penske’s Logano and Blaney were scored in the top five as Nemechek, Reddick, Stenhouse, Truex and Bell were running in the top 10.

    With three laps remaining in the second stage period, Logano surrendered a top-five spot to pit his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse under green, where he would then manage to regain speed and remain on the lead lap ahead of the leader Wallace, who continued to lead Elliott on the track.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 100, Wallace captured his first Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Elliott followed suit in second ahead of Hamlin, Blaney and Nemechek while Reddick, Stenhouse, Truex, Bell and Briscoe were scored in the top 10. By then, 32 of 39 starters, including Logano, were scored on the lead lap.

    During the stage break, a majority of the field led by Wallace pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on the track. Not long after, Reddick pitted for a second time to address a loose left front wheel.

    With 56 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Hamlin and Nemechek occupied the front row. At the start, Hamlin rocketed ahead with the lead while Stenhouse quickly overtook Nemechek to take the runner-up spot. As the field behind jostled for spots through the backstretch, the caution then flew when Truex, who was mixed in a tight three-wide battle with Larson and Chastain for sixth place exiting the backstretch, made contact with Larson, which got Truex loose as he slid his No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry XSE sideways and slapped the outside wall in Turn 3. In the process, Josh Berry got hit by Ty Gibbs and he ended up sliding and hitting the outside wall, which damaged the front nose of the No. 4 Panini/Caitlin Clark Ford Mustang Dark Horse and took Berry out of contention while Truex continued.

    During the caution period, some including LaJoie, Reddick, Erik Jones, Wallace, Gilliland, Preece and Ty Dillon pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on the track.

    The start of the next restart period with 51 laps remaining did not last a single corner as Hocevar, who was running in the middle of the pack, made contact with Blaney, which generated a domino effect as Blaney then got turned into Austin Dillon and made contact with Jimmie Johnson, who made contact with Logano in the process as both Johnson and Logano wrecked hard against the Turn 1 outside wall while Blaney, Dillon and Hocevar continued. At the moment of caution, Hamlin had retained the lead while Nemechek, Briscoe, Stenhouse and Chastain were scored in the top five.

    During the caution period, some led by Hamlin, who was on the edge of a fuel window, pitted while the rest led by Nemechek and Chastain remained on the track. By the time his pit service was complete, where he spent a little extra time in his pit stall to top off on fuel, Hamlin was the sixth competitor to exit pit road and dropped to 19th place in the running order.

    As the race restarted under green with 46 laps remaining, Chastain gained a strong launch from the outside lane to boost his No. 1 Moose Fraternity Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead over Nemechek through Turn 1. With Chastain leading through Turn 2 and the backstretch, Nemechek followed suit in second ahead of Alex Bowman, who boosted his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into third place ahead of teammates Larson and Elliott while Gragson, Hocevar, Reddick, Keselowski and Justin Haley were mixed into the top 10. By the following lap, Hamlin moved up to 15th place as Suarez executed a bold three-wide move over both Briscoe and Stenhouse for 22nd place during the next lap.

    With 40 laps remaining and a majority of the field monitoring their fuel tank and strategy for the finish, Chastain was leading by two-tenths of a second over Nemechek followed by Bowman, Larson and Elliott while Gragson, Hocevar, Reddick, Keselowski and Haley occupied the top 10 on the track ahead of Blaney, Daniel Hemric, Gibbs, Zane Smith and Hamlin. Meanwhile, Bell, Gilliland, McDowell, Wallace and Preece were in the top 20 ahead of Kyle Busch, Suarez, Cindric, Briscoe and Stenhouse while Austin Dillon, LaJoie, Ty Dillon, Cody Ware and Erik Jones were mired in the top 30.

    Two laps later, Nemechek and Bowman pitted their respective entries from second and third, respectively. Both of their pit stops occurred a lap after McDowell had pitted as the leader Chastain along with Haley pitted during the next lap. As a result, Larson assumed the lead ahead of teammate Elliott and Gragson before he pitted under green with 37 laps remaining, which handed the lead to Elliott.

    Then just as Elliott and Reddick pitted their respective entries under green, the caution returned with 36 laps remaining due to Truex spinning from the bottom to the top of the track entering Turn 3, where he hit the wall and flat-spotted his left-rear tire. By then, Gragson was leading ahead of Hocevar, Keselowski, Blaney and Hemric. During the caution period, Gibbs pitted his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE while pit road was closed due to an engine concern, and the hood was lifted as his pit crew diagnosed the issue before Gibbs, who was still dealing with the issue, proceeded. During the caution period, Gragson and Hocevar pitted while the rest led by Keselowski and Blaney remained on the track.

    With the event restarting with 31 laps remaining, Keselowski and Hemric led the field to the green flag as both dueled for the lead through the frontstretch before Keselowski drifted up and cleared Hemric to lead in his No. 6 Body Guard Ford Mustang Dark Horse through the first two turns. Through the backstretch, Blaney moved up to second and Hemric battled Zane Smith for third place while the field behind fanned out and jostled for late positions through two and three lanes deep. As a series of battles continued to occur around every turn and straightaway, Keselowski retained the lead by seven-tenths of a second over Blaney with approximately 30 laps remaining as Smith, Hemric and Hamlin trailed in the top five.

    Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Keselowski continued to lead by half a second over Blaney while Smith, Hemric and Hamlin continued to follow suit in the top five. Behind, Bell, Gilliland, Kyle Busch, Cindric and Wallace occupied the top 10 as Preece, Larson, Suarez, Reddick and Stenhouse trailed in the top 15 ahead of Briscoe, LaJoie, Elliott, Austin Dillon and Chastain.

    Five laps later and with the entire field running in a single-file line, Keselowski stabilized his lead to four-tenths of a second over Blaney as Smith, Hemric, Hamlin, Bell, Gilliland, Busch, Cindric and Larson followed suit in the top 10, with Reddick, Wallace, Preece, Suarez and Briscoe scored in the top 15.

    Another two laps later, a heated battle between Larson and Busch ignited as both swapped spots before Busch overtook Larson to assume seventh place. With Gilliland being dispatched by both, Busch was trying to close in on Bell for sixth place and Reddick trailed Larson in ninth place while Keselowski continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over Blaney, Smith, Hemric and Hamlin. Larson would then overtake Busch again on the track for seventh place with 16 laps remaining before he overtook Bell for sixth place with 15 laps remaining as he proceeded to set his sights on Hamlin.

    Then with 13 laps remaining, Larson gained a huge advantage to overtake Hamlin for fifth place through the first two turns. Hamlin would then fend off Busch for sixth place while Larson continued his march to the front as he had Keselowski, Blaney, Smith and Hemric in front of him. Larson overtook Smith for fourth place while Hamlin was being blocked by Smith, as Blaney was trying to gain a run to overtake Keselowski for the lead with 10 laps remaining. By then, the top-four competitors including Keselowski, Blaney, Hemric and Larson were separated by eight-tenths of a second as Larson was trying to gain a run on Hemric for third place while Blaney could not gain a run on Keselowski for the lead.

    With nine laps remaining, Larson overtook Hemric for third place just past the backstretch. With Hemric then pitting under green, Larson started to gain a run on Blaney for the runner-up spot while Keselowski continued to lead during the next lap.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Keselowski continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over Blaney as Larson followed suit by less than half a second, with the latter two continuing to intimidate one another and the leader Keselowski questioning whether he had enough fuel to finish. Meanwhile, Hamlin was mired in fifth place behind Smith while Reddick was in seventh place behind Kyle Busch.

    Then with three laps remaining, the caution flew and the race was sent into overtime when Kyle Busch, who was trying to gain a run on Hamlin for fifth place exiting the backstretch, went up the track and made contact with Hamlin as Busch spun his No. 8 Cheddar’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 up towards the outside wall and made contact with the wall. During the caution period, some led by Zane Smith and including Hamlin, Briscoe, Austin Dillon, Chastain, Haley, Cody Ware and Ty Dillon pitted while the rest led by Keselowski and including Blaney and Larson remained on the track.

    The start of the first overtime attempt featured Larson and Blaney occupying the front row as Keselowski peeled off the racetrack as he ran out of fuel. At the start, Larson and Blaney dueled for the lead in front of the stacked field into Turn 1 just before the caution returned for a vicious multi-car wreck just past the frontstretch when Hemric bumped and sent Nemechek into the inside wall, where both came back across the track and collected Bowman, Briscoe and Hamlin while the rest of the competitors running in the mid-pack region scattered to avoid the carnage. Amid the carnage, Larson had assumed the lead from Blaney, who was left fuming on the radio and the advantage Larson gained to start on the preferred inside lane after Keselowski ran out of fuel, just as the race was placed into a red flag period for 17 minutes.

    Once the track was cleared and the field proceeded under a cautious pace, none of the front-runners led by Larson and Blaney pitted while a select few, including Haley and Briscoe, pitted.

    The start of the second overtime attempt featured Larson and Blaney occupying the front row, where Larson dueled and muscled ahead of Blaney to retain the lead through the first two turns as Reddick bolted his way past Blaney for the runner-up spot. As Larson led the field through the backstretch, trouble ignited as Preece got bumped by Chase Elliott and spun towards the inside wall just entering the backstretch. Amid Preece’s incident, the race remained under green flag conditions as Larson proceeded to lead through the next two turns.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson remained as the leader by four-tenths of a second over Reddick while Blaney trailed by nine-tenths of a second. Then two corners later, the caution flew and the race ended as Preece was unable to limp his No. 41 Haas Ford Mustang Dark Horse away from his wreckage. With the caution ending the race, Larson was able to coast his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 around the Indianapolis circuit for a final time with enough fuel in his tank before he made his way back to the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag for his first victory at the Brickyard and fourth of the 2024 Cup Series season.

    With the victory, Larson achieved his 27th career win in NASCAR’s premier series, his first since winning at Sonoma Raceway in June and his third crown-jewel victory overall, including the Coca-Cola 60 and the Southern 500, as he became the first four-time race winner of the 2024 season. The victory was the 10th of the season for the Chevrolet nameplate and the ninth of the season for Hendrick Motorsports (HMS, with HMS notching its 11th career win at Indianapolis as Larson became the 16th competitor overall to win the Brickyard 400, while crew chief Cliff Daniels achieved his 20th career victory as a Cup Series crew chief.

    “[The Brickyard 400 win]’s for sure up there [on my list of accomplishments],” Larson said on the frontstretch on NBC. “This is just such a prestigious place and such hallowed ground. Pretty neat just to get an opportunity to race here on the oval again. What a job by our [No. 5] team. [They] Never gave up at all. We had the pit stop issue there early on and just fought and dug and had things work out. I love you, Indiana fans. I know you guys love me, too. How about we come back next May and try to kiss these bricks on the IndyCar? I’d love to do [the double again]. We’ll work on it, so I hope we can announce something soon and see you all next May.”

    The 2024 Brickyard 400 victory also served both as a redemptive and proud moment for Larson, who was unable to complete a Memorial Day Double Duty attempt between the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May due to on-track precipitation that caused him to miss the latter event while he ended up finishing in 18th place during the Indy 500 while driving for Arrow McLaren’s NTT IndyCar Series team. Ironically, Larson’s race-winning No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 sported the exact blue, white and papaya orange scheme he attempted to compete with at the Coca-Cola 600, but Xfinity Series veteran Justin Allgaier ended up competing in when Larson opted to race the Indy 500 before traveling to Charlotte for the 600-mile event.

    Photo by Adam Lovelace for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “[The Brickyard 400 victory] does [make up the month of May], I guess a little bit,” Larson added. “I wished we could’ve gotten to do both [races] and run the [Coca-Cola] 600 because we had a phenomenal papaya orange car for that race, too, but I think everything just comes full circle and everything’s meant to be. Today definitely felt meant to be for us, with the way strategy was working out, Brad [Keselowski] running out of fuel, me inheriting the front row, all that. A lot had to fall into place and thankfully, it did. I just can’t believe it. It’s just surreal to win here and can’t wait to kiss these bricks with my team, [owner] Rick Hendrick, whose here finally, my family, my friends, everybody. My parents are here, so we’ll be celebrating these next couple weeks.”

    As Larson celebrated on the frontstretch and kissed the yard of bricks with his team, Ryan Blaney, who ended up in third place behind Tyler Reddick, was left displeased over having a first Brickyard 400 victory slip from his grasp through two overtime attempts.

    “[Losing]’s no fun,” Blaney said. “We had a really good shot to win today. Gosh, our car was fast. I thought we put ourselves in a great spot. I knew [Keselowski] was probably gonna run out if [the race] went green. We came down to the [first overtime] restart and I couldn’t believe [Keselowski] stayed out. I knew there was no way they were gonna make it, so I obviously chose the top [lane] because [Keselowski] might run out in the restart zone and he runs out coming to the green, so he gets to go to pit road and [Larson] gets promoted [to the inside lane front row]. Luck of the day right there, I guess. I don’t know. I don’t even know what to be mad about. I’m mad at losing this race because I thought we were in a perfect position. It stinks to lose’em that way, but appreciate the effort. I hate we don’t get to celebrate with Mr. [Roger] Penske and everyone at [Team] Penske here. That stings a lot…[I’m] Not going to sleep very good tonight, I can tell you that. Just wasn’t meant to be.”

    Meanwhile, Reddick was pleased with his runner-up result that marks his third top-three result in a span of four races in 2024 and keeps him in the hunt for the regular-season championship, though he was also left a little disappointed over falling short of having a perfect weekend at the Brickyard after winning the pole and being the fastest during Friday’s practice session.

    “It was a great recovery for us,” Reddick said. “Obviously, a lot of cars and a lot of things had to happen for us to get second. Honestly, it was a good day, but obviously the return to the Brickyard, it’s tough coming up short one spot, but once we got off Turn 2 there, I knew I was pretty much it and [Larson] was gonna have to make a mistake. Glad we got a good recovery. Another solid points day. In a big picture, it was a great day for our team.”

    Christopher Bell came home in fourth place while Bubba Wallace, who won the second stage, recorded a strong fifth-place result as he is currently only seven points below the top-16 cutline in his efforts to make the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs.

    Todd Gilliland, Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez, Noah Gragson and Chase Elliott completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    There were 18 lead changes for 13 different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 32 laps. In addition, 24 of 39 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 22nd event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Kyle Larson leads the regular-season standings by 10 points over teammate Chase Elliott, 15 over Tyler Reddick, 43 over Denny Hamlin and 73 over Ryan Blaney.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Larson, eight laps led

    2. Tyler Reddick, 40 laps led

    3. Ryan Blaney

    4. Christopher Bell, two laps led

    5. Bubba Wallace, 26 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    6. Todd Gilliland, one lap led

    7. Austin Cindric

    8. Daniel Suarez

    9. Noah Gragson, three laps led

    10. Chase Elliott, one lap led

    11. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    12. Carson Hocevar

    13. Austin Dillon

    14. Corey LaJoie

    15. Ross Chastain, eight laps led

    16. Michael McDowell, one lap led

    17. Zane Smith

    18. Cody Ware

    19. Ty Dillon

    20. Justin Haley

    21. Brad Keselowski, 35 laps led

    22. Chris Buescher

    23. Ty Gibbs

    24. Chase Briscoe

    25. Kyle Busch, one lap down, five laps led

    26. Ryan Preece – OUT, Accident

    27. Martin Truex Jr., two laps down

    28. Erik Jones, two laps down

    29. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident, 16 laps led

    30. Daniel Hemric – OUT, Accident

    31. Alex Bowman – OUT, Accident

    32. Denny Hamlin – OUT, Accident, 21 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    33. Jimmie Johnson – OUT, Accident

    34. Joey Logano – OUT, Accident

    35. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident

    36. Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident

    37. AJ Allmendinger – OUT, Accident

    38. William Byron – OUT, Accident

    39. BJ McLeod – OUT, Engine

    The NASCAR Cup Series’ teams and competitors will be taking the next two weekends off due to the Paris Summer Olympics before returning to action at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia, for the Cook Out 400. The event is scheduled to occur on August 11 and air at 6 p.m. ET on USA Network. 

  • Riley Herbst scores thrilling last-lap Xfinity victory at Indianapolis

    Riley Herbst scores thrilling last-lap Xfinity victory at Indianapolis

    With his racing status for next season currently unknown, Riley Herbst peddled to the meddle and prevailed in a final lap battle with teammate Cole Custer and Aric Almirola to score a monstrous NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in the Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, July 20.

    The 25-year-old Herbst from Las Vegas, Nevada, led four times for 30 of 100-scheduled laps in an event where he shared the front row with teammate/pole-sitter Cole Custer and implemented an early strategic pit call to claim the first stage victory and gain valuable Playoff points while on old tires. After spending a majority of the event racing towards the front, Herbst, who executed a bold three-wide pass for the lead on both Aric Almirola and AJ Allmendinger amid a late-race restart with 35 laps remaining, retained the lead during another restart with 29 laps remaining and held a steady advantage over teammate Cole Custer when his momentum was stalled due to another caution for a multi-car wreck with 17 laps remaining.

    Opting to remain on the track on old tires compared to a majority of the field, Herbst quickly lost the lead to Custer during the final restart with 11 laps remaining. Despite also losing the runner-up spot to Almirola, Herbst regained the spot amid light contact two laps later and spent the next seven laps methodically gaining ground on Custer with a strong race car amid the draft. Then as Herbst attempted to side-draft and snatch the lead from Custer through the frontstretch, Almirola threw himself into the picture by overtaking both in a three-wide pass at the start of the final lap. Herbst, however, quickly dispatched Custer and closed back in on Almirola through two turns before he executed his pass while side-drafting Almirola prior to Turn 4. With the lead in his grasp, Herbst, who nearly spun but regained control of his car prior to entering the frontstretch, fended off both Almirola and a hard-charging Custer to grab his first elusive Xfinity Series victory of the 2024 season and lock himself into the Playoffs.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Cole Custer notched his fifth Xfinity pole position of the 2024 season after he posted a pole-winning lap at 167.582 mph in 53.705 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Riley Herbst, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 166.942 mph in 53.911 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Sheldon Creed dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change to his No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota Supra. Austin Hill and Parker Kligerman also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, teammates Cole Custer and Riley Herbst dueled for the lead through the first two turns before Custer mustered his No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang ahead of the field while clearing Herbst in the process prior to hitting the backstretch. Shortly after, Aric Almirola made his way into the runner-up spot over Herbst, who was trying to block Almirola, as Anthony Alfredo and Brandon Jones trailed in the top five.

    Then as the field entered Turn 3, the event’s first caution flew when Sam Mayer, who was trying to fend off AJ Allmendinger and Carson Kvapil for sixth place, slipped underneath Allmendinger as Allmendinger made a bold move to Mayer’s outside prior to the turn, which resulted with Mayer spinning through the turn before he was hit by a sliding Chandler Smith and backed his No. 1 Huck’s Market Chevrolet Camaro both against the outside wall and into the path of Josh Berry, with Jeb Burton, Conor Daly, Justin Allgaier, Leland Honeyman, Jeremy Clements, Parker Retzlaff and rookie Jesse Love all sustaining damage to their respective entries.

    Following an extensive cleanup of the wreckage, the race restarted under green on the seventh lap. At the start, teammates Custer and Herbst dueled for a second time for the lead through the first two turns and they remained dead even through the backstretch. As Almirola tried to navigate his way past Custer, who led the first lap under caution, Herbst started to muscle ahead from the outside lane through Turns 3 and 4, but Custer gained the draft from the inside lane to retain the lead for the next lap as he was followed by Almirola. With Custer leading Almirola, Jones and Alfredo would overtake Herbst through the backstretch. Amid a series of on-track battles around the venue, Custer proceeded to lead at the Lap 10 mark by four-tenths of a second over Almirola.

    Through the first 15 scheduled laps, Custer retained the lead by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Almirola, who kept gaining a draft while trying to close in on Custer for more through the straightaways. Behind, third-place Justin Allgaier trailed by four seconds as he was ahead of teammate Brandon Jones and Herbst while Kvapil, Allmendinger, Alfredo, Ryan Sieg and Josh Williams were racing in the top 10. Meanwhile, Matt DiBenedetto occupied 11th place ahead of Daniel Dye, rookie Shane van Gisbergen, Austin Hill and Parker Kligerman while Kyle Sieg, Kyle Weatherman, Brennan Poole, Parker Retzlaff and Sheldon Creed were mired in the top 20.

    A lap later, the event’s second caution flew due to Chandler Smith, the fastest competitor during Friday’s practice session who was trying to continue after being involved in the opening lap wreck, falling off the pace due to losing fuel pressure to his No. 81 QuickTie Toyota Supra as he was also unable to limp back to pit road. During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Custer pitted for service while the rest led by Herbst and including Allmendinger, Ryan Sieg, Josh Williams, Matt DiBenedetto, Daniel Dye, Parker Kligerman and Brennan Poole remained on the track.

    The start of the next restart period on Lap 20 featured Herbst and Allmendinger dueling for the lead entering the first turn and they made contact in Turn 2 before they continued to duel in front of a stacked two-by-two through the backstretch. Then Ryan Sieg drafted Herbst into the lead as he cleared Allmendinger and muscled away prior to exiting the backstretch. With Herbst leading Sieg and Allmendinger for the following lap and through the frontstretch, Matt DiBenedetto trailed in fourth place along with Kligerman, Josh Williams and the rest of the field.

    By Lap 25, Herbst stretched his advantage to more than a second over both Ryan Sieg and Allmendinger while Kligerman and DiBenedetto continued to run in the top five. Meanwhile, Brandon Jones, who restarted 18th and whose pit crew discovered a puncture that was removed from a tire when he pitted during the previous caution period, had carved his way into sixth place as he was the first competitor running on the track on fresh tires while Retzlaff, Allgaier, Custer and Almirola followed suit in the top 10.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 30, Herbst claimed his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Allmendinger settled in second place ahead of Ryan Sieg while Jones muscled his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro up to fourth place. Teammate Allgaier settled in fifth place ahead of Custer, who had also charged his way back towards the front, as Kligerman, Almirola, Kvapil and DiBenedetto were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, a majority of the field, including those who did not pit during the previous caution period, led by Herbst pitted while the rest, including those who pitted recently, led by Jones remained on the track. During the pit stops, Kligerman was penalized for an uncontrolled tire penalty while both Retzlaff and Josh Williams were both penalized.

    The second stage period started on Lap 34 as teammates Jones and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start and as the field started to fan out, Jones managed to muscle ahead of teammate Allgaier through the first turn and he would retain the lead through Turn 2 and the backstretch while Custer, Almirola and Kvapil battled for third place. With Austin Hill trying to join the battle as a flurry of on-track battles ensued, Jones retained the lead ahead of Allgaier through the frontstretch and for the following lap.

    Through the Lap 40 mark, Jones continued to lead as he was out in front of a four-car breakaway from the pack that included teammate Allgaier, Custer and Almirola. In the process, Herbst was in sixth place and trying to gain a draft on Kvapil for more. A lap later, Allgaier gained a run beneath Jones and overtook him for the lead through the backstretch. Soon after, however, Custer, who followed Allgaier in the process, battled Allgaier for the lead through Turn 3 and the frontstretch before he muscled ahead along with Jones as Almirola also followed suit. This resulted with Allgaier slipping to fourth place by Lap 42.

    Within the Lap 45 range, Custer was leading by half a second over Almirola, who overtook Jones for the runner-up spot a lap earlier, while Allgaier trailed the lead by a second in fourth place. Meanwhile, Herbst navigated his way back into fifth place ahead of Kvapil and Hill while Ryan Sieg and Creed followed suit in the top 10 ahead of van Gisbergen, Conor Daly, Alfredo, Joe Graf Jr. and DiBenedetto.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 50, Custer extended his advantage to nearly two seconds over Almirola while Herbst, Allgaier and Jones followed suit in the top five. While Kvapil, Allmendinger, Ryan Sieg, Hill and Creed were in the top 10, van Gisbergen occupied 11th place ahead of Conor Daly, Graf, Dye and Anthony Alfredo while a total of 35 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Four laps later, the caution flew due to smoke billowing out of the No. 44 Macc Door Systems Chevrolet Camaro as Poole was dealing with a potential power steering pump failure. During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Custer pitted while Ryan Sieg, Leland Honeyman and Garret Smithley remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Herbst exited pit road first ahead of teammate Custer, Almirola, Allmendinger, Allgaier, Hill, van Gisbergen, Jones, Creed and Conor Daly. Not long after, Smithley voluntarily opted to restart at the rear of the field, which left Sieg and Honeyman restarting on the front row, but on old tires compared to the field.

    The start of the next restart period with a single lap remaining in the second stage period featured Sieg muscling his No. 39 SciAps Ford Mustang ahead as he was drafted into the lead by Herbst. With the field fanning out through the first two turns, Custer got loose as he made light contact with Honeyman as he slipped out of the top five. Amid the contact that involved Custer, the field continued to fan out and jostle for late spots through the backstretch while Sieg was trying to fend off Herbst and Almirola for two final turns.

    When the field returned to the frontstretch, Sieg managed to block and fend off both Almirola and Herbst to claim his first Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season as the second stage period concluded on Lap 60. Almirola edged Herbst to claim second place while Allmendinger, Allgaier, Custer, van Gisbergen, Hill, Honeyman and Creed were scored in the top 10.

    During the stage break, select few led by Sieg and Honeyman pitted while the rest of the field led by Almirola remained on the track.

    With 35 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Almirola and Allmendinger occupied the front row ahead of Herbst and Allgaier. At the start, Almirola and Allmendinger dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch as Almirola side-drafted Allmendinger to stall his momentum. In the process, Herbst went three wide on both Almirola and Allmendinger to move his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang into the lead as he retained the top spot for two corners and led the next lap. While Herbst made the biggest gain through the backstretch, Almirola was drifting out of the top five while Custer and Allgaier were moving their way up towards the front. Shane van Gisbergen would then make his way up to fifth place as he battled Austin Hill and Almirola through the frontstretch.

    A lap later, however, the caution flew when Almirola, who was mired in sixth place, got tapped by Hill in Turn 1 and did two 360 spins through the turn, though he managed to keep his No. 20 He Gets Us Toyota Supra off the wall and be dodged by oncoming traffic as he limped back to pit road with flat-spotted tires.

    With the race restarting under green with 29 laps remaining, Herbst and Allmendinger dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. Herbst then got loose entering Turn 3, which caused him to go high as he avoided Allmendinger while sliding sideways as Allmendinger assumed the lead while Herbst slipped to a side-by-side battle with teammate Custer for the runner-up spot. By the following lap, Custer moved into second place while Herbst settled in third place ahead of Allgaier, van Gisbergen and Hill as the rest of the field behind fanned out.

    With 25 laps remaining, Allmendinger was leading by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Custer, who was using the draft to gain runs on Allmendinger through the straightaways. Then in Turn 1, Custer made his move beneath Allmendinger’s No. 16 Celsius Chevrolet Camaro and assumed the lead. Custer, however, briefly lost his momentum in the backstretch, which allowed Allmendinger to fight back and duel with Custer through the backstretch until Herbst gave teammate Custer a draft that allowed Custer to drive his No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang away with the lead in his grasp just past the backstretch. Shortly after, teammate Herbst overtook Allmendinger from the outside lane to claim second place while Allmendinger was trying to fend off Allgaier for third place. Despite losing third place to Allgaier not long after, Allmendinger reassumed the spot from Allgaier with 23 laps remaining as both van Gisbergen and Hill tried to close in on Allgaier for fourth place.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Custer was leading by a tenth of a second over teammate Herbst, who was closing in on his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate through the straightaways amid the draft. Then entering the backstretch, Herbst gained a run underneath Custer and assumed the lead in his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang. Herbst would stabilize his advantage to three-tenths of a second over teammate Custer during the following lap as he was also trying to muscle away and break the draft off of Custer.

    Three laps later, the caution flew for a vicious multi-car wreck that started when Daniel Dye made contact with Alfredo that got Dye loose towards the apron in Turns 1 and 2 while Alfredo, who scraped the outside wall, fell off the pace with a flat tire to his No. 5 Dude Mint Chill Chevrolet Camaro and made contact with the outside wall again entering the backstretch. In the process, Retzlaff rammed into the rear of Alfredo, who would proceed to hit the inside SAFER Barrier, at full pace as Josh Williams also rammed into Retzlaff’s wrecked No. 31 FUNKAWAY Chevrolet Camaro before he hit the backstretch’s outside wall head on, thus leaving all three with wrecked race cars.

    During the caution period, some led by Herbst and including Custer, Allmendinger, Jesse Love, Almirola and DiBenedetto remained on the track while the rest led by Allgaier pitted.

    Down to the final 11 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Custer cleared Herbst amid two turns to assume the lead. Behind, Almirola wasted no time navigating his way past Allmendinger and Herbst to move into the runner-up spot. With Custer stretching his advantage to a second over Almirola with 10 laps remaining, the rest of the field behind fanned out and jostled as both Almirola and Herbst tried to close in.

    With nine laps remaining, Herbst got Almirola loose in Turn 1 and towards the outside wall, which allowed Herbst to reassume the runner-up spot as he set his sights on catching teammate Custer for the lead. Despite trailing teammate Custer by a second with eight laps remaining, Herbst started to close in while logging in faster lap times than Custer while Almirola, Allmendinger and van Gisbergen trailed in the top five.

    With five laps remaining, Custer continued to lead by a second over teammate Herbst, who was not getting closer to Custer and slowly losing valuable lap time as Almirola started to close in on Herbst for the runner-up spot. A lap later, however, Herbst chopped off three-tenths of a second off of teammate Custer’s advantage in his quest to catch him, where he would then trail by six-tenths of a second to Custer with three laps remaining, while van Gisbergen occupied fourth place ahead of Creed, Allmendinger and Hill.

    Then with two laps remaining, Herbst, who spent the previous two laps methodically gaining ground, gained all the ground he needed to get close to Custer’s rear bumper through the backstretch before he planned his move through Turns 3 and 4. As he made his move beneath Custer and dueled with him while also making contact with him through the frontstretch to gain the lead, however, Almirola gained a massive draft on both and he assumed the lead with a bold three-wide move from the outside lane before he started the final lap of the race.

    With Almirola leading, Herbst quickly assumed the runner-up spot just past the frontstretch while Custer drifted back to third place. Herbst then kept the latter close enough in front of him amid the draft and gained the momentum to close back in through the first two turns and the backstretch. Then in Turn 3, Herbst got to Almirola’s left-rear quarter panel, which got Almirola slightly loose, as Herbst side-drafted and snatched the lead entering Turn 4 as he also saved his car from spinning sideways in the process. While Custer regained the momentum to challenge Almirola for the runner-up spot entering the frontstretch, Herbst managed to motor away and streak across the finish line in first place to claim his first Xfinity victory of the 2024 season by a tenth of a second over teammate Custer.

    With the victory, Riley Herbst scored his second Xfinity Series career win in his 162nd series start and his first since winning his first series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his home track, in October 2023. In addition, the Las Vegas native became the sixth competitor overall to win on Indy’s oval-shaped circuit as he recorded the second consecutive victory of the season for both Stewart-Haas Racing and the Ford nameplate.

    Herbst’s Indianapolis victory also makes him the eighth Xfinity Series regular to win in this year’s regular-season stretch as he is guaranteed a spot into the 2024 Playoffs, where he will contend to win his first NASCAR national touring series championship.

    Photo by Adam Lovelace for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “This is Indianapolis,” Herbst said on USA Network. “This is the most famous racetrack in the world. It’s an honor just to walk in this place, let alone win. Man, we’ve had speed all year. I felt like we could win. I just messed up on the restarts a little bit. It was a good fight. I thought I had Cole [Custer] clear and then, [my spotter] said bottom of three [wide] with [Almirola] and I was like, ‘Oh, this is gonna be tough.’ I just continue to work, continue to work, continue to work. It’s bee a pretty tough week on me mentally, to be honest to you. Proud of these guys, proud of everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing. These [No. 98] guys could’ve given up on me, gone to different teams, but they’ve stuck behind me and Cole. That’s back-to-back wins for Stewart-Haas Racing. This is fun. I’m gonna go drink beer and turn my phone off for three weeks.”

    “This is hallowed ground, honestly,” Herbst added “This is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Every person in the world wants to race here and I won here. I don’t care if it’s the Xfinity Series, this is the Cup Series, it’s the go-kart track out back. This is the Brickyard. This is Indianapolis. This is the coolest racetrack in the world and I love you [fans]. This is pretty sweet!”

    Behind Herbst, teammate Cole Custer edged Aric Almirola to claim the runner-up spot a week after he won at Pocono Raceway, with both Herbst and Custer delivering the first 1-2 finish for Stewart-Haas Racing’s in the team’s final season of competition.

    “You could see us beating doors down the frontstretch,” Custer, who led a race-high 47 laps, said. “That was…You’re gonna do everything it takes to win Indy. I was doing everything I could to try and get this [car] to turn. I just needed one less lap. What an awesome day for [Stewart-Haas Racing]. Two cars at the front all day. We qualified one, two. Finished one, two. Unbelievable day for [Stewart-Haas Racing] and hopefully, keep this thing rolling.”

    “[Stewart-Haas Racing drivers] were the class of the field,” Almirola, who led five laps and rallied from his late spin, said. “Those two cars were certainly better than us, but I knew if they got racing, it was gonna be an opportunity to steal it. I got to the lead and thought [I] was gonna be able to steal it. I just got too tight off of [Turn] 3 and [Herbst] got back inside of me. Those guys deserve it. Proud of them and happy for those guys. It was fun to get back in a race car and challenge for a win.”

    Rookie Shane van Gisbergen motored his No. 97 WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro to a stellar fourth-place result in his first NASCAR oval start at Indianapolis while Sheldon Creed ended up in fifth place.

    Austin Hill, Daniel Dye, AJ Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier and Carson Kvapil completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    There were 12 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 29 laps. In addition, 29 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 20th event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Cole Custer continues to lead the regular-season standings by 56 points over Justin Allgaier, 87 over Austin Hill, 100 over Chandler Smith and 143 over teammate Riley Herbst.

    Results.

    1. Riley Herbst, 30 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. Cole Custer, 47 laps led

    3. Aric Almirola, five laps led

    4. Shane van Gisbergen

    5. Sheldon Creed

    6. Austin Hill

    7. Daniel Dye

    8. AJ Allmendinger, four laps led

    9. Justin Allgaier

    10. Carson Kvapil

    11. Ryan Sieg, four laps led, Stage 2 winner

    12. Parker Kligerman

    13. Jesse Love

    14. Conor Daly

    15. Brandon Jones, 10 laps led

    16. Matt DiBenedetto

    17. Joe Graf Jr.

    18. Sammy Smith

    19. Jeb Burton

    20. Leland Honeyman

    21. Brennan Poole

    22. Kyle Sieg

    23. Ryan Ellis

    24. Joey Gase

    25. Kyle Weatherman

    26. David Starr

    27. Josh Bilicki

    28. BJ McLeod

    29. Blaine Perkins

    30. Jeremy Clements, one lap down

    31. Garrett Smithley, three laps down

    32. Greg Van Alst – OUT, Ignition

    33. Chandler Smith, 14 laps down

    34. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident

    35. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident

    36. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident

    37. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

    38. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident

    With the Paris Summer Olympics set to occur for the next two weekends, the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ teams and competitors will be returning to action at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, for the Cabo Wabo 250. The event is scheduled to occur on August 17 and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network. 

  • Tyler Reddick roars to thrilling Brickyard 400 pole at Indianapolis

    Tyler Reddick roars to thrilling Brickyard 400 pole at Indianapolis

    Tyler Reddick raced his way to a monstrous Busch Light Pole Award for the return of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, July 20.

    The two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion from Corning, California, made early head waves by being the fastest during the first round of on-track qualifying and within his Group A qualifying group, where he was one of 10 overall to transfer into the final round and contend for the pole position.

    Once in the final round, Reddick, who was the 10th and final competitor to post a qualifying lap, managed to post the fastest-qualifying lap at 181.932 mph in 49.469 seconds. The qualifying lap was enough to knock off team owner Denny Hamlin off the top of the chart by 0.012 seconds.

    With his accomplishment, Reddick, driver of the No. 45 The Beast Unleashed Toyota Camry XSE for 23XI Racing and who was the fastest during Friday’s practice session, clinched his eighth NASCAR Cup Series career pole, his second of the season, his first since doing so at Darlington Raceway in May and his second overall at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

    Ironically, Reddick’s first Indianapolis pole occurred in 2022 when the Cup Series’ competitors were racing on the venue’s road-course circuit. During the main event, Reddick would proceed to win and emerge as one of three competitors overall to win a Cup event on Indy’s road-course circuit as he attempts to become the first competitor to win at Indianapolis both on the road course and oval overall.

    “I feel like [today’s pole]’s equal of importance, for sure,” Reddick, who compared his first pole at Indy in 2022 to today, said in the media center. “I knew we had to be really close to perfect today. I still wasn’t, honestly, but we did a good enough job the rest of the other three corners to be able to capture [the pole]. I feel like both [poles] are just as important as the other in regards to the race the following day. It’s a great thing that we were able to accomplish today.”

    Despite being guaranteed a spot into the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs based off of winning at Talladega Superspeedway in April, Reddick, who is currently ranked in third place in this year’s regular-season standings and trails points leader Chase Elliott by 15 points, continues to keep his eyes squared on the prize and against his fellow competitors for the remaining regular-season events on the schedule, starting with a potential crown-jewel victory on Indy’s oval-shaped circuit.

    “We got a good opportunity in front of us, but we know that a lot of the guys that are right there behind us are really good at making adjustments and doing what they need to do,” Reddick added. “We have to be mindful of all potentials of how the race unfolds.”

    Reddick will share the front row with Denny Hamlin, Reddick’s owner at 23XI Racing who ended up with the second-fastest qualifying lap at 181.492 mph in 49.589 seconds.

    Chase Elliott, the 2020 Cup Series champion, will line up in third place and he will share the second row with teammate William Byron. Kyle Larson, who attempted the Memorial Day double duty role in May and finished 18th in this year’s 108th running of the Indianapolis 500, will start in fifth place and line up next to Ty Gibbs on the third row. Ironically, Larson also qualified in fifth place during his Indy 500 bid.

    Ryan Blaney, Michael McDowell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and John Hunter Nemechek, all of whom transferred into the final round of qualifying, will line up from seventh to 10th, respectively, while Austin Dillon and Joey Logano will follow suit on the starting grid in the top 12.

    Notably, Austin Cindric ended up in 38th place on the starting grid due to making significant contact with the outside wall during his qualifying lap.

    All 39 Cup competitors entered for this weekend’s main event made the show.

    Qualifying position, best speed, best time:

    1. Tyler Reddick, 181.932 mph, 49.469 seconds

    2. Denny Hamlin, 181.492 mph, 49.589 seconds

    3. Chase Elliott, 181.803 mph, 49.504 seconds

    4. William Byron, 180.155 mph, 49.957 seconds

    5. Kyle Larson, 181.298 mph, 49.642 seconds

    6. Ty Gibbs, 180.043 mph, 49.988 seconds

    7. Ryan Blaney, 179.849 mph, 50.042 seconds

    8. Michael McDowell, 178.898 mph, 50.308 seconds

    9. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 173.859 mph, 51.766 seconds

    10. John Hunter Nemechek, 178.462 mph, 50.431 seconds

    11. Austin Dillon, 180.912 mph, 49.748 seconds

    12. Joey Logano, 180.270 mph, 49.925 seconds

    13. Alex Bowman, 180.777 mph, 49.785 seconds

    14. Martin Truex Jr., 180.076 mph, 49.979 seconds

    15. AJ Allmendinger, 180.643 mph, 49.822 seconds

    16. Harrison Burton, 179.946 mph, 50.015 seconds

    17. Bubba Wallace, 180.592 mph, 49.836 seconds

    18. Christopher Bell, 179.759 mph, 50.067 seconds

    19. Corey LaJoie, 180.476 mph, 49.868 seconds

    20. Chase Briscoe, 179.734 mph, 50.074 seconds

    21. Noah Gragson, 180.159 mph, 49.956 seconds

    22. Ty Dillon, 179.669 mph, 50.092 seconds

    23. Chris Buescher, 180.025 mph, 49.993 seconds

    24. Todd Gilliland, 179.630 mph, 50.103 seconds

    25. Daniel Suarez, 179.165 mph, 50.233 seconds

    26. Brad Keselowski, 179.097 mph, 50.252 seconds

    27. Zane Smith, 178.962 mph, 50.290 seconds

    28. Ross Chastain, 178.973 mph, 50.287 seconds

    29. Erik Jones, 178.816 mph, 50.331 seconds

    30. Carson Hocevar, 178.451 mph, 50.434 seconds

    31. Ryan Preece, 178.713 mph, 50.360 seconds

    32. Daniel Hemric, 178.366 mph, 50.458 seconds

    33. Jimmie Johnson, 178.444 mph, 50.436 seconds

    34. Kyle Busch, 178.338 mph, 50.466 seconds

    35. Justin Haley, 177.508 mph, 50.702 seconds

    36. Cody Ware, 176.737 mph, 50.923 seconds

    37. Josh Berry, 176.578 mph, 50.969 seconds

    38. Austin Cindric, 161.091 mph, 55.869 seconds

    39. Timmy Hill, 169.773 mph, 53.012 seconds

    The 2024 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is set to occur on Sunday, July 21, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Cole Custer wins Xfinity pole position for 2024 Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis

    Cole Custer wins Xfinity pole position for 2024 Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis

    Cole Custer picked up right where he left off from last weekend in first place as he claimed the pole position for the return of the Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, July 20.

    The reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion from Ladera Ranch, California, saved his best qualifying lap for last as he was the last of 38 competitors to post a qualifying lap, which he achieved the top starting spot and bested teammate Riley Herbst with a pole-winning lap at 167.582 mph in 53.705 seconds, with Custer being the only competitor to post a qualifying lap within the 167-mile range.

    With his accomplishment, Custer, driver of the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing, notched his 21st career pole in the Xfinity Series, his third of the 2024 season, his first since doing so at Phoenix Raceway in March and his first at Indianapolis.

    Custer’s current best result on Indy’s oval-shaped circuit in three total starts is a fifth-place result he posted in 2017 during his rookie Xfinity campaign as he strives to be four spots better for Saturday’s main event.

    Custer’s pole comes a week after he scored his first Xfinity victory of the 2024 season at Pocono Raceway as he leads this year’s regular-season standings. It also comes hours after it was announced that he will be returning to a full-time Cup Series campaign in 2025 for Haas Factory Team in the No. 41 Ford, a team that is rebranded from Stewart-Haas Racing.

    Saturday’s Xfinity event and return to the oval-shaped circuit at Indianapolis will feature a front row sweep of Stewart-Haas Racing competitors as Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang, will start alongside Custer with his best qualifying lap occurring at 166.942 mph in 53.911 seconds.

    Aric Almirola, who makes his return to the Xfinity Series for the first time since Darlington Raceway in May, qualified in a strong third place and he will share the second row with Sam Mayer while Anthony Alfredo piloted his No. 5 Our Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro to a fifth-place starting spot as he will share the third row with Brandon Jones.

    Carson Kvapil, AJ Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier and Josh Berry will start in the top 10 while Jeb Burton and Sheldon Creed round out the top-12 starting spots.

    Notably, Xfinity Series regulars Chandler Smith, Austin Hill and rookie Jesse Love will start 13th to 15th, respectively, while Conor Daly will start in 16th place. In addition, Joe Graf Jr. will start 17th in his first Xfinity start of the season with Joe Gibbs Racing, Sammy Smith will line up in 21st place alongside Daniel Dye, rookie Shane van Gisbergen will start 23rd and Parker Kligerman will line up in 38th place, dead last, as he was the only competitor who did not post a qualifying lap.

    All 38 Xfinity competitors entered for this weekend’s main event made the show.

    Qualifying position, best speed, best time:

    1. Cole Custer, 167.582 mph, 53.705 seconds

    2. Riley Herbst, 166.942 mph, 53.911 seconds

    3. Aric Almirola, 166.765 mph, 53.968 seconds

    4. Sam Mayer, 166.725 mph, 53.981 seconds

    5. Anthony Alfredo, 166.593 mph, 54.024 seconds

    6. Brandon Jones, 166.439 mph, 54.074 seconds

    7. Carson Kvapil, 166.352 mph, 54.102 seconds

    8. AJ Allmendinger, 166.343 mph, 54.105 seconds

    9. Justin Allgaier, 166.316 mph, 54.114 seconds

    10. Josh Berry, 166.095 mph, 54.186 seconds

    11. Jeb Burton, 165.865 mph, 54.261 seconds

    12. Sheldon Creed, 165.844 mph, 54.268 seconds

    13. Chandler Smith, 165.837 mph, 54.270 seconds

    14. Austin Hill, 165.792 mph, 54.285 seconds

    15. Jesse Love, 165.758 mph, 54.296 seconds

    16. Conor Daly, 165.731 mph, 54.305 seconds

    17. Joe Graf Jr., 165.216 mph, 54.474 seconds

    18. Jeremy Clements, 165.041 mph, 54.532 seconds

    19. Josh Williams, 165.001 mph, 54.545 seconds

    20. Parker Retzlaff, 164.721 mph, 54.638 seconds

    21. Sammy Smith, 164.675 mph, 54.653 seconds

    22. Daniel Dye, 164.204 mph, 54.810 seconds

    23. Shane van Gisbergen, 164.108 mph, 54.842 seconds

    24. Blaine Perkins, 163.818 mph, 54.939 seconds

    25. Leland Honeyman, 163.488 mph, 55.050 seconds

    26. Garrett Smithley, 163.339 mph, 55.100 seconds

    27. Ryan Sieg, 163.280 mph, 55.120 seconds

    28. Kyle Weatherman, 163.236 mph, 55.135 seconds

    29. Matt DiBenedetto, 162.970 mph, 55.225 seconds

    30. Brennan Poole, 162.566 mph, 55.362 seconds

    31. Kyle Sieg, 162.113 mph, 55.517 seconds

    32. Josh Bilicki, 161.943 mph, 55.575 seconds

    33. BJ McLeod, 161.681 mph, 55.665 seconds

    34. Ryan Ellis, 160.625 mph, 55.031 seconds

    35. Joey Gase, 160.194 mph, 56.182 seconds

    36. David Starr, 159.730 mph, 56.345 seconds

    37. Greg Van Alst, 157.649 mph, 57.089 seconds

    38. Parker Kligerman, 0.000 mph, 0.000 seconds

    The 2024 Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is set to occur on Saturday, July 20, and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Majeski scores second consecutive Truck victory at Lucas Oil IRP; clinches 2024 Playoff berth

    Majeski scores second consecutive Truck victory at Lucas Oil IRP; clinches 2024 Playoff berth

    For a second consecutive season, Ty Majeski snapped a yearlong winless drought by recording his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory of the season in the TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on Friday, July 19.

    The 29-year-old Majeski from Seymour, Wisconsin, led the final 56 of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he started in fourth place, but made his presence at the front known by attempting to grab the lead with a three-wide move through the first two turns. Despite settling in the runner-up spot following the opening lap, Majeski remained upfront in the early portions of the race before he was assessed a drive-through penalty for jumping a restart on Lap 49. Despite serving the penalty, Majeski managed to remain on the lead lap at the first stage’s conclusion and he would charge his way back into third place when the second stage concluded.

    Restarting in the top five when the final stage commenced with 71 laps remaining, Majeski would then overtake Christian Eckes to lead for the first time with 55 laps remaining. From there, the Wisconsin native navigated through the short track in Brownsburg, Indiana, smoothly for the final 55 laps before he cycled back to the frontstretch and claim both his first elusive checkered flag of the 2024 Truck Series victory and a berth into the Playoffs.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Rajah Caruth notched his second Truck pole position of his career and of the 2024 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 108.017 mph in 22.863 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Grant Enfinger, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 107.937 mph in 22.880 seconds.

    Prior to the event, the following names that included Ben Rhodes, Johnny Sauter, Matt Mills and Conor Daly dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Rajah Caruth and Grant Enfinger dueled for the lead through the first two turns before Ty Majeski made a three-wide move on both in an attempt to grab the lead entering the backstretch. With all three going three wide through the backstretch, Enfinger managed to prevail from the outside lane as he aggressively muscled his No. 9 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST into the lead as he also cleared both Caruth and Majeski entering Turn 3. As Majeski was trying to overtake Caruth for the runner-up spot through Turns 3 and 4, Enfinger proceeded to lead the first lap. By then, Majeski acquired the runner-up spot as Caruth fended off Christian Eckes for third place.

    Amid the early on-track battles, Majeski then wasted no time challenging Enfinger for the lead as he tried to gain momentum through every turn and corner. With Enfinger retaining the lead over Majeski’s No. 98 Road Ranger Ford F-150 by the fifth lap mark, Caruth also retained third place ahead of Eckes while Tyler Ankrum trailed in fifth place.

    Through the first 10-scheduled laps, Enfinger was leading by three-tenths of a second over Majeski followed by Eckes, Ankrum and Caruth while Matt Crafton, Stewart Friesen, Daniel Dye, Corey Heim and Nick Sanchez trailed in the top 10. Behind, Luke Fenhaus occupied 11th place in front of Ross Chastain, Dean Thompson, Sammy Smith and Chase Purdy while rookie Layne Riggs, Tanner Gray, Taylor Gray, Ty Dillon and Jake Garcia were racing in the top 20 ahead of Jack Wood, Timmy Hill, Bayley Currey, William Sawalich and Mason Massey, with Ben Rhodes mired in 26th place.

    Ten laps later, Enfinger, who caught the tail end of the field and started to lap those running at the rear of the field, retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Majeski while third-place Ankrum and fourth-place Eckes both trailed by three seconds. Behind, Caruth retained fifth place ahead of Crafton’s No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 while Friesen, Corey Heim, Luke Fenhaus and Daniel Dye followed suit in the top 10.

    Another 10 laps later, Enfinger, who was continuing to navigate his way through lapped traffic, was still leading by less than two-tenths of a second over Majeski, who managed to close back in on Enfinger for the top spot. Meanwhile, Ankrum trailed in third place by three seconds as Eckes and Caruth both continued to follow suit in the top five.

    With the event reaching the Lap 40 mark, Enfinger stabilized his advantage to half a second over Majeski as third-place Ankrum continued to trail by more than three seconds. While Eckes and Caruth continued to run in the top five, Ben Rhodes was mired back in 22nd place behind Taylor Gray and William Sawalich, Sanchez was in 13th place behind Daniel Dye and Ross Chastain occupied 15th place in front of Tanner Gray. In addition, Johnny Sauter was mired outside the top 25.

    Two laps later, the event’s first caution period flew as Ty Dillon spun in Turn 3 while Mason Massey limped to pit road with a flat tire and sparks flying out of his No. 02 BRUNT Chevrolet Silverado RST. During the event’s first caution period, the front-runners led by Enfinger pitted, with the latter retaining the lead after he exited pit road first ahead of Majeski.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 49, Enfinger just managed to fend off Majeski through the first two turns and the backstretch to retain the lead and clear the field in the process. With Enfinger leading Majeski, Eckes and Heim battled for third place while Ankrum and Caruth followed suit along with the rest of the field. Shortly after, Majeski was black-flagged and forced to serve a pass-through penalty through pit road for a restart violation after he jumped the recent start.

    With Majeski serving his pass-through penalty, where he managed to remain on the lead lap, Enfinger was trying to fend off Eckes with the lead while Heim, Ankrum and Caruth tried to close in from the top five. Chastain then started to challenge Caruth for fifth place along with Dean Thompson while Nick Sanchez battled Daniel Dye and Sammy Smith for eighth place as Eckes assumed the lead in his No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST from Enfinger on Lap 56.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 60, Eckes captured his sixth Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Enfinger followed suit in second along with Heim, Ankrum and Caruth while Chastain, Sanchez, Thompson, Sammy Smith and Dye were scored in the top 10. By then, Majeski, who was mired in 31st place, remained on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, select names, mainly those running in the mid-pack region, pitted while the rest led by Eckes remained on the track.

    The second stage period started on Lap 68 as Eckes and Enfinger occupied the front row. At the start, Enfinger executed a bold power slide move on Eckes to reassume the lead from the inside lane and despite sliding up the track entering Turn 1. With Enfinger retaining the lead for a full lap ahead of Eckes, Ankrum, Chastain and Heim followed suit in the top five while Sanchez led Caruth, Riggs and a bevy of truck competitors as Enfinger retained the lead by Lap 70.

    Within Lap 75, Enfinger retained the lead by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Eckes, who continued to try to gain runs on Enfinger through every turn and corner. Behind, Chastain occupied third place ahead of Ankrum and Sanchez while Majeski was mired in 15th place and trailing a side-by-side battle between Jake Garcia and Taylor Gray.

    Just past the Lap 80 mark and with a flurry of on-track battles ensuing around the short track, Enfinger continued to lead by nearly three-tenths of a second over Eckes while third-place Chastain trailed by a second. Top-five competitors Ankrum and Sanchez also followed suit in the top five as they were running ahead of Riggs, Heim, Caruth, Thompson and Fenhaus while Daniel Dye pitted under green to address a flat tire to his No. 43 Bettenhausen Automotive Chevrolet Silverado RST, where he lost a lap to the leaders in the process.

    Within the Lap 85 mark, Heim fell off the pace with a flat left-front tire to his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro that left his truck igniting sparks around the track. Shortly after, Conor Daly drew a caution as he had a right-front tire flat to his No. 44 Power Plus Chevrolet Silverado RST as he too drew sparks out of his truck following an incident in Turn 1. During the caution period, Heim, who zipped through pit road with the flat tire, ran into the side of Eckes to express his displeasure over an earlier contact between the two that resulted with the cut tire.

    The start of the next restart period on Lap 92 featured Eckes fending off Enfinger with the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch while Enfinger was trying to fend off Chastain for the runner-up spot. With the field behind jostling and scrambling for spots during the proceeding laps, Chastain acquired second place from Enfinger, who was left to fend of Ankrum and Riggs for third place. Enfinger, however, would be overtaken by both by the Lap 95 mark as he had more challenges coming from Dean Thompson, Sanchez and Majeski for more spots while Heim, who remained on the lead lap, charged his way back towards the front as he was up within the top 15 in the leaderboard.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 100, Eckes was leading by six-tenths of a second over Chastain as Ankrum, Riggs, Thompson, Majeski, Sanchez, Caruth, Fenhaus and Enfinger were running in the top 10 on the track. As Enfinger continued to backslide and drop out of the top 10 a lap later, Heim bullied his way back into the top 10 as he immediately challenged Fenhaus for more while Majeski, who cycled his way back into the top five, was challenging Riggs for the fourth spot.

    By Lap 110, Eckes extended his advantage to two seconds over Chastain as Ankrum, Majeski and Riggs continued to follow suit in the top five. Meanwhile, Heim carved his way up to sixth place after he overtook Caruth, Crafton, Sanchez and Thompson on the track while Enfinger continued to fall back as he was down in 15th place.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 120, Eckes notched his seventh Truck stage victory of the 2024 season and his second of the night as he led by two seconds over Heim. Both Heim and Majeski rallied from their separate instances of on-track issues during the first two stages to finish second and third, respectively, while Crafton, Ankrum, Chastain, Riggs, Thompson, Caruth and Sanchez were scored in the top 10.

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Eckes pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Eckes retained the lead after he exited pit road first as he was followed by Heim, Majeski, Thompson, Sanchez, Caruth, Ankrum, Crafton, Sammy Smith and Riggs.

    With 71 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Eckes and Heim occupied the front row. At the start, Eckes muscled ahead of Heim to retain the lead while Heim retained second ahead of Majeski, Thompson and a jumble of competitors jostling for late spots. Amid the on-track battles that generated three-wide actions through the corners, Majeski started to challenge Heim for the runner-up spot and Enfinger bolted his way up to sixth place while he started to pressure Thompson and Ankrum for more. In the process, Eckes stretched his advantage to more than a second.

    With 60 laps remaining, Eckes stabilized his advantage to four-tenths of a second over Majeski while Ankrum, Enfinger and Sanchez were scored in the top five. While Enfinger bolted his way back towards the front, Heim drifted back to seventh as he trailed Sanchez and Riggs on the track while Caruth, Sammy Smith and Chastain were racing in the top 10 ahead of Thompson, Fenhaus, Currey, Tannery Gray and Crafton.

    Shortly after, a side-by-side action for the lead between Eckes and Majeski ignited, with the latter trying to use the inside lane to gain a run on the former through every turn and corner. Despite Eckes’ effort in using the outside lane to retain the lead amid strong launches off the turns, Majeski managed to move his No. 98 Road Ranger Ford F-150 in front of Eckes in Turn 1 while avoiding the lapped competitor of Thad Moffit to lead with 55 laps remaining. Majeski would proceed to stretch his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Eckes with 50 laps remaining.

    Down to the final 40 laps of the event, Majeski continued to extend his advantage as he was now leading by a second over Eckes while third-place Enfinger trailed by four seconds. Ankrum and Riggs followed suit in the top five while Sanchez, Caruth, Sammy Smith, Heim and Chastain trailed in the top 10 ahead of Fenhaus, Thompson, Currey, Tanner Gray and Chase Purdy followed suit in the top 15.

    Ten laps later, Majeski stretched his advantage to lead by more than two seconds over Eckes while Enfinger, Ankrum and Riggs continued to follow suit in the top five. Meanwhile, teammates Caruth and Sammy Smith were battling for sixth place as Sanchez, Fenhaus and Chastain were running in the top 10. Heim, however, was mired back in 12th place behind teammate Thompson and his other teammate, Tanner Gray, was running 15th behind Purdy and Currey. Tanner’s brother, Taylor Gray, was mired in 18th place, two spots ahead of Ben Rhodes, Crafton was down in 22nd and Daniel Dye, who was not scored on the lead lap, was mired in 27th.

    With 20 laps remaining, Majeski stabilized his advantage to two-and-a-half seconds over Eckes while third-place Enfinger trailed by more than three seconds. Amid lapped traffic, Majeski kept leading by two-and-a-half seconds over Eckes, with Enfinger, Ankrum and Riggs remaining in the top five on the track.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Majeski continued to lead by more than two seconds over Eckes. With Majeski proceeding to lap Heim, who was mired in 14th place, he would also stretch his lead to three seconds over Eckes with five laps remaining.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Majeski remained as the leader by a comfortable margin over Eckes. Having no challenges closing in from behind, Majeski cruised his Ford around Lucas Oil IRP for a final time before he returned to the frontstretch and claim his first elusive checkered flag of the 2024 season as he won the race by four seconds over Eckes.

    With the victory, Majeski secured his fourth Craftsman Truck Series career win in his 81st series start and his first since winning at Lucas Oil IRP at year ago, which marks his second consecutive victory at the track and the first to accomplish the feat since Ron Hornaday Jr. made the last accomplishment from 2009-10. The victory was also the first of the season for ThorSport Racing and the Ford nameplate.

    Above all, Majeski, who came into Indiana 125 points above the top-10 cutline to make the 2024 Truck Series Playoffs and had clinched his spot based on points earlier in Friday’s event, officially secured his spot into the postseason battle for the title with his victory as he became the fourth series’ regular to win in this year’s regular-season stretch.

    Photo by Adam Lovelace for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “[The win]’s huge,” Majeski said on FS1. “Obviously, I made a little bit of a mistake. It was probably a little bit of a close call on that restart [I jumped]. I had to pony up and get it back. Obviously when you make a mistake as a driver, you drive a little bit harder to try and make up for it, but these [No. 98] guys have my back. Awesome pit stops. It’s been an up-and-down year. We’ve had the speed to win. Just haven’t been able to put it together. I’ve had some bad luck around the way. Some of it’s self-inflicted, but man, so proud of this Road Ranger group. So happy to bring the trophy home.”

    Christian Eckes, who led a race-high 73 laps and had a post-race conversation with Corey Heim following their earlier run-in, settled in second place for his sixth top-three result of the 2024 season while Grant Enfinger backed up his strong result at Pocono by finishing in third place after he led 71 laps. The third-place result, which left him with a 72-point advantage above the top-10 cutline, was enough for Enfinger to secure his berth into the Playoffs with a single regular-season event remaining on the calendar.

    Tyler Ankrum came home in fourth place, which keeps him 78 points above the cutline, as he too secured a Playoff berth. Rookie Layne Riggs finished in fifth place for his second top-five result of the season.

    Sammy Smith, Luke Fenhaus, pole-sitter Rajah Caruth, Dean Thompson and Nick Sanchez completed the top 10 in the final running order.  

    With a 20th-place finish, Tanner Gray occupies the 10th and final transfer spot into the Playoffs by five points over Daniel Dye, who ended up in 28th place. As Taylor Gray and Ben Rhodes remain above the cutline, the following names that include Stewart Friesen, Matt Crafton, Chase Purdy, Dean Thompson, Layne Riggs, Jake Garcia, Bayley Currey, Ty Dillon and Bret Holmes are among several who trail the cutline approaching next month’s regular-season finale at Richmond Raceway.

    There were five lead changes for three different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 27 laps. In addition, 13 of 35 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 15th event of the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series season, Christian Eckes continues to lead the regular-season standings by 50 points over Corey Heim.

    Results.

    1. Ty Majeski, 56 laps led

    2. Christian Eckes, 73 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner

    3. Grant Enfinger, 71 laps led

    4. Tyler Ankrum

    5. Layne Riggs

    6. Sammy Smith

    7. Luke Fenhaus

    8. Rajah Caruth

    9. Dean Thompson

    10. Nick Sanchez

    11. Ross Chastain

    12. William Sawalich

    13. Chase Purdy

    14. Bayley Currey

    15. Jack Wood

    16. Taylor Gray

    17. Corey Heim

    18. Ty Dillon

    19. Timmy Hill

    20. Tanner Gray

    21. Ben Rhodes

    22. Matt Mills

    23. Johnny Sauter

    24. Matt Crafton

    25. Marco Andretti, one lap down

    26. Bret Holmes, one lap down

    27. Daniel Dye, two laps down

    28. Lawless Alan, two laps down

    29. Conor Daly, three laps down

    30. Jake Garcia, three laps down

    31.  Tyler Tomassi, three laps down

    32. Thad Moffitt, five laps down

    33. Stewart Friesen, six laps down

    34. Spencer Boyd, 36 laps down

    35. Mason Massey – OUT

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule is Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia, for the lean Harbors 250, which will also serve as this year’s regular-season finale and determine this year’s 10-truck Playoff field. The event is scheduled to occur on August 10 and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Rajah Caruth claims second Truck career pole at Lucas Oil IRP

    Rajah Caruth claims second Truck career pole at Lucas Oil IRP

    Rajah Caruth zipped his way to the second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series pole of his career and of the 2024 season for the TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) on Friday, July 19.

    The 22-year-old Caruth from Washington D.C. posted his best qualifying lap at 108.017 mph in 22.863 seconds, which was enough to claim the top starting spot by 0.017 seconds over Grant Enfinger in his No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST for Spire Motorsports.

    With his accomplishment, Caruth, who finished in seventh place in his first Truck event at Lucas Oil IRP in 2023, earned his second career pole position in the Truck Series and his first since Las Vegas Motor Speedway in early March, where he would proceed to claim his first career victory. Despite being currently ranked in fifth place in this year’s Truck Series regular-season standings and trailing points leader Christian Eckes by 188 points, he is guaranteed one of 10 spots in this year’s Playoffs with his Vegas victory.

    The pole position left Caruth surprised after he posted the 23rd-fastest time during Friday’s practice session, but looking ahead for momentum as this year’s regular-season season reaches its conclusion.

    “I was honestly surprised [with our qualifying run],” Caruth said on FS1. “I was enthused with our HendrickCars.com Silverado. Kind of after a long run in practice, I’m honestly really surprised by the qualifying speed. Gotta thank the men and women at Spire Motorsports…We’ll hopefully have a good night this evening and something good for my team to think about for the Olympic break.”

    Enfinger, winner of the 2022 Truck Series event at Lucas Oil IRP, will start alongside Caruth after he posted his best qualifying lap at 107.937 mph in 22.880 seconds. He is coming off a strong runner-up result from Pocono Raceway, which currently places in seventh place in this year’s regular-season standings. Above all, he is 46 points above the top-10 cutline to make this year’s Playoffs.

    Tyler Ankrum, who is ranked in sixth place in the standings and 49 points above the cutline, will start in third place and share the second row with Ty Majeski, winner of last year’s Truck event at Lucas Oil IRP and who was the fastest during Friday’s practice session. Matt Crafton, three-time champion of the series, will line up in fifth place alongside Christian Eckes, this year’s leader in the regular-season standings.

    Daniel Dye, Stewart Friesen, Corey Heim and Chase Purdy will start in the top 10 while Nick Sanchez and Sammy Smith will follow suit in 11th and 12th, respectively.

    Notably, Taylor Gray and Ben Rhodes, both of whom are currently above the cutline, will start 13th and 15th, respectively, while names including rookie Layne Riggs, Jake Garcia, Dean Thompson, Ty Dillon, Tanner Gray and Bayley Currey, all of whom are below the cutline, will line up 17th to 22nd, respectively. In addition, Ross Chastain, who is pulling double-duty between Lucas Oil IRP and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, will start 16th, William Sawalich will start 26th and Johnny Sauter will start 28th in the No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota entry.

    In addition, the following names that include Spencer Boyd, rookie Thad Moffitt, Matt Mills and Conor Daly will round out the 35-truck field after all lined up based on owner points.

    Qualifying position, best speed, best time:

    1. Rajah Caruth, 108.017 mph, 22.863 seconds

    2. Grant Enfinger, 107.937 mph, 22.880 seconds

    3. Tyler Ankrum, 107.786 mph, 22.912 seconds

    4. Ty Majeski, 107.730 mph, 22.924 seconds

    5. Matt Crafton, 107.313 mph, 23.013 seconds

    6. Christian Eckes, 107.299 mph, 23.016 seconds

    7. Daniel Dye, 107.174 mph, 23.043 seconds

    8. Stewart Friesen, 107.122 mph, 23.054 seconds

    9. Corey Heim, 107.053 mph, 23.069 seconds

    10. Chase Purdy, 107.011 mph, 23.078 seconds

    11. Nick Sanchez, 106.928 mph, 23.096 seconds

    12. Sammy Smith, 106.821 mph, 23.119 seconds

    13. Taylor Gray, 106.766 mph, 23.131 seconds

    14. Luke Fenhaus, 106.591 mph, 23.169 seconds

    15. Ben Rhodes, 106.568 mph, 23.174 seconds

    16. Ross Chastain, 106.536 mph, 23.181 seconds

    17. Layne Riggs, 106.471 mph, 23.195 seconds

    18. Jake Garcia, 106.183 mph, 23.258 seconds

    19. Dean Thompson, 106.169 mph, 23.261 seconds

    20. Ty Dillon, 106.146 mph, 23.266 seconds

    21. Tanner Gray, 106.069 mph, 23.283 seconds

    22. Bayley Currey, 106.028 mph, 23.292 seconds

    23. Jack Wood, 105.728 mph, 23.358 seconds

    24. Lawless Alan, 105.651 mph, 23.375 seconds

    25. Timmy Hill, 105.260 mph, 23.462 seconds

    26.  William Sawalich, 105.148 mph, 23.487 seconds

    27. Mason Massey, 105.844 mph, 23.555 seconds

    28. Johnny Sauter, 104.826 mph, 23.559 seconds

    29. Marco Andretti, 104.675 mph, 23.593 seconds

    30. Bret Holmes, 104.335 mph, 23.593 seconds

    31. Tyler Tomassi, 103.896 mph, 23.770 seconds

    32. Spencer Boyd, owner points

    33. Thad Moffitt, owner points

    34. Matt Mills, owner points

    35. Conor Daly, owner points

    The 2024 TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park is set to occur on Friday, July 19, and air at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • NASCAR Weekend Schedule for Indianapolis – July 2024

    NASCAR Weekend Schedule for Indianapolis – July 2024

    This weekend the NASCAR Cup Series and the Xfinity Series return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway 2.5-mile oval as the the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series heads to the .686-mile asphalt oval at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP).

    The pressure to make the Playoffs is mounting with only five races remaining in the Cup Series regular season at Indianapolis, Richmond, Michigan, Daytona and Darlington.

    Five Cup Series drivers have clinched a spot in the 16-driver playoff field – Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Ryan Blaney, and Christopher Bell.

    Seven Xfinity Series drivers have secured a place in the 12-driver playoff field with seven races remaining in the regular season – Shane van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith, Austin Hill, Sam Mayer, Cole Custer, Justin Allgaier, and Jesse Love.

    There are only two races to go in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series regular season. Four drivers have claimed a spot in the 10-driver playoff field with only two races remaining in the regular season – Christian Eckes, Corey Heim, Nick Sanchez and Rajah Caruth.

    The ARCA Menards Series is also competing this weekend at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on Friday with practice at 1:30 p.m. and qualifying at 2:30 p.m. The ARCA Circle City 200 is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on FS1.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, July 19
    1:05 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice
    1:30 p.m.: ARCA Practice ARCA Race Center
    2:20 p.m.: ARCA Qualifying ARCA Race Center
    2:35 p.m.: Cup Series Practice
    3:30 p.m.: Truck Series Practice (IRP) USA
    4:05 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying (IRP) USA
    5:30 p.m.: ARCA Circle City 200 – FS1

    8:30 p.m.: Truck Series TSport 200 (IRP)
    Distance: 137.2 miles (200 Laps)
    Stages: Lap 60, Lap 120, Lap 200
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $672,492

    Saturday, July 20
    12:05: Xfinity Series Qualifying – USA
    1:05 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying – USA
    NASCAR Press Pass: Post Cup Qualifying

    3:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Pennzoil 250
    Distance: 250 miles (100 Laps)
    Stages: Lap 30/Lap 60/Lap 100
    USA/IMS Radio/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
    Purse: $1,873,623
    NASCAR Press Pass: Post Xfinity race

    Sunday, July 21
    2:30 p.m.: Cup Series Brickyard 400
    Distance: 400 miles (160 Laps)
    Stages: Lap 50/Lap 100/Lap 160
    NBC/SiriusXM/IMS Radio
    Purse: $9,596,601
    NASCAR Press Pass Post Cup race

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Pocono

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Pocono

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Ryan Blaney: Blaney took the lead in the pits on Lap 116 and held on until the end to win the Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono, his second win of the season.

    “I think this gives us great momentum heading into Indianapolis,” Blaney said. “A lot of drivers have stated how much ‘kissing the bricks’ means to them. Jeff Gordon once compared it to locking lips with his ex-wife Brooke.”

    2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin won Stage 2 at Pocono, but came up short to Ryan Blaney in the final start and settled for the runner-up spot.

    “I had a few on-track battles with my old nemesis Alex Bowman,” Hamlin said. “Alex thinks he’s on my level. He’s not. People don’t hate him; they just really dislike him.”

    3. Tyler Reddick: Reddick finished sixth at Pocono, posting his 14th top 10 of the year.

    “My No. 45 Toyota featured the Money Lion paint scheme,” Reddick said. “When that’s on my car, Michael Jordan gets really excited, but only because he thinks it says ‘money line.’”

    4. Christopher Bell: Bell ran in the top 10 for the majority of the day at Pocono and finished 12th.

    “The No. 20 Rheem Toyota wasn’t the fastest car on the track,” Bell said, “but we still managed a top 12. That’s mostly thanks to my pit crew. It’s like they say: ‘Rheem work makes the dream work.’”

    5. Kyle Larson: A late pit road speeding penalty cost Larson a lot of track position, and he finished 13th at Pocono.

    “All it takes is one mistake to ruin your day,” Larson said. “And I made that mistake. Basically, I put the ‘O no’ in ‘Pocono.’”

    6. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished ninth in the Great American Getaway 400.

    “The broadcast of the race went head to head with that of the Spain vs England European Championship,” Elliott said. “I doubt there is much crossover in those two audiences. If you told the patrons down at the Dawsonville Pool Room that the European Championship was on TV, many would ask ‘Is it streaming?’”

    7. William Byron: Byron finished fourth at Pocono, scoring his first top 5 since Iowa on June 16th.

    “I haven’t won since Martinsville in early April,” Byron said. “I was in top form then, and I know I still have it in me. It’s like eating a Martinsville hot dog; it’s still going to be in you three months later.”

    8. Alex Bowman: Bowman backed up his win at Chicago with a solid third-place result at Pocono.

    “The words on my car say ‘Best Friends,’” Bowman said. “Best Friends has everything to do with the animal welfare organization, and nothing to do with my relationship with Bubba Wallace.”

    9. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex won Stage 1 at Pocono and finished eighth in the Great American Getaway 400.

    “I’m still looking for my first win of the season,” Truex said. “It would be awfully climactic if my first win of the season came at Phoenix in November to win the championship. It would be awfully anti-climactic if my first win came at Phoenix as someone else won the championship.”

    10. Ross Chastain: Chastain suffered a steering issue on Lap 53, which sent him sliding into the turn 3 wall. The accident ended his day and Chastain finished 36th.

    “When you’re fighting for a playoff spot,” Chastain said, “a terrible result like this can make you sick to your stomach, much like drinking Busch Light Peach.”